Such an amazing story! I love the Jack and Duchess pairing and there aren't enough stories featuring these two and their own adventures! You are incredibly talented-the way you wrote Duchess was spot on! And I've always had a soft spot for Jack! Very well done :)

This is a lovely exploration into her mind, views, and feelings. I felt like it was very in character while also touching on the delicacy of the Duchess and Jack's relationship-that it would take some time to start in on something when there's been so little trust in the past.

All in all, excellent work. This is a truly lovely piece. :)

Oh my goodness, I absolutely adore what you've done with Jack and Duchess! The relationship is tentative and suspicious and I love it I love it I love it. You do a marvelous job of showing all the problems left politically, and how that would strain their relationships. Plus, the way you paint Wonderland is amazing, and I desperately want to read more!

Can't wait to see what else you do with them :)

And these:
They made an almost artistic splatter of colour across the tabletop. They looked like a statement.
"I thought the security here was better," Duchess' words were pointed. She could play this game too.
Jack was measuring her in the silence. Heat thrummed under her pale skin. How things stayed the same. Duchess stared implacably back.
A song burst out of him, causing several doors to open.
One morning, she slid it around her neck and wore it like the first step into cold waters. It glimmered in the hollow of her throat and trembled with every breath.
Something fluttered in Duchess' ribcage, waiting to escape.
He almost smiled; his lips a ghost of an expression. Duchess knew what she had seen. She knew Jack. No answer was an answer in itself.
When she departed, her hands sliding into her coat pockets, her fingers unexpectedly discovered a sugared heart-shaped biscuit.
She remembered the clouds of purple butterflies that chattered and commentated as they passed, her father teaching her the game so she would be able to play with the Hearts, her mother flapping a white lace fan in the heat. Jack had always appreciated her game play. So had the Queen.
That stung, even though his tone was conversational, not cruel. She let go as Ace of Clubs appeared at the door. Her armour closed tightly around her.
Duchess' 'I told you so' stayed silent. But Jack heard it, just the same.
The room's silence was taut and stretched thin. So dangerous. As though to speak would be a disaster. Perhaps it would.
There was a waver hidden under Jack's casual words, like he was interested in her answer. It felt so precarious.
It felt unbearably fragile. For a moment, her smile trembled.
She caught Jack looking at her sometimes. Or rather, he occasionally allowed her to see his lingering smile, purposefully directed at her. It felt like a whole still of warm Promise, that she was allowed to drink. Another step into cold waters. His hand was a fleeting whisper against hers.

So many! You are such a talented writer :) I know you've written "the end" but I would love if you decided to write more of this pairing - the way you've written them, they are more interesting than Alice/Hatter!

i sooo hope you goo on!

Wonderful (no pun intended) story! I couldn't stop reading it. Your characterization and development are great. Really hope you continue this series.

I have been waiting for this sequel for soooo long, and it was as subtle and delicious as I could have hoped. Of course, you've left me itching for another, curse you, so I'll have to start waiting all over again.

please go on, there are not alot of jack and Duchess fanfic and there soo cool so please go on!

I really liked your story, it was very good. I loved the way you ended it without giving a hint as to what would happen. I also liked the part where you didn't show if they got together afterwards or what her name was. Now I'm going over possible names trying to figure out what would fit her. Nice work.