Chapter 6 Part 2: The Truth will Set you Free…Most of the time.

He kissed her.

He kissed her with all he had, with every ounce of passion in his body.

He kissed her and suddenly regretted lying to her all these weeks. Queen's orders or not, he didn't know how she'd ever trust him again. She was molding into him, trusting his actions. He had to tell her truth and deal with the consequences.

"Alice I…" he muttered against her lips. He had her full attention, but a sudden voice from nowhere pulled them both out of it.

"Well, well, well… what have we here?"

The speed that Alice and Tarrant whipped around to face the voice was almost un-Underland like. Shock graced their features, and Tarrant pulled Alice close to him, as if to shield her. The man who spoke wasn't alone either, he had another next to him. The speaker was a good deal taller than his companion; however, his companion sat on a horse, which evened out the height. His companion had a visor over his face, but his eyes were revealed. He was dressed in red knight armor. Alice knew who the two were right away, but Tarrant only knew the taller one. He would know that eye patch anywhere.

"Illoslavic Stayne…" he growled in between his teeth. "I thou' I'd never see the day." Stayne gave a sickly grin and a low chuckle came out of his mouth.

"It's a pleasure Hightopp," Stayne said.

"Anything but Illoslovic. Who's your friend there?" Tarrant asked, gesturing to the character on the horse.

"I-I think I know…" Alice said from Tarrant's arms. He looked down at her in expectation as if he was asking her to continue. "Isn't that right…Lowell?" The knight raised his visor, and a sickly smile that could compete with the one that had been on Stayne's only moments earlier crossed his face.

"I applaud you Alice; however you're too late…" Lowell commented.

"Late for what? I hardly believe that I'm late for tea," Alice spat, venom dripping from her words. Tarrant gave a loud chuckle, but was silenced by a murderous glare from Stayne. Tarrant looked down at the girl who was now staring angrily at Stayne and Lowell.

"Subdue the madman!" Stayne called out, and several card soldiers came from behind Lowell, violently grabbing Tarrant's elbows and pulling him away from Alice. He kicked one of them, causing it to back off enough to punch the other one in the face. He fought off a couple more before a couple of black card soldiers grabbed him. These were stronger than the red ones, and no matter how much he struggled against them, he couldn't escape. Alice stood between them, staring angrily at Lowell and Stayne.

"Let him go!" she screeched angrily.

"Alice…Alice wait…" Tarrant groaned. The soldiers tightened their grip on him. He winced, and Alice made her way closer to him. He felt a tear roll down his cheek. She wiped a tear away, and smiled softly at him. "I need to tell you…" Alice kissed him before he could continue. When she finally stepped back, he couldn't look at her. "I never forgot you… I remember you, everything. The jabberwocky, the war…you leaving five years ago…all of it…" Alice felt a wave of betrayal wash over her. She staggered backward, closer to Stayne and Lowell. Stayne caught her by the arm and she began shaking her head.

"You lied to me…" she muttered. Tarrant shook his head.

"I had no choice Alice!" he said.

"You lied to me…" she said again. "I-I-thought…" she continued shaking her head.

"Alice please let me explain…" Tarrant pleaded. Alice turned away from the madman, now crying.

"NO! You LIED to me! This whole time!" she yelled. "I trusted you! Who knows what other lies you've told me? I should have guessed too, after all… you remembered everything but me!" she yelled. Tarrant hung his head. Tears streaked her cheeks.

"I did it for a good reason; you have to believe me…" Tarrant cried.

"No! I'm done trusting you!" Alice said. At this point, she had been lifted onto Lowell's horse.

"Take him to the wastelands, put him the cage," Stayne ordered. Tarrant's eyes grew large.

"No…please…ALICE PLEASE!" he cried. The soldiers nodded and began taking him away. Alice instantly felt bad for snapping at Tarrant.

"I assume you would like to see your father now, Alice?" Stayne asked. Alice turned to him.

"My father?" Alice asked, turning her head in the direction of the soldiers who were disappearing over the horizon. She turned back to Stayne.

"But of course Alice, you came all this way to see him didn't you?" Stayne asked tauntingly. A lice nodded.

"Take me to him, please!" Alice pleaded. Stayne nodded.

"But of course," he said, snapping his fingers and summoning his black horse which had been out of sight. He mounted the horse and the group set off towards the castle in the distance.

"Let meh go you worthless cards!" Tarrant yelled angrily, struggling against their grip. The cards simply continued marching. Tarrant hung his head and gave up. He thought of Alice, wondering what horrid things those men would do to her. He couldn't imagine hurting her on his behalf. But hadn't he already? They had been travelling for what felt like hours. Suddenly, he was jerked forward, and a door slammed shut behind him. He heard a lock click behind him, actually…several locks click behind him. He looked around the room, a mat in the corner…a small kitchenette…and a person. A person?

"Hello Tarrant…" a female voice said, with its speaker coming out of the shadows.

A/N: I am so,so,so,so,so,so,soooooo sorry, for not updating for so long! I don't know what happened… I just got distracted, but with enough nagging from my friend Katina, I got off my ass and worked on it. I finally finished this. Haha! You're all welcome!