Alice instinctively shifted away from the Queen. She had seen almost the whole episode. Her attention had been drawn- like of many others- by the importunate "crack". Alice later understood that the heel Queen's crystal slipper, the left one, had broken. She saw the Queen stumble her arms out stretched, the left arm holding the grotesque baton and her right clutching uselessly at the shoulder of the armored guard in front of her. She fell face first onto the armored elbow of the guard and Alice saw her eyes scrunch with pain and shock as her lip split and she continued to scrape her face as she fell. An unsettling sinister silence spread over the assembly. All were standing as if frozen in that moment, some with face averted, some with eyes closed in silent prayer and many with eyes wide open in gasping dismay staring at the prone Queen. Alice bumped into the Jester who shuffled quickly out sight. Alice felt a horror build in the pit of her stomach as the Queen rose trembling with anger and looked directly at Alice her ivory face sad, tears leaking from her right eye while the left was half closed. Her mouth drooled snot, spit and blood. Then Red Queen winced as she compressed her lips and pointing to the soldier in front of her and shouted "Off with his head!"
The Contest: @vermillionfox/fox-tales-wk-34-announcing-contest-winners-and-a-new-story-image