Frank Beddor

“The sudden loss of her father was like living with a wound that would never heal, yet her memories of him were fading more and more every day.”

“He talked to himself because there weren't many people as learned as he, and he liked to talk to learned people.”

“What am I to do with you?" Redd asked."M-maybe you could-" Jack began.The Cat raised a paw. "I know.""It was a rhetorical question, fools! You don't answer it! Since when do I need help making anyone suffer?”

“For most of the universe's inhabitants, life is not all gummy wads and tarty tarts; is a struggle against hardship, unfairness, corruption, abuse, and adversity in all its guises, where even to survive - let alone survive with dignity - is heroic. To soldier through the days in the wake of failure is the courageous act of many.”

“Silence is hereby outlawed. Silence breeds independent thought, which in turn breeds dissent.”

“It is supposed that power corrupts," the caterpillar said in a voice as untroubled as time itself. "Yet the powerful are often corrupt before they are powerful. In fact, I find that they too often become powerful by being corrupt. Whether real or perceived, a lack of power can also corrupt.”

“You see, I’m not above helping an unfortunate soul find new purpose in life…so long as it benefits me”

“If I lived by some code, my actions would become predictable. The enemy would take advantage of this and I’d be killed. An honorable death doesn’t exist. Death is death. But it’s funny that survival and revenge require the same thing: no honor codes, no supposed higher principles to aspire to, no mercy”

“I think I speak for all of us when I say, "Huh?”

“Do you know what they call themselves, all these people?" Alyss shook her head. How could she know? "Alyssians." Bibwit spelled it out. Her heart gave a little jump. Alyssians? No, they ask too much of me. "I don't think I'm ready for all of this," she said.”

“For no matter what the world, men who deal in headwear are men to be trusted above any other.”

“She didn't bother to understand it all; it was history--boring boring boring.”

“I've finished running from you, Redd. It's time for you to run."--Alyss”

“Redd shed caution like an outgrown skin.”

“The black, hungry roses that Redd sent snaking towards the princess were easily squashed, the orbs and and unmanned, airborne blades of effortlessly waved off, and the spears of black energy (Alyss was flattered, her aunt borrowing this idea from her) pinned motionless to the air by Alyss's own white spears with no trouble.”

“The queen is head. Long live the queen...me." The platoon of renegade soldiers cheered. Redd kicked The Cat where he lay on the floor, tongue lolling in his mouth, the picture of death. "Get up! You still have seven more lives."The Cat's eyes fluttered open.Find Alyss and kill her."With a wave of her hand, the looking glass was once again whole. The Cate jumped through, in prosuit of the only living Heart besides Redd.”

“I'm stronger than you are, Redd.”

“We're family," Alyss said.Redd snorted. "Is that supposed to mean something?"Family," Alyss said again, trying to convince herself more than Redd.Don't talk to me about family! You were never disowned by your parents!"I'd rather have been disowned by them then see them murdered.”

“Here kitty, kitty. Here, kitty, kitty, kitty."--Dodge”

“I miss tarty tarts.”

“I'm having the weirdest sense of deja vu right now," said the green caterpiller.Duh!" said the blue caterpiller. "Do you think, just maybe, that's because you predicted this?"Oh, yeah."--The Looking Glass Wars”

“Redd's face contorted with a sudden realization. "How could I have been so stupid?"The Cat was trying to decide if this was a rhetorical question when she roared, "It's a construct!"With a dismiissive swing of Redd's arm, Alyss and her army began to shimmer, the billon points of engery that formed them monentarily visible before exploding apart into nothing. Redd scoped the queendom with her imagination's eye. "Where are you, Alyss? Where is my dear little niece?”

“I'd say she's ready, wouldn't you?"--The Rook, The Looking Glass Wars”

“Redd laughed. "The lovely thing about being here," she said, gesturing at the maze, "is that I'm able to immagine your imagination powerless. Ah, if only that were the case on the outside. But enough chitchat. If you're going to die--which you are--I'm sure you'd like to get it over with."--The Looking Glass Wars”

“But I killed you," said Alyss.Did you?" Redd turned to The Cat. "Why wasn't I informed?"--The Looking Glass Wars”

“Alice of Wonderland was stranded on Earth.”

“After a long silence, Dodge cleared his throat. "I think I speak for all of us when I say, 'Huh?'"-Dodge(obviously)”

“Well now," the scholar went on, "I'm just an old fuddy-duddy who could use a tan, so you needn't grant my opinion any authority, but I consider the queendom lucky that a handful of Milliners and their children lived incognito among the population during Redd's tyranny.”

“And even, if circumstances required, a contingency plan for his contingency plan's contingency plan.”

“Only the previous day, Arch had found him in a spirit-dance corral, blistering the creatures to the point of death, such was his need to touch and destroy.”

“For now. But if I ever decide you're useless, you are a dead man."To be killed by you is to be desired more than a life excluded from your service."Bravo." Her Imperial Viciousness laughed with genuine feeling. "Bra-vo!”

“But I killed you,” Alyss said. “Did you?” Red turned to The Cat. “Why wasn’t I informed?”

“Most of life is unbearable. It’s unbearable but we bear it”

“Off with...Wonderland's head!”

“I tell you to think black thoughts and you come up with that?!" the lieutenant had screamed. "Is a guinea pig bad? Do you consider a guinea pig the representation of all that is evil?"Maybe... if it's an evil guinea pig.”

“Whatever power I have is nothing if I can't use it to keep safe those who mean the most to me.”

“You can't spend so much time in a place and not carry a bit of it inside you.”

“After the temper subsides and one has a moment to calmly reflect, it isn't uncommon for declarations shouted in a fit of rage to strike one as untrue, and because they may have been hurtful to family, friends, lovers, husbands, or wives, one wishes them unsaid.”

“Redd turned to her assassins. "What is it I always say?"The Cat, Sacrenoir, and the others bandied uncertain glances about."Don’t be stupid?" ventured Alistaire."I should kill you now?" offered The Cat."Do I have to murder everyone myself?" tried Siren."No, idiots! When in doubt, go for the head. That’s what I always say. ”

“Off with their heads!" the woman screamed. "Off with their stinking, boring heads!""Redd, The Looking Class Wars”

“Without a twich of exertion, Redd sealed his lips with glue. "Who wants to kill him?"The Cat raised a paw. Siren and Alistare raised their hands."Mmmmmm mmm mmm," protested Jack.”

“THe Gnobi, when not roused to violence, were a sluggish clan, the least nomadic of Boarderland's tribes. Not sensing any immediate threat to their freedoms in the person of Jack Diamond, they had responded to his urgency with characteristic listessness."Myrval's tent is somewhere that way," one of them had said with a vauge wave of the hand."Follow the sound of the snoring and you'll find it," another had suggested.”

“Are you Lewis Carroll?" Redd asked him.”

“I am more powerful than that disgustingly well-intenioned niece of mine!"--Redd Heart”

“I'm feeling generous today. You get to live.”

“Redd stared at the bald head bent down before her. How refreshing Vollrath's sacrifice was. He didn't beg for his life. He didn't embarrasss himself with groveling or sniveling, or appeals to her nomexistent mercy.”

“Having been away from you offical duties," Arch said as the Miller's hand lowered to his side, "you might not have hearc, but I've developed a weapon capable of destroying all of Boaderland, Wonderland, Morgavia, Unterlan and who knows what else. I call it WILMA, which stands for Weapon of Inconceivable Loss and Massive Annihilation. It also happens to be the name of one of my former wives, who had to be put down on account of her feisty temper.”

“Queen Alyss, my guards have discovered something you should see."Her face had relaxed at the sight of him, but her brow at once contracted, her lips thinned with tension.We've found evidence of suspicious activity in the palace," he said.What sort of activity?"You might want to step this way and see for youself. I apologize in advance for you having to set foot in a gaurdsman's quaters."He led her into his rooms. The boyish portrait of Sir Justice, the fire crystals in the hearth, the elegantly arrayed table: Alyss blinked in puzzlement.What is all this?"My best guess, You Majesty, is that it's breakfast, but I can't be sure until we taste it.”

“I'd had a cold that day and wasn't as powerful as usual, otherwise Alyss would never have done so well," Redd said as, in the alcove, the final image dissolved. She blew at the cloud and it drifted out into the crypt. "Has a malicious ruler ever suffered more? I think not.”

“You don't like my dress?"The vines of Reed's couture streched toward the tutor, the rose's petal-mouths chomping.It isn't that, Your Imperial Viciousness. The earthlings will not understand you. Not understanding you, they will be frightened and send their petty authorities to apprehend you."Ha!"Of course they'll fail. That isn't the point. But you'll have to wast engery dealing with them instead of concentrating on your niece's destruction. I doubt that the way to achive your aim is to spread your strength across many fronts so that, when it's time to battle Alyss, you many not be at the peak of your powers. Your niece, I gather, shouldn't be underestimated."Vollrath hadn't graduated from the Tutor Corps for nothing. "I don't like when sound reasoning counters my wishes," Redd hissed.”