“I present to you Lord Rose, Red King of Wonderland,” Tom pronounces.
As our subjects cheer, I lead Alice to the dance floor and take my bride, my queen, into my arms.
“No children,” I swear to her. “No ignoring you for this or that lord or hobby.”
Alice looks at me in hope.
“And if Lord Hare or any of the rest offend you, my beloved, I shall serve you their heads on jeweled platters.”
The Red Queen laughs gleefully, and behind us, under the rose-bedecked arbor, I see Tom tip his head to me.
Ours is a mad, mad world, and I am grateful to serve my queen.