[ something rankles in what he tells her—wilkes and frost? together or separately? the curiosity turns a metallic taste in the back of her throat but she swallows it down. ]

You joke. [ she answers, dryly. ] But there was an Alice and there was a Queen of Hearts and there were looking glasses everywhere.

[ and peg can’t say whether it was truly wonderland or a wonderland-like fiction speckled over reality. ]

But there wasn’t any Chroma. Nor any moonlacing either. [ … ] Wonderland traded on memories instead of intimacy.