Chapter VI
A Royal Audience
In which Alice meets with the King and Queen
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Alice had never actually seen a royal palace before but she imagined that, when she did see one, it would look something like a fairy-tale castle with high walls, tall towers, and turrets.
‘That is what they look like in books,’ she said to herself, ‘so that is what I should be looking for now.’
But try as she might, Alice could not see anything that even remotely resembled a tall tower, poking above the treeline.
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‘This is most disconcerting,’ she thought, as she made her way forward. ‘I know what I expect to see, but I just can’t quite see it!
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‘Maybe, I have taken a wrong turning?’ she asked herself, but she knew that she hadn’t because the sign was quite clear, and there had been only one road for her to follow.
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After a while, she began to wonder whether the sign itself had been right.
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‘Or perhaps the sign is pointing the wrong way?’ she ventured. ‘Maybe, someone has played a trick on me, and turned it around to point in the opposite direction?’
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Alice was thinking all these things when she turned a corner and suddenly found herself face-to-face with a tiny castle, no bigger than a doll’s house.
‘There are the walls and the towers and the turrets, for certain,’ she said, ‘and a drawbridge, and a portcullis, and even little people running around inside, but it is all oh so tiny! How ever will I get in?’
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As she watched, there was a loud commotion inside the castle courtyard, and a tiny rider on a little white horse rode out over the drawbridge, in her direction.
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At first, he was no bigger than a matchstick but as he drew closer to her, he became larger and larger.
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‘How curious,’ thought Alice, as she watched the Knight making his approach.
When he was within a few yards of Alice the Knight reined in his horse, and raised the visor of his helmet in greeting.
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By now he was full size, and the sight of such a large and imposing figure on horseback quite overwhelmed poor Alice.
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She made a show of curtseying to the Knight, but her legs refused to cooperate and she found herself sitting down on the ground, instead.
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The Knight immediately climbed off his horse, and helped Alice to her feet again.
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Then he bowed elegantly to her and pulled off his helmet, tucking it under one arm.
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All in all, Alice thought that he made quite the most dashing figure that she had seen, so far.
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‘Greetings, noble lady,’ said the Knight, with a kindly smile on his face. ‘How can I help thee?’
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For a moment Alice was at a loss for words, and then she remembered her predicament.
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She told the Knight of her adventures as quickly as she could, and the Knight listened in silence until Alice had finished her story.
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Then he said, ‘Come with me. I will take you to the Queen,’ and with that ...
