Jefferson just watched, completely baffled.

"What, exactly, is happening here?" Anastasia demanded after a moment.

"He's fine, he's harmless," Mai said, rubbing the Jabberwocky's head. "He's enough like a bird that I can talk to him." He cheeped at her, crowding in closer to her space and shrinking a bit to make himself look smaller. Mai just grinned like he was the most adorable thing she'd seen.

"A bird," Anastasia deadpanned.

"Mai, do you even know what that is?" Jefferson asked. "It's the Jabberwocky."

"You say that like I should be impressed," Mai said with a shrug, scratching under the Jabberwocky's beak. He cooed at her.

"It's the Jabberwocky," Jefferson stressed. "The most fearsome monster in Wonderland."

Mai blinked at him and looked at the Jabberwocky. And then back at Jefferson. "This one?" She pointed for emphasis, and he blinked at them and made another inquisitive noise.

"There is only one Jabberwocky," Jefferson pointed out.

"What exactly are you?" Anastasia broke in. "How did you tame the beast? What magic is this?"

"Not magic I can use for anything else," Mai said, gently stroking the Jabberwocky's neck. "I can communicate with birds. Or bird-like creatures, apparently." She shrugged, unwilling to say anything more than that right then.

"That's not a bird," Anastasia said, her voice going a bit higher. "It's a monster."

"It's close enough to a bird to count," Mai said with a shrug. She finally motioned for the Jabberwocky to go on, and it chirped at her one last time before taking off and heading away from them.

Anastasia watched Mai carefully. Someone who could control the Jabberwocky would not go amiss in her court.

"Come," she said finally. "Time to continue on to my castle."

Mai nodded and moved back over next to Jefferson, walking with him. She wasn't really at ease again, but she was a little more settled, somehow. At least now she knew she had an ally if she and Jefferson had to run for it.

Jefferson made sure to keep an eye out as they continued on their way. There was no telling what else was out there, if the Jabberwocky had been close enough to stumble over. He'd rather not run into a Bandersnatch, thank you.

Mai stuck closer to Jefferson than was strictly necessary, because he was good and he was helping her and because she was maybe, possibly, hypothetically, kind of crushing on him.

Jefferson noticed how close she was, and he realized he didn't object to it. But that was definitely a thought for a time when they weren't essentially being taken captive by the Red Queen for a few days.

Mai was quiet all the way back to the castle, and finally Anastasia turned to them again.

"You can stay in the guest quarters," she said. "Someone will fetch you both for dinner."

"Thank you," Jefferson said. "We'll do our best to stay out of trouble in the meantime."

The Queen nodded and strode away briskly.

Mai watched her go, though she didn't move herself, just yet. Instead she just glanced at Jefferson.

Jefferson tilted his head a bit.

"Come on," he said. "May as well get settled for now. We'll be here for the next couple of days, at least."

Mai nodded and motioned for him to go first, following him in to the suite they were sharing. It did have two bedrooms, anyway.

"Well, this is interesting."

"I didn't expect to draw the attention of the Red Queen," Jefferson admitted as he took his coat off and draped it over a chair. "I apologize for that."

"Not your fault," Mai said with a shrug, stretching out a bit. "I didn't exactly help." She smiled wryly.

"How did you do that, by the way?" Jefferson asked, genuinely curious. "Taming the Jabberwocky."

"Like I said, I can talk to birds." Mai shrugged, moving over to a chair and cautiously settling down. "The Jabberwocky had enough bird in it that we could converse easily."

"Birds," Jefferson echoed. "Alright, I'll bite. How?"