"Huh. Alright."

In front of them, a path leads from the gate up to the base of the palace steps. The palace itself gleams in the inexplicable sunlight, accentuated with the glints off the guards' helmets and spears. 

These guards, one on each side of the massive double doors, appear to be human, and are dressed identically in white tabards and steel helmets, the only difference being the number of the symbols on their chests. The one on the left has two of the symbols, which look like little stylized black trees, and the one on the right has three, in both cases arranged in a diagonal line from shoulder to opposite hip. 

"I'll come with you as far as the throne room," the White Rabbit explains, "since I'm going there anyway. But we can't talk much more now, when there'll be guards or servants around the whole time. Someone might overhear part of something, and get the wrong idea."

"Makes sense."

She hops up the steps towards the guards, checks over her shoulder to make sure Mira is following, and tells them, "This is a surface worlder who fell through the Rabbit Hole by accident; I'm taking her to the Queen."

They nod in unison, and open the doors. 

She goes in, barely pausing. 

Mira follows.

The inside of the palace is just as impressive as the outside. It continues the theme of black and white marble, with the addition of red as an accent colour in the form of rich satin wall hangings and a strip of plush carpet. 

They pass through corridors lined with pillars and frescoes and tapestries, the latter of which provide a greater variety of colour although red still features prominently. A common subject is a red-haired woman with a crown, defeating various monsters and other evil-looking foes. 

Hmm. Not very creative.

Fortunately, the decor is unaware of her opinions.

After not too long, they arrive at another set of double doors, these ones flanked by two unarmed servants. Their white tabards have differently-shaped black tree symbols: these ones look like more like upside-down hearts. The one on the left has three, in the same diagonal pattern, and the one on the right has four arranged in a square. 

The White Rabbit gives them the same explanation as the last set. They glare suspiciously at Mira. 

...Playing card suits? Interesting.

Apparently satisfied, the servants haul open the doors, revealing a grand room bustling with people. It's the most colour she's seen so far in Wonderland: every figure is richly dressed in bright fabrics and festooned with glittering jewellery. They are dancing to music provided by a small group of musicians in the corner. 

At the far end of the room, fleetingly visible through the crowd, is a raised dais draped in scarlet. As Mira stands in the entrance, a figure stands up from the dais and raises a hand.

The music stops. After a few moments of confusion, so do the dancers. 

The White Rabbit hops fearlessly into the room, weaving through the assembled humans to find the shortest path to the dais. 

People move out of her way a little, when they notice, and a few more move to let Mira follow her. 

Oookay this is. Fancier than she was expecting. 

She follows.

Standing atop the dais is a tall woman in a fur-lined cloak. The train pooling on the floor looks like a puddle of blood.

Her crown is set with a heart-shaped red gem a little smaller than a clenched fist, and more like it are strung about her neck and around her belt. 

"Welcome, stranger," she says to Mira. "I am Marcella, Queen of Wonderland. What brings you to my realm?" 

She bows deeply, sliding to one knee as she does so. Overdoing the formality is probably safer than underdoing it. 

"My name is Mira Xavier, Your Majesty," she says carefully. "I noticed your emissary while she was returning, and followed, overcome by curiosity."

"You may rise," she allows, with a hint of amusement in her voice. 

"Come, sit with me," the Queen continues, snapping her fingers for a servant to bring Mira a chair, "and tell me what you have seen of my kingdom. Oh, and bunny dear?" she says to the rabbit. "You may report to me in my study tomorrow morning."

The White Rabbit nods vigorously, and bounces away. 

A chair is found and placed next to the throne. The Queen resumes her seat, and gestures that Mira should take the other. 

She sits. "I haven't seen much," she admits. "A view of the landscape on the way down, mostly, and the labyrinth between where we landed and your palace."

"And what do you think of them?" the Queen asks, smiling.

Her manner suggests that she personally created every inch of the place, and is looking for compliments on her work. 

"The landscape is very regular. You get a sort of--patchy effect--sometimes, on Earth, but mostly just with farmland, and it's not that neat. The labyrinth was visually interesting; I'm certainly not qualified to comment on the magic behind it."

"The labyrinth has been a pet project of mine for some time," she admits, "although I am not responsible for all of its innovations. What did you see of its magic?" 

"Just the topiary guards, but those are impressive enough to someone who didn't know magic existed yesterday."

"Ah, yes. I'm fondest of the knights at the outer gate, myself." 

The music has tentatively resumed, and the whispering of the crowd grows to a contented buzzing as the dancers begin anew. 

"I confess, I find myself at a loss as to how any society could possibly do without magic. Would you mind indulging my curiosity a little?"

"Oh, well--I don't really know what you use it for, but we have all kinds of nonmagical technology."

"Perhaps an example," the Queen muses. 

"How would your world deal with...some new sickness, say? A plague, or an epidemic?"

"Vaccinations, mostly. That means taking dead pathogens and injecting them into people so their bodies learn to fight the disease off. Surprisingly effective, from the description."