As if in response to his words, something steps out onto the path in front of them.

It seems to have the shape of a lion, but its body is made entirely of living foliage, the same stuff which makes up the hedges on either side. In fact, someone who was looking closely might have noticed that, rather than emerging from a side passage or from around a bend, it stepped straight out of the hedge, leaving no trace of its passing. 

Padding forwards with deliberate slowness, it steps right over the cowering rabbit and heads straight for Dante. 

"… I surrender!" He would not like to be eaten! He has his hands up and is backing away slowly!

"Do you now," a voice growls from behind him.

From the sound of it, the speaker is a man, a little taller than Dante and probably a lot tougher. 

He tries really hard not to eep, and spins around to get a look at them.

The speaker is a tall, broad-shouldered man dressed in brown, black, and green, with an impressive bristling beard that makes him look somewhat leonine himself. His cloak is held in place by a chain strung across his chest, from which dangle eight heart-shaped red gems, each a little smaller than one of Dante's fists. 

He glares down at Dante.

"You have one minute," he says, "to explain why I shouldn't set my lions on you." 

"Could I have some reason that you should first so I can actually argue against it –?"

"You appear to be a trespasser," he explains with poorly-concealed impatience. 

"You followed the White Rabbit into my labyrinth, having somehow persuaded her to show you the way, and were noticed by my sentinels."

"I didn't know that this was private property I shouldn't be going on and to my knowledge I haven't been told how to leave – and as far as I know siccing a lion on me would be breaking the law worse than trespass!"

"Ignorance is not an excuse," is the stern response.

"And I am an agent of the law - it is my duty to deal with trespassers, and I have the right to do so however I see fit."

As an afterthought, he adds, "Thirty seconds."

"I – do you have jurisdiction over a foreign visitor?"

He doesn't even pause to think about it. 

"Of course I do; you're on the Queen's land." 

"Which queen? Do you have routes for people to get permits, does it aid you any to kill me – what if I have knowledge from another world you might like, I don't know what you have here –"

"Um - he's with me," the White Rabbit says hesitantly, having hopped closer to stand next to Dante.

She stares up at the Eight of Hearts, trembling but determined.

"I - I was taking him to see Her Majesty."

… Does that seriously get him a pass.

Eight's frown deepens. 

"I think I'd better escort you myself," he says. "Just to be sure."

He gestures, and the labyrinth rearranges itself until there is a broad path leading straight towards the palace, with no turnings. An exact copy of the White Rabbit, made out of leaves like the lion, hops out of the hedge onto the path in front of them.

"Follow the rabbit," he instructs. It's not a request.

(Why are there leaf animals. He forgot to wonder that earlier.)

Dante does as instructed.

They walk down the path. Two of the lions pace Dante and the White Rabbit on either side, while their master stalks behind and the leafy rabbit hops ahead. It travels at a much faster pace than the rest of the group, and is soon a long way ahead. 

Long before they reach the end of the labyrinth, the White Rabbit's green double is out of sight. 

"– I'm going to have difficulty following it," he comments, trying not to sound… rebellious. Nothing that'll get him savaged.

"The path is straight," argues the rumbling voice behind him. "Even a blind man could follow it."

After a pause, he explains, "It has gone ahead to warn the Queen that I am bringing her a prisoner to examine. You need not worry about keeping pace."

How was Dante to know the stupid labyrinth wouldn't also have some deadly traps up ahead that he had to navigate.

(… Sure, it might look like a clear path to the palace, but they have leaf creatures.)

He keeps going.

The labyrinth shifts around them every so often, but the path they follow is unaffected. If Dante looks behind him, he may notice that each shift puts a dead end right behind the Eight of Hearts, blocking any possible escape route other than straight ahead.

After about half a mile of walking, they reach the end of the labyrinth, and it opens out into a beautifully-ordered garden. In front of them is the palace, gleaming black and white, with steps leading up to a grand entrance. The green rabbit comes back to guide Dante now that the way is no longer quite as obvious.

Dante continues to follow the rabbit, looking around at the garden in case anything interesting or useful presents itself.

A few of the flowers nod at him as the group walk past.

In the distance, there are a few gardeners working. Over on the left three of them seem to be fussing over a rose bush; on the right one is picking up fallen leaves from the lawn. None of them seem to be touching the flowers. 

The green rabbit hops up the steps and through the double doors, which are flanked by two guards in white tabards bearing a symbol which appears to be a highly stylised black tree: a cloud with three bumps above a narrowing trunk. The one on the left has three of the tree symbols in a diagonal line across his chest, while the one on the right has the same design but with an extra two forming an X shape. 

… Hello scary guards, Dante would try to act confident and like he knows what he's doing but he thinks he might in fact not have a single clue today.

He tentatively walks forwards, hoping he is not attacked while doing so. (Presumably they would not have brought him the whole way only to kill him? He hopes.)

(… Why tree symbols.)

He is not attacked even a little bit. In fact, the guards completely ignore the entire party, an impressive feat given that it consists of two humans, three walking bushes and a rabbit wearing clothes. They offer no opinion on the tree symbols. 

Inside, the palace continues to alternate black and white marble, draped with scarlet hangings and with red carpets laid out across the checkerboard floor. The green rabbit still seems perfectly certain of its way, and continues straight ahead. The lions wait at the door, and are replaced by two more guards, these ones with two and four of the tree symbols respectively.