I woke up, in a tent, hat-less, pant-less, bag-less, and sacred out of my mind.
"Look who's up."
"Ah!" I yelled, falling backwards. Pointing a newly found butterknife at a deep red haired and velvet eyed woman.
"Oh, quit yur squirming," she said, presenting a cup to me, I looked it, and saw a white beverage, hot snow, made from the snow plant that rarely grew any where, "Take it, drink up." She said, pushing it into my hands.
"Where am I?" I asked, backing up, still holding the butterknife up, smelling the hot snow, it smelled so good, but I wasn't on the mood for trusting anybody.
"Camp Suspect," she answered, wringing out at wet cloth, "it's more popular than you'd think." She said, giving me the cloth and turning her back, "Guess people don't wanna go to jail for things they don't do. Wash up, come out when your done, fresh clothes are by your feet." She said, before opening the tent door and leaving.
I sat for a moment, washing my neck, until I reached out to touch my ankel. I tried to pull at the bracelet, but it wasn't there. I turned and looked around the room, whipping my head back and forth trying to find my bag. I went to grab fresh trousers, but all was left was a skirt. I grabbed it, surprised that it only came to the knees, back in Spades this would've been the most improper, but I had more problems then skirt length.
"Hey!" I yelled out to the red haired lady outside, "Where's my bag-" I stopped when I noticed she was already talking to someone, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were speaking to someone."
"Now look at that!" A thirty-something year old man said, "She's hung her head all bashful-like." He said, before bursting out in laughter.
"Now," the red haired lady said, hitting him in the shoulder, showing that her big figure wasn't just fat, he flinched, but it wasn't like a full out punch, "she's up from Spades, no need to put down a lassy for her own raising."
"I'm sorry the Spades aren't allowed to speak their minds," the older man said, still chuckling a little, before letting the last of it out with a whistle, "Anyway, I'm Matt, formally Marcas Three of Clovers." He held his hand out, I gently took it.
"Beth," I said, about to pull my hand away, but Matt gave it a good shake before letting it go.
"So, Beth, did they tell me wrong, or was your name once Elizabeth Seven of Spades, right?" He asked, I nodded, despite his small error.
"You big dummy!" The woman said, hitting him again, "It's EliSabeth, like E-lie-za-beth, not E-liz-a-beth."
"She nodded!" Matt said, the woman clucked, before turning away from him.
"Dont worry, dearie, anytime Matt's upsetting ya, tell old Maybell 'bout it, I'll take good care of it." She said, before walking away.
"Suppose you're mighty curious," Matt said, "Come," he held out his arm for me to hold, "let's walk."
I took his arm, and walked with him. I wondered where my bag was, but I couldn't ask. Instead I looked around the camp, of which was covered by the low hanging branches of the trees above. There were tents everywhere, simply tents made out of a blanket and two sticks. A fire pit was the center of every tent cluster. And all the tents seemed to surround one side of a tree. One tree that stood high above all the others. A pathway was carved into the side of the tree, spiraling up and just wide enough for someone to walk up. By the tree, there were piles of clothes and blankets.
"This is our main building," Matt said, pointing to the tree, "the Charms eat, sleep, and just plain live here."
"I thought this place was just for the expected." I said, as we drew closer to the tree.
"Well," he said, chuckling softly, "how do you think we stay here?" He said, then dropped my arm, and gestured to the pathway of the tree, "Ladies first,"
I nodded to him as I walked forward. About ten steps up I grabbed onto the side of the tree, Matt laughed a bit.
"Trust me dear, you shouldn't worry, if you fall, you fall into piles of clothes-dirty clothes-but it's better than splitting your head open on the first day here." Matt said, gesturing me forward still.
After a minute or two, we reached the top of the tree, by that time I didn't dare to look down. Despite what Matt said, I wasn't quite to sure about surviving a fall from that height.
"Ah, I love the view from here." Matt said, looking out to the view. I looked, too. All the other trees were shorter, so the only other thing as tall as us was the remains of the royal palace itself.
"Where...why would they live in a tree?" I asked, but a moment later Matt moved some branches to let a door be seen. He beckoned me over with head nod. I did as requested. Matt put some fancy code into the door, but there were no buttons or show of a need of a code.
"Welcome, to the residents of the Charms." Matt said, opening the door to let me in first. I entered in was almost as marvelous as the ballroom of the royal family.
It looked like they must of twisted the branches themselves to become the room. Everything in it was connected to the tree, every table and chair came out of the floor. Animal skins decorated the floors and portraits held their places in the walls. Rare, used charms hang on the walls by pieces of twig that grew off of the main branches that held the structure up. A stairwell made it clear that the inside of the tree was hollowed, but the tree was still alive. Matt led the way down the stairs. There was a door every few steps, providing the fact that this stairwell was used as a hallway. He went halfway down before turning into a door so quickly that I almost didn't noticed his movement.
"Shad," Matt said, taking a small, half-bow.
"I told you not to bow." A young man said, stepping out from under a desk. He had pure white hair and dark brown skin. His green eyes flashed, catching all of your attention, making all his hair seem tinted. But still, something wondered in those eyes, something held back, marking him older than his years.
"Ah, the newcomer." He said, before holding out his arms, presenting his office, "This is Camp Suspect, welcome."
"Hello, Beth," I said, holding out my hand. He shook it
"Shad, leader of the Charms."
YOU ARE READING
Cards of Our Fate
خيال (فانتازيا)In Cards Dom there has been a long rule of the Cards family. They've been served since the dawn of our time. So vain, that even the name of the kingdom was changed. They ruled with an iron fist, and didn't care if they got their hands bloody in...
