Queen of Diamonds

♦️ 3 • A Meeting ♦️

"Aces. As I am sure you are aware, we have an issue on our hands."

We were seated around a long, oval-shaped table, that would soon hold many others. The elaborate decorations around the room were mostly red, white and black, reminiscent of the cards that each member represented.
For now, it's only the aces. The "elders", you could say.
And I, as the Ace of Spades, am the leader.

♠️

"Have a nice evening, at... wherever you're going!"

I heard Margaret shout, as I left the manor. I walked swiftly down the drive and out of the estate, walking until I reached the city. When I did, I stuck as close to the pavement as I could. Soon enough, there was an opening into an alleyway, and I continued briskly onwards into the complex network of the city alleyways.

I made sure to lift my skirt up so it didn't drag on the ground. The alleys in the city are absolutely disgusting. The very small heels on my shoes made a tapping noise against the stone paths. The stench was unbearable.
I was walking as fast as I could. It was getting dark, and a noblewoman like me did not want to be stuck in city alleys late at night. Head down, I walked onwards. Left, right, the directions were so familiar to me, it was almost a habit. I kept walking faster and faster, picking up speed, until I was nearly jogging. The paranoia creeping up on me. I could feel the darkness boring into my back. Faster, it was nearly a run now. I wasn't even thinking. Why was I running? What was I so scared of?
All I wanted was to get out into the open air.
Finally!
I took in deep, gulping breaths of air. It wasn't much better than that of the alley. But it calmed my irrational fears.

♦️

Letting my dress falling normally again, I walked along the road, close to the buildings, in the shadows. Then I turned right into an estate, with a drive lined with trees. Eventually, I came up to a tall, grand manor. The manor of someone very wealthy. Others were already there, climbing out of carriages and stagecoaches. How out of place I knew I must look. I walked up to the door, and was greeted by a gentleman in a black suit, with a black top hat to match. Like myself, he was wearing a masquerade mask. Though, unlike how mine was red, and elaborately decorated in gold, his was plain black, with the Spade symbol between the eyes.

"Greetings."

He took my hand, as I walked up the steps, into the mansion.

"You know where to go from here."

He nodded at me, smiling. I nodded back. I took a right and walked into a large room. Even though I came here often, I couldn't help but look up, and admire how beautifully and elaborately decorated it was.

In the centre of the room was a table, with quite a few comfortable looking red chairs around it. Around the centre table, were tables covered with white cloths that reached the floor. On some of the tables were bottles of various alcoholic beverages, along with wine glasses, where people were standing and taking. On other tables there were vases of flowers, or small plates of appetizer style food. Everything was just like a party, except the air was heavy with suspense.

I stood around a table with flowers on, taking the detailed red, white and black decorations of the room. Suddenly, a voice shouted at me:

"Hey, Ev- I mean, the Queen of Diamonds!"

♦️