The Kingdom of Cards

Chapter 8

Roderich shivered. His breath was white in front of him, blending in with the background.

He had stopped long ago, not because of the steep icy slopes, he trusted his horse on these slopes, but the snow was thick below the horses hoofs and most landmarks were covered in snow. What wasn't covered was just another shadow.

Roderich had been down the path many times, but it seemed to change everytime. The forest continued to grow and the harsh winters and avalanches often refaced the mountains.

Last time he had been on the mountain, it was summer. He closed his eyes, feeling the slow rocking motion of his horse as she tried to regain her footing in the deep snow. His hands relaxed on the reigns. He could almost feel the summer breeze, it was like it was there a second and then gone.

He could hear Ivan's voice. It was distant, different. He said softly, "I love it up here," he paused, "I love being able to look out across my kingdom." Ivan had said it with such pride, Roderich was sure that no other man had ever spoken like that before.

Suddenly a cold wind hit his face and he heard a wolf howl in the distance. His eyes snapped open, as his horse continued to walk forward blindly. He felt the horse take a slippery step. He looked down at the slope and attempted to tighten his grip on the reigns, but it was too late. His horse shifted its weight onto the fake embankment.

The horse let out an awful scream and slide down the slope, Roderich going with it.

*Meanwhile*

    Gilbert watched from the balcony. The king of Spades lay on the bed behind him, he looked as if he suffered from an awful fever. Yao sat at his side, holding onto one hand. The queen, sitting on the bed held him in his lap, placing a wet cloth on his forehead.

Gilbert watched as the knights came in solemnly, giving updates. Each time they came back in, their faces were more grim and Arthur's grew more and more stressed. Yao reach out with his other hand and patted his shoulder.

    "Get some rest," he said, "There's nothing you can do for him," he looked at the queen thoughtful, but his face was worn, as if suddenly time and his age had caught up with him. The once youthful jack was tired, losing his spark. "you have a kingdom to run." Arthur kissed Alfred gently, and left.

    Gilbert sighed and looked at the moon. He hadn't seen the kingdoms in such distress in a long time. Running a kingdom was no easy job. He watched as Yao struggled to stay awake.

Gilbert genuinely cared about the kings, queens and jacks, even the knights. He spent his entire life following their every move, watching over them.

There were only two rules of his job.

1. protect the kingdoms as a whole at all costs and

2. secrecy when possible

Suddenly, a feeling of dread washed over him, as if something was very wrong. He turned and looked at Alfred, who was sleeping much more peacefully then a few moments before and Yao, was slumped over in his chair. Gilbert walked through the door. The feelings was still gnawing at him, as he vanished.

    He reappeared in the Club's war room. On a large table, a map was laid out. All the knights were gathered around it. Ivan slammed his fist in rage. "We need to protect our borders! We built this kingdom and I will not let it fall to these... these..." Ivan, who was normally calm, had fits here and there, but they were rare. Gilbert knew something more was wrong.

    Natalya scoffed, "Look, I get it, you're upset about the queen-" the king glanced nervously out the window. He was calm now, the outburst was over.