The Court of Hearts

The Joker

Snow. The white dots of it falling peacefully behind the window. The boy who should've been asleep by now watches them as they descend, sparkling against the darkness of the cold winter night. It's peaceful, the most peace he's ever known in his short life. Even his younger brother is sleeping soundly for once, not even the quietest of snores escaping from his cradle. He stands there, the only being awake in the house. It's dark, but the boy's eyes grew accustomed to it. The faint light of the moon illuminates the hill protecting the village from the east, and the stars upon it are winking. He wonders if the fairies will be out on a such beautiful night. It's pure bliss.

Until it's not. The boy spots a burning torch on the hill, and dark shadows of people coming towards the village. Many people. He swallows a cry, and runs to his parents' room. His little brother wakes up and wails.

<3

Andrias has never been allowed too much alcohol before. And that's understandable, he was too young, and drinking too much was considered impolite. Not to mention he had a kingdom to represent. But now, at the Spades' celebration, nobody was paying him attention, not anymore, and since he wasn't too fond of dancing, he took up the only other thing available. Drinking.

The first glass of wine he'd drowned was decent. The second was good. The third was just right. And when he tried something the servant called 'whiskey', he found he liked it better than the wine, and emptied a glass after a glass after a glass, until he lost count, and until his King's depressed face blurred enough.

Some time later, Andrias stumbled through the Spades' palace to his room, which he knew the directions to, and didn't need any help, damn you, servants. I'm completely concious, he thought as he swayed to one side, and fell against a wall. I'm not a child anymore, I can hold my liquor just fine! He stumbled from one side to the other, clutched his stomach and threw up. Ah, that's better.

He considered calling maids or someone, but decided against it. The Spades can deal with it, since now they've got a Queen now, and everything will be all nice and sunshine and rainbows for them. A bit of puke ain't something they can't handle. Maybe the Alfred who's never even picked up a broom can clean it up, Andrias chuckled darkly at his intoxicated brain's idea. But oh, how he wished for a warm bed and solid hours of sleep now! He walked further -in the right direction, may I add- and lost his sense of balance at once, and fell through the closest door into a room. 

The Hearts' Jack shook his head to clear it up a little bit, and sat down on the carpet. His eyes got quickly accustomed to the very dim lighting, making out a person in the bed. Not knowing why or how'd he even get up, Andrias walked closer to the person, until he recognised the face. 

Mathias, he sobered up a tiny bit. But why is he- he squinted to get a better look -why is he crying? Sure enough, his eyes and cheeks were wet, and his expression was one of incredible pain and longing. His arms were outstretched, holding the blanket with a firm grip, as if it'd just disappear if he held it any less firmly. The sleeping King sniffled, and Andrias' heart broke. And his brain replayed a bit of an earlier conversation...

"Hey Andri, have I ever told you how me and Alfred tried summoning when we were little?"
"Huh? No, do tell! What did you summon?"

There, in the darkness of the night that hides all of our secrets -including who the hell threw up on the Spades' Jack's favourite potted plant- in a very unclear mind, a plan was born.

<3

"Huh? No, do tell! What did you summon?"

"A Joker."

Ooooh. Wait, what? "A Joker? What's that?" Andrias didn't recall ever hearing that name before.
Mathias learned forward to whisper like the two were discussing robbing the Spades' palace rather than summonings. 

"It's a creature that can be both useful and disastrous, possessing strange old magic. They're ancient, some say older than the world, and they know everything about it. They're beings of chaos, and sure love making it and tricking people, but they can't hurt anyone. There's two of them, but they're not working with one another, but also not completely against each other. See, they aren't necessarily good, but they're not bad either - they are the true grey zone. All court members can summon them if they want advice or answers, but it's not so easy - even though they can't lie, they speak in riddles and won't give you the answers you seek for free."