The Stars (and Rivalry) Between Them
This is my gift for the RusAme Secret Santa. This gift is for @seers-arts. I tried my best to stick with the prompts. Anyways, on with the story! But before that, I think I should explain some aspects of my version of the Cardverse so anyone reading this doesn’t get confused.
- I refer to the kingdoms (Spades, Clubs, Diamonds and Hearts) as Suites
- I do have some Nyos in this fic (hope you don’t mind!) and it’s Nyo!Canada (Meg), Nyo!Switzerland (Heidi), Nyo!Liechtenstein (Noah), Nyo!China (Chun-Yan) and Nyo!Austria (Sophie)
- Diamondtine is the denonym for people who live in Diamonds, Spadian is the denonym for Spades and Clovese is the denonym for Clubs
- A Court is what I call one set of monarch’s for the kingdoms (The King, The Queen, The Jack and The Ace)
I hope I didn’t miss anything and enjoy!
As the carriage went over a bump in the road, King Alfred of Spades was roused from his sleep and immediately looked around.
"It must've been a road bump." He chuckled to himself quietly.
He looked to his right to see Queen Arthur of Spades and Jack Chun-Yan of Spades bickering about something (to be honest any conversation involving Arthur ended with bickering). When he looked to his left, he saw his sister and Ace of Spades Meg staring out the window with an expression of something Alfred couldn't quite decipher on her face.
Alfred looked over to the window Meg was looking out of and felt his breath be taken away.
The Suit of Diamonds truly one of the most beautiful Suits in the land. He saw grand mansions and fancy buildings all over the place. It wasn't surprising considering that the Suit of Diamonds was known to be the wealthiest Suit and the most frivolous. Even some of the most elegant Spadian mansions would be plain compared to the home of an average Diamondtine and the Spadians were quite well-off.
He understood what Meg was feeling yet he still couldn't describe it.
When they arrived to the castle of Diamonds, it shocked Alfred how much more grand and elegant places in this Suit could be.
Arthur muttered something about it being too frivolous and fancy though Alfred sensed that he was actually impressed.
Chun-Yan smacked Arthur's arm and said something about how ungrateful youngsters could be and Meg quietly protested against causing a fuss when they should've been trying to make a good impression.
"Welcome to the Castle of Diamonds!" A jovial voice called out from the top of the staircase.
The person was clad in yellow with hints of orange here and there but mainly yellow. To be fair, most monarchs wore the colour of their kingdom. The person also had long blond hair but since they were so far away, Alfred couldn't see much else.
The person walked down the stairs and bowed when he was face to face with the Court of Spades.
Chun-Yan, having been through many of these types of meet and greets with other Suits, automatically curtsied in return. Arthur bowed a split second later, seemingly in a daydream before doing so. Meg followed suite as well
Alfred however, blurted out, "Dude your house looks super cool!"
Meg facepalmed while Chun-Yan and Arthur gave him a horrified look.
The person however, simply laughed and brushed past it, "Thank you. I am the King of Diamonds, Francis. But please, call me Francis. You are our distinguished guests after all."
Alfred introduced himself first, "I'm King Alfred of Spades and this is my sister Meg."
Meg shyly waved in greeting and Francis gave her a warm smile, "A pleasure to meet you both."
You see, Aces aren't supposed to tell anyone outside of their Suit's Court that they're Aces for the sake of secrecy and so the Court's of the Suits could have someone blending in with the public and report back. However, those aren't the only things Ace's do. They are the literal and figurative Ace up the Suit's sleeves.
Chun-Yan went next, "I'm the Jack of Spades, Chun-Yan. It's an honor to meet you."
Alfred figured Chun-Yan was simply being polite because when she first met Alfred she didn't act like it was an honor to meet him.
And finally Arthur greeted the King of Diamonds, "I am Queen Arthur of Spades, pleasure to be acquainted with you."
Francis leaned down and kissed Arthur's hand, "A pleasure to be acquainted with you as well."
Arthur blushed and Francis starts to walk towards the castle, "I will show you to your rooms and introduce you to the rest of the Court of Diamonds, hopefully you'll be able to get acquainted with the other Court's tonight at the ball."
Alfred stifled a giggle at Arthur's blush and Arthur mumbled a weak, "Shut up idiot."
Once they reached the throne room, there were two people sitting on the thrones. One had a stern expression on their face and the other had a calm expression.
Francis took his seat in the middle of the three thrones, "These are my partners, the rest of the Court of Diamonds." He gestured for the two to introduce themselves, "Don't be shy!"
The one with the calm expression smiled warmly at the Spadian Court in greeting, "Hello, my name is Queen Noah of Diamonds. I hope that you enjoy your stay here in our Suit."
The stern one gave a curt nod, "I'm the Jack of Diamonds, Adelheid."
Francis gave the Court of Spades a wink, "You can just call her Heidi."
Heidi rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.
After the Spadians introduced themselves, Francis showed them to their rooms and left them to get some rest.
Alfred stared in awe at how luxurious everything looked and felt.
"So soft." He whispered to himself.
He let himself fall onto the bed and sink into it, he was exhausted from the trip. Part of him was worried that he'd oversleep and miss the party but he figured that either Arthur, Meg or Chun-Yan would wake him up.
He soon fell into slumber, recharging for the party later that day.
Alfred struck a pose while looking at his reflection in the mirror. He looked handsome and felt he deserved to have a little fun with it.
After he was done getting himself together, he met up outside Arthur's door with the others.
Alfred beamed, "Are you guys ready to partay?!"
Meg and Arthur facepalmed and Chun-Yan hit him, not unlike how she did with Arthur earlier that day, and lectured, "This isn't that type of party! There are rules you have to follow!"
Alfred rubbed his arm and stuck his tongue out like a mature adult (sarcasm is very useful in these situations).
Since everyone was ready to go, they decided to make their way to the ballroom. Which none of them knew where it was except Meg but poor girl could barely get a word in unless she spoke up. Which she did, eventually.
After that ordeal, Meg left the rest of the Court at the entrance to the ballroom, considering that it would be suspicious if she came with them. Suspicion is something that an Ace must avoid.
When the others entered the ballroom, it was unlike anything the trio had ever seen. Everything was so elegant, it could've only been from the Suit of Diamonds.
"Please welcome to the Court from the powerful Suit of Spades, King Alfred, Queen Arthur and Chun-Yan the Jack!"
Alfred gave the rest of the people in the room an excited wave while the people clapped.
It seemed like that they were the first Court to arrive at the ball.
The Spadians decided to split up instead of spend the whole party together. Maybe they could find an in to becoming closer Allies with the Diamonds.
After some time just waiting around, Alfred spotted the Queen of Diamonds standing off to the side watching the party go on.
Alfred walked over to him, "Hey dude! Thanks for throwing this party for us and the other Courts! This party is really bitching!"
Noah seemed slightly startled but replied in his usual calm tone, "Oh, I can't take credit for all of this. It was really Kin- er- Francis' idea."
The two had started to make some small talk when another Court made an appearance.
"Let's give a warm welcome for the Court who came all the way from the Suit of Luck, the Court of Clubs! King Ivan, Queen Erzébet and Sophie the Jack!"
Alfred's breath hitched when he first laid his sky blue eyes on the King of Clubs.
If the blond, almost silver hair, and the flawless pale skin were enough for Alfred to fall for the King, then he wasn't prepared for his eyes. They were an unnatural colour but that made them all the more appealing. They were a beautiful shade of violet and Alfred couldn't help but wonder how much more pretty they would be up close.
If love at first sight was a thing, Alfred was feeling it.
He said a quick goodbye to Noah which probably confused the boy but Alfred had to find out something about the King of Clubs and who better to ask than Chun-Yan, one of the longest serving Jacks his Suit and the rest of the Suits have ever seen. In hindsight however, he could've asked the Queen of Diamonds considering that the Diamonds and the Clubs were in a close alliance.
"Chun-Yan!" Alfred called out to her once he spotted her talking to the Jack of Diamonds.
He bounded over to her with excitement, "What do you know about the King of Clubs? Or the Clubs in general? I need the info ASAP!"
Chun-Yan and Heidi exchanged a look and immediately turned back to Alfred.
Chun-Yan raised her eyebrow, "Why do you want to know about the Clubs?"
"Because their King is super cute and I want to talk to him without looking like an idiot?"
As Heidi left, saying something about checking in on her brother, Chun-Yan gave him another look, "Putting aside the fact that you'll probably look like an idiot nonetheless, you do know that the Clubs and Spades are rivals?"
You could probably pinpoint the exact moment Alfred's brain exploded.
"Rivals?" He asked more to himself.
Chun-Yan sighed, "Did you forget about the alliances we have?"
Alfred paused and sheepishly smiled, "Maybe a little."
Chun-Yan explained, "We the Spades, have an alliance with the Hearts. The Hearts haven't been on good terms with the Clubs for a while however the Jack of Hearts gets along with the Queen of Clubs. As we are allies with the Hearts, we have a rivalry with the Clubs. The Clubs and Diamonds are also allies but the Diamondtines are allies with the rest of the suits because of their peaceful nature and neutrality in most wars and skirmishes."
Alfred took in the information and thought to himself, 'I'm the King of Spades and I'm falling for the King of my rival suit.'
Maybe he should've given up at that moment, for his suit's honor, but Alfred had other plans.
"Maybe we should improve relations with the Clubs?"
Chun-Yan stared at him, "You do realize we've been rivals with the Clovese since before you were born? Besides, I don't think that the Suit of Hearts would be too keen on making an alliance with them."
Alfred was already walking away, "I'm going to befriend the king!" He called back to her.
Alfred, being the extrovert he was, had no problem whatsoever just walking up to the King of Clubs and starting a conversation.
"Hello!" He greeted with his classic smile.
The King seemed to be caught off guard by this but smiled back anyways, "Hello. King Alfred of Spades, if I am not mistaken?"
"Yes, verily it is I." Alfred affirmed.
The Clovese King took a sip of his drink and looked down at Alfred (man was he tall!), "I am King Ivan of Clubs. Aren't our Suits supposed to be rivals?"
Alfred laughed, "Who said we had to be rivals? New King's, new rules am I right?"
"I suppose so. It will be a pleasure to rebuild relations however we should probably talk to the rest of our Court's, da?"
Alfred nearly didn't respond because he was lost in Ivan's eyes. They were so beautiful up close. They were so filled with wonder.
Almost as if it was on cue, a waltz started to play. Alfred turned to where it was playing to see King Francis near the band. When he noticed Alfred looking at him, he winked at him.
'Did he plan this?' Alfred wondered.
Alfred turned back to Ivan and asked before he could chicken out, "Would you like to dance?"
Much to Alfred's surprise, Ivan replied with a yes.
Alfred smiled, "Cool! So let's go!" He pulled Ivan to the dance floor and the two got into position.
Alfred offered, "I can lead if you want. I don't mind."
Ivan nodded somewhat shyly and the musicians started to play another song.
The two began to dance and make small talk. They learned about each other's lives, interests and what living in other suits was like.
Soon, the topic of conversation went to astronomy and Alfred got excited. Astronomy was one of his favourite things to study and he could list off endless facts about it.
Ivan asked, "So I assume you have a big interest in astronomy?"
Alfred started to ramble, "Big doesn't even cover it dude! I love it so much! It's so cool to learn about and the night sky is so pretty!"
That's when Alfred made another offer, "Dude! How about we go outside and look at the stars? It'll be so cool!"
Ivan beamed, a childlike twinkle in his eyes, "I'd like that a lot!"
So they left the party and went to look at the stars.
They spent most of that time in peaceful silence, breaking it only to point out constellations and stars.
All the while, Alfred was stealing glances at Ivan. He looked so calm and peaceful, he wouldn't dare try to shatter it.
Soon, the party ended and the two realized that the rest of their Court's would be looking for them.
Alfred hugged Ivan with a hopefully not too visible blush, "It was really nice to meet you dude! I hope we can talk to each other again soon!"
Ivan hugged back and pulled away, "Me too but for now we should part ways."
Ivan went to leave, leaving Alfred smiling like an idiot behind him.
"Best night ever!" He whispered to himself excitedly.
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