For Kellan’s story start I need to talk about his parents, specifically his mother. Lezabel Cor was born to be the third Ruler of hearts in her family. During this time Hearts and Diamonds were on bad terms, with their boarders constantly battling each other. In hopes of ending the tension between the two kingdom Queen Elsie Cor (King of Hearts) and Regent Morgan Diamant (Acting-Queen of DIamonds) arranged an alliance and marriage between Lezabel and the Diamond Prince, Prince Jasper Diamant. The two married when Jasper was 18 and the treaty was signed by Queen Elsie of Hearts and Queen Opal Diamant XXII of Diamonds (the sister of Jasper and King of Diamonds).
Lezabel and Jaspers marriage was a tense one as they had nothing in common and Jasper was very a shy and timid man while Lezabel was a much more lively and energetic woman. The two eventually became friends but nothing beyond that but understood they had a duty to be together.
Lezabel became pregnant after three years into their marriage. In both Hearts and Diamonds everyone was excited for the royal baby that would signify a peace between the two kingdoms. The couple went took a tour around the two kingdoms starting in Hearts, going through Diamonds and returning to Hearts for the actual birth. However when they reached the capital of Diamonds (Gorra) Lezabel was imprisoned and was prevented from returning to Hearts. Diamonds had hoped if the baby was born with a Diamond mark then a Diamond would end up ruling Hearts and thus making Hearts a part of Diamonds. Hearts enraged by the capture of their princess and going against the treaty declared war on Diamonds.
While Lezabel was imprisoned she gave birth to Kellan, her first child and only child she ever had with Jasper. Kellan was born with a red heart as his mark rather than a Diamonds as Lezabel’s captors had hoped:
To Lezabel’s surprise Jasper ended up helping both her and Kellan out of Diamonds behind his sister’s back. She returned to learn her mother had been killed during the war and her father (King-Consort Dalbir Samra-Cor) had been left in charge until she came back to become queen and the King of Hearts. She was crowned and the war carried on for another three years until Lezabel heard that Jasper was killed in battle. She called for a truce and peace talks began. Any hopes of Hearts and Diamonds being allies quickly died but agreed not to invade or attack one another.
Lezabel remarried a year later to a man she truly loved, Sanjay O’neal and he was crowned king-consort and Queen of Hearts. The two had a daughter, Sara. Sanjay had been the only father Kellan had ever known as he had no memories of his father and never knew him. Sanjay however died from a sickness that had been going around Hearts when Kellan was 14 and Sara was 9. It took Lezabel five years to get over her husbands death before marrying Odina Rowe (Lezabel needed a Queen of Hearts and felt Odina would make a good royal)
Kellan’s story properly starts when he was 20, as the Jack of Hearts and heir to Hearts throne. His mother was giving him more responsibilities in attempt to prepare him for what will come when he does become King. They weren’t huge responsibilities but enough to require an assistant. A very chatty assistant called Jana Kroda. Jana was a common who had lived in a more rural part of Hearts with her family as they ran their weaving shop. She came to the capital to make a better more exciting life for herself. Thus not really knowing the etiquette required to talking to her higher ups:
Kellan’s interactions with Jana often left him confused by the way she was so loud and chatty with him. He had tried a few times to make sure she understood ‘her place’ but she always thought he was telling a joke and wouldn’t ever take him seriously and would just elbow him and laugh. He began to accustomed to her and the way she talked about things and enjoyed her company and the nickname ‘Princey’:
For a week she vanished and was replaced by a different servant who knew the ‘rules’ and didn’t talk with Kellan with the same familiarity as Jana had. When she come back he was overjoyed which was a surprise to the both of them. It had turned out she had gone back home to see be at her sisters wedding. Kellan after her absence began to reevaluate how he truly felt about her and wondered what he would do if she wasn’t in his life anymore and he didn’t like it. He loved her and she felt the same about him:
The two began to have a ‘secret’ affair with one another not really aware that everyone else was very much aware (they weren’t very subtle about their feelings). Soon word got to Lezabel who was less than thrilled with her son ‘fooling’ around. Lezabel infuriated with Kellan and worried for him as the future King of Hearts went to Jana and spoke to her about his importance and why he must choose a Queen carefully, she removed Jana from the palace with some money to get by without telling Kellan. Jana left willingly feeling she was hurting both Kellan and Heart’s future by being with him:
Kellan was less than happy that his mother had chased away his lover and confronted her. They argued for hours about Jana and the law that prevents Royals marrying commons. Lezabel however would not let up and made it very clear to Kellan he was forbidden from seeing Jana again and that she was no longer in his life:
Kellan however did not give up and began to do his own research wether it was true or not that Royals and Commons could not be together. For months he went through books and articles to find some sort of loophole and if not he was willing to give up his right to the throne to his younger sister in order to be with Jana. It took him months to make sure that there was no actual law against the union between a Royal and Common and found instead that it was just a social law that had been made up:
During this time he had sent some people out to see where Jana may have gone in hopes of finding her again once he figured how he could be with her. Once he made sure the law as on his side he left to find Jana:
It didn’t take him long to find her as she was still working within the capital of Hearts (Balava), albeit on the outer rim of the capital. She had still hoped to make a life for herself there and knew she shouldn’t be too close to the palace in case Lezabel realised she was still there. But she mostly felt every time she saw the palace as she still cared deeply for Kellan. Imagine the surprise she felt when Kellan burst into the bar she had working in:
Kellan stayed with Jana hiding from guards that had been looking for him. In this time being reunited they rekindled their relationship and were happy and content with one another. Kellan knew he would eventually have to return to the palace and his family and he was not willing to do that without Jana by his side. However Kellan wasn’t a fool and knew his mother would try to push Jana away again so went out to the nearest Temple of Masou and requested to be married to Jana explaining to the priest there who he was and how the law had been wrong and incorrect this whole time. The priest agreed to marry them. Jana was first reluctant to marry Kellan out of fear she would be damaging his and Hearts future but eventually agreed to marry him:
It was a small and simple ceremony but it had been blessed Masou making them bound together and not even Lezabel could split them apart. The two stayed in Jana’s small flat/apartment for months with Kellan still not wanting to return to palace. Three months after their wedding Jana told Kellan she was pregnant. Both were overjoyed to be having a baby together and Kellan knew it was time they returned to the palace:
The two returned willingly and went straight to Lezabel. Kellan explained everything to her and how Jana was now his wife and that Lezabel had no power in trying to split them apart again and that she would be defying Hearts fae by even attempting it. Lezabel was forced to accept Jana as Kellan’s wife and the mother of her grandchild:
Jana was ‘welcomed’ into the palace and was recognised as Kellan’s wife but she was stuck in a limbo where she wasn’t a noble nor was she common so no one really knew how to talk to her. Life in the palace wasn’t easy for her but she was happy just being with Kellan. Months after coming to the palace Jana gave birth to Seth and celebrations were held for the new the prince and even Lezabel was overjoyed to meet her new grandson and began to accept Jana more. Jana had named Seth after her own father (despite a few protest from the nobles and Lezabel) and Kellan had liked the name:
