Tales of the Tarot
With war raging on over the world and my overall indecision, it was no surprise that by 1943, the Italians decided that they needed to invade my little country. With mon frere under German occupation, I was pretty much defenceless, there's no denying that. However, even one as militarily unknowing as me could see that all the gains in Europe that the Axis had made were crumbling away. I could see that both Italies were desperate to earn a victory, even one so small as the occupation of a small area with a nice harbour.
As the Axis' situation deteriorated further, the Italians and their fascist hierarchy left to be replaced by the equally unstable Germans. I could tell that something was wrong with the nation on France's eastern frontier, now and in the near future.
Even without my cards.
Despite his reputation at the time, however, Herr Deutschland was surprisingly respectful and even allowed me to remain in peace at home for the most part. In all honesty, I felt like his bosses wanted nothing to do with me. That I was just some French girl left to then by the Italians after their surrender, but if it meant I didn't have to turn as right wing as those around me, I accepted the situation. There was one instance in particular though, where I received a visit from the occupying nation and things got very interesting from my point of view, though he was probably quite worried even if he was probably the least superstitious nation I knew.
This day came in the latter stages of May 1944. It was mid-morning by the time I heard the knock on my door. I went down the stairs of my room, which was on top of a casino as you'd expect, and opened the door to the stoic blonde man in his grey uniform. However, what was unusual about him was that he was so incredibly pale, even to the point of appearing shaky. I'd heard he was losing ground in North Africa and Eastern Europe, but I never imagined what damage this had all done to him. Despite this, I appeared unaffected; a skill you pick up when involved with gambling as much as I am, and addressed him politely, fiddling with my glasses slightly.
"Bonjour Allemagne. Can I be of assistance to you and your Reich?" I had to be formal. Inside, I was too worried not to be. Considering how unstable and out of character he seemed, one wrong move and I could end up in a lot of trouble. However, he merely nodded in reply and spoke in a somewhat subdued voice.
"Guten tag Matilda." He said. He had always called me by my human name, so I knew that he wasn't completely a changed nation. I could tell that the uniform and salutes merely held up a façade. Germany would end up a stable republic, not a fascist thousand year Reich like he was pretending and I was prepared to show him this.
"Please come in. I'm sure you have something to discuss with me." I said, making way and leading him into my home. Again, he murmured in response
"I need to check that you haven't been relaying information to the resistance, or the French." He added particular venom to the last part of the sentence, but this was to be expected. The two had spent years at each other's throats, but they would soon be cordial. I could feel it.
"I've been very well guarded and haven't left my own borders…It's not in my ways to be causing trouble, especially when I'd have no chance at success." I paused for a moment, rubbed my eye beneath my glasses and smiled at him, kindly "Please take a seat in here, you don't want to be travelling so soon." I opened the door to one of my playing rooms and smiled. The room was dimly lit so far and all that was really obvious from a quick glance was that there was a large table in the middle of the room and two seats on opposite sides. However, there was a lot more to this place, which Germany would soon find out. He smiled a little, politely, his ruse of stoic fascism not needing to be kept up around me, since he knew me and I wasn't a superior in his hierarchy. Germany entered the room and took one of the seats, while I swiftly turned the lights on and took the dealer's seat.
Germany looked a little puzzled as I sat down, for in front of me were 54 playing cards, laid out face down in 3 rows of 18 cards each. I looked up at him slightly, his height still towering over my own, and smiled. "Allow me to show you something, s'il vous plait?" I asked in my politest tone of voice "I haven't been able to perform for anyone for a long time. Your officers show no interest and my visitors besides them are very few nowadays." I knew that sympathy for a younger woman would help sway the German, but that was just an added bonus to knowing him for such a long time. He sighed and nodded "Fine. I suppose a little gimmick or two couldn't hurt."
"Merci beaucoup." I said, smiling and adjusting my glasses, then my long blonde braid. He couldn't have known at the time that what I would show him would go far beyond the level of any gimmick. To anyone other than myself these just seemed like normal playing cards, but I could easily use them as tarot cards. Germany was about to find out about his future from the little Monégasque girl that he and his officers had pushed aside as "useless". Was I bitter? Arguably so. Did that affect what I would tell him? No. It wasn't his fault that he'd soon be punished for the actions of his leaders after all.