Summary: The ruling monarchs of Spades, blinded by each other's love and affection, faces Fates judgment to prove that being monarchs isn't just all about duties. With other Kingdoms' laws bended one by one, will they be able to prove that their love is stronger than what the Fates had written? Will they achive this goal or will they die trying?

CHAPTER I

TIME

"It's my time to say good bye."

Dearest Diary of mine,

Every day feels like the walls are drawing closer than ever before. I don't know what to do... I can feel death roaming around the walls of the palace like it's already sucking my life. The roses give me comfort but that alone is what aids me. Since I've received this mark upon my leg, I can feel nothing but exploited and used- but that doesn't matter...

The magic I have can be used by the King, the smiles I let out cures a lot but why don't I feel fulfilled. Was this really my fate? I'm afraid, diary. I am so very afraid... The Queen's sole existence is for the people, right? But can't she exist for herself? This war is not going to end soon and it breaks my heart every time I hear cries of children outside my window. Whenever I go to sleep, I can hear the voices of my people... The pain... the agony... the pleas... everything... I can't stand it anymore.

Her majesty said there might come a time when I may have to do the sacred ritual but I'm scared... I'm so scared... It's unfair. Why do I have to die? Why would everything end if I die? Why do the fates seem to leave Spades on its own like a child lost upon the woods with nowhere to go? The Kingdom of Power and Time... why do I feel like I'm nothing more but I pawn...

Nero

Dearest Diary of mine,

I feel slightly relieved that the King had safely come back from battle. Our knave has passed on and our King said we will give him a proper burial soon enough. I visited her. Ah, she was still as charming as ever. I couldn't believe that she would protect the borders the way she did.

I suddenly felt so useless... All I could do was to stay inside the capital and hold the children close to me as the earth tremor warned the Club's King has come to fight. The waters have turned gray meaning the King of Hearts is in rage and last but not least, the wind was slicing everything in sight. The diamonds King had enough as it seems... and then, there's my clock... It tolls with the King of spade's anger. To have him come back to us is a miracle indeed...

I can never be thankful enough...

Mercy

Dearest Diary of mine,

Blood covered my hands today... I have come with my King to join him in his battles in place of our long departed friend, my knave. It was devastating... At first I wondered if I could ever move my limbs upon the sight of blood but when I saw the injured spade soldier, I couldn't help but step in. It all came so natural... So natural that I forgot that I was scared.

I couldn't help him in the end. He died pleading for his family to be safe... He's just one of a few dozen who had fallen under the deep spell of death. I lay standing infront of the people I serve... the dead people I serve...

They tell me that it was normal since it was war and that I should stop worrying...

The King had suddenly grown distant...

Wyne

Dearest Diary of mine,

Good bye... My time... is up.

Jhanye

Dear Diary,

I'm glad to have met so many people in my life. Since I've been Queen, my whole life had been a burst of colour and excitement. My beloved and most gracious spades, I can never be thankful enough to have served such a monarchy like this...

To my people and loving friends... I'll gladly risk my life to save you all from this disaster...

It's my time to say good bye.

George

Hello Diary,

It's me again. I guess this is it. I'm going to do what every Queen is afraid of and I'm proud of it! I've seen battles multiple times so saving the future generations from seeing what I've seen is enough reason right. ALL GLORY TO THE ETERNAL SPADES! It is Spades time to rise once more!

Altaire

"So noisy..."

A loud thump was heard from the closing of the hard-covered book that a blond was holding. A sigh followed soon enough as the holder delicately settled the book on the wooden table before him. The only light was the torches upon the side of the bed side and a candle on the very table. "The skies truly bless Spades..." standing up from the seat, the blond held out his hand outside the window towards the raging skies. "But it's too loud for my tastes and some children are also getting scared..." Thunder roared outside the window as lightning lines through the skies of the Spades. It the ordinary thing in these sacred lands of thunder and lightning but more of this vicious storms and Spades will suffer harsher than its reputation of might and power. "Hear me thunder... Hear me lightning... As Queen of Spades, you shall heed my calls and stop for the night... "

A few moments later the skies were cleared. It was like a thunder storm never happened. A smile found its way on the face of the one who uttered such a spell. One person can only utilize that spell without being struck down by lightning... someone who was part of the Spades' royalty and someone who had enough magic to even dictate the very power of the land itself. The Queen of Spades.

It was the Queen of Spades who stood in front of that window wearing that unwavering smile every person in Spades knows of. That aristocratic aura that flows from his very robes and the very essence of power can be felt from his very gaze, could only belong to the one who sits second in the monarchy. People would depict that his eyes would be mistaken for emeralds but by the way it shone it would greatly remind everyone of the life the leaves would have in spring. His complexion was pale, truly delicate for a male but the Fates seem to have blessed him with such porcelain-like touch. He who stood proudly before his people on his coronation day and he who had guarded Spades along with-

"Queen Arthur, it's awfully late don't you think?"

The Queen of Spades sets his gaze at the direction of the door where a man clad in blue stood. His hair and eyes were of darkness to compare with the night skies. A man he knows all too well, making it enough for him to chuckle. Yao. The Knave of the Kingdom of Spades who seem to only watch everything unfold. He became the Knave of Spades earlier than he was crowned as the Queen of Spades. He was the son of the former Knave and apparently it wasn't his Surname that he inherited but also his mark of destiny. It was quite funny actually, if one thinks about it. Yao was already the Knave since his first breath of the world because the mark he inherited was upon the back of his neck. It wasn't a big deal at first since he could be his successor but the fact that his father lost the mark was something detrimental to the Kingdom! To have a knave of a mere month old- so the Monarchy hid that. If there was one to experience a life of hiding and a life of secrecy, it would be Yao. It proved to be useful for when he was officially named the Knave of Spades, he knew more of what Spades was than of his monarchs. He knew how to defend himself, because of the countless assassination plots against him and he knew how life goes around in the common folk. It was like the Fates designed his very existence to become a Knave worthy of his position.

"It is quite late..." Arthur trailed off as he sat once more on his chair and ran his fingers on the cover of the book. His gaze focused on the book he touched as if it was part of him.

"Not everything is gained through the books, my friend and do not change the subject... Why did you use that spell? You do know that Queens are not to perform that spell unless it is the last option. I know your magic is quite good, even the best, but wasting it on thunder and Lightning to stop is awfully quite a task-It may even take a toll on your body", Yao said as he entered the very room, eyes fixed upon the very monarch and long time friend he serves. Oh, he forgot to add that he can be such a nagger when it comes to traditions. Sometimes, he mistakes as him the Queen of Hearts whom also is currently in their circle of friends.

Arthur was the youngest son of the family of mages, a family of nobles. During his studies in Hearts, fire left him with nothing but a title and a fortune enough to secure him a comfortable life. His childhood was spent studying inside the halls of his mansion. He wanted to be a minister, the best one to ever exist: the reason why he studies so much; yet the fates seemed to have a nice plan for him and when the last Queen died, the mark of Queen appeared on his back and thus, he became Queen of Spades instead. "Until we find the person who bears the King's mark, I have all the magic I could use in my hands. I just figured why not use it now since a lot of children are alone out there and scared of thunder and lightning. "

"A very smart excuse. Very smart, indeed, but couldn't you just say the truth of you not liking noisy environment when you're reading?" Yao said with a smirk as he folded his arms. Oh, he knew him far too well. Arthur scoffs and glared at him in return. Yup, he was right and Arthur won't admit that. If there was one thing that he could count on, it was the fact that he knew Arthur since he was a child. The fact that he has been his friend. And that fact that Arthur was quite the easiest to read- even the Queen of Hearts agrees there, most especially if he was troubled. "All right, I get it. Fine." Yao said when he didn't get an answer and settled both his hands on the wooden surface of the table. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the bloody matter. You're imagining things." Arthur replied rolling his eyes at the end before opening the book once more and lowered his gaze on the pages.

"You won't have to go through that ceremony..." Arthur's fingers drew to a halt. Bingo. So that's what was on his mind. Of course, it has been what goes on in his mind. That damn ceremony that every Queen of Spades faced upon his or her reign. No matter what time... no matter what circumstances, it seemed that every Queen has existed for that same purpose.

"Yao... it's not about that... " Yeah, go lie to somebody else. Yao just rubbed his temples for now before sighing rather loudly and took the book from his grasps. Arthur immediate reaches his hand to him with and demanded, "Hey! Give that back!"

"You're not going to make yourself paranoid again because of these books. They are staying in my library and that's that." Yao snaps his finger and the books vanished with one little lightning strike. And yes, the knave can use that same ability but on small scales. "Now, Queen..."

If there was one thing in this world that he hated, it was being called by his title. It was that accursed title that made his life a living hell. When the fire accident happened, he only called his life a pit of hell but when he was crowned Queen, everything was hell. What was so bad of becoming Queen? What the bloody hell was wrong of becoming Queen? You get to live in luxury all your life- and then if something goes wrong, you'll eventually end your life for your people and Kingdom: That's what. In Spades, there was that gift only the Queens could give their Kingdom and that was their death. A person to sacrifice, that's what the Queen was to the court when they made a mistake that they couldn't fix. The big eraser.

No one could imagine how much he cried when he saw the mark of the Queen on his back. The mark of Death. The mark that every royalty despises. He openly despises his mark and his title. Everything that comes with it but he hides it in a cheerful facade of a loving Queen. Well, he really was caring and gentle but he has his times when he had enough. He can be the most caring in the world to the coldest person in existence! Like the raging storms of Spades, he can change the direction of his attitude from left to right in seconds. Spades has even survived two years without a King with him as Queen and Yao as the Knave and he was certain that whoever would be King...Whoever the bloody hell he was, he would be the one to initiate conflict and would bloody ask him to save his arse and the Kingdom with his life. How fitting. The role of the Queen was the toughest and no one even recognizes it. No one in the public knows of this role and no one must. He understands...it just, why? Why go that far?

"Yes, yes... I know I'll get to sleep and tomorrow or the next day after that, the King who would be the death of me would come and ruin my happy days. Yay. Good night."

Spades...His dearest Spades... Why him of all the people who can become Queen? Why choose him this time?