Story
Centuries ago a Great War broke out in the Cards Empire. Brother against brother, culture against culture, and color against color. The empire was broken into four kingdoms to resolve conflict. Diamonds was in the Northwest with their vibrant yellows and oranges and delicious food. Their neighbors to the south loved reds and pinks. Hearts was constructed by the best engineers and artists Cards could offer. In the Northeast corner was the coldest and most brutal place in the world. With green as their national color, Clubs used their forests against anyone who they attacked or fought off. This brings us to Spades, the most elegant and magical of the four kingdoms. The kindest, strongest, and most intelligent humans lived here. It was obvious early on that Spades would be the most powerful of the four kingdoms with blues and violets taking the colors of the first flag.
Each kingdom had its own royal bloodline and each kingdom had its traditions. Every Spadian had some kind of necklace that dangled from their neck that was made by their grandparents. Each elder couple that expected a grandchild carefully picked and made the best pendant for the newborn. However, the child would only receive one pendant. If the child was a girl, the father’s parents would present their necklace and if it was a boy, the mother’s parents would give him their handmade necklace. It had always been said that the pendant housed the heart and would one day lead the child to their soul mate, but no one expected the prince of Spades, Sage, to go out and find her.
Brilliant blue eyes stared into emerald as two young children stared at each other in surprise. The girl in the ragged red dress was running from a man that was chasing her from the docks when she had run into a boy just a year older than her with a regal white button up long sleeve. It only lasted a moment, but both of their pendants gave off a warmth and a dim glow. The light faded quickly when calls came from behind both of the children. The girl was lifted by the gruffy old man that had been previously chasing her when guards stomped behind the young boy.
“You’re Highness!”
Sage was pulled away and blocked from the man. With swords pointed, the guards asked the elder what he was doing to the young prince and the Hearts girl. “I didn’t do anything! This girl was caught stealing my bre-“ he began before he was harshly interrupted by the girl’s thrashing. “No I didn’t! You stole the bread daddy and I were trying to sell!”
The dispute was resolved when the guards had found the Heart merchant looking for his daughter and confirmed her story. With the man arrested, the guards could finally return the prince to his home.
Once home, the boy told his parents about the odd sight of seeing a Heartish with a pendant of Spadian tradition and how they glowed. His parents gasped and quickly sent for a search of the young girl. Hardly ever would soul mates cross paths twice so, when the merchant’s cart and daughter were gone it looked like the eight year old would never see his soul mate again.
Nine years passed and both children had grown into wonderful and successful teenagers. When the two had learned the truth of that night they had to also learn to move on. At the prime age of eighteen, Sage fixed his golden hair to look more unlike himself than he already did in his ragged clothes. He wanted to sneak out into town again. It had become something like a hobby for the boy to sneak out and see what his citizens did and how they were doing.
When he arrived in town he was confused when he saw that there was a buzz about. A girl dressed in red stood on a cart, holding bread high above her head. “I’ve got the best bread from Hearts! Cheap! Never had it before? Well I can let you have a taste with the guarantee that you’ll be hooked!” She was grinning widely and laughing as she handed out pieces of bread to the citizens that had been trying to live off of nothing. Spades was going through a type of recession and she wanted to do as much as she could to help.
One woman approached her and asked why she wore a necklace when she was from Hearts. “Oh! My dad’s family is from Spades so they wanted to keep the tradition going,” she happily explained. She wrapped a hand around it and smiled until it warmed. Sage looked at his pendant as it started to glow. This was just like that night. He looked up with wide eyes staring at the dirty blonde girl who was searching wildly for the cause of the heated stone.
Taking in a breath of the cold winter air, he stepped up to her and tapped her shoulder gently. When she twirled around he felt his heart flutter and he scratched the back of his neck nervously. “U-uh.. your pendant.” He didn’t need to say more and all eyes were on the two as their hands glowed brightly from holding their pendants.
Looking at each other with wide eyes they let them go and watched as the pendants floated off of their necks and above everyone’s heads. They glowed brightly before crashing into each other and falling back on their owner’s necks, but now carrying a copy of the other’s pendant with their own.
The two were rushed to the castle to inform the royalty that the magic in the pendants really worked.
When they arrived Sage’s parents rushed up to him when they recognized him. The moment the girl noticed she was before royalty, she kneeled, not wanting to get in trouble. She was surprisingly helped up and told to stand before the king. “What is your name,” the king asked with a kind smile.
“Leni. Leni Wiebe, you’re Highness,” she said shyly. She thought she was in a lot of trouble thanks to how the pendants reacted when the two got close. The king clapped loudly and announced to everyone that there would be a large feast and a celebration for not only two people who found their soul mates, but one being the heir to the throne.
As it turned out, the two had a lot in common and got along very well. By the end of the night they couldn’t wait to be married. It seemed rush, but legend had it that was how the pendants worked.
The two married after three years and not long after, had to take the throne. The king and queen passed when a disease struck the kingdom and spread to the other kingdoms. It was a long battle, but the new royals made it through without dilemma. They moved on to be parents of five beautiful children and great rulers of Spades.
The queen was soon known as ‘The Heart of Spades’ for her kindness and willingness to take care of the kingdom and do what she could for the people. She was a role model in everyone’s eyes and would continue until after her death.
