Jack of Diamonds is the second in the Tales of El’Anret trilogy of stories. Yes, Jack comes after Queen in the set- you’ll see why. 🙂
One
The last rays of sun shined against his fair skin, turning it a warm pink. It was Jack’s favorite time of day—the sun was setting, and Twilight would soon be upon the world of El’Anret. Half-asleep, half-awake, the horizon’s skies blazed while the blue depths of night slowly doused the flames.
To him, everything was more magical in the dark.
But this time of the day was special to him for another reason, too. He knew that soon, his mother would join him, helping him catch the very last touches of light in clutched hands. “These will always keep you safe, just like me,” she would say.
Tonight, just like always, Jack would ask her why.
“Your daddy lives between the lines of Day and Twilight,” she would answer, “so we catch every little piece of him we can when the time comes.”
A kiss, a hug, and a goodnight.
Tonight, he wanted to know more about his father. Gideon, his mother had told him, the former Prince of Twilight— a title that had been passed on to Jack. His mother always promised when he was older, they would talk.
Well, Jack was feeling older and braver.
But first, he had to avoid getting in trouble for being at the tip-top of the trees that bordered the Burrow.
“Jack!”
It was too late.
Queen Hazel Leigh Mac Tíre stomped forth from the mouth of Queen’s Burrow, her eyes locked onto his lithe frame.
“Coming, mom,” Jack replied woefully.
“What have I told you? You can’t be in the treetops when no one is around!”
The thing was, someone was always around. Someone unseen, something in the dark, something hiding just behind everywhere you might look.
Of course, his mother meant Sir Holt, or herself, or someone else tangible.
“Kids climb trees Mortalside, mom! I was fine!” Jack argued his point as he slid from branch to branch, his movements effortless.
“Most trees Mortalside aren’t eons and eons old, and tall enough to match!”
This he couldn’t argue against.
He strode forward to her, giving her a big hug. She returned the squeeze with a smile.
“It’s Twilight,” Jack mouthed the words as his mother said them, “are you ready?”
“Always, mom.”
Their fingers wrapped around one another’s, palm-to-back, and they reached for the skyline. One hand clasped closed, then the other, each one brought to Jack’s chest before reaching out again. Faster and faster it went, until they both laughed for one or the other messing up the rhythm.
“Mom,” Jack began, a quiver in his changing voice, “why do we do this?”
The Queen of El’Anret smiled at her son. “Your daddy lives in the lines between Day and Twilight—“
“So we catch every piece of him we can when the time comes.” Jack echoed her words aloud, not missing a beat.
Leigh gave a soft smile and nodded.
“But… why, really, mom? Will you tell me about dad?”
Leigh’s smile faltered a moment, as she ruffled Jack’s dark brown hair. “Honey, it’s hard to talk about. Maybe when you’re older.”
“I am older, mom.”
Leigh eyed the darkened skies overhead, seeing the same dazzling purple haze as she had so long ago in a random field with a strange boy and a love she couldn’t explain.
“So you are, sweetheart.”
***
She dreamed of him again. Glittering eyes. Lavender. Darkness. He crept through the Barrow, finding her chamber, dodging light and guards both to enter. She could see him so clearly at the foot of her four-post bed, standing there, his arms spread wide between the posts. And again, he seemed on the verge of speaking, but no words came.
Leigh heard her own voice. “Gideon.”
He tried to smile.
Then he was gone.
Leigh sat up, wrapping herself in her mother’s old sheets— a gift for herself from Mortalside. The same old ache was there, making itself at home in the pit of her heart. Time hadn’t even tried to heal her wound. She knew he was gone, that his body was in a mound in the heart of the Wyldwood—she had helped bury him herself. But in dreams, he was there. He was real.
Only in dreams…
For once, she was thankful that the Marks had changed her, that dreams were not impossible for her in El’Anret. Rubbing one finger against the bright red flower that sat on her bedside table, Leigh brought the room to life with fire and light. She took in her surroundings for the hundredth—thousandth?—millionth time. The walls were hardened dirt, adorned with many maps and trinkets and paintings of Fae, some of which she would never know. One of them, she was told, was Titania before the change. The next painting was Gideon and Alexandria’s mother—she could tell from the golden eyes, but the woman’s deep brown hair was a serious contrast to her children’s. A blank space sat next to her on the wall. That painting had been ripped to shreds and burned. Across the room sat a mirrored vanity— a gentle reminder of home— next to twin doors that met at a point, both nestled into a single wooden frame. The shape reminded of Leigh a lotus flower petal, with its wide-set base and gently narrowing sides.
This had been Leigh’s home for so long now. While she did not look any older than the day she became ruler of El’Anret, she felt aged and weary, ever chasing diplomacy and a good night’s sleep.
“Gideon.” She sighed, missing the days when saying his name was all it took.
The guards were changing watch. She knew by the shuffling boots on the dirt that dawn was coming, and with it, great changes to the Queendom. Leigh waited for the inevitable tap at her doors.
“Come in,” she said at the first tap.
One of the two pointed doors opened gently, slowly revealing the guard for the day.
“Your Majesty, I see you are already up.”
Leigh smiled the best she could. “Sir Holt.”
The Diamondguard captain smiled in return, his newly minted armor shining in the glow from the pulsing fireflower that sat at her bedside.
“Today is the day,” his voice had a thinly-veiled sadness to it.
“Indeed it is,” Leigh replied, “let’s go either enforce history and tradition, or shatter it to pieces.”
***
The whole of El’Anret stood before her on the flowering mounds of the plains. Selkies and Pixies and ancient, wild Fae without names, Fish Fae and Treefolk, creatures that looked like orbs of elements, humans that looked like embodiments of elements. Some orcs and goblins dotted the crowds, but not many.
Sir Holt held up one arm, his silvered armor glistening before them. A hush washed over the murmuring masses. Jack stood next to Sir Holt and watched the various Fae, fascinated by their differences. A still-toddling Adelay held onto the hem of his tunic.
“Good morning to you, El’Anret,” Leigh said, feeling as awkward as she ever had addressing them. Waves of “Hail!” and “Well met” and “Your Majesty” poured forth in reply.
“I’m glad the sun’s decided to be with us today,” she continued, “as you all know, it is a very important day. We will begin our search for the next Marked Queen!”
The crowds cheered in varied tongues. Leigh hoped their cheers did not mean they were ready to be rid of her, the first and only mortal Queen of Diamonds. She had fought and worked very hard for a people that were not even her own—the way she thought it should be. She pushed the idea down with a swallow.
“I have been told many stories of the generational shift that occurs this Midsummer’s Eve—a shift that, for my people Mortalside, would occur every five hundred years. Give or take the accidental hiding of a mortal Queen that showed up really late.”
The crowd stifled laughter, but Leigh laughed aloud with them. The truth was just as absurd as she felt.
“So! I would like for all of you to join me this evening at Twilight to begin. The barrows will open soon, and the Searing Eyes will begin their search.” Leigh’s voice hitched as she continued. “Everyone, I just… I just want to say thanks for accepting me. Thanks for being on my side. I’ll make sure the newest Queen of Diamonds treats you well.”
Another cheer. Another thank you.
Little pieces of the crowds dispersed at once, the Fae traversing the Sparkways in an instant. Before long, the mound was empty and quiet. Leigh shivered as a sigh heaved her shoulders.
“You did well,” said Sir Holt, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
“Thanks. It never gets easier, addressing everyone. And now… I’m asking them to replace me.”
“They are upholding tradition, Your Majesty,” Holt countered, “You have been a fine Queen to El’Anret.”
“Mom?”
Leigh turned to Jack, picking Adelay up on the way.
“Why would they get rid of you?”
“They’re not getting rid of me, honey,” she replied, her voice tender, “but… even in El’Anret, I may not live as long as a true Fae.”
“But you’re not 500 years old—why is it happening now?”
“I came into the picture very late in their timeline. Who knows what happened to the Queen in-between.” Leigh looked to Holt, her eyes shielded. “Did they even search?”
“Lex did not perform such a duty, no.”
Lex. Jack had never even known her, but he had heard the stories—both the softened, edited ones, and the real ones that were only whispered in the night. He despised her.
“Will they make you leave? What will happen to us?”
Leigh chewed her lip, eyeing the horizon. “She won’t immediately become Queen, I don’t think. She’ll need training, among other things. As for us, I—“
“Do not fret on it, little Prince,” Holt said with a too-enthusiastic candor, “come, let us find some magic and mischief, hmm?
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