Villainess Of Hearts

The flames crackled in its fireplace, illuminating its iron-wrought screen, the bright flames lit up the clusters of red roses and twisting vines decorating the metal piece. It set the mood of the atmosphere of the room heavily. An air of somber contemplation paired with the ambiance of a twisting and spinning evening yet to come. 

Dark wine red wallpapers matched white lounge chairs in a certain way, and each one of them were occupied by distinguished men and women. 

Yes, the place was no other but in the Castle of Hearts, in one of its available drawing rooms, the Queen of Hearts' drawing rooms. A number of people were gathered together in this very hour, the rhythmic tick-tock of the grandfather clock stayed in the background. Nicholas Hatter had already been here before and so had Queen Neo Anasthasia during the man's impromptu concert at that time. 

That particular event had been nearly two weeks prior.

It had been enough to pry the usually tight-lipped Queen of Clovers to speak up for the man's sake. She didn't wish to speak but found that it was the only right thing to do, compared to that, the stakes tonight were less about financial gain and musical enjoyment.

The entertainment before and the one grabbing the people's attention now were quite different.

One spoke to the crowd and touched hearts, this one asked for intellectual debate on two sides—each one trying to outdo and outwit the other. It left almost everyone on the edge of their seats, looking at the two opposing sides was solid enough for a crowd of its own despite the only sound being the fire, clocks and the swishing sound of chess pieces. 

The watchers were holding themselves in stiff postures while trying to maintain a semblance of an impressive and majestic nature. It also took some people a certain degree of effort to keep their mouths shut to not give advice or show any favor to one or the other until the victor had been decided upon.

The Queen of Hearts chewed on her bottom lip, staring momentarily at the man across from her—routines and paces dancing in her mind even as the man mulled over his next move. 

If he went with this particular way, she would do this to combat him or something else. Sacrificing a pawn was not a problem, even as she placed it one step forward right in the Black Knight's path.

Would the King of Clovers take the bait?

A sacrificial pawn, it didn't amount much to her. It actually restricted her other more important pieces' movement...he finally chose his direction. He ignored her pawn and moved something else, leaving it temporarily forgotten. It was a shame but she couldn't actually reach for his Knight with her pawn nor with her own bishop. She pursed her lips and instead swept her rook upwards by three spaces.

He had taken much more time than she admitted.

"Your Majesty? Are you not used to lightning quick movements?" She was once again waiting for him.

The King of Clovers offered a smile, "No, not really. But there are not a lot of things that require me to make hurried choices—that is simply asking for defeat if one is forced to make a decision at someone else's discretion."

"Is that so?"

"Except for a war," The Joker suddenly said, the man was the only one leaning back against his chair. He had a teacup in one hand and its tea platter held by his other hand, he looked calm when he sipped his drink. "That is the time where decisions are most important—every second is valuable, and possibly the difference between life or death." A chuckle escaped his lips, "It sounds like something what the King of Spades would say at a time like this, doesn't it?"

A snort escaped Ivan Nordskov's lips, not even bothering to offer a response to the Joker and he moved another pawn forward.

Carelessly might she add.

It was a mistake she could seize. Her fingers hovered above the piece but did not touch it immediately. It did not matter that this was a friendly match—if the man did not take it seriously, she'd crushed him. But this was too careless. Had the Joker's mouth enabled the man to lose his patience? Then it might be better to have the other man continue talking.

Unless it was a trap set out for her? 

The Queen of Hearts met the man's gaze for a moment, his eyes were clear and unreadable at the same time. His annoying smile was on his face, she then took the piece and placed it in her captured pieces. She returned his smile with her own, "It is a good thing then that one has advisers, it really is a difficult task to rule over the Kingdom, Your Majesty."

"I am fortunate indeed."

That was all he said, moving another piece forward. He never took one of her stray pawns that were currently defenseless. She didn't like it one bit, it made her wish to ignore the man's own pieces because it was surely a bait for her to do so…

"Your move, Your Majesty?" He asked.

She clicked her tongue and took a quick look over the board—his current movements right now were not what a normal player would take. She bit back a snicker, she would at least give him some of his dignity but was this his way of mocking her? It didn't really seem like he was serious about the game if he continued to do whatever he wished without much of an afterthought, claim as he might. She swung her rook to the right and took over the pawn.

He plucked out her rook and switched it with his knight.

"That was a little careless, Your Majesty." He pointed out with a relaxed tone, he raised a brow slightly. "Are you by any chance fatigued already, Queen Rosalyn? We can call it a night if you're tired."

One of her eyes twitched at his words, whether that was a genuine statement of concern or a way to rile her up—it was doing badly if he was attempting to be nice or doing what he intended to do if this was a way to spite her. But she needed to calm down. This was just a game, nothing but a game.

There was no need to get worked over.

It would be too unbecoming.