[ota] it,s the end of the as we know it. and feel fine (not really)

[heartafterheart.livejournal.com]

There were few times when a formal audience was called, at least these days. Fewer still when the King of Hearts sent out request to each suit that they send someone to bear witness...without saying why. Hadyn and Jordan's presence was required, in a way to did not give them room to deny their King.

And Ceiro, for once, looked the part of a King. In the few months since his illness began, he seemed to have aged. His face was drawn, lacking the customary kindness that so many of the Deck had always known him to possess. On his eyes were hood, and his face was drawn as the crown on his head seemed to weigh him down more and more. He sat on the aged, rarely used throne as people filed in, ignoring the hushed murmurs that seemed to rush people as they entered. Instead his eyes stayed focused on some spot ahead of him, hands folded and pressed against his lips as his elbows rested on the arms of the chair.

It seemed as if hours passed (though they hadn't) before Laureline Novak was escorted into the room, a guard on each side as they held on to her arms.

"What is the meaning of this, your....Majesty." Her tone seemed to shift even in mid-sentence, and she hesitated as she looked at the scene in front of her.

"Madame Novak," Ceiro spoke after a moment, his voice an eery mix of calm and anger. "You stand before us accused of treason against your Suit and the Deck, of attempted murder, and..." He paused then, before adding one last charge. "And the murder of your husband."

"W-what?" Laureline started to gape, before she scoffed. "Murder, your highness? I hard-"

"Silence, Madame!" Ceiro said in a booming voice. "You are guilty by your own words!" He hit the button that began the record in exquisite detail, in her own words as she admitted to her crimes. Slowly Laureline's face grew hard, as she looked to her sons, to Jordan.

"How...how could you!"

But before Jordan could answer, Ceiro stepped closer to her. "A mother who loved her children would not ask how. She would never have placed them in the position they found themselves in- pitted against the love of their mother and love of their suit. To force them to choose, to make drastic decisions in order to....protect her from herself."

She started to speak but Ceiro cut her off with an uncharacteristic lack of kindness. "I have no patience for your excuses!" He snapped, be it true anger or the poison in his system talking. "I strip you of your rank, Laureline Novak, and of your suit. You will find no solace in the arms of the Hearts, these so called 'weak people'. You are banished, least some other suit might well step forward to defend you."

And then he turned to the boys, Jordan and Hadyn who stood side by side just to the right of the thrones. Hadyn was watching his mother with an expression caught between regret and attempted apathy. Ceiro knew as well as any that he'd sacrificed to do what was right. And Jordan, despite what he'd done to help Ceiro, was stony faced...even if only on the outside. The King of Hearts suspected that was not truly the case.

"This is my last act as King." He said, standing up taller as he looked at everyone gathered one by one. "Though it breaks my heart. An ill king does no better than a dead one, and I do not seek to inflict more suffering upon the Deck." Enough people had died, had they not? Death haunted too many of them, too many of the suits. "I leave to get well- so that I might live for my wife...for my son. For those that need me."

He stepped then toward Jordan and Hadyn, continuing to speak in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "And for that, I have you both to thank. Had you never spoken, there might well have been another king to set in the ground. I cannot express you to, Jordan, how much of a service you have done my family. You have earned my love and respect." He clapped the younger man on the shoulder at that, "and you deserve the love and respect from other."

When he turned to Hadyn, the newest Nine gave him an almost skeptical look, before offering a slightly humorless, weak smile. "And you, Hadyn. You too have earned my love, my respect. My thanks. And I hope that someday you kind your way life- the way you want it."

He offered them both a hug before he turned and looked at Laureline, his eyes narrowing slightly. "If any would speak for the accused- they should speak now."

[ooc: This is Ceiro's final post. After this, he will be leaving the Deck to seek advanced medical assistance. He will, eventually, make a recovery and will return at least in an NPCly fashion. As for Laureline, this too, is her last post for some time. Assuming that no one steps up to speak for her- she will be escorted from the Deck lands without- well...anything more than she has on her back. Ceiro, of course, is not entirely cruel. She has just enough money to get her started on a life outside the Deck- but that's about it.]

Comments

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

A lot could be hidden behind a stony stare, and Jordan had worn his constantly since Ceiro had sent word. It was over, it was ending. He doubted his mother would die, but this was the end of their relationship. He'd ended it when he stepped into her apartments and recorded every word. Still, he couldn't really let anyone know how he felt, and that he knew was part of his problem in the Hearts.

But he couldn't. And the only time his mask cracked was when his mother turned on him. It was only brief, though, and then he slammed it back in place. He let Ceiro hug him, even embraced him back slightly, and then linked his hands behind his back.

And no, he was not speaking for Laureline Novak.

[somuchheart.livejournal.com]

Blythe approaches him after Laureline is escorted away, arms crossed over her chest in a familiar defensive gesture from months ago. After a long pause, she asks softly, "How... are you?" It was too familiar - maybe not exactly what Laureline said, but the anger and harshness behind it.

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

Jordan is in the same defensive gesture, though he likes to think people would have found it casual if that hadn't heard exactly what what Laureline had said about both he and Hadyn. As for how he is, he huffs out a laugh.

"Tired."

That seems to cover all sorts of things.

[somuchheart.livejournal.com]

She laughs a little humorlessly, looking down at her feet. "I... I know what you mean." Her shrug is small, almost unnoticeable. "Do you... if you want to talk about it or something... I'd be up for that."

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Jordan exhales. "I might. Later, though." Right now...well, there would be gawkers and sympathizers to get through. Then a prodigious amount of alcohol and...Christ, the ball, on Friday. Why was it everything at once?

[somuchheart.livejournal.com]

"Whenever you need it. I'll be here." She nods, reaching out to pat him gently on the arm. "You're... it was... really brave of you."

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

"I want to be King. Someday." And that is still true. Even now, as tired as he is, he he has that drive. "But not that way, and not the kind she wants - wanted, I guess - me to be."

[somuchheart.livejournal.com]

Blythe hesitates, then says in a quieter voice, "It's impossibly hard... to go against someone else's ambition for you. I admire you, Jordan." Because in the end, her parents had told her she wasn't good enough. Jordan, on the other hand, had told the world that his mother wasn't good enough. And that made all the difference.

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

He glances at her, and his lips tighten into a facsimile of a smile. "They weren't good enough for you, either," he says. Because he might not know absolutely everything about what happened, but he knows that much.

[somuchheart.livejournal.com]

Blythe stays silent for a moment, then shrugs her shoulders. "That's debatable." She wasn't totally over it. Not yet. Maybe that's why it hurt so much to hear the exchange between Laureline and Jordan.

[wiredspade.livejournal.com]

She sits in the back quietly watching. She says not a word. She has no love for Laureline Novak though she understands in a strange way.

And she watches others speak to Jordan and she? She takes a breath. Meghana can't react right now. She has to bury it.

Maybe later, when she can talk to Jordan like a mature adult when his whole world isn't crashing down.

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

At least she knows now why he's looked so worn down every time she's seen him since last Friday. That tape is why. And he can't talk yet. Not when Uncle Davin is disappearing with Avery, when his mother gave him that look, and when he has to stand tall.

But later, he comes to find her, and he has a bottle of expensive whisky in hand, because some things...some things just require drinking.

[wiredspade.livejournal.com]

Oh, it absolutely explains so much and everything. And with the entire world watching, one just picks and chooses where one stands and where one makes a fuss. But she considers other things as she watches and listens.

And when he finds her, Meghana is in her quarters at Spade Castle. Domino curled up on her bed. When she hears the knocking, she walks over to open the door and tilts her head, "Hey. Coming in I see?"

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

"Unless you'd rather I not," Jordan says. Not sharply, just...matter-of-factly. Though he can't go to Davin's this time around, so if Meghana told him not tonight, it'd be back to Hearts or all the way over to Clubs.

"I did bring a bribe." For Domino, he means. In the form of dog treats.

[wiredspade.livejournal.com]

"The only reason why I didn't go hunting for you was... I just..." She sighs for a moment, pushing her hair back for a moment. She smiles weakly then and steps back to allow him to enter her room. "I didn't know if you and Hadyn needed time or... I just had no idea."

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

"Hadyn went to Elisha." For better or for worse, Jordan and Hadyn hadn't been raised to cling together in any fashion. "And Zoe'll probably be there for him, too. I just...had to deal with a few odds and ends." Putting Laureline's things in storage. Dealing with the fact that there was a suspicious silence from the Bernard half of the family. "I don't want to be by myself tonight."

[sirforawhile.livejournal.com]

Iggy steps up beside him as the trial ends, once Jordan has returned to the crowd. He's silent for a few moments, hands in his pockets, solemn and thoughtful, studying the other man. "Hell of a load to carry."

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

It takes a moment for Jordan to look back at Iggy and acknowledge the other man's there. They're not that far apart in age, and Iggy had long been the library's best patron as well as being one of Jordan's contacts at his family's publishing company. But for all that, he's never been that close to him. No one has, of course, and that's long been his problem.

"Yeah," he finally says. "I...had to do it, though."

[sirforawhile.livejournal.com]

He shakes his head. "No one's blaming you, Jordan, or your brother. If anything, I think... maybe they don't know what to think of you now. I certainly don't. But you have respect now, or will have."

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

"Maybe." They'd see how that went. He expected there'd be pity, and probably shock. If most of the Bernards spoke to either of them again, he'd be surprised. But beyond that...well, he wasn't going to count on it, and maybe it was better not to expect it. "I suppose I'll see how it goes after this starts to blow over."

[sirforawhile.livejournal.com]

"You could lay low a while, maybe. Not that people wouldn't recognise you, just... let the rumours die down naturally, right?" He shrugs. "And you've... got each other. Y'know. Even if there's a family schism or... I'm sorry, I'm talking out my ass."

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

"Might do that," Jordan says. "After the ball, at least." Because, oh Jesus, he still had to make it through that.

[sirforawhile.livejournal.com]

"Not skipping it altogether?" he asks, rather surprised. But then, there were probably reasons for Jordan's choosing to attend that Iggy can't know. "What about- what about your family? Lying low during the whole thing?"

[heartsthespades.livejournal.com]

"I have a date," Jordan says dryly. Though Meghana would undoubtedly understand. Amy, he wasn't so sure. "And all the Bernards can hate Hadyn and I if they want," he adds. "I won't hide from them."

[sirforawhile.livejournal.com]

Iggy nods in understanding. It's hard to put into words for him, honestly, how he sees this courage from Jordan now. "If they hate you, they have to remember what she did. No excuses to be made for that." He takes a step back. "They can't take away what was right."