House of Cards RP

Carmella was in her office, reading through the last few lines of the Club’s constitution. If Jonathan hadn't taken her on that weekend away in Glasgow, she would be exhausted by now. Argine’s duties had been so spread among the other Faces that, by the time she had resigned, most had almost forgotten which tasks were meant to be performed by the Queen. Carmella had been taking notes and organising herself since she had gained the title. Her Suit was no doubt talking. She had made few public appearances since her coronation; some might think she was being overly private, just like her predecessor. She would have to change those perceptions.

She takes a walk around Club castle. The approach of Christmas had put a spring in her step, Carmella was eager to see how the decorations were progressing. As the most artistic of the Suits, the Clubs always had something original on display.

[OOC: I dropped many threads when things went haywire last month. If there are some you would really like to go back to then by all means… I’ll just get in this month’s AC in first.]

Pryce has systematically been conducting inventory of the linens, china, crystal and silver since he was promoted from First Footman to Butler. He began with the linens, white damask, crisply starched, followed by the china (12 patterns), moved on to the crystal (Waterford, naturally) and today at last finally sits down with the silver. The strains of Mozart's Symphony #40 drift through the air thanks to the record player perched atop the upper cabinets. He's made the count, separated serving and eating utensils, lined them up by length (longest first) on the old farmer's table in the kitchens, has a goodly supply of silver polish and soft clean rags at hand and finally has donned white cotton gloves to begin his work in earnest.

No fires to put out. No last-minute surprises. No one to bother him, just the butler and his routines.

[Tag for Gideon, please?]

As it turned out, the Hearts and Clubs were instating their new monarchs on the same day but at different venues and times. On Friday morning, Carmella found herself surrounded by her former colleagues who were performing the very tasks that she had once performed for Argine. It was odd being waited on, having someone else dressing you and piling up your hair, but a ceremony was a good opportunity for her to get used to the idea of handing over the reins. The Club’s coronation was not intended to be an extravagant affair; then the Diamond event planners came to the party. The shining Suit was also responsible for the dress and flower arrangements.

Carmella had attended Oyotunde Obi’s coronation as King of Hearts earlier in the day but had not stayed on for the feast as she had her own coronation to attend. The welfare of the Hearts was still important to her, considering her ties to them but she was now a Club through and through. Mrs Rosengart had mixed feelings about Carmella’s ‘promotion’. On one hand, she was proud of her daughter’s success but it also departed from the family tradition of undertaking for Face Cards. By the early evening, it was the Club Suit's turn to present their monarch. The event was fancier than Carmella had expected; at least the audience was of a comfortably small size. To end off the ceremony she recited a coronation oath, swearing loyalty to the Clubs.

Members of her Suit and all of the Face Cards are invited to speak with her afterwards or to mingle.

He'd called Carmella into his office earlier, and told her that he and Eileen had chosen her to be Queen of the Clubs, and then after dropping that news on her - it wasn't exactly a bombshell since the Nine had expressed interest - asked her to sit down and talk to him about candidates for Jack of Clubs. The list had still been long, after all; Sebastian Ambrosi was a decent candidate, in Elisha's eyes, and despite his reservations, Pierre Chareut had been nominally on the list, still, though he was glad that Carmella ultimately agreed with him that it wouldn't be a good choice. Then there had been some of the Nines, and a few of the Eights.

Ultimately, they agreed on one person: Elani McCartney. She was young for the job, maybe, but she'd done a lot of growing up in the last year - and she represented the classic traditions of the Clubs, and that was important.

He'd sent a message to her to come see him, but in the meantime he was in his office. Leaning back in his chair and solving the little game Victor had brought him from Prague.