The throne room was too bright. Naqam squinted against the sunlight ricocheting off the white marble. His sensitive eyes burned and blurred for a half second before he blinked and his vision adjusted.

In surprise, he looked around at the empty throne room. He had half expected there to be bunches of people come to gawk at the new Ace of Hearts. With a frown, he swept his gaze around the great hall, relaxing slightly when he found what he was looking for.

Or, rather, who he was looking for.

The King stood with his arms crossed, leaning against a slim pillar of brushed black metal, gazing out one of the many windows. Naqam blinked again, then once more just to make sure he really was seeing the King.

He was wearing simple clothes: a dark shirt of finely woven cotton, pants similar to the ones Naqam had been given, made of a tough but flexible material and boots that came a little above his ankles.

The only thing that gave him away as nobility was the heavy ring of dark silver and obsidian on his right index finger. Naqam stared at the gryphon screaming at him from the piece of jewelry. It seemed to be daring him to do what he had really come here to do.

He stiffened when a small door at the far end of the throne room cracked open. A willowy woman in a simple, floor-length dress of deepest black slipped inside, settling herself silently onto the left-hand throne.

Without sparing a glance at Naqam, Killian turned from the windows to smile at his wife. The expression intensified his classically handsome features and seemed to strip years away from him. It was almost possible for Naqam to see the young man who had murdered his Queen.

The King strode across the hall, boots hunter-silent on the stone floor. He grasped the woman's hand, pressing her fingers quickly to his mouth before he settled into the other throne.

Naqam stood on his toes to look over the unnecessarily tall guard in front of him.

The illustrations he'd been forced to study did them no justice. The ink lines didn't show the regalness in Killian's face, or the steel in his gaze. They couldn't show the mystique of Queen Alice's blue eyes or the soft blondness of her hair.

Naqam couldn't stop staring at the Queen. It was her. It was Alice.

The Real Worlder who had overthrown the Heart Queen, Mavros, and sent the Hearts into their exile. Her's was the face he'd been trained to hate since he was born. Perhaps even more so than the King. She was the one who had reduced his people to nothing, when once they'd ruled over Wonderland entirely.

As she looked at him, Naqam couldn't help but think that her blue eyes were as frigid and cruel as the northern ice.

There was a rustle of clothes, then he watched in astonishment as the majority of the guards left, pulling the doors closed behind them. Looking around with curiosity, Naqam came to the surprising conclusion that he had been left almost completely alone with the royal pair.

The only other person with them was the captain. Not even Lady Adira was present.

Naqam stood quietly in the center of the spade on the floor. It would be so easy to kill them here, now. But... luckily for them, that would not be enough. He had been sent to destroy the Spades; to tear them down from the inside. Their deaths alone would not suffice.

Killian finally turned his attention back to Naqam, who shook himself free of his thoughts, bracing himself for the King's pronouncement.

It was almost astonishing how quickly his dark eyes went from warm and loving to cold and guarded. This was not someone who trusted easily, just as Naqam had predicted.

The King took a stiff step forward, just to be pulled to a stop by his wife. He raised one dark brow and she murmured, "With grace, my love."

Killian frowned, but gave her a curt nod. Naqam found himself suddenly forced to his knees. He couldn't bring himself to care as he looked at the Queen, distracted by his attempt to puzzle out what she had meant.

The King frowned at him for a long time, then asked, "Why have you come here?"

When Naqam didn't immediately answer, the captain cuffed him about the head. He snarled, then hunched in on himself when the Queen's voice rang out sharply.

"Dev'yat! No!"

Naqam raised his eyes again as the captain flinched at the reprimand.

Dispassionately, Killian said, "We treat our prisoners kindly, Captain. It's what makes us better than his people."

The Ace looked down at the floor, hot fury making his blood boil.

"We treat people that way because it's the right way to treat them," Queen Alice said reproachfully, but to Naqam, the words were hollow.

King Killian's words showed their true colors. Naqam pressed his mouth into a thin line, desperate to teach them the lesson he had been sent to administer. How dare she pretend to be something noble. She was the reason his people had been knocked from their pedestal.

All Naqam wanted was to spill her blood. Then Killian's.

He shook his head minutely, trying to shove his bloodlust down. He had only just taken the first step to his revenge. He was here, so one way or another, he'd have his chance. Naqam would carry out the mission that had been drummed into him since birth. He would be the tool that the Hearts used for their vengeance, if he played his hand right. If he bided his time.

The great doors behind him creaked open, jolting him yet again from a reverie. Every muscle in his body went still when a soft, sweet voice said, "So this is why Adira said I couldn't see you?"

Naqam looked up to find that Killian's face had gone very pale.

That voice asked, "Who is this, Father? Why has he been brought in chains? What is his crime?"

Naqam finally looked over his shoulder to find Crown Princess Tarian Spade watching him with cool curiosity. His stomach lurched in an uncomfortable way. She could have been an exact replica of her mother, were it not for the coal black hair inherited from her father.

She frowned lightly at him, then strode toward her parents. The confidence of kings made her steps quick and light. The princess smiled and bowed to her father before kneeling by her mother's side to watch the proceedings.

Another step sounded behind him and King Killian growled, "I thought I told you to keep her away from here?"

Lady Adira sauntered past Naqam, who might have felt distinctly ignored if Tarian hadn't been staring so intently at him. With an elegant shrug, the Jack said, "I tried. She's too much like her father."

A small laugh came from both the Queen and the princess. Killian made a face at them, and Naqam was starting to feel very lost. Were these really the people who'd plagued his nightmares for eighteen years?

He watched as Queen Alice smiled at her husband before running a loving hand over her daughter's hair, placing the braided mane over one shoulder so that the black framed one side of her face. The contrast was striking against her pale skin.

Attention was brought back to the King when he finally answered his daughter's question. With a grimace, he said, "He's done nothing. Yet."

The muscles in Naqam's shoulders tightened at the implicit accusation, betraying the hatred that coursed through him. He forced himself back to a nonchalant readiness, but Killian's sharp eyes had caught the minuscule movement.

"Then why is he in chains?" Tarian asked, her pretty lips tugging once more into a frown. She glanced at the Ace, meeting his gaze.

With shock, he realized her eyes weren't black.

They were the only thing that truly revealed she was anything other than a Wonderlander. They were not the light crystal sky blue of her mother's eyes. Instead, they looked like the night sky just after the sun has set and everything is painted in shades of twilight.

Like the clear blue of her mother's eyes had been tainted by the ink spill of her father's.

Naqam had never before seen a mixed blood of any kind. Part of him knew he shouldn't be so shocked, but the other part couldn't fathom that someone like the princess truly existed. He grimaced internally. It was just more proof of the atrocities committed by the Spade crown.

"One could say his crime is his existence."

Once more, the Ace was knocked from his thoughts by an unexpected voice. Rather than light and sweet, though, this new voice was deep. Gruff.

One might even say surly.

A tremor ran through his body; a shiver of something possibly akin to fear. The sensation did not sit well on his skin and Naqam lunged to his feet, whirling around to find that it really was him.

"Uncle Mad!" Tarian cried joyously, running right past Naqam to throw herself into the arms of none other than Madison Hatter. The Real Worlder who had killed Naqam's predecessor.

A bitterness welled up inside Naqam, slowly poisoning him. More than Killian, more even than Alice, Naqam hated this man. More than anything, he hated Mad Hatter. He despised him with every fiber of his being.

Tarian leaned back to look up at him and said, "I didn't know you were here!"

Hatter smiled down at his adopted niece and said, "Probably because I just got here. Your father seems to think I'm at his every beck and call."

Naqam tensed unconsciously, waiting for King Killian to take offense, but all he did was laugh and say, "Same old Mad."

Tarian pressed the side of her face into Hatter's chest, clinging to him fiercely. Accusatory, she said, "You haven't been here for a month!"

"One might think he's been avoiding us," Lady Adira chimed in and Mad looked up, staring for a moment at the Jack before he gave them all a half smile.

The smile turned indulgent as he picked up the princess and spun her in a circle, inspiring a shriek of laughter. Teasingly, he said, "You're just lucky it's not foaling time. You couldn't have pulled me away for love or money."

Naqam scowled. What were they talking about? What was happening here? He didn't understand any of this. His eyes widened when Killian strode past him, closely followed by the Queen as they greeted the newcomer.

Are these people really royalty? Naqam thought venomously. They certainly didn't act like it. They broke every code of nobility he had ever been taught.

The captain — the only one who seemed to remember that Naqam was there — clamped a hand down on his shoulder as the Queen passed. She was so close he could smell her perfume.

His reaction was purely instinctual. Every nerve in his body urged him toward the violence indicative of his rank and he whirled. He raised his chained hands so that the manacles around his wrists crashed into the man's head at the temple.

Naqam couldn't stop the laugh that burst out of him, savoring the thrill that poured through him as the captain crumpled, blood streaking down the side of his face. The sound of a gun being cocked made him freeze.

Cursing his own belligerence, he raised his hands as best he could before turning slowly and kneeling again. Cautiously, he looked up, staring down the barrel of the gun Mad Hatter had instantly drawn on him.

Hatter's other arm was thrown out protectively, shielding the princess behind him. Those green eyes were pure poison as they glared at the Ace.

There was a tense silence, and Naqam once more cursed his lack of self control. He wondered if he had just failed in his mission before it could even truly get started.

Hatter never blinked, staring like a snake that had a mouse in its sights. Naqam stared right back. He was no mouse. The Real Worlder's hand stayed steady even as his eyes darkened, spiting the silver streaked at his temples.

King Killian's lip curled and he placed a hand on Hatter's shoulder. "That's a more tangible crime than existence, wouldn't you say, Mad?"

"Killian," Alice said softly, putting a hand on Mad's arm.

Hatter gave the Queen a sideways glance. His mouth twisted into a scowl as he returned his gun to its place beneath his dark coat.

The King returned to his throne, pausing as Hatter whispered something in his ear. The king nodded, glancing again at Naqam.

There was a scuffle of activity as the injured guard was cared for, then a condemning silence reigned until Tarian sat by the throne, leaning casually against her father's leg. Looking up at Hatter, she asked, "What do you mean, his existence is his crime?"

Naqam frowned at her naivety. This girl wasn't dangerous at all. She didn't even seem particularly bright.

Hatter smiled humorlessly, still watching the Ace. "Haven't you guessed, Tari? You're usually quicker than this."

Naqam doubted that. He cocked his head at the princess, raising an eyebrow. The cool floor was starting to make his knees ache.

The princess pursed her lips, studying him. Her twilight eyes focused in on his loose red hair, the bloody shade of his eyes. Then, her gaze went to the splotch of red on the otherwise black and white floor; looked at the evidence of his volatile nature.

Naqam knew when she understood, and it didn't take her very long at all. The princess' face hid nothing. It was an open book compared to his own, which tried to hide everything.

"He's the new Ace of Hearts," Tarian said a little flatly. She narrowed her eyes at him in a manner that might have been threatening if she hadn't also shrank back against her father. The King placed a steadying hand on her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.

"He even looks like Tamsus," Hatter muttered and Naqam immediately bristled.

How dare he even say that name.

Hatter tilted his head, taking his hat off to run a hand through thick hair that was still mostly glossy black. He gave Lady Adira a brief glance, then put his hat back on.

They all turned in surprise when Queen Alice asked, "What is your name, Ace?"

He choked down a snarl, instead bowing his head to her. He said, "I am called Naqam, m-my Queen."

The words were sour on his tongue and he hoped none of them had noticed his small hesitation.

"What are you doing here?" Hatter asked, crossing his arms and leaning casually  against Alice's throne. She sat down, her dark skirts pooling around her, patiently waiting for his answer.

When Naqam hesitated, concerned that he would do something rash again, Killian barked, "Answer the question, Heart."

Reluctantly, Naqam bowed his head and forced himself to say the words he had practiced relentlessly for years.

"I've come to pledge my loyalty, King. I wish to serve as your Ace."

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Dev'yat is Ukrainian for Nine

Tarian is a Welsh name that means Shield