AMANDA

Like most of the other kids in the room, Amanda was speechless. None of them had ever seen J. Q. King before—some of the teens doubted they ever would. Yet there he was, standing before them in the center of the room, with his hands in his pockets and an odd smile across his face.

He held a deck of cards in one of his hands, and in his suit pocket, once Amanda looked closely enough, she saw what looked like a king of clubs, tucked neatly where a handkerchief would go. Like his mansion, he seemed to have just walked out of a playing card.

Amanda wasn't afraid. Neither was she confused or baffled by his sudden entrance. He had to show up sometime or other. But she was silent out of respect and by the desire to study all she could about the owner of Murray Mansion before he could disappear back into the dark halls.

Star wasn't afraid either, it seemed. She took a haughty step forward, still keeping her chin high and her phone in hand, and said angrily, "Well, it's about time!"

The teens watched quietly. Amanda craned her neck to see over the crowd of people, curious how J. Q. King would react to the affront.

After studying Star from head to foot, he smiled. "So you are Star Gardner, am I correct?" he said. "A pleasure to meet you, I must say. I assume you know who I am. I welcome you to Murray Mansion."

He held out his hand. Star ignored it. "You made us all wait," she said with growing agitation. "You made us stay in your musty, old lobby for hours instead of allowing us to go to our rooms and get comfortable. Do you even know what time it is? It's nearly one in the morning! I should have been in bed hours ago. It is absolutely the worst way to treat guests, making them stay up until you feel like meeting them and depriving them of much-needed rest. Well, sir, I am utterly disappointed in you. I will not stand for this kind of behavior from a member of higher society. You should be ashamed of yourself. Apologize at once and never do anything like it again. I don't know about you, but I need my beauty rest, understood?"

In the corner of the room, someone gasped loudly.

Amanda smiled with excitement.

"My lovely young card," J. Q. King said to Star in a calm voice, "if I had sent you to bed earlier, you and the other students would not have had the opportunity to get to know each other. In addition, a few of you arrived late. It would have been impolite for me to get you settled before the very last straggler showed up. If you are really so angry about the lack of sleep, you have my full permission to sleep in. You will not miss much if you do, for our studies will begin the day after. Tomorrow—or today, technically speaking—will be a day in which you can do whatever you wish to do. If you want to sleep, by all means, sleep the day away."

Star lifted her chin higher. To Amanda, it looked like it would hurt to always hold it at such an angle. "I will not sleep in," she cried in disgust. "I am not so rude. I will be present tomo...today. I will not be forced into incivility to make up for the lack of manners in others." She flicked her head around, sending her curls flying in a golden swipe of protest, and walked to the far end of the room. There she stood behind the other students, perfectly straight.

The people around her stared in surprise. She scowled at them. "What do you think you're looking at?" she snapped. They said nothing and immediately averted their gazes.

Amanda's eyes turned back to J. Q. King, who was smiling bigger than ever and holding his arms out. "Like I said to dear queenly Star you are all welcome to Murray Mansion," he said, addressing all the teens. "We will soon show you to your rooms. There are only nine rooms, however, which is obviously not enough. A few of you will have to share your quarters with another student. But that will all be worked out later. Right now, we must introduce ourselves." He gestured to himself. "As I'm sure you all know, I am your host and provider of this institution, J. Q. King."

"What do the J and the Q stand for?" Amanda blurted out. She had tried to hold it back, but she had to ask. His last name was King. It seemed so strange that his first and middle initials were also the initials of the other two face cards—a jack and a queen.

To her disappointment, however, he answered, "The J is for John and the Q for Quincy: John Quincy King. Though I would prefer if you knew me by J. Q. King, cardling."

After he had answered her, he walked in long strides to the fireplace where a few kids were standing. He stopped in front of a boy with dirty-blonde hair and a somber face. J. Q. King held out his hand and smiled. "What is your name, ace?" he inquired.

Everyone held their breath to hear the answer. But it didn't come.

J. Q. King looked puzzled. "What is your name?" he repeated. "Speak up, so everyone can hear you."

Stewart shook his head.

"Am I not speaking clearly?"

The other students began to whisper among themselves. Amanda felt a surge of contempt swelling in her. She knew J. Q. King meant no harm, but whether he wanted to or not, he was humiliating Stewart.

"His name is Stewart!" Amanda cried out. All eyes turned to her and she shrunk back slightly. "He's Stewart McAffy. He doesn't want to talk to anyone."

J. Q. King's confusion melted away and was replaced by understanding. "Ah, yes," he said softly, facing Stewart. "Stewart McAffy. I thought it might be you."

Stewart said nothing and shifted his gaze to the floor.

J. Q. King moved on to the next two students without another word. They both had bright, freckled faces. One was quite tall and had dark brown hair and eyes, while the other was a few inches shorter and had red-brown hair and green eyes.

"I'm Rick Hunter," the taller one replied when J. Q. King asked who he was.

"And I'm his friend, Roy Manning," the other added.

J. Q. King shook both of their hands and walked to the next kid, a tall girl who had shoulder-length, auburn hair and a giant, shining gold medal around her neck. "I'm Madison Levine," she announced without being asked. "Some of my fans call me Maddie."

Amanda saw Star scoff. "I have more fans than her," she seemed to be muttering.

J. Q. King greeted Madison with a handshake as well, then continued down the row of students, meeting each of them in turn. He said hello to Lara Porter, the gasping girl; a brown-haired girl named Heather Whitman; a friendly, dark-skinned boy named Nathan Abbott; Dwain Daniels, a boy who couldn't stop grinning; and Star. Then he came to Amanda.

"My name is Amanda Rogers," she said when he asked. Then her curiosity got the best of her. "Why do you have a card in your pocket?"

J. Q. King laughed and shook her hand. "I have a card in my pocket because I don't have a handkerchief to put there. But my pocket looked so lonely and bare, so I just stuck an extra card into it. In my opinion, it looks pretty nice."

Amanda laughed as well. "I suppose it does, though it is a bit odd."

"Even so," J. Q. King shrugged, "I rarely have visitors to judge it."

"Why not?"

For the first time since he had appeared, the confidence that radiated from his face vanished. His eyes grew clouded with an emotion that looked like a mixture of sadness, confusion, and anger. Then it was gone. He didn't speak.

"You know, Amanda Rogers," he said quietly after some time had elapsed, "it is good that you ask questions. Forgive me for not answering this one, for it is very perceptive and a very good question indeed. I cannot answer it, though, for I don't even know the answer myself. Things are not as clear to me anymore. But don't let this discourage you, young card. Keep asking questions, and it will lead you farther than you realize. You may yet find some answers."

Amanda didn't speak for a moment as she digested the words. I love questions, she thought. Why would I ever think of abandoning them?

"Why," she asked, "do you call us cards?"

J. Q. King smiled again and patted her on the head. "You're a smart girl," he said. "I think I'll leave you to figure that out." Then he moved on to greet the next students.

JULIA

Julia had not heard the words that had passed between J. Q. King and the strange girl. All she knew was that whatever conversation they shared had left the girl's head bowed in thought. In fact, the man seemed to have a sobering effect on everyone he passed, muttering a few hushed words to them until they became silent or their faces grew wide in shock. Julia knew that the key to the effects he had on the students was hidden in those brief words, and she wondered if she should be afraid.

In any case, she had no time to decide. J. Q. King walked over to her and shook her hand heartily. "Hello, queen of diamonds, what is your name?"

Julia gulped nervously and replied tremulously, "Diamonds....I mean, no! No, not diamonds. M-my name is Julia...Forth. Julia Forth."

J. Q. King smiled and released her hand. "Welcome to Murray Mansion, Julia."

When he left, Julia was relieved and bewildered. Why had he not said any more than that? In a way, she was glad. Something about the man made her uneasy. But she couldn't help but feel rejected. Maybe I'm just not special enough, she thought.

J. Q. King stepped over to Kathryn, who was the last person. "What's your name?" he asked for the final time.

"Kathryn Jones," she replied. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." She took his hand and smiled back.

"The pleasure is all mine, dearest card."

When he made no sign of walking away, Julia inched closer to hear what would transpire.

"Kathryn Jones, why are you here?" he asked.

"Because I'm talented," she answered. "That's what the letter said."

"Do you think you're talented?"

Kathryn shrugged. "I don't know. Why else would I have received an invitation?"

J. Q. King smiled. "That does make sense, doesn't it? But don't always believe what you see, or what others say. It may not be true." With that, he turned and strode back to the center of the room.

Julia leaned over to Kathryn. "What do you suppose he meant?"

Kathryn frowned. "Either he's saying that people are going to lie to me, or he's saying that I'm not really talented."

"Either way, it's not very pleasant," Julia pointed out.

"I agree."