His Queen of Hearts

Pinochle.

Queen.

The girl stared at the city from the clunky wooden ship she had hopped aboard at Zace. Dreams of power and fortune rattled through her mind as the brisk sea wind swept through her silver, tangled hair. She leaped off the bow and sprinted down the dock, fading out of sight, hopefully before one of the crew saw her. She stopped at the large steel gates, barely able to make out what was written on the tattered sign, "Welcome to Rawkdam". She smiled meekly to herself as she thought of what she had left behind. Largia, Brix, Sef. Things were going to change; she was going to change. She wouldn't be used like before. This was Rawkdam, the city of leaders. As rotten and festered as the city was, those that succeed here were the top of the pyramid. The alphas of society. She would be someone new here. Not the same Layla from Zace. Free. Suddenly her smiled widen it didn't matter who or what she had left behind because she would never be that person again. She pulled her bag up her shoulder and strode on with a new sense of hope. As she travelled further into the city, the streets became increasingly more crowded. Bustles of people pushed their way through with determination and no remorse for those they had ran into on the way. No pleases, thank you’s or excuse me’s could be heard from the people advancing on their way no matter the obstacle. She squeezed through the creaks in the people, as she held her breath to make the passage easier. This was a new world for her. There were mercenaries shouting from either side of the street and flags flying from every building. There were spirits hovering around corners and chimeras bustling freely through the streets. Ha! Imagen that. Chimeras being free. What an unthinkable concept. She had never even left the skivvy quarters in Zace without permission. Chimeras weren't allowed too. She continued through, until something caught her eye. It was a black and red building, but it looked much newer and cleaner than most of the city. It was a casino and it looked remarkably busy. A young man approached her from inside the building. His messy blonde hair fell to one side of his tanned face. The tattoos spots under his hazy golden eyes, and down his honey tanned neck indicated he was northern. Taxerplayain. She had seen ambassadors from the tribe, in the palace many times. The Imperial Royals of Zace had a trade deal with the tribe. They would supply the tribe with materials; food, water, iron etc. and in return Taxerplaya would send over their top Alchemists every year to study in the kingdom. The tribe were the only known race to be able to use the scientific art and were particularly useful as soldiers to Zace. The ancient art was much to envy, as it aloud the user to transform matter to something of equivalent value. Substances could be interchanged at will, matter could be manipulated and altered. However, it was said in order to achieve the desired results the basic molecular structure and atomic design of the matter being used had to be known. This is what separated the good Alchemists from the bad. 

"You look lost my dear may I be of service?" 

"Well actually I-don'tt quite know what I'm looking for yet. Do you work here?" she stuttered out, peering around the entrance to the shiny building. 

"Yes, I do but I haven't been for awfully long. This is the Black of Hearts casino, the most reputable and fair casinos in the city. Would you like to come in?" 

What a loud of nonsense! There were no reputable casinos but he knows how to sweet talk doesn't he. 

"Sure. What the hell. It's not like I have anything better to do today." she laughed. 

"After you."  

He gestured towards the door and the two walked through the red and white checkered archway. 

Jack. 

He couldn’t believe his luck. She was definitely not from Rawkdam. She looked shabby yet weirdly striking with colourless knotted hair, bright blue defined eyes and long, black eyelashes. Her face was small and pale with high cheekbones that molded her into quite the beauty. Her clothes were ripped and smelt like fish guts but the bag she held looked heavy. Heavy with valuables. For him she was easy prey. Newbies in this city were the easiest to con, they didn't understand the city. No one was nice and no one cared. She probably came with some kind of deluded dream but that didn’t matter to him. All he cared about was what money she had brought with her. He couldn’t care less about how she was feeling or what her name was. It was a play and he was the lead actor. He led her into the main gambling hall, smiling away. He showed her the poker tables and the bar, even buying her a drink as they passed. She trusted him and that would be her downfall. 

While they were walking through the betting tables gun shots sounded through the hallways. Nate spun round and raced to the casino entrance panicked by the noise. What was going on? What were those gun shots? Who fired them? Nate's mind raced with questions. He reached the entrance to find three men standing in the door way holding large caliber guns. They each had a tiger pinned to their coats. The Gold Tiger. Why are they here? 

"WHERE IS HE?" shouted the stocky middle one. "Bring him here now unless you all want to be-" but before he could finish his sentence a snarl irrupted from behind Nates shoulder and she was on top of the intruder within seconds. He was knocked unconscious before he knew what was happening. The skinny one tried to aim whimsically at her in fear but she was already on her feet and hurdling towards him. He was sent flying through the window with a swipe, sending glass across the carpeted floor and bone snapping sound could be heard as he hit the pavement. While he gasped for breath, the last one hit the floor with a crash, shattering the tiger pin on his jacket. Nate stared with disbelief. Her teeth were in his throat as she ripped a lump of flesh, leaving him life less. Layla! She crouched over him, fangs flaring, ears perched upright and claws flexed. 

"She's not bad now is she. A bit messy though. The carpets going to have to be deep steamed if I want to get those blood stains out and the glass will have to be replaced. But overall, she did well wouldn't you agree? Nice watch by the way."  

Nate jumped. A man in his twenty was standing beside him. He was young but seemed mature and confident. As if everything was under control. Where had he come from? He wasn’t here a minute ago. He wore an all black suit and tie, as if he was attending a funeral but still, he fitted perfectly in the space around him. His black greased hair dangled elegantly just tipping his thick, dark eyebrows. His defined cheekbones and sharp jaw clenched at he stared at the girl in front of him, as if his black eyes were trying to capture the image in his head. He stepped forward until he stopped at Layla. 

"Thank you very much darling. You have saved me quite a bit of hassle. I'm the owner of this casino, Osly, Osly Hesler."