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The Ace of Spades |
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God-Like Lover |
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Assimilation (chapter one) |
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THE WALK |
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The Relic |
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The Ace of Spades
Romance
 Created on 7-11-08
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 Story Rating G
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"ACE! Ace Spades!" The Prime Minister called. "Your majesty!" Ace Spades said, bowing low to the ground before the throne. King Charles looked down forebodingly. "What is your question?" Ace had forgotten his question. His eyes were wandering, his palms were sweating. He took a deep breath, feeling rather foolish. "Your majesty, dear uncle, my request is simple. I ask that you allow me to stay in your palace. Only while my father is in Paran. His stay has been cut from four months to two." Ace looked down at the floor, biting his lip. Paran was too terribly boring for his wild tastes. And while his uncle’s palace was not much better, he found it immensely more bearable. He glanced up at the throne. His cousin, Prince Charles II, leaned to the side in his seat. He rested his head on his fist. His eyes rolled back into his head while he yawned, giving him the look of someone demented. Ace bit his lip harder to keep from laughing. Prince Charles was five years younger than Ace Spades, and significantly less mature. His hair, the colour of moldy straw, was cut just below his ears, and curled under at the ends. Ace thought that made him look at least two years younger still. Charles was also rather overweight. Not to mention his round face and rosy cheeks. No one would be able to tell that he was fourteen. Ace was almost sure that half the staff of the palace thought that the prince was only twelve. It would not surprise him. Ace, on the other hand, was tall and fit. He had long black hair that was held back at the nape of his neck. It was not straight like his cousin’s, and not frizzy like his sister’s. His hair was gently curly and fell in soft waves to a place in the center of his shoulder blades. To the dismay of his mother and father, Ace spent more time in the pastures than reading his father’s law books. It was a common thing to see Ace come in for supper with straw in his hair and dust on his boots. He smelled of warm hay instead of ink and paper, like his father. His large, light brown eyes, the colour of molten gold, were awfully expressive, and it was often said that he wore his emotion on his sleeve. He had his father’s strong jaw, and his mother’s eyes. "Two months? Only?" his uncle chortled. "Y-Your majesty?" Ace’s eyes widened. "You could stay for much longer, if you wished. I know how suffocating your little estate can be. It does not surprise me that you would come to me for a reprieve. Stay as long as you like," the King smiled. Ace sighed with relief, and a page was sent to retrieve his luggage. Ace patted Harlem’s neck and smiled at his stallion’s playful neigh. He held out his hand and tried not to laugh when Harlem licked the oats off his palm. He sighed, wishing that the rain would let up so he could go riding. But the grounds were foggy and muddy, and did not look very safe. Ace wiped his hands on his breeches, trying to ignore his horse nudging his arm for more. "That’s enough for today. You want to get fat so you can’t run anymore?" Ace laughed. Suddenly, by the door, there was a noise like a spooked horse tramping in the hay. Ace turned, and heard the sound again, closer this time. He knelt in the hay, peering around the corner of the stall to see what it was. The edge of a skirt flopped into the stall three doors away from where he was crouched. Ace straightened, startled. Then, she ran out into the stall across from that one. From his brief look of the girl, she was a servant. Her long red hair was pulled back into a rather haphazard bun, and her skirts were stained and torn. Her face was covered in dust, but it was obvious that she was beautiful. She was young. Maybe about sixteen years old. A flash of grey fabric shot across the way again, and into a closer stall. Ace stepped out into the space between her and the next stall. Like a bullet, the girl shot out and straight into Ace’s chest. He was not anticipating her speed. All of the air in his lungs shot out in one gust, and he and the girl toppled into the hay. "Oof!" Ace grunted as they hit the ground. In one shaky, awkward instant, the girl scrabbled to her feet, and succeeded in stepping on Ace’s foot. He shot upward, grabbing his toe. The girl gasped and put her hand to her mouth. "Please forgive me, my lord! I…I didn’t see you standing there. I mean, I didn’t see you until it was too late! And then…the hay…you should elevate your foot, my lord!" "It’s all right. No permanent damage. It was mostly my fault, in any case. Therefore, I think it is only fitting that I ask your forgiveness." The girl took a flabbergasted step backward, and tripped over the threshold of Harlem’s stall. The horse nickered uneasily as the girl teetered. Ace leapt over to her, sticking out his arm to catch her just before she landed in a pile of horse dung. He laughed awkwardly. A rush of pink flooded her freckled cheeks. "That was a close call!" he exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. "Oh dear! I…I—" Ace released her quickly. "Yes. Perhaps I will see you again. We can further explore the hay on the floor, if you wish." "Good day, my lord." She said quickly, and raced out of the stable into the cool fog outside. Ace watched her disappear into a curtain of gray. After patting Harlem once more, Ace started out in the same direction, toward the house
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