Chapter Two

"Where are we going?" The prince asked as they approached the outer gates of the citadel. He nodded at the guards as Hatter gave them a cocky grin. Hatter waved at one and he got a snarl in return. This just made Hatter grin more. They couldn't touch him.

The prince opened his mouth to demand answers once again when they reached the gates and there was a group of guards waiting for them. He frowned and strode toward them, irritation in every step.

"What are you doing here?"

"We are here to guard you, my lord," the head of the group of diamonds said.

"No," the knave said.

"But my lord, Her Majesty commanded-" the leader said as the group shifted nervously on their feet.

"You can go back to Her Majesty-" Wow, Hatter had never heard anyone quite sneer a title like that in about two decades and the prince was still speaking "-her orders where the sun doesn't shine. The Hatter won't hurt me and you can tell her that. I trust him." Hatter grinned. No, he wouldn't hurt him but the prince didn't know just how dangerous he could be.

The guard went to protest again but the heart cut him off. "Go back now." Hatter grinned at the amount of command in the young man's voice but the man also seemed to glow and strengthen, not that anyone besides Hatter noticed. He was the one trained to notice these things.

There was a chuckle and a raspy voice spoke once they crossed to the other side of the open gate. "Don't underestimate The Hatter boy. He's far more dangerous than you know."

The prince went to draw his sword but Hatter stopped him. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Spadey boy! It's been awhile. I thought for sure you were dead!" Hatter hugged one of his closest friends.

"Hatter, you know this man?"

"Of course, I do! And you do as well, you just don't remember. What are you doing here? It's far too dangerous. Walk with us." Hatter grabbed both the newcomer and the prince and dragged them toward the dark forest in the distance.

"Spadey boy" chuckled darkly. "I live for danger, you know that, Maddie. You forgot to introduce us, you a*s."

Hatter waved his hand in dismissal. Introductions weren't important, they all already knew each other.

Hatter's friend rolled his eyes and pulled his friend and the prince to a stop the second they broke the tree line. Once they got more than three feet into the trees, their landscape would change and they definitely won't have time for introductions.

Before they could be attempted though, the prince spoke. "What do you mean he's dangerous? Yeah, he's crazy but pretty much harmless." Hatter grinned.

The friend gave a wry grin. "His crazy is what makes him so dangerous in part, young man. You honestly don't know what he's capable of?"

Hatter answered in complete seriousness, dropping the crazy persona for a moment. "Why would he, Spade? His parents are dead and none of us were there, banned from the kingdom. Kingsley's heart kid summoned me to tell them his story. I doubt they even know who Ace is."

Spade paled and turned to the confused boy. "You don't know who Ace is?" The boy slowly shook his head. "But how? That's just cruel."

"Kingsley's mom hated Ace, you know that Spade."

Spade cursed and the prince blinked. No one ever talked like that in his presence. "That bloody woman. I swear, I'm gonna kill her."

"Yeah, yeah Spade. You keep saying that you'll kill her but you never do."

Spade ignored Hatter eyed the prince carefully. "If that blasted woman didn't tell you about Ace, it's no wonder why you have no idea who I am."

"Who are you?" The prince demanded but the confusion could not only be heard in his voice but seen on his face and the way his eyes darted all around him. He looked his age.

Spade grinned and bowed. "Jack of Hearts at your service, my prince."

"Jack of Hearts?" was the prince's whispered response. "How is that possible? The Jack of Hearts only resides in the royal family. It's the only suit that this happens in. I'm assuming Kingsley is my father from what you've said. That means his mother would be my grandmother. How exactly do you know my grandmother, supposed Jack of Hearts?"

The prince was watched by his companions in an almost proud silence as he pieced together what they wanted him to figure out.

"She's my sister."

* * * * *

The prince followed the two friends quietly as they trekked through the forest. It felt like a lifetime ago that they had left the citadel but it had only been about three hours. Maybe it was the influx of information that was making it seem so long. Or that the two men hadn't spoken to him sense the Jack of Hearts made his relation to him known. Even though the two men were walking and talking in front of him and seemingly unaware, he knew they were paying attention to him. He knew that the second he lagged behind or something crept out of the surrounding wood, they would be on it. Before Spade had even claimed that Hatter was dangerous when he was defending him to the guards, Jack knew he was dangerous. There was just a feeling he got, a tingle at the base of his skull, that alerted him to danger. It made him dangerous. He loved his sister but there was a reason that she wasn't as ruthless with him. She feared him to a degree. People were scared when they met his sister, but in the end, he was the true danger. He was approachable and personable and the people he met in the markets and the rest of the citadel loved him but criminals were terrified when they met him. None of the guards wanted to face him in a fight.

He got the sense that Spade was the same way. And now that he thought about it, how interesting it was that he was called Spade when he was the Jack of Hearts. Only one way to find out about it.

"Uncle?"

Spade turned to him with a true smile, no underlying emotion besides happiness. "Yes, nephew?"

"Why are you called Spade when you say you are a Heart?"

Hatter laughed. "Ace always said that I should have been born a Spade and that I was an honorary Jack of Spades."

"I've always wanted to meet a Jack of Spades. I've never even heard of one, let alone met one, before," Jack said wistfully.

"Now that's just not true," a deep voice echoed through the trees behind him. Jack whirled around to find the source but no one was there.

"Over here, Scarlet."

Jack spun around to face the direction they were walking in but still nothing. Spade and Hatter didn't seem even slightly worried.

"Who's there? Where are you?" He turned in a circle slowly, watching carefully for movement. "I am the Prince of-"

"I know who you are, darling, but do you know who I am?"

Jack turned some more and came to look at where the path they were on forked and still saw no one.

"Right direction, darling. Now look up." Look up he did and he saw a human sized grey and blue striped cat relaxing on a branch that should not have been able to support his weight. Jack blinked slowly. Yeah, no, that's still a giant cat.

"What? Who?"

"Don't you know where you are, darling? You're in the Cheshire and I am, of course, the Cat." The Cat jumped off the branch and as his - its? - feet hit the ground, he - it? - morphed, the fur fading into skin, whiskers shortening to almost nonexistent lengths, paws turning into hands and feet. The only thing that was different about the apparent human in front of him were the blue stripes that covered his body.

"Cat! How are you?" Hatter was grinning. Again.

"I'm swell, Maddie, how are you? And you, Spade? It's been a long time since I've seen you around these parts. About 17 years to be exact. How come you never visit me?" The Cat - Man - CatMan pouted.

"Because I have more important things to be doing, Cat. Besides, Maddie and Bloody visit you and you damn well know that you can visit me."

"Randomly popping in places is frowned upon," the Cat recited as if it was something he was made to repeat many times.

Spade cracked a grin. "Like that's ever stopped you before, you douchebag cat."

The Cat just grinned a grin with far too many teeth. He turned to Jack. "How are you doing, Scarlet? These two confusing you yet?"

Jack frowned. "Why do you keep calling me Scarlet?"

The Cat kept grinning. Wow, that was more than a little unsettling. "Because that's the name your father gave you. And you can't tell me that he didn't because I was there when he did."

Jack continued to frown. "Keep frowning like that, darling, and your face will get stuck like that."

"Is that what happened to you?" Jack spat back.

The Cat's grin became wistful in nature. "Your father said those exact words to me when we met."

"You knew the King?" Jack leaned forward, desperate for any information about his father.

The Cat frowned for the first time. "Well, yes." He turned to Hatter and Spade. "This is much more serious than I thought. I've sent Bloody straight to the castle. He'll be there when you return."

Cat turned back to Jack. "You said you've never met a Spade before?"

Jack hesitated but then nodded. "You're the one that said that wasn't true. Which - how? How would you even know if I've met a Jack of Spades?"

The Cat only seemed to frown harder. "You're a Jack, are you not?"

"Of course, I'm a Jack. A Jack of Hearts," he emphasized his suit.

"No, darling. You're a Spade, like your father before you."

The Cat disappeared, leaving the Jack of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, and the newly declared Jack of Spades alone.

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