This whole defunct gate business had been rather inconvenient to say the least, causing Archie to miss several appointments he'd had with patients Outside. Silly, foolish gate. Did it not realise that people had better things to do than play games with it ( Read more... )

It's not so strange to see October in the Green. It's where she spends most of her time, after all, when she's not in school or the library. Even in the winter, she's out there, lying under a tree with a book or sitting on a bench staring pensively into the distance with an intensity only a teenage girl could manage. No, that's not the strange bit ( Read more... )

Jack of Hearts ( Read more... )

It had been a week since the doors leading back to the Outside world had become a one-way street. And while the Spades' kitchen could technically run on local produce, ingredients might start to be in short supply if the entire Deck was going to be relying on what was locally available. In winter, no less ( Read more... )

Black and white were the traditional colours in a kitchen, and the kitchen staff at the Ivy adhered to this tradition. White coat paired with black trousers, black shoes. None of that chequered trousers nonsense ( Read more... )

There wasn't much about that man on the bench that would attract anyone's attention. He sat with his elbows on his knees, an unlit cigarette in his left hand, and he was looking down as if the cigarette would light itself if he stared at it long enough. What light the evening sun could afford him made strands of dark hair a dozen shades lighter.

( Read more... )

Melinda is hardly a new face around Diamond Castle. For twenty years, she's been living with her mother in the Castle itself as her father serves at the Outposts. For fifteen years, she's been going to school in the Deck, though in the past two years after graduating, she has switched to online college courses. And she's been a capable member of ( Read more... )

After his coronation, as it were, he wanted to have a chance to meet people, to let them see him face to face. So he'd asked the kitchens to prepare a dinner for as many hearts as could fit into the dining hall in Heart Castle. They'd set a table for the three faces, so they could all sit before everyone else, and let the people in to sit and eat ( Read more... )

Challenge won, there's still work to be done. Karin is an ambassador--an emissary on behalf of the Clubs, to the Hearts--and it's time to ambass. Well, if ambass is even the right verb form of that word. She doesn't know ( Read more... )

Carlos Jose was a proud scout of the Deck Scouts club. They did all kinds of neat things. Use compasses and maps to find their way, tie knots, learn how to make a fire out of stuff found in nature, set up tents, and look cute in shorts and tall socks ( Read more... )