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“Maybe I can help with that.” Caspar sauntered into the scene wearing a red velvet tailcoat that matched the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth and the edge of one eye. Apparently he was playing the role of the Prince of Hearts.
Tella dared a look at Jacks, to see how he would react to finding himself depicted onstage. His expression remained neutral, bordering on disinterest, but Tella felt the arm he’d wrapped around her shoulder turn arctic as Caspar waved a hand, beckoning two young performers onto the stage.
Tella didn’t recognize either of them. They were youths, a boy and a girl a little younger than Tella. Something about the way they were costumed was particularly disturbing. All the other performers were clearly dressed as characters. But this boy and girl appeared to be wearing their very best sets of clothing, neatly pressed and ever so slightly out of fashion when compared to the rest of the court, as if neither of them had reason to dress nicely very often, so there was little reason to update their wardrobe. It made both appear more real than the rest, as if Caspar had just plucked them off the street and promised them both bags of sweets if they followed him.
“What’s your name?” Caspar asked the girl.
“Agathe.”
“What a lovely name, Agathe. And yours?” he asked the boy.
“It’s Hugo.”
“Another excellent name.” Caspar’s tone turned from sweet to slippery. “In fact, I like both of your names so much I’m going to write them down to make sure I never forget them.”
Agathe and Hugo exchanged bemused glances, as if they sensed something was not as it should be, but then both of them nodded, clearly eager to please a Fate.
Caspar pulled two slips of paper from his pocket, the exact size and shape of cards. “Oh,” he moaned, “it seems I don’t have any ink. I suppose I’ll have to use my immortal blood instead.”
He took out a bejeweled dagger and pressed it to the tip of his finger. Blood welled, and Caspar made a show of using the blood to write on the card. As he finished, a puff of theatrical silver smoke appeared, enough to cover half the stage. When it cleared, Agathe was gone. In her place was a card.
Caspar picked it up, and flashed it toward Jovan and Armando.
“You turned her into a card!” Jovan cried. “Do it again! Do it again!”
Hugo started to run, but Caspar’s bloody finger was already moving, writing the boy’s name on his other blank card.
Another puff of smoke, and then Hugo was gone.
Caspar walked over to where the boy had been and picked up the card from the ground.
Jovan clapped. “How long will they stay this way?”
Caspar glided toward the throne. “You can keep them like this as long as you find them entertaining.” Caspar flicked out a long pink tongue and licked one of the cards before passing it on to Jovan. “I’ll make you an entire deck, so you can play a real game.”
Jacks’s arm felt suddenly heavier and icier than before as it clung to Tella’s shoulder. “Was it like that?” she whispered. “Is that what you really did? You turned people into cards and played with them?”
Jacks answered against her ear. “I never licked a card like that.”
“But the rest…” Tella turned so she could see his face, to hunt for any remorse. She knew the Fates were evil—Jacks had cursed her to get what he wanted—but the idea of trapping someone, turning them into a powerless piece of paper, and playing with them for pleasure and entertainment felt like a whole new type of vile.
Jacks gave her a lazy grin and whispered, “What are you trying to find, Donatella? Are you searching for some good in me? You’ll never see it, because it doesn’t exist.”
“I don’t need you to tell me that.”
“Then why keep looking at me as if you’re searching for answers?”
She tilted her head toward the stage. “Is this what you’d planned to do with Legend’s true name? Trap him in a card?”
“He wants to destroy me,” Jacks said quietly. “I’m merely trying to defend myself.”
“So why do you now want more than his name?”
“Because I can have more.” The cold arm wrapped around Tella grew even tighter as Jacks said the word more.
“How?” Tella asked. “How do you plan to take more from Legend?”
“My answer will only make you more unhappy.”
