Queen of Hearts

The young woman who later became the Queen of Hearts once lived ‘every girl’s dream’: she was betrothed to a prince, the heir to the Kingdom of Kaerok. She spoke of it incessantly to all her many doting friends, gleefully regaling all with her plans. Only the ‘best’ people would be invited, and exquisite courses would be prepared by the finest cooks. The music and dancing would be sublime and the smallest taste of the cake would make one’s eyes roll into the back of one’s head. If anyone assigned to the planning of the royal wedding questioned the smallest of her desires she screamed in their faces, tearfully bemoaning that ‘everyone’ wished to spoil her ‘happy happy happiest day’. With days to go, the young lady's betrothed sent her a message saying the wedding was canceled. The queen-to-be was wearing her wedding dress, as she was wont to do, admiring herself in her mirrors, when she read it. She screamed; wept; wailed. She demanded a carriage take her to Kaerok Castle and there, in the court, in her white gown, stamped her feet demanding the injustice be rectified. The king’s Seneschals dragged her away. The lady was taken home and there shut herself in her chambers and she ripped her dress to pieces. She howled every day for weeks, eating only a few sweet treats. Not one ‘friend’ came to see her. Her horrified and humiliated family renounced her. Her wailing ended when a young woman arrived, asking to see her, saying she was a friend who could make things right. That very day, the would-be Queen departed her family’s estates, and never returned. The Cult of K’Leth’s claws had encircled her. Ambitious, determined, and spiteful, she climbed the Cult’s ranks greedily – stamping on the hands and faces of her rivals in the process – using her beauty and domineering personality. Sycophants and opportunistic yes-men flocked to her. Those who challenged or denied her anything she desired were humiliated or even killed. She styled herself as the Queen of Hearts – as far as she was concerned, she was a queen by rights and deserved nothing but love and adoration from all. The Queen never lost her desire for vengeance. The prince who shattered her dreams married another, an ‘ogryn-brained, orc-faced, terribly dressed trollop’. They had four daughters. The Queen had all their numerous suitors killed. Poisoned wine, hunting ‘accidents’, ambushes, apparent suicides; her servants did whatever it took. This was only part of her plan however. The princesses all lost favorites and blamed their father. Their anger was ripe for manipulation. Deploying her most charming and handsome followers, the Queen saw to it that every one of the princesses eloped, straight to her, with all the gold and jewels they and their ‘beloveds’ could carry. These victories brought wide smiles to the Queen’s face. Yet she wasn’t satisfied – she wasn’t Queen of Kaerok. How to attain that goal? She paced around her chambers daily, face crimson with tension, tongue sticking out, all to no avail. With cries of ‘off with their head!’ she had dozens of advisors executed for their ‘moronic ideas’. Her fortunes changed when one of her aides, a rhyme-speaking sorcerer known as the Mad Hatter, came to her. He wittered, prattled, and sang of the unimaginably powerful ‘Insect Lords’ of Durham Forest. The Queen had never heard of them – she had swiftly tired of schooling as a youth – but the Hatter had her rapt. The Queen knew this was it. She summoned her court, speaking quickly and excitedly of her plan – not acknowledging the Hatter – to steal from or befriend the denizens of deepest Durham. When one of her most loyal courtiers cautioned her, she rolled her eyes and called him a bore. The Queen learned later this courtier sent a warning to Durham Forest, so she had him publicly executed and denounced as ‘Knave’. In full confidence, caring not for the fact that Durham had been warned, the Queen set off for the forest within days, the Hatter and a coterie of followers in tow. The Queen skipped and stomped her way through Durham, making many friends – whom she all betrayed, and received many gifts – all she stole. She left many a Fang Cleric and Dark Elf housemistress infuriated and vengeful but the greatest enemies the Queen made were the Insect Lords. She only dealt with their servants, such as the Cheshire Cat, but that was access enough to ‘borrow’ some things of theirs. She didn’t know what they were. Neither did the Hatter. But they were ‘probably powerful’. The sorcerer would find out or would have his head cut off. Only after returning to her court did the Queen learn she was being pursued, and stamped her feet with fury. She would have her enemies’ heads.