I’m tired of playing these games

Right when I am done

Cleaning up your messes

You insist on playing again

Right when I am settled and clean

You throw around my cards

Onto the grass

They blow in the wind

Fly away

They will never be the same

Some cards have grass stains

Others covered in mud

I will never find them all

Each time, the deck fades

And warps

But,

Right when I give you the cards

Out of ...

poppin’ and blowin’ hearts out

my gingham lips kiss you miss your drama

I’ll be hacking up clotted spoons

licking off the clumps while my mouth

tastes like Sunshine Yellow

Dad’s grave still smells like vodka

I checked last night and vomited on his bones

the cuckoo saw me and started laughing

so I flipped the bird and waited for him to choke on my pill prescription

that I hid in the birdfeeder

I r...

After that conversation

My heart hides in the corner

While locking itself in my dark room

And opens the window

To hears such heavy rain

Then rain starts to come from my eyes

Almost as heavy

Screaming in pain

Your heart shattered

You try to put it back together like a puzzle

But you seem to be missing many pieces

Pieces you carefully gave to other people

Who will never give them back

N...

The game of fate.

A real debate.

One round you’re dominating.

Then the next, devastating.

You might have all the trick cards.

Then next round you’re in shards.

The adrenaline builds with each and every round.

Until the last card is put down and you hear that sound....

Play your cards right,

Win the game,

Go all night,

Just keep in mind,

Play your cards wrong,

And you lose it all.

Keep playing,

Come on!

I swear you’ll be all right,

Just keep going

From morning to

Night.

Risk it all,

Take a chance,

Is it worth it?

Well, I’m glad that

You asked!

Of course it’s worth it

To take the risk!

You may win with a

Full house

Or you may lose it all!

But you’ll never ...

♣︎♣︎♣︎

_“Fear, truly, is not something to be frightened of. Fear warns you if something is not safe; Fear feeds your adrenaline when you must run.”_

♣︎♣︎♣︎

_YANT_

I did not go down to dinner.

After what that servant told me, I don’t think I’ll be able to get out of bed any time soon. Levan left me as well, following the same servant as they led him to the guard’s quarters. So it’s dark in my...

♦︎♦︎♦︎

_“A parent’s respect is like having all the riches in the world. Without it, you feel as poor as dirt.”_

♦︎♦︎♦︎

**Three Months Earlier…**

_RUMANDAD_

Today is my Rising Ceremony. The day where I rise from a dainty damsel into a warrior woman to stand beside my eldest sister during her new rule in the coming years. With my practice sword in hand and my long hair tied at the back of my ne...

♥︎♥︎♥︎

_“Curse me! Curse me! For I am born this way. I shall laugh myself silly of your scorn!”_

♥︎♥︎♥︎

**Earlier…**

_VENUS_

The man does not scream, he does not cry, he stares at me instead, a delighted look in his eyes when my Command does not work.

“He’s a Heart, a Ten of Hearts at that, so why isn’t it working, brother?”My sister, one of the twins as the other is stuffing herself full of...

♣︎♣︎♣︎

_“Royalty does not mean privileged; it means trickery, corruption, and no moments of peace.”_

♣︎♣︎♣︎

The guards took our horse and carriage without a second glance. Two others ushered Levan and I into the castle, their backs straight and their gaze forward.

I was expecting the Heart soldiers to be more laid back, not to act like their objective was the Diamond’s: Order, Unity, Honor—amo...

♣︎♣︎♣︎

_“Call and beck and wander around—You’ll always find your way back to sin somehow.”_

♣︎♣︎♣︎

It towers above us, the points topped with ebony hearts; the same shapes cover the body of the castle as well. In the windows, on the doors, on the stained glass and smooth stone that made the thin, lithe body of Ecstasy. It is large, though it is not; the air around it is thick and charged with a...