The Royal Court

THE NEXT MORNING, the steps which brought Spade to the royal court were much lighter than any other times he had been to the dreadful meeting with the rest of his 'family' and those other stinky old crooks. Last night's victory felt like it was a thousand times better than any he had ever experienced before on the battlefield.

Was it love, he wondered. No, it couldn't be. After all, he had only known Alice for a few fleeting months. If his heart hadn't beat for anyone in the years he had been alive, what was so special about her that it could revive that dastardly organ in just the span of one summer?

Nevertheless, whatever it was that Spade felt for Alice, he knew that it was something he would suffer a craving for from this point on until the moment he passed.