The King of Hearts was stuck.
The Queen of Hearts was frozen.
Alexander Hartsmichdt stared at the newly crowned Queen of Hearts, and she stared back at him. Complete strangers now stuck with one another. The Crowning Ceremony had already finished and the both of them arrived inside the Castle of Hearts in separate carriages—no longer under the watch of the crowds. Even the soldiers and servants were away to give them a moment to introduce themselves with one another.
Alexander didn't know what to say, smiling and greeting the people had already worn him out. The ceremony sapped all of his energy away, but this was his partner. A Queen that wasn't loved by her people—he couldn't understand it at all. The crowd's reception with her had been frosty. He knew nothing about the role that he was forced to take in, about her at all but she was the person he had to work with.
And he was drawing to a blank.
