The Queen of Hearts stepped into the dining hall accompanied by her Knight, the Joker and last but perhaps truly the least, Mary Ann. Unlike in the past weeks where the hall might have been filled with more people and one could hear the lively if not deafening conversations during the evening—the change was now evident.
The frosty atmosphere could have been located in the frigid winter palace of Queen Monique.
Only a resounding silence filled the entire hall that one might believe that nobody was even actually there. Except there were people. She could see that the King and Prime Minister were sharing a quiet conversation together along with the presence of quick-footed servants arranging the plating and serving them dinner.
Yes, there was silence in the place until they had arrived.
And it changed everything.
