"Tricks of Love" is one of the November Writing Challenge entries that was chosen to be a featured story.
“Pick a card, any card, and you will see, how your destiny calls to me.” She shouted with confidence. Bemusement in his eyes, normally sad eyes, he decided to humor her, recognizing that trickster smile.
“And what can a deck of cards tell you about destiny?”
“You wound me, sir. It’s the magic of the cards. They come to you and me to tell amazing stories!” Was her reply.
Deciding there was nothing to lose and finding this girl intriguing, he picked a card from between the deck. Out he pulled the king of hearts.
“Lovely! Lovely! Now put it pack and shuffle, then your card I will read,” she chuckled mischievously.
Complying to her whim, he shuffled the sad king around the deck, handing it back when he deemed fit. She ran a single finger through the deck, stopping near the bottom to pull out a card.
“Ahh!” she exclaimed, “Your card, sir, ’twas calling my name!”
He laughed with her as she shuffled in victory, a trickster trademark no doubt.
Her smile faltered for a glimmer of the second as the red king stared back at her. The Suicide King was his card.
“I’m sorry,” she spoke softly, almost a whisper to the wind, but he heard clear as day. “Your card is the king of hearts, a sorrowful card indeed. The Suicide King, tragic, broken, ironic. King of hearts betrayed by love and left with emptiness. Indeed you have suffered recently, betrayed as the king himself.”
Her words rung true, much to his dismay. They sat in a tense silence for a moment before she attempted to improve the glum man’s mood.
“I know the perfect solution!” she cried. “Another trick only for your eyes!”
Confused and a bit startled by her outburst, he complied to her whim yet again. “Take this coin and flip it now, sir, heads for happy times sure to come, and tails for a sorrow that never ceases.”
Flipping the coin they waited for it to land, her eyes filled with hopefulness and his with amusement as he gazed not at the coin, but the trickster before him. The air stilled as the coin landed, perfectly on its ridge. Head hung, she rose to speak, only to be stopped by the man.
“Well now. I suppose that path is mine to decide,” he said, an amused chuckle on his lips.
A moment passed until she noticed a charming gleam returned to his eye. Though he was but a stranger, she knew the look all too well.
“Ahh and a present for the fair miss who took the time to restore a stranger,” he said, a mischievous smile on his lips as he magically pulled a sunshine rose from his sleeve.
Gladly accepting the rose, she smiled. She had known she was drawn to him, and now the reason was clear. Before her stood another trickster also grinning ear to ear.
Holding hands, they began walking towards a park nearby before he pulled her gently to a stop.
“Pick a card, any card, and you will see how your destiny calls to me,” he whispered, pulling out her deck as she had done when they first met. Each pulled a card from the deck and smiled.
For in their hands were a love struck king and his beautiful queen.