Seven of Clubs (War and Suits Book 6) Read online

  Table of Contents

  War and Suits

  The Clubs

  5th February

  6th February

  7th February

  8th February

  9th February

  10th February

  11th February

  Other books by J.A.Armitage

  Note from the author

  Seven of Clubs

  War and Suits book 6

  J.A.Armitage

  Copyright 2016

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  War and Suits

  The Clubs

  Two of Clubs – Rose Persimmon Club

  Three of Clubs – Stargazer Lily Club

  Four of Clubs- Tarragon Brodie Club

  Five of Clubs – Ash Ever Club

  Six of Clubs – Iris Larkspur Club

  Seven of Clubs – Juniper Hawthorne Club

  Eight of Clubs – Fern Foxglove Club

  Nine of Clubs – Sorrell Snapdragon Club

  Ten of Clubs – Sequoia Hollis Club

  Jack of Clubs – Sage Salix Club

  Queen of Clubs – Heather Lotus Club

  King of Clubs – Reed Cardamom Club

  5th February

  “Juniper, you gotta help me.”

  I looked from my breakfast cereal to see a rather distraught looking Iris. This was strange on two counts, the first being that Iris lived in Yelpish, a small hippie commune a couple of hours’ horse ride away. Secondly, Iris never looked distraught. She always had that strange, otherworldly, smug smile on her face that only hippies could have. Furthermore, she seemed to be holding a bacon sandwich in her hand.

  “Are you alright, Iris? It’s just that I’ve never seen you eat a bacon sandwich in your life.”

  My crazy sister pulled her golden hair back revealing her beautifully symmetrical face. “I’m not alright, no. There’s an uprising in The Spadelands, and Daddy is so busy that I can’t get in to see him.”

  “What?” She usually harped on about all kinds of strange stuff, usually involving spirits or mythical beings, but I’d never known her to pay attention to something that was actually happening in the real world before.

  “The Spades attacked Yelpish yesterday, well, they were planning on attacking Yelpish, but they are now rebuilding it because it turns out that their beef was with the Hearts and not us. The Hearts are raising their prices and not sticking to trade agreements.”

  “Iris, since when do you care about what the Hearts or Spades do? The Hearts have been doing a lot of shady things in the last few weeks to everyone, not just the Spades,” I replied dismissively.

  Iris walked over to me, taking the seat next to mine. “But the Spadelands are in turmoil, what with the Queen missing and the King refusing to do anything.”

  “I’m not sure I understand what you are asking me to do.” I threw my spoon into the empty bowl and stood up to put it in the kitchen sink. Turning the tap on, I rinsed it out, not wanting to leave a mess for the kitchen staff later.

  “Please go and see Daddy,” she begged. “One of us needs to meet with the King of Spades or Leo and have some proper talks. It’s affecting us too. We border The Spadelands, and we are the only thing between them and the Heartlands. If they declare war, we’ll be in a terrible mess.”

  “Look around you, Iris. We are all at war or, at least, not very far down the road from it. I doubt I could do anything to stop it.”

  “You are the only one that can help. Sage is too busy as it is. Sorrell is also swamped with work. Fern is utterly useless, which leaves you and Sequoia. As Sequoia is married, I didn’t want to ask him to take time away from his wife and kid. You’ve been saying for years that you wish you could have more responsibility. Now is your chance to do something.”

  “Fine,” I muttered irritably. “I’ll go and talk to Father, but you’d better have another of those bacon sandwiches ready for me when I come back down.”

  It occurred to me as I walked up the stairs to my Father’s study that Iris was right. I’d not really been pulling my weight like all my brothers and sisters. Even my youngest sister, Rose, had done more than me, although it could be argued that she had started this mess in the first place. Now was my chance to finally step out of the shadow of my elder brothers and show everyone what I was made of I ran my hand through my short dark hair, feeling the bristle of it against my fingers and knocked on my Father’s door.

  “What is it?” his voice grumbled through the door.

  “It’s Juniper, Father. I need to speak to you.”

  “I’m busy!”

  “That’s why I’m here, Father,” I said, opening the door. “I’m here to help.”

  He was in a really grumpy mood; that was for certain. My Father only ever got in a grumpy mood when one thing happened, and then he was insufferable.

  “Try looking behind the third book on the top shelf.”

  We all knew where he kept his secret stash of tobacco. Unfortunately, he sometimes forgot himself. I waited while he pulled out the thick tome— History of Clubs—and pulled out a full packet of pipe tobacco from behind it. I watched as he filled his pipe and lit it before I spoke. There would be no point until then.

  “I’m here about Iris, Father,” I said, as a plume of smoke floated into the air. I watched as the facial features on my Father relaxed, and he sank into his chair.

  “You know, I’d completely forgotten about this,” he puffed happily, ignoring me. “I sent Willow out to get some, more than an hour ago, and he’s still not back. Honestly, that boy has become next to useless since he started dating Stargazer. Now, what was it you wanted, son?”

  “Iris tells me that there are problems in the Spadelands.”

  “Yes, yes, I know she’s back from that infernal village of hers. I think she came to see me this morning, but she couldn’t help me find my tobacco.”

  “She thinks something needs to be done. Her suggestion was that I go and speak with the Spade Royal Family, and I agree. Obviously, I can’t speak with the king or queen, but I was thinking you could set up a royal meeting with Leo. Leo, as the Jack of Spades, is running the Kingdom in his parent’s absence and he and I have always got on quite well

  “I’m not sure it will look good if we send the Seven. No disrespect to you, my son, I know you can handle it, but shouldn’t I send someone of equal status? Jack to Jack?”

  “You know Sage is busy, Father. I don’t think it would look good if our Jack left the Clublands right now. Leo might be the Jack of Spades and completely outrank me, but he’s a decent fellow, and we’ve always got on whenever we’ve been at functions together. If I explain the situation, I’m sure he won’t be offended that it’s only me. Besides, the way Iris tells it, he could probably do with all the help he can get.”

  “Yes, yes, you are probably right. Ok, I’ll ask Heather to organise it. She’s good at that kind of thing.”

  “Thank you, Father. I was wondering, would you mind if I took Orion with me. He’d make a good right-hand man.”

  “Your cousin is a spoiled brat,” my father began, taking another long puff on his pipe. “Maybe this could make a man of him. He could do with working for his money for a change. I’ll let Heather know he’s coming too.”

  I left my Father to organise everything, or, at least, I left him to tell my mother to organise everything.

  After telling Iris the news, I went to my room to pack. My first Royal Tour! Maybe now, I’d be able to step out from under Sage’s shadow. Plus, a week staying in a nice hotel with my cousin would be fun, as long as he didn’t
fuck it up.

  Just before seven o’clock, after being given all the tickets from my mother, I met Orion at the zeppelin port.

  Orion was not only my cousin; he was my best friend. We’d been inseparable since we were kids. He was also an egotistical ass, but I loved him. I always had fun when Orion was around. We were practically the same age, born only a couple of weeks apart although he was a good couple of inches taller than I. He was fairer than I was with sandy colored hair to my black hair, and he always wore the most expensive suits tailor-made in Cerce by The Hearts.

  As we waited, he was searching around him as though he was expecting someone else to be there.

  “Last call for all passengers to Notston,” a guard called, announcing the Zeppelin to the capital city of the Spade Kingdom.

  We boarded the zeppelin into our very own suite—The Royal Cabin. It was luxuriously decorated to a much higher standard than any room in our castle, with gold wallpaper and a thick carpet underfoot, leaving me feeling excited about our journey. At one end, was a bar with a very pretty hostess, waiting to fulfil our every need, and at the other end, were a number of soft armchairs, the type that both swivelled and reclined. The cabin wasn’t really for the exclusive use of the royal families of Vanatus but for anyone who had the money to pay for it. It was a rare treat indeed for me to be travelling this way as the Club royal family usually travelled in the cheaper seats, a fact that Orion was only too pleased to point out.

  “Looks like your Father has pushed the boat out,” he said, sitting back on one of the armchairs, and squeezing the upholstery on one arm of it. “Doesn’t he usually make you ride scum class?”

  Orion really was a snob. Pretty much everything and everyone was beneath him, and nothing was ever good enough. He seemed pretty happy, relaxing in the big, comfy chair, though. Thinking of my father reminded me of something he had said just before I left the castle.

  “It’s important business. He thought it would look more impressive if we hired the Royal Cabin. He told me you were bringing a girlfriend. You kept that quiet! Who is she?”

  Orion didn’t do girlfriends. He never had, at least, not in the typical sense. He paid for his women. Not that he couldn’t get one if he tried; he always had an endless stream of women lining up for his attentions. It was common knowledge that he was seeing a prostitute in Cerce, although he didn’t know that we all knew. My father might come across as a bit doddery at times, but he knew about everything that went on in The Clublands and Urbis. I often wondered why Orion was with the girl, Ember, I recalled her name being. I put it down to his immaturity. Hopefully, he’d grow up one day and marry one of the society ladies that were constantly asking him on dates.

  “The king is mistaken. It’s just you and me, a boy’s vacation.”

  Our own private hostess handed Orion a beer for each of us. He threw one to me, and I opened the cap, letting the cold amber fluid flow down my throat as the zeppelin took off.

  This was going to be a great trip!

  “Excuse me, sir. There is a lady in the other cabin who tells us she is with you.”

  I turned to find another immaculately dressed hostess, smiling at me with a rather terrified urchin of a girl standing behind her.

  I checked the ticket handed to me, and it did indeed say The Royal Cabin and had today’s date on it. I arched my eyebrow at Orion. So this was the girlfriend Orion had invited. She was certainly different from his usual type. She was extraordinarily pretty, but in a real way, nothing about her was fake, and she was dressed in a way that screamed student. She had on jeans and a hoody and was carrying a very worn backpack. I’d never seen Orion with a woman wearing jeans before. He liked his women to wear skimpy dresses. Judging by the rather sick expression on his face, he was embarrassed by her appearance. So much so, he denied that she was even meant to be with us on the trip. It suddenly dawned on me that this was a girl from the same place he’d found Ember- some brothel in Cerce catering to the rich and famous. I knew this wasn’t Ember, though. Ember was blonde, as had all of Orion’s girlfriends been.

  I could hardly throw the poor girl out. She looked terrified. Whatever Orion had done, she was going to come with us whether he liked it or not. I invited her in and offered her a chair to sit in. Orion swivelled on his chair and ignored the pair of us.

  Once she was over her fear, the girl told me her name—Solstice. She was actually a lot of fun. Whatever his problem was, and whatever messed up arrangement Orion had gotten himself into, he was missing out.

  He behaved petulantly all the way to the hotel and was miserable through dinner. In the end, I had to give him a stern talking to and move him into the Royal Suite with me, letting Solstice have his room. If he wanted to act like an insufferable jerk the entire week, that was his prerogative, but I was here on business, and I wasn’t about to let his ridiculous love life, or whatever you could call it, interfere with that.

  I needed to make my Father proud of me. I had to prove that I could handle royal duties. This was the first time my father had given me a chance, and I wasn’t about to ruin it just because Orion had messed up.

  After dinner and after dealing with more of Orion’s shit, I called Leo from my bedroom in the Royal Suite.

  Very few people had his private number, but my father had given it to me before I left.

  “Juniper!” His warm tones greeted me as if I were an old friend, although his voice was weary. “Did you get here ok?”

  “We arrived a couple of hours ago.”

  “Wonderful, fantastic, great! I trust the hotel is up to your satisfaction? It’s the best in town.”

  “It’s perfect, thank you.”

  “I’m very sorry I haven’t invited you to stay at the Spade Palace. I’m afraid it’s a bit of a disaster at the moment, and I thought you’d be more comfortable at the hotel.”

  My thoughts turned to Orion and Solstice. The last thing I wanted was for Leo to know that I had inadvertently brought a prostitute with me. No, staying in the hotel was just fine.

  “Not a problem. I was just calling to check if our meeting was still on for tomorrow?”

  “Of course, of course. We’ll meet at eleven as planned, and then you must stay for dinner. I’m afraid it won’t be up to your usual standard, but I’m sure I can get the palace staff to knock something edible together.”

  Something was off. I’d eaten at The Spade Palace on a few occasions, and their food was usually sumptuously decadent. More often than not, it was full of spice and flavour, thanks to the melting pot of different tribes of shifters that inhabited the kingdom. Compared to the Club’s signature dish of Flambéed swamp fish, the Spades’ meals were exquisite.

  I thanked him and hung up the phone. Something wasn’t right. I guessed tomorrow, I’d find out what.

  As I didn’t have to be at the palace until eleven, I decided to order a couple of bottles of red wine to go with our meal. I needed it to get through an evening with Orion. Monsatsu only knew what was going on with him, but he was acting like a spoiled brat. He was treating Solstice like dirt, and the poor girl seemed a little lost in the situation in which she found herself. When Orion went to bed in a huff, it seemed only right that I look after her. Three bottles of wine later, I escorted Solstice up to her room, and then took my own drunken weary ass to bed.

  6th February

  “Good morning, this is your wake-up call. It’s nine am, and breakfast is being served in the restaurant.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled to the way-too-perky-for-this-time-in-the-morning-receptionist and hung up the phone.

  Crap, I’d drunk way more than I should have. Sage would never have allowed himself to drink so much. It would be easy to blame the fact, I was looking after Solstice, but the truth was, I was having fun. Today, things had to be different. I had my family’s honour to uphold and turning up at the Spade Palace hung over was not a great way to go about it.

  There was only one thing for it. A huge breakfast. I dragged my ass out of
bed, had a quick shower, and made my way down to the restaurant. A huge buffet style spread had been laid out with cold pastries, meats, cheeses, and jams on a long table and a section of hot food on another. I immediately saw Solstice in the line, waiting to get bacon and eggs.

  “Good morning,” I said as I approached her. She gave me a warm smile.

  “Is it? I’ll have to get back to you on that one, once I’ve had some food.”

  I had no idea what Orion had against her. She was so lovely.

  “I’m right there with you. Nothing cures a hangover like a mountain of breakfast food.”

  I piled my plate up with the hot food and picked up a couple of croissants for good measure.

  The same booth we had eaten in last night had been reserved for us by some unknown member of the hotel staff. Being a member of royalty did have some perks.

  “What are your plans for today?” asked Solstice as she eased herself into the booth beside me.

  “Today is the first day of my official royal tour. It’s my first one.”

  “It sounds like a big deal,” replied Solstice, taking a bite out of a slice of toast.

  “It is. I’m only the Seven of Clubs; so really, I shouldn’t have this responsibility. But the war has changed all that. My elder brothers and sisters are as busy as my parents.”

  “War? We aren’t really at war, are we?”

  “Not quite. That’s really why I’m here. We are working hard to make sure that a war doesn’t happen.”

  “I’ve seen all the bullshit propaganda published by the Heart Echo, but I just ignore it.”

  “Wise. The Hearts are really the issue but don’t quote me on that. What are your plans for today?”

  “I’m thinking I might take a tour around the town, see the sights, be a tourist, you know.”

  “Sounds fun.”

  It suddenly occurred to me that Solstice was going to be on her own. As much as I hated to do it, I pulled out my phone to call Orion.”

  “I’m going to wake sleeping beauty up.” I watched Solstice make a face of disgust as I dialled his number and wondered if I was doing the right thing.