The Springtime Queen

The Queen of Hearts knew that something was amiss. She was not blind, deaf or immune to any of these frowns that her Knight threw at her brother and neither did she fail to notice the looks that the King of Spades was giving her.

It only felt terrible if she paid attention to any of them right now.

The pool of liquid in her cup of tea was bright red, sweet and pleasant to her tongue—but now it felt too sweet. Too rich, too delicious to have now when there were other things she needed to worry about.

The tea and even tarts looked like crimson blood to her.

And then it moved to her hands, they were stained red like these tea.

Why? Oh, of course it made sense why! The Queen of Hearts was a—

The tart in her fingers crumbled, and she quickly shoved it down into her mouth. The tart was too moist, soft when it should have been flaky and dry. It couldn't be this delicious—no she was not allowed to enjoy this.