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arty-e · 4 years

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Alfonso’s Story Part 1

TW: Child death, Death, Disease, Plague + Blood

Alfonso was the adoptive son of Princess Matilda Espadas and Lady Iris Romero ( daughter of Three of Spades). His mothers had been banished from Matilda’s family’s court after they had eloped against Matilda’s parents wishes who had already arranged a marriage for her. Alfonso was adopted by the two after his biological grandmother had passed away when he was four. She had been a servant working for the banished couple. The three of them lived contently in their banishment until Alfonso was nine, Matilda’s parents requested for her and her family to return to their court as they wanted to meet their grandson and have Matilda as their heir once again (they only had one child and they always knew they’d call her back and be their heir). Alfonso was quickly thrown into Royal life and high expectations were suddenly pushed upon him something his mothers had never really pushed upon him:

Spades, in recent centuries, had shut itself from the rest of Cards in order to protect themselves and the knowledge they had collected over the many millennia (they had the largest archive in all of Cards). However the Isolationism had lead to the kingdom to breaking apart as it was stuck with itself and it’s issues. Matilda’s parents suffered with rebellion after rebellion through out their reign and it did not let up during her and Iris’s. Matilda was not merciful on those who took arms against her and hers, unlike her parents who tried to strike deals and be merciful for those who rose up against them. Most of the rebellions during Matilda’s reign were dealt with swiftly and quickly and squashed faster than her parents. She was rarely merciful and often had the majority of those who rose up against her executed:

A few years into Matilda’s reign, in the Spades of Five region a clearly growing rebel force began to build up it’s forces however the Five of Spades refused to ‘sort them out’ as the family felt ignored by the Royals and weren’t being given the same respect as the other Nobles. Matilda was prepared to treat the Fives the same as the rebels however Iris convinced her to take a more pragmatic and peaceful approach. They sent Alfonso to talk to the Five of Spades and convince them to sort out the rebels. While there Alfonso met the Five of Spades daughter, Isabella:

Alfonso and Isabella took a shine to one another in an instance. During Alfonso’s time at the Five of Spades home he took every opportunity to talk with Isabella which convinced her family enough to sort out the rebels. Alfonso returned to capital of Spades (Mooreport) but he stayed in contact with her, writing to her constantly and sending her gifts. Finally Alfonso requested for his mothers’ permission to marry Isabella which they agreed to though Matilda was somewhat against it as she was still annoyed with the Five of Spades ignoring their duties, Iris however was very happy for their son and encouraged him to go after Isabella. Alfonso and Isabella were married:

Isabella and Alfonso soon had their first child, Alfonso, or Alfie as they liked to call him. While Alfonso was happy with his new family Spades had been suffering with an outbreak of the Snowflake disease that had ravaged the kingdom for many years. However late into Matilda and Iris’ reign a big surge occurred and it began to kill off a lot of the Spade population; including Consort Iris. Her death had been a huge blow to Matilda who struggled to accept her wife was gone:

As Matilda grieved Alfonso did his best to keep his last remaining parent afloat but she made it very difficult for him as she stopped taking care of herself and trying to be the King of Spades. She soon followed Iris to the grave and Alfonso and Isabella were made the King and Queen of Spades. Alfonso was heartbroken from losing both his mothers to the same disease within a year of each other:

A few years after Matilda’s death Alfonso and Isabella had their second child, Michael who they adored just as much as they adored their eldest. Alfonso spent as much time as he could playing with them. Alfonso did his best to stop the spread of Snowflake disease, more than his mother or any of his predecessors ever did. But it still didn’t stop his children from getting it. When Alfie was 5 and Michael was 1 they caught the Snowflake disease. Alfonso and Isabella did everything hey could to help their sons, calling for doctors and healers from all over Spades anybody who could save them. The young princes died a few months after catching the disease leaving both Isabella and Alfonso destroyed:

Alfonso did his best to preoccupy his mind from his grief by focusing his mind on his kingdom and how to improve it. Though the rebellions were less frequent in his reign thanks to his mother’s scaring most of their people into submission, they were still about and the people of Spades were clearly unhappy. He addressed all the immediate problems that he could deal with at the time. He heavily focused on limiting the spread of the Snowflake disease and he succeeded after several years of trying. He also opened up the boarders to spades feeling that the isolationism that Spades had put itself in went against their ideology of learning, he felt it prevented them from learning and hoped that the other kingdoms would know more about solving the problems his kingdom faced. He began to communicate with the other Royals of Cards. One of the first kingdoms he open up to was Diamonds. Queen Opal XXI was who he contacted the most and the two came up with a deal that benefited both kingdoms which helped Alfonso improve the state of Spades:

Isabella was still struggling of the loss of their sons during this time and there was little Alfonso could do to comfort her. After fives years with the grief the two had a beautiful little girl they named Joanna. She was light of their lives and they were both very careful with her making sure she was safe and wouldn’t sick like her brothers had. However one day the young princess wandered away from her nursery leading to her fall down a flight of stairs in the palace. Alfonso and Isabella were struck by the heart wrenching grief once again. Alfonso could see Isabella mental health take a terrible decline that scared Alfonso, as he could barely recognise the woman he loved:

Though Alfonso wanted to focus on his grief he poured all his attention on their youngest child and son Henry. He had been born prematurely and sickly and both were told that he wasn’t expected to live long. Isabella still hurting from her previous children’s deaths distanced herself from her youngest scared if she even touched him she’d kill him by accident. Alfonso looked after Henry the whole time making sure what little time his son had would be pleasant and peaceful. The last of their children died at the age of four. He lived longer than anyone expected but it still hurt nonetheless for the two to lose him.

Isabella’s mental health began to spiral out of control blaming herself for their children’s death when no one to blame for any of them. Alfonso was just so tired from the grief and sad at how broken his darling wife was. He did his best to help her but he knew he was little help to her. With the aid of doctors and psychologist he set up the Asylum, a place where he hoped that people could go to to heal their minds. He prayed Itzcoatl that it would help save his beloved wife:

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