The sun was still bright, casting a diffused light through the green treetops as she rested her arm across her forehead to shade her eyes. Her feet dangled into the crystal-clear, gently flowing brook, and the wind ruffled her hair. She was holding the hand of a teenage boy in her left hand; his patched pants were rolled up so his pale feet could hang in the stream next to hers. He squinted up at the sky and watched the clouds drift by with his alert red eyes. He rolled over and grinned at her suddenly, and she broke into an equal grin that twinkled her grass-green eyes.

"Just one more day, liebeling!" he exclaimed ecstatically. "Then we can get the hell out of here and to some place much more awesome." He brushed the hair off her forehead and kissed it briefly.

"I can't wait," she replied, leaning forward to brush her lips against his. "We'll be free, finally."

A clock tower in the distance chimed ten times and the albino furrowed his brow in annoyance. "That's the call for my sector. Verdammnt, it's still light out. Why so early?"

"You know you have to go back, love," she said gently. "You can't be caught out after curfew. You know what they would do to you."

"Ah, yeah, I know. I'll see you at dawn, then?"

"Of course, szerlem. I'll be waiting for you."

He beamed at her, a one million watt smile. "I love you, Lizzie."

"I love you too, Gil." She stood and kissed him firmly on the lips. "Now run, you can't be caught."

"I'm too awesome for that!" he declared before pecking her cheek and disappearing off into the grove of trees as the clock tower tolled the warning curfew bell for sector ten. She waited in the meadow while the clock tower chimed the curfews for the rest of the sectors, silently examining the silver engagement ring she hid on a chain under her dress in the fading sunlight. Finally, the chime sounded for sector two, and she stowed the chain away and walked off the opposite way her fiancé had, heading for what she expected to be the last night in her so-called home.

The brunette groaned awake and threw her forearm across her eyes. She felt like she had a hangover, but she knew for a fact she didn't down any booze last night. She cracked one eye open and shifted under the silk sheets. The room around her was green with black and grey accents. Curtains made from green velvet half-covered the large windows from which sunlight streamed in, and the entire room was furnished in plush green furniture with a cherry wood dresser and desk. She opened both eyes up and stared. Where was she? Where was Gilbert? She opened to mouth to call for him, but a glint caught her eye instead.

On her ring finger was a gold band laden with tiny diamonds and a bright emerald in the shape of a club in the center. She blinked at the ring for a second before it all finally clicked in her mind.

She was married. Gilbert wasn't around anymore.

Distressed, she flopped back onto her bed. Now she was all messed up. That dream…why did she always have to remember the last day she saw him? Much less, why did he have to disappear? One day he was there, the next day, it was his younger brother meeting her in the meadow instead of him to explain that Gilbert had never come home the previous evening and was nowhere to be found. No one would search for him in the local government because of his sector number. The government just told his family he'd probably gotten himself killed, and if he was alive, he'd turn up eventually.

A knock sounded on the wooden door to her chamber. "My lady? Are you awake, my lady?"

"Yes," she said groggily, attempting to shake Gilbert from her mind and focus on the current day. "You may enter."

A maid with two pigtails tied with red ribbons entered her room with a quick curtsy. "King Roderich, his Excellency, asked that I summon you for the royal kingdom status meeting in an hour, Queen Elizaveta. He asked that you wear a particularly regal outfit as there will be many emissaries at the meeting."

"But of course," Elizaveta said, rising from the bed and heading into the attached washroom to splash some cold water on her face. "Do you mind picking something out? I'm afraid I'm not terribly focused yet this morning."

"Yes, your Highness."

Elizaveta sighed and splashed another wave of freezing water onto her skin. "Angelique, I've told you a million times that Elizaveta is fine with me."

"I know, your Majesty, but I'd rather not break protocol. The head maid is very particular."

Elizaveta sighed and decided the argument wasn't worth her time today. She exited the washroom and slipped on the gown Angelique had selected for her; a flowing, deep emerald garment that just swished across the stone floor when she walked with a fitted bodice and cascading skirt. She clasped on the Queen's necklace, a simple sliver chain with a black and green club charm dangling off the end. She stuck her signature pink flowers in her hair and smiled to herself as she did so; Gilbert had planted the idea in her head when she was young and it had stuck ever since. Wearing pink flowers instead of Club's green throughout her hair during her wedding had been her own secret rebellion that no one would ever understand.

Angelique opened the thick door for her, and she glided out of her chambers and down the hallways towards the receiving room. Her black boots concealed under her dress clicked and echoed off the stone floors and walls of the Clubs palace, and paintings' eyes followed her every move as she clicked alone down the hallway. No servants were running about, and no other residents of the palace were moving about. She had always been uneasy about the constant silence; she liked noise and bustle instead of silent and proper conduct.

She reached the doors to the receiving room and pushed them open. Her head held high, she glided into the room and glanced at the long oval table at which delegates from Hearts, Spades, and Diamonds sat, along with key members of her husband's advisory committee. The only empty seat was her green throne next to Roderich, who was looking at her with an emotionless face.

"Good morning, Elizaveta. Please take your seat so we may begin."

"Yes, your Highness," she replied robotically and walked across the floor to take her seat at the head of the table. She sat up straight in the chair, her hands folded in her lap, and gazed out across the table. The King nodded to a duke from the bordering kingdom of Hearts– she could never remember the man's name, but it wasn't as if she actually cared about what he was to say – to begin the proceedings. The man stood and shuffled his papers and began to drone on about trade between Hearts and Clubs and how much both economies had benefitted from the latest free trade agreement. Elizaveta stifled a yawn and instead focused on a painting of a landscape on the back wall. She vaguely noticed the defense minister for Clubs stand up and begin to give his speech, but she was preoccupied with the painting and thoughts she found more interesting.

"…as for the border with Hearts, we've had some issues recently with the Joker…he's been described as a medium-tall, pale-skinned, white-haired, red-eyed male…"

Elizaveta jolted out of her pondering of the painting and quickly inserted herself into the conversation. "Excuse me, but might you repeat that?"

"Of course, your Majesty. After four years of relative peace, a new Joker has assumed the role of pranking the lands. He has been described as a medium-tall, probably albino man of roughly 20 who has red eyes. He has been pranking the towns near the border of Hearts and Clubs; he recently has moved his attacks onto the town of Klubok."

"Klubok? As in my Klubok?"

"Yes, your Highness. He has been stealing livestock and apparently stealing money from the houses in those sectors and redistributing the coins throughout sectors 8 through 10. He seems to think himself a hero, stealing from innocent people in the rich sectors and giving the money to those residing in the poorest sectors. He is especially fond of sector 10. You will be pleased to note that he has not targeted your parent's home."

"Has he harmed anyone physically?" Roderich asked.

"There has only been one reported injury that occurred after he removed all the glass from the windows in a house in sector 3, which occurred after he allegedly threw a smoke bomb into one of the open windows. The man of the house stepped on the burning fuse in an attempt to prevent the bomb from exploding and scorched the bottom of his foot."

Elizaveta chocked in a laugh, and began coughing heartily after a pointed glare of disapproval from Roderich. She cleared her throat.

"So, I assume this man in highly elusive for you to have not caught him yet, minister? I cannot believe that there are many people in this world that have a description similar to the one that has been given." She knew that there couldn't be anyone else in the world that looked just like Gilbert; the odds were next to impossible. Perhaps this was where Gilbert had vanished to. The Joker was notorious for apprehending teenage boys from one of the poor sectors as their heirs, and sector ten was a favorite due to it being the bottom rung of society.

"Correct, your Majesty. He should be fairly simple to track down as he cannot blend in."

"And you plan on apprehending and then giving this man a trial?"

"Yes, your Highness."

"Allow me to make a proposal," she began slowly. Roderich looked at her intently as she constructed her next sentences in her head. "I know Klubok better than many people as I grew up there. I can easily tell you which estates in the high-ranked sectors could be targeted. I assure you that the Joker has developed a pattern of sorts that will be easy to identify upon further analysis. My proposal would be that we send in a small army troupe, posed as civilians visiting family in sector 2. As you have said my parent's house has not yet been targeted, they are surely coming up on his list. We shall post several of your men in the neighboring manors and as guards around the perimeter of the house. When he attempts a prank, we will easily be able to apprehend this Joker figure. He will never expect a woman living in a house in sector 2 to be his undoing."

The table sat silently and gazed at her green eyes that flashed with determination. Roderich sighed in his seat and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't agree with this, Elizaveta."

"You weren't supposed to, dear."

He shook his head in near disbelief and looked over to the still-standing defense minister. "I do not veto her proposal, if you believe it might work. She would be a valuable resource since she is the only person here from Klubok. Those of us who are born in Sector Ace tend not to leave since we are the capital. I assure you she will know the area a million times better than the men you shall select for the mission."

The defense minister paused briefly and then nodded solemnly, "we would be honored if you accompanied us, your Highness."

Elizaveta smiled at the group of people brightly. "Thank you gentlemen for your time." She stepped off her throne and made her way towards the doors to the meeting room.

She then turned around again, her satin dress swaying at her feet, the joyous smile still evident on her features. "We ride at dawn."

Author's Notes:

FINALLY! Here is the first chapter of my cardverse PruHun story! This has been in the works for a long time and I finally finished the whole thing this afternoon. I'm going through now and doing final edits and making sure everything stays consistent, but I know this chapter won't have any changes so I decided to post it! ^^

I will admit I took a few creative liberties with this AU. As you can see, Ivan is not the King of Clubs. In fact, there is no Ivan at all. ^^" He just didn't fit in. But for the most part, everything else is the same as the cards say in way of rank.

I'll probably update about once a week. I get busy, so occasionally updates might be a little farther apart. But here you go, I hope you enjoyed it! Tell me what you thought!