Qalb

By Ola El-Gohary

Along with a few thousand people, only a handful of items have survived the End of Time, including a deck of cards. In desperate need for a civilized system in the midst of the disorientation post the End of Time, humans found wisdom in the symbolism and structure in the deck of cards, or as they called it, The Almighty Cards, which they used as a guide to establish The Kingdom of Delkhwar 200 years after the End of Time. The kingdom is ruled by the Twelve Court Members: King, Queen, and Jack for each of the four cities of the kingdom: The City of Hearts, The City of Spades, The City of Clubs, and The City of Diamonds. 

This book begins the year 524 after the End of Time. Individuals are now sorted by the element of their hearts: Glass, Oak, Stone, or Gold — which they have to wear on their sleeves. 

The Spades, the soldiers with Hearts of Stone, are responsible for keeping order in the city so that no wars break out and lead to another End of Time. However, lately the Spades have been facing a difficulty keeping the order of the kingdom as they are unable to keep order within their own lines since the late Jack of Spades, Fihr, was found out to have tricked the whole system of the kingdom and could become a Court Member while possessing a Heart of Gold. 

After the mysterious death of Fihr, the Spades are infiltrated by a number of secret believers in Fihr, especially his sister, Maniyah — Death in human form. She becomes a Spade to avenge her late brother, whom she believes to have been murdered. The strict, orderly system of the whole kingdom starts disintegrating into chaos, steadily driven to its doom, and perhaps, another End of Time. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ola El-Gohary
• Release date: Feb 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215749159

Book preview

Qalb

––––––––

Novella by

Ola El-Gohary

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2023 by Ola El-Gohary

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [e-mail]

First electronic edition March 2023

Book design and illustrations by Ola El-Gohary

––––––––

olalgohary.com

Contents

Contents

Dedication

Reading Guide

Epigraph

Prelude

I - Rubedo

II - Citrinitas

III - Albedo

IV - Nigredo

V - Albedo

VI - Citirinitas

VII - Rubedo

Postlude

About the Author

Dedication

––––––––

To my family who always have my back.

To my friends who never cease to believe in me.

To Lisa Moreau and Aya-Arrahman who dedicated a lot of their time to help my work-in-progress come to light.

Reading Guide

––––––––

Characters

Munya / Maniyah

Fihr

Ariz

Furat, King of Clubs

Iklil Al-Jabal

Muzn

Alyas

Nisal

Sadeem

Queen of Spades

Ghufran, Jack of Diamonds

Queen of Hearts

Epigraph

––––––––

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,

Tears from the depths of some divine despair

Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,

In looking on the happy autumn fields,

And thinking of the days that are no more.

– Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Prelude

Run! Run! Run!!!

Scared peasants rushed into the suburbs under the rain.

Footsteps calmly treading

The other way!

They turned at the corner.

Footsteps still arrogantly moved forward. A shiny Spade blade shimmered. The rain was heavy.

Unbelieving laughs. We made it! We have escaped!!

They leaned to the rocky building, gasping for breath.

They wanted to kill us for the unpaid taxes?? Oh, God! one panted.

The footsteps stopped.

Silence.

They looked around them, feeling some change in the air.

Hush! they whispered, holding their breath. They tiptoed till the end of the alley, looked outside, found no one.

When they turned back to the alley..

Yo, A vicious grin. That famous yellow veil. That brown hair. Those deadly amber eyes. That face and those hands with white spots. That long black spade.

They felt their souls ebbing away. They stepped backwards, trying to leave the alley but they were faced with people in black pointing spades at them. Their hearts raced.

They had seen the face of death.

Mercy.. they begged.

Slash.

♠♦♥♣

-  Where are we?

On a holy land, they say. It's where it always rains. We're always walking over our reflections.

-  What year is it?

524 after the End of Time, they say.

-  What language do you speak?

Nobody knows what it used to be named before the End of Time, but the three holy books, the scripts, the Almighty Cards – everything is written in it. It is ancient, they say.

-  What are you all?

Bashar. People with different hearts: Green hearts of Oak, White hearts of Glass, Grey hearts of Stone, and Gold hearts of Gold. That's what we are, they say.

-  What country do you belong to?

If you mean our kingdom, it is called Delkhwar. In our language, it means: all what one yearns for, they say.

-  Who rules the country?

The Court members. There are twelve of them: three representing each of the four factions of Bashar in our society: a King, a Queen, and A Jack for each of The Spade ♠, The Clubs ♣, The Diamonds ♦, and The Hearts ♥. The Almighty Cards dating back to before the End of Times inspired us with that wise social division. The 52 Almighty Cards are the aphorism of the ancestors, they say.

-  Who or what do your people worship?

The God of Qulub. The three holy books are practiced and preached by different priests and priestesses in The Sanctuary are different paths with the same end: worshiping Him, they say.

-  And what is ‘Qulub’?

In our language, a Qalb – singular form of Qulub, has many meanings. It means the heart, also means total change, and sometimes the change of heart,... they say. We worship the Creator of all hearts who has a grip on them, or who gives Alchemists the ability to change them, they say.

-  Alchemists?

Alchemy is the key. It is the ultimate quest for perfection. It is the noble process of changing hearts according to the request of the raptured soul finding no helping hands but the alchemists’.

-  They say?

No. I say.

-  And who are you?

Munya, they say. Maniyah, I say.

♠♦♥♣

I - Rubedo

1

Years ago...

You are wrong. You've always been wrong! The young man shouted.

I know what you don't know, son, the old man calmly replied. He was sitting at his wooden desk in the shadows.

How would you achieve the Magnum Opus without paying the price? It will be all fake! Useless! the young man angrily proceeded. His brown curly hair swayed as he violently shook his hands. Mother will have died for nothing!

The father did not answer.

Father, listen to me.. the son said in a calmer tone, if you don't perform the Change of Heart on me, you'll be throwing me into hell. Even if you fake my tears, even if I pass the Spade Lacrimosa, my tears will eventually give me away.

The father kept grinding some seeds in silence in the shadows. But for his silver hair, he would not have been visible. It was dark, quite dark. The son seemed to be speaking to the rocky walls, the ancient books, or perhaps the glass flasks all over the place.

You are a great Alchemist, the son proceeded, the greatest Alchemist, I admit. But, father, this won't work. Trust me. You've always said a Gold heart will always be a Gold heart. Why fear taking that one true step that might eventually bring peace to everyone?

The son audibly breathed, waiting for his father's response, but silence was all