Seven of Hearts

Keywords - Upright: public triumph, honor paid in full, the crowd's memory  ·  Inverted: a height to defend, envy in the cheering

Upright

Classical and generous. The crowd is cheering and the laurels are real. Everything that comes with public triumph arrives at once.

This is the win with witnesses - the laurel set on your head where everyone can see it. Prizes, precedence, the goodwill of strangers: what public triumph brings, it brings all at once. Reputations are built in moments like this one. Stand still and let them look.

Inverted

From the top of the podium, the view is of everyone who wants your place. The laurel is real, and it obligates: every challenger now warms up with your name in their mouth, and the crowd that carried you will carry the next one just as gladly. Winning was one day's work. Being the winner is every day after.

In Play

Upright. Garrick takes the games outright, and the town carries him to the feast on its shoulders.

Inverted. Garrick takes the games, and by spring every fighter on the circuit has studied how he moves - he will never surprise anyone again.