Chapter 11
Weeks had since passed since the incident, the unease between the Royals hadn't strained itself. Everyone still acting according to their duties, until night came when the Queen would leave to reside in an unoccupied room, away from both the Jack and King.
The Queen has not been the only one to distance themselves, Alfred had detached himself from the Jack, while not blaming him for what had occurred felt he was to take some part of the blame for having forced the grant onto him. That was out of his hands and Yao had known that from the start, in that moment he had spoken up Alfred was more than a bent piece of aluminum in his hand, and now he felt that gaining the other back to be a task for the god's, a thousand apologies couldn't overcome what he made the other endure. In truth, he had not the slightest idea of what Arthur was going through, he couldn't read his mind nor close a six foot proximity with the other before he would vanish in a flash, refusing to be near the other. All he knew was that it was causing him pain, severe enough to not even remain more than thirty minutes in the same room with the other, making council meetings intolerable, and extremely awkward for Alfred who had given up the second time he had attempted to speak to him; although, he found Yao to be extremely pleased by this, slipping small grins over to Alfred who returned them with a stone cold gaze. Everything Alfred could think of to fix the situation felt was never enough, an apology was so flat and meant nothing, words could hold so much power but not enough all the same, giving him anything would look like an attempt to buy his affection back, no that wasn't right, he often found that with psychotic parents and grandparents doing that towards their kids after fights.
Pulling his head up he looked at his reflection, his eyes stained red and his hair unkempt, "I don't know what to do." Mumbling to himself he felt his eyes water, before walking out of the bathroom trying to maintain his composure as the pain built up in his chest, and the headache that never seemed to cease within his head before streaming down to his chest, causing a riveting pain that never faded. His lungs were filling in and out at a rapid pace, leaning against a wall clinging onto his arms, nails digging into his biceps before he covered his mouth as a shaken sob finally left his vocals. He knew he shouldn't be the one crying in this situation, he wasn't hurt or taken advantage of, this was out of his place but he had willingly harmed the only one he had an attachment left with, he could withstand forever being alone but knowing that the other was currently enduring suffering due to his actions, that seemed to kill him more than the prospect of losing him. How was he ever to make this right?
Never stopping he walked down the halls he had been loitering since that night he had picked himself up and made his way into one of the spare bedrooms, away from Alfred and the aches. The move was quick, and nobody had heard a thing as he swapped rooms while the party continued downstairs, and the amount of times he had fallen back suppressing his screams as tears streamed down his face, reminding him of a little kid, were unnamed, in that moment he didn't think twice about it rather it felt right to let loose in those hours. Walking to the double doors he hesitated before reaching out, pushing them forward, he stepped in looking into the room, there stood the thrones that were always vacant, hardly being used as most work was done in their individual offices, the only time's they were used was primarily when Alfred still remained without a Queen and during more trivial matters. Shutting the door behind him darkness ate his entire body, he didn't bother lighting a candle as to not alert any others he was in the room, there was no reason to draw attention to himself when he was attempting the opposite. Rather taking his time, opposed to all the time's he rushed his way through life, standing at the stairs where he had once not hesitated to run up, ready to take the King down in his enraged state covered in dirt and cuts. His breathing was mimicking the way it had when he had first stepped into the throne room, not as the Queen but rather somebody who was apart of a court, originally trying to rid himself of the mark that had made itself known through only mere weeks and he had taken to wearing ascots and high-necked shirts to conceal it as it grew more prominent each day. Those days seemed forever ago, nobody had suspected anything, he had always dressed himself more heavily than the other's who were on the court, some might have called it a respect tactic but it was rather his sense of comfort. The day he had finally managed to get past the castle walls he hadn't expect such a dramatic change, from once being nothing but a mere voice in the court he was crowned Queen of a kingdom he had only stepped foot in to rid himself of his fate, instead he did the opposite; entangling his dance with fate, taking her hands in his and allowing her arms to wrap behind his neck as he pulled her into a low dip, accepting what she was giving to him.
Looking up he found himself no longer at the base of the stairs, rather standing where Alfred would have sat, reaching out his hand traced the armrest, throat clenching as a tune in his head played out the vibrations ear piercingly loud and all so enticing. His heart beat reaching new activity he had never thought was possible everything in him shouting in a tone of desperation, nothing for once was pulling against him, trying to fight his every waking move as it had when he would walk down to the bedroom he had once shared. The sounds becoming louder the closer he inched in, too many instruments were being played at once to make a single one out, his heart dancing and vibrating through his entire body, his breathing shallow. Circling around he maintained distance from his own, although refraining from leaving his fingerprints on the silver with a layer of gold, somehow this was enough he knew from how he refused to pull away as he once again slid his fingers across the right armrest, turning him back and pressed up against it. This was enough.
"Forget your troubles." He breathed once more, "Chase all your cares away, we're going to the promised land." A song from his past he knew from long ago, pieces cut out, an eerie tone had always been placed with the song, he remembered singing it to encourage himself that life would be better, that he could remove himself from the court he had once worked under, "The sun is shining, come on get-" His own voice strangulated, unable to find the words as his emotions had constricted themselves from the mere thought.
"Get happy. The lord is waiting to take your hand." A disembodied yet quavering voice interrupted, pushing the notes to fit the others tone.
Neither bothered addressing one another, nor to bring light into the room. Standing in the dark their positions switched to Arthur's realization compared to that day he had met him. Removing himself from the armrest he seated himself down, never once feeling this was the wrong thing to do as the other never attempted to tell him otherwise despite being able to make out his figure settling into the King's throne.
The dim colour of purple surrounded the room as Arthur held out his right palm, "Alfred F. Jones." A small smirk toyed on his lips, his leg crossing the other, "What a surprise."
Looking up his facial expression didn't change in any form, content despite his red eyes, "I suppose this is my judgement day."
Trying to suppress himself he felt nothing, no pang of hatred or fear, however he wasn't numb, the feeling didn't have a description, far from it, it didn't have a name. "Possibly, that is entirely for you to reflect upon. However, I do wonder if you believe I don't despise you."
"If you did you would have stopped me by now." He challenged, placing a foot onto the staircase, never breaking contact with the other, as he climbed each step with ease, "If you did you would have shot me down by now, Arthur." A small smile playing on his face, only one stair distancing them, as the flame stationed in Arthur's hand a lighter shade than how it started revealing the ease he held within himself: whether he noticed it or not, he made no indication of trying to manipulate the colour into a darker shade.
Leaning on his left he looked upon the other, "You realize it's in violation to address the Queen by their name." He joked, letting his legs cross.
The two were now in a stand against one another, each playing their own devices at hand, with Alfred's boyish charms doing their miracles as they typically did, and Arthur's convenient way with words that always drew the other to him. Arthur's smile diminished in a second as he watched Alfred drop to his knee, now in-front of the Queen. "My Queen, my sincere apologies for being dense. I regret to inform you however, that you married the fool who is in-front of you."
Arthur couldn't withhold of himself as he accessed this situation, both of them with exhausted red eyes and heavy set bags underneath, yet somehow had both landed up in the same area, in this least elegant pyjamas as both were clad in sweatpants and short sleeve shirts, with Arthur only setting the two apart with a medium purple robe over him shoulders. He couldn't help himself as he bit his bottom lip, trying to not let the small laughs escape, taking a breath he looked down to see Alfred had still not raised his head, "And how do you plan to make this up?" He joked, making it painfully obvious to the other that he wasn't displeased in the slightest.
Raising his head he looked up before standing to Arthur's amazement, his mind ran with thoughts, was he about to run out and leave him. In a second he didn't hesitate, what had brought the other here, all the sudden his hand closed on the flame as he pulled back into the throne. Not having thought once about his reason to be in the same room as the other, besides to regain his authority; however, if that was the case then why was Alfred permitting full access to his thoughts for once, not minding as Arthur rummaged around from only mere hours ago to years before they had met. The orchestra in his head once again deafening the outside world, flipping through the other like an open book. No, this wasn't a thing to be pleased about, Alfred had never allowed anyone to read him like this and he wasn't going to just to regain a part of the person he married, as much as Alfred trusted people he had little to no tolerance for anyone knowing every single detail about him on a whim. He stopped, this wasn't right, something is wrong, and looking down he found the other hunched over on both knees, hands clasped over his chest.
Taking to his feet he walked to the other, forcing his head up with a finger, "You know what it will take to regain my trust." He cautioned, Alfred raising to his feet as Arthur's hand covered the left side of the other's chest.
His breath hitched as he came to the understanding of what the other was implying, trying to pull back before his wrist was snatched, pulling him in, "Arthur, I can't-" Alfred began, trying to seek reason only for Arthur to cut him off by pulling him in, drawing him close in the romantic gesture as he was overtaken by the chemicals being released throughout his body. Relishing in the moment of finally holding the other after weeks of not being able to get near him, feeling the joy push over the fear and sorrow that once took hold. What he didn't realize was the exhaustion, not until he could barely hold the others hand in his.
Upon opening his eyes Alfred was met with a harsh red glow, the first sign that something was off as Arthur's magic came in bursts of green or purple depending on who he was speaking with. A small blue crystal removed itself from his chest, into Arthur's hand, who didn't seemed phased at all as he grabbed onto it, pocketing it before releasing the other's shirt collar.
"Arthur," He pushed against the other, not wanting to be near him for another second, looking at him, tears poured from his eyes, "What did you do?" He could barely manage a whisper before watching the other burst the room into a bright shade of red. This was no longer their throne room, it looked nothing like the ones he had seen in all his life, drapes spread out with red hearts, pillars where red roses were adorning the bases, the walls were grey bricked and the entirety of the room looked lifeless. Looking back he saw Arthur, no for that did not look like his, his eye's were too bright of a green compared to the darker shade he usually associated them with.
"Alfred!"
Breathing heavily he felt himself clutching onto soft fabric, his lungs drowning in air as he inhaled sharply only to barely exhale before once again gulping as though waves had come over, drowning him before he was pulled back up.
A pale hand gently griped his shoulder as the fabric shifted in his hands, falling from his hands, there sat Arthur, the room now lit with candle light as he glanced to take in his surroundings.
"Alfred, for the lord's sake, look at me." Laying his hand onto the other's hand's, his voice tremulous from what he had just witnessed.
Dare he look up and behold what he just saw, or was he fit enough to not act upon his fears. Deciding upon the second he glanced up to see Arthur still in a plain white shirt, his hair unkempt as it had been when Alfred first arrived and tears streaming down his face, the robe had slid off the side of his shoulder.
Placing a hand over his heart he sat up, removing his hands from the others, "Arthur," the other looked up their hands placed onto his shoulders and slightly hunched, "Did you take my heart?"
The look on the blondes face spoke for itself, eyes wide and eyebrows pressed, "Alfred, I would never do that." He stumbled, shaken by the thought itself, "There's no way I would ever be able to do that to anyone, especially you. Despite how distraught I was, that's a fate held by a string of poison. Why would you ask me such a thing?"
Noticing the other was near to tears, his instincts overpowered the adrenaline as he wrapped his hand around his waist before pulling him into his chest wrapping his arms around him, "No, I would never think of you in such a way. I was merely asking for the reason that-" would he be okay to hear what he had just seen? Would this further upset him?
A hand grasped gently at the side of his face, "Alfred, what is it?" Concern was racking the other.
"Okay, this is going to sound crazy, however, for some reason I saw someone that looked like you, yet they weren't you and they pulled me into them before pocketing my heart, or what I suppose would be it. I've never seen it happen but it was a little blue crystal or something like that." At this point he was begging to some unknown force for the other to not take this the wrong way, he was this close with him now, he couldn't stand to part with him.
"Alfred, I don't do that. I refuse to make those deals and you know that." He watched the others eyes strain away, but Arthur couldn't care much for how uneasy the other was, something had happened, in that time span where he had saw the other clutched to his chest, gasping for air that seemed to be withheld from him, he knew something was wrong, "Listen to me," holding onto the others hands he made sure to maintain eye contact, "I'm not sure what you saw, but I know the only other person with this ability is the Heart's Queen, and it isn't a pretty ending. Will you allow me to look?"
"Like, you take my heart?" He questioned, this was too much for one night, this was getting to a point where Alfred wasn't sure what to do, and honestly was becoming overcome with fatigue. One look at Arthur's disturbed appearance however was enough to allow for a little more to ensue, "Yes."
"The only other person who has this power is Hearts Queen, I'm not sure how you could see that. Nor how you could tell me what it looked like." He placed a hand over the others chest, looking up for any sign of consent only to receive a nod, Alfred possibly being the only one in the moment to notice he was repeating information, it was a common habit he had when he became panicked, "Okay, I need you to breathe. It's going to be alright, okay?" Alfred didn't need this, it was quite clear Arthur was saying this to himself, this was his feeble attempt to remain placate.
The reality of the situation had finally dawned upon him, while he placed complete trust within Arthur this had never happened before, he was attempting to remain calm between the two when in reality the fear was consuming him. Arthur was more than mimicking that feeling to a worse extent, this couldn't go wrong, yet this was all new to him. He had never done this before making this entire process worse, bringing the courage forth he slowly pulled his hand away, before something flew into his palm, his hand instantly closing upon it.
"Alfred, it's alright. You're okay, it's here." The two stared at what was now laying in Arthur's hand, a small blue crystal. His hand turning it over, it was so small, much more than he had expected in truth, about the size of a pecan. It truly was something to admire, he had never seen one but now understood why this was such a powerful move, all the same it was terrifying.
"What the fuck, put it back in!" He exclaimed, freaked out by how his husband was examining it in awe.
"Alright, alright. Calm down." Rolling his eyes he placed it back, not bothering to watch the other panic over everything.
He grabbed onto Arthur's hand, placing his arm behind his kneecaps and pulling him up bridal style, "You know what, that's too much excitement for today."
Despite what Alfred might have believed, Arthur didn't refrain from wrapping his arms around Alfred's neck as his head laid on his chest, "Certainly, I couldn't agree more."
With those last words he flicked out the candles he had lit previously with the simple snap of his fingers, practically falling into the other's touch from the fear of the draining hours, Alfred laying him on the left as he fell into the right. Throwing an arm around the others waist, Arthur yanked him forward into himself with the fluidity of a taunted snake, not caring for words in the moment as he entwined their fingers together and felt Alfred kiss him on the check. In truth he had missed this, both of them had despite their reluctance to admit it yet the tight grip Arthur articulated throughout the night whenever Alfred would move a slight inch proved to be the truth between the two.
. .
Walking down the elaborate halls of the Diamond palace Arthur maintained his grip upon Alfred's arm, the two linked by their arms both with a grim look on their face at the thought of having to once again deal with the Diamond King's antics. Truly Alfred had grown exhausted of these manners, he no longer had the strength to defend the dubious King after his last display of how little he cared for anyone outside of himself. Queen Lily and Vash had said they would willingly give them a pardon from attending after having been exposed to the same un-scripted drama production; however, they had declined as to keep appearances. As Arthur had reasoned with Alfred, the Diamond's were their best allies outside of the Heart's, and even then the Heart's were hesitant at times, and this was enough for the blue eyed male to reconsider and decide that they would be attending.
"Arthur."
His head lifted, a brow perked up at the mention of his name, "Yes, Alfred?"
Pausing he bit onto his bottom lip, drawing blood from the already severely peeled skin, his eyes faltering onto the other's gaze that was questioning the reason for his name to be called, "Will there be any hope of us returning to past times?" Wow, he mentally slapped himself, that sounded similar to something a sixteen year old would say to the female who had just broken up with him. Sometimes he wished his vocabulary was as extended as Arthur's and he didn't sound so childish during the more serious conversations.
The arm in his went slack before pulling away, footsteps hallowing out as he looked past his shoulder to see Arthur standing there, his gloved hands reaching out, "I can't assure anything."
Turning he rushed over, realizing the situation he had accidentally placed the other in with his question that he had believed would be harmless, but hadn't thought of how the other would regulate it into not being patient enough, and not willing to fix the mistakes he had made to make amends before their untimely deaths. Placing a hand on his shoulder he didn't bother to tense up, rubbing it in a soothing motion as to calm the other, "You have no reason too."
"You took advantage of me while I was not only dependent upon you, but in a disadvantage of vulnerability. In that moment, whether it was a conscious decision or not, you had decided that my trust was of no importance." His voice never quavered, no he understood now that there was no point in crying, it was simply the blatant truth of the situation, and both had come to this understanding in their own ways.
He lost some of the weight in his grip, although he wouldn't yet pull away as he watched the other's breathing stop at random segments, examining the small shake of his head before taking a deeper breath in, he was managing his anxiety and had possibly been doing so since this meeting had been called. Rising his head he met the other's worried face, "I want to trust you again, truly I do; however, I can't grant you that much power again. Any and all emotional processing the left hemisphere of my brain is able to produce had been disregarded in favour of survival."
This was one of those time's when Alfred suddenly had to remember that Arthur was good at reading people, and had been a master in understanding human emotions, and consciousness long before the two had met, "I understand. I'm sorry for not having taken your words into account in that moment."
Catching his had he pulled it back in as Alfred had attempted to pull away, displaying their wedding bands against on another as he held his hand close, "You're still the most important person in my life, you just can't have every piece of me in this moment. Although, from what I figured out, you two compared me to an intoxicated individual." The other raised a brow, questioning what he was saying, "I'm primarily referring to someone intoxicated who had been involved in a horrific accident and now been brought into the emergency room at the hospital; they're not only a threat unto themselves, but everyone else around them. Even if they refuse medical treatment the doctors can't take their word as they're wasted, so will perform despite the patients refusal because in that moment the patient is possibly not in their right state of mind."
Glancing to the right, his brows furrowed even further, "So, they have no say in it because they're drunk and can't speak for themselves?"
"Precisely, you just simplified it. However, one of you knew I was capable, yet I suppose I can't hold my anger towards you, for I am to believe Yao played a bigger role in this. As you've confirmed by admitting to the grant." He beamed at his own intellect, as he continued walking infront of the American.
"I threw him under the bus." He mumbled, looking down at his feet in realization, man he was screwed if Yao ever knew he had allowed that to slip out from his lips.
A small smile appeared on Arthur's lips before turning as grabbing onto Alfred's hand, pressing a kiss to it, "Correct."
. .
Prior to the two Spadian royal's beliefs, this meeting was somehow going worse than what they had originally believed was possible. At any possible mentioning of the expenses Francis would bombard the discussion demanding the other Kingdom's not only provide funding for the project, but to essentially halt their economy's growth in favour of assisting him.
This is where the two were now, Alfred gripping onto his hair in aggravation as he kept mentally telling Arthur to leave the burial to him. The Diamond King was now on his feet yelling at the King of Hearts, before the room was overtaken by the sound of a loud thunk as Arthur finally stood up, fed up with hearing the insolent bastard continue when everyone in the room knew he could perfectly well do fine without them.
Not even appearing to reconsider his actions he walked up to the Diamond King, stopping harshly on the other's foot and glaring up, "I'm going on a walk before I personally murder you. In that time I suggest you arrange your attitude before I rearrange your organs."
Falling back, Alfred refrained from running after the other as he watched him open the meeting room doors and head out, having seen the way his unused hand was twisting as to refrain from burning the other to singes. On the other hand, he should be thankful since it wouldn't cost him the four to seven thousand it typically costs for cremation, god knows how long that would stay unwrapped before his spirit came to haunt the Spade's for the cost and how the Queen had done this to him. Despite the friendship he had once held with the self-centered King, he now wished more than anything that either his lips would be sewn shut or Arthur had dislocated his jaw, possibly even broken it, although he supposed that the threat would work considering who it was coming from. Falling in his seat he fidgeted with the ring on his hand, watching the diamonds flicker in the light as the rest of the room collapsed in silence as they had the relief of no longer hearing the other.
Wandering down the halls, he now understood how Alfred had gotten himself emotionally stranded, they never seemed to end and the only reason he had managed to find him was due to the bond the two held, it was by chance he found the way back to the meeting room. This was it, the same hall he had found Alfred in, collapsed on his knees with ragged breaths, something was drawing them to this hall and while the thought caused alarm and curiosity to combine with one another, he also found himself repulsed that there would be a hall lined with mirrors. It felt tacky, even for that prat's standards this was overkill nonetheless he found he could still feel the connection with Alfred, it wasn't strong but he knew if he went any further he would lose it completely so rather walked down the hall, it ended in a dead end so it would be alright he reasoned. The thing he didn't account for was to look into the mirrors or he would have seen his reflection being distorted.
Taking a stand he slid his chair back in, nobody questioning him as he looked back to King Ludwig who gave him a quick nod before slipping back into his paperwork, the ever-present frown upon his face never giving way. "Give me five minutes, I'm gonna go after my husband." He called back in before giving a two finger salute and walking out.
Removing his gloves he let the air hit his hands, everything seemed so much different when his hand's weren't covered, colder day's became unbearable and sensations were so different, although that was the intended purpose. His back hit a sleek surface, he had seemed to have an odd habit of falling back on mirrors lately whenever he was drained, he chalked it up to no longer have the thoughts to care as long as they didn't break.
The hall was dimly lit, the sun was setting at a faster pace than anyone had anticipated meaning it would be more than likely that the rest would be staying within the castle for the night as guests. Preferably doors locked in his room to keep the other King from pestering him from a restful sleep. His transportation and exhaustion weren't of any importance at the moment as he wandered through the halls, hoping he wasn't lost but looking for any connection to the other only to get loose threads, compared to the strong bonds he typically found no matter how far the other was away due to how strongly attached they were.
Feeling a hand wrap around his arm he didn't think much about it, his eye's closed as he didn't bother looking throughout the hall, there was nothing to look at as there were no windows that shed light into the area, and he certainly didn't want to see his own exhausted face.
"Give me a minute Alfred and I'll be ready." He croaked out as the grip on his forearm tighten.
By the minute he felt bond getting weaker, that was strange, that never occurred unless the two were separated by miles. No it was more than strange, it was dire. Picking up his pace Alfred clung onto any trace of his husband he could find, sprinting through halls.
"A minute, no I fear that will take too much of our time."
His eye's snapped open, as a hand came over to cover his mouth, his hands pinned against him as he tried to peel the fingers away to call for help in his frantic state only to feel himself leaned backwards. The ability to hear and keep his concentration impossible as grey spotted his vision.
Stopping in his tracks he leaned over, coughing and looking around, tears pricking his eyes as a ragged cough came out from dehydration, "It's gone, it's gone." Was all he could repeat, attempting to continue running, looking for any trace of the other until he turned his head to the right, meeting that odd hall Arthur had found him in months ago.
His brows furrowed in on their own, as he noticed something near one of the mirrors base. Walking over he never forgot the feelings and touches he had received in this hall, only to step down on one knee and take whatever was laying on the floor into his hands. Throat clenched and eye's watering a hand came to cover his mouth, he had expected a piece of fabric used for cleaning glasses, or anything that could easily be dropped, nothing could explain what was now in his hands: Arthur's gloves.