Hey remember Impeccable and Foul? Well this is a sequel to those two!
So if you haven't read them, you are probably going to be pretty lost over what's happening.
Warnings: Violence, blood, implied rape and abuse.
The queen woke up screaming. The loud screaming crawling from his mouth was ripping his throat and he could feel blood in his mouth. He was shaking, wrapping his arms around himself and staring at the darkness in his room. It had been another nightmare, another horrible nightmare. How many times had he dreamed the same dream? He had lost count. Every night he woke up from a nightmare and every night he found himself walking through his castle in a sleepless trance.
It was insane.
Arthur wasn't sure why his dreams had become so horrific. He truly couldn't find any reason. Alfred would always tell him that it was because of his paranoia, his fear of being attacked but he was not afraid of that. He truly was not. His king just didn't seem to enjoy listening about his nightmares, and why would he? How could he enjoy having his queen talking about how every single night in every single one of his nightmares Alfred would murder him.
His king, the king of spades would brutally kill him every night in a different way. But his king, his king would never dare to do that. He knew that, he knew it so well, yet he couldn't get those images out of his head. The queen of spades stared at the sleeping figure of his king and he just sighed. He sighed because he was tired. He sighed because Alfred couldn't understand him and he sighed because all he wanted to was to sleep.
With a soft kiss on his king's cheek the queen disappeared and once again wondered through the palace.
One could easily tell that the queen of spades was happy. Of course he was, he lived in a lovely kingdom with wonderful people and a magnificent king. A king he fell in love with so long ago he could hardly remember never being by his side. Arthur should be happy, he truly should be because he had everything anyone would ask for. Everything was there at the bottom of his feet, ready for him to pick up and enjoy.
Alfred had become such a devoted king. After a fight that Arthur couldn't remember Alfred came back and apologized over and over, he cried and begged for his forgiveness but Arthur truly couldn't even remember the fight. Maybe it had been so horrible he blocked it out. The queen accepted his king's apology, he did without a doubt because he loved him. He loved Alfred so much, since the day he met his king he had known that he wanted to be with him, even if he had been nothing but a mere apprentice.
Still...still, the queen couldn't shake this feeling away. He couldn't explain the amount of dread that he could feel in his heart. There was something growing in his heart, something that he couldn't explain. He had everything he wanted, everything he needed, yet his heart was missing something. The feeling had been growing as the years passed by, as his nightmares increased the hollow feeling in his chest seem to be growing and slowly devouring him.
"You can't sleep again."
Arthur recognized Alfred's voice and he couldn't help himself but smile. The queen glanced back as his king as he was embraced by his arms. It was so warm, to be leaning against his king like this. It made the aching in his heart disappear for now. Yet, another feeling would come to the surface, resentment. It would swim in the air around them and Arthur knew that his king was aware of this, but he just decided to ignore it, just like Arthur's nightmares.
"No, I had another dream." Arthur was almost afraid to mention his dreams. Alfred would sometimes act like a madman when he would tell him what he dreamed of. He would become furious and in his anger would destroy whatever was around him.
"Oh...another nightmare?"
The king's voice was mocking him, he was making fun of him, showing no pity for his predicament. It was like Alfred saw it as something so insignificant, something so uninteresting and stupid and he would always voice it out too. The way he would act arrogantly when Arthur was talking almost made the queen feel like a fool and an idiot for acting like these dreams meant anything. Alfred had gone to the point to call him an ignorant fool when he woke up one time and was completely horrified of his king getting near him.
"Yes, another one." The queen stared at the garden in front of him, the blue roses bloomed so beautifully during any season. They were bound by magic to him and so whenever the queen woke up the roses woke up with him.
"What did I do this time? Mmm?" The king was whispering in his ear, tightening his hold and pulling him closer and closer until Alfred was looming over him. He held on his queen's chin and forced him to look at him as he spoke and Arthur could see something in those icy, blue eyes. He could see a hint of guilt, maybe even regret but he was just never able to tell and he was so afraid when Alfred was like this. He wanted nothing but to walk away and tell the other to leave him alone but the king would follow, he would follow his queen anywhere he went and never let him out of his sight.
"You killed me again."
Silence fell in the garden and the blue roses gently moved with the wind. The sun was slowly crawling out, giving a dull light over the garden and the two figures standing there. Arthur felt Alfred's soft breathing against his ear. He could feel how tense Alfred was and he felt so tired too and the queen knew that his king was angry but he didn't dare to speak again.
"Maybe we should ask Yao to give you something to help you sleep." The king whispered so quietly Arthur could hardly hear him.
"Where is your watch?"
Ah, there was also the issue with the 'pocket watch'. The same day Alfred apologized non-stop to him, he had given him a golden pocket with with beautiful carvings on it. The pocket watch was very bizarre because it didn't give the actual time, in fact the hands moved counter-clock wise. Instead of moving forward the pocket watch was moving backwards and Alfred was constantly looking at it when he was alone with Arthur, as if he was expecting something to happen but nothing ever did. Alfred had told Arthur, no, he ordered him to always have it with him at all times the only problem was that the small pocket watch was very different from when Alfred had first given it to Arthur.
The pocket watch was now so big that Arthur had a hard time carrying it with him. It was probably the same size as his head and it was getting heavier and heavier. It was odd how Arthur never seem to notice the watch growing though, sometimes he would wake up and the pocket was was laying next to him, one size bigger and with its hands moving backwards.
"I left it in my room." Arthur let out a shaky sigh and closed his eyes. Do not be afraid, he told himself when he was turned around and a loud noise filled the room. The queen's cheek was burning from the loud smack. It was burning and stung and the skin was a vibrant red color. He was grabbed by the shoulders and pulled. Yanking would had been a better explanation, he was yanked and Alfred was gripping so tightly on his shoulders that he could hear his bones complaining. The king had become so strong, Arthur often forgot that.
"Don't go anywhere without it! What if it gets stolen! Or what if you lose it!" Alfred was yelling at him. He was screaming on his face and his blue eyes seem to be lost in rage. He was shaking him now, but Arthur didn't struggle, he just stared at Alfred. He stared at him as he screamed and told him the same things he had told him before, because Arthur couldn't understand, he couldn't comprehend what was happening to his king, where all of this anger and strength was coming from because Alfred was so strong now, he was so strong and Arthur couldn't remember him having this strength before, it was almost suffocating but most importantly, frightening.
"I'm sorry. I promise not to do it again." Arthur's voice was monotone, because he didn't feel sorry for what he had done because he couldn't understand anything again. He couldn't understand why his king was so worried and why he was so mad. The king hugged him close, he kissed his eyes, cheek and forehead. He kissed him over and over again, whispering an apology on his ear as he took him back to their bedroom.
Why would he do that? It wasn't like Arthur was going to be able to sleep.
The queen sometimes woke up and Alfred would be on top of him. He would be crying and kissing him. The king would hug him close, he would whisper how much he loved him and how much he needed him. It was the only nights in which Arthur couldn't remember having nightmares but then again, he couldn't remember what happened before that either. Moments like these were special for him, because his king acted so human, so much like he used to and Arthur felt himself smiling and hugging his king.
Arthur would tell him that he didn't need to apologize because he was not mad at him. How could he be mad at his king when he was crying like that, when he was telling him how much he loved him and when he was desperately clinging to him.
But it was night like these when Arthur noticed the pocket watch next to him and he stared at it and then the hands would start moving again. The pocket watch was bigger again, why was it so big?
Arthur would never have time to think about this because Alfred always kept him distracted. He was never allowed to be alone, ever. If Alfred left then Arthur was left locked in his room with no way out. Guards would be outside his bedroom and they were ordered to keep him safe and to make sure the queen wouldn't step foot outside without the king next to him.
The queen wasn't even allowed to walk through the castle without his king around and he wondered why. Why his king was so afraid, why was he so scared but Alfred would never give him an answer, instead he would smile and shower him with presents and kisses.
But no matter how much the king loved him and no matter how much attention he gave his queen, Arthur couldn't help himself but to notice that his king was changing more and more and so quickly now. Alfred had been so happy, so playful so uncaring but now he was constantly keeping his guard, he was paranoid and afraid of something. It was not the neighboring kingdoms around them either, it wasn't even the enemies in the castle, no. It was something bigger that could destroy them, that could crush them any moment but Alfred wouldn't tell him, and whenever Arthur asked he would be ignored or roughly pushed away.
It was painful to see his king like this, it almost made his nightmares mindless and unimportant. It made the poor little queen feel so useless and sad. He would cry in his room. The little sad queen would cry for hours and his body felt so tired and his mind was so exhausted that he couldn't help himself but to sleep. He wanted to rest, he wanted to sleep so badly. He couldn't think straight without sleeping but those nightmares, those horrible images that he would see in his head.
He could see Alfred in every single one of his dreams and he would stare at him with love in his eyes, he would talk to him and kiss him. He would hug him and take him with him but every single time, the world he was seeing was different and it was something that queen had never seen before. It was a world that only existed in his dreams. It was a bright world that little by little would turn darker and darker, until he noticed that Alfred's shadow was walking next to them. The shadow was smiling a wide smile and little by little his Alfred would pull away from him. He would stare at him with those eyes filled with love and then...then he would kill him. He was never killed in the same way either. Alfred would always find a different way to murder him. Arthur had been drowned, stabbed, bled to death, choked and even brutally beat up and Alfred had done all of those things.
This was the reason why Arthur woke up during the night sweating and screaming. This was why he was afraid to getting near his king sometimes because what if these dreams were telling him what was going to happen? Alfred was slowly losing himself and it was showing so clearly because the patience he had towards his queen was running low. Whenever Arthur woke up screaming Alfred would be there, pushing him back down onto the bed and making him shut up with both of his hands. The king would cover his mouth and keep him still and Arthur would struggle, he would struggle non-stop in fear. Alfred wouldn't let him breath, he wouldn't let him move and he wouldn't let him do anything until he calmed down, his body would shut down from the lack of air and only then did Alfred let go of him.
Arthur cried more often when that started to happen. Alfred just couldn't stand his outbursts anymore, they were tormenting him and Arthur wondered if Alfred knew why he was having nightmares like this. Did his king knew what was happening, or more importantly, was Alfred doing this? The queen never had the courage to ask though, because Alfred would snap at him now. He would grab his neck and yell at him to shut up because he was being a good king and he loved him and everything he was doing was for Arthur, for his little queen and no one else.
Alfred constantly reminded Arthur of his love too or at least what he would consider a reminder. Whenever Arthur woke up during the night he was not only forced to shut up but his king would rip his clothes off and he would kiss him. Alfred would smile at him that lost smile of his and he would stare at him with those cold, dangerous eyes and Arthur was scared...he was terrified of Alfred now but he didn't dare to do anything. Once again the queen was a coward and instead let Alfred spread his legs and roughly fuck him. He let the king play with him in any way he wished even if Arthur truly didn't want him too.
The king would always say sorry after he was done, sorry for hurting him and he would smile and kiss him but it was a kiss and a smile that Arthur couldn't remember anymore.
If only he could sleep...if only he could rest during the night, maybe then his mind would be clear, maybe then he wouldn't see this horrible kingdom anymore. Maybe he was the one going insane, maybe it wasn't Alfred. It was all a maybe for Arthur, in his state he didn't know what was real and what wasn't. He couldn't tell when Alfred was just Alfred or when he was that scary person that was unknown to him.
Maybe it was all a dream, Arthur just hoped that he could wake up soon.
The little queen wouldn't bother to go to bed anymore, he couldn't sleep in peace and he didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night with Alfred on top of him again. No, he didn't want that anymore. He just wanted some peace, he wanted to be at peace and for that God damn clock to stop! He wanted it to stop, the ticking was getting so loud now. It would grow louder and louder and Arthur didn't know how he couldn't notice before. The pocket watch would now reach his waist and it was impossible to move it from the room without having someone helping him but Alfred wouldn't allow anyone else but himself and Arthur to touch it.
It needed to stop, the clock needed to stop and Arthur needed to sleep, he wanted to sleep he wished to sleep and to never wake up! Just like when his Alfred betrayed him, yes, his Alfred betrayed him right? He could remember Alfred telling him how he loved his people more than he loved him, was that the reason why Alfred always apologized? Could this be true? No, it couldn't be, because Alfred loved him and Arthur didn't want to be heart broken.
Time passed in such a weird way in their kingdom. Years didn't matter for any of them could age so Arthur was never going to find his rest by growing old, all he could do to sleep was die. Yes, he wanted to die. He loved his king and his kingdom but he was too tired, so tired. His heart felt so heavy in his chest and restless. He could feel hate in his heart, hate that didn't belong to him. This hate didn't belong to him and it was not his, it couldn't be his because he didn't hate Alfred and he could not hate him. He loved Alfred, he loved him so much, didn't he? Didn't he!
The king of spades, his proud strong king was the person that matter the most in his life and so the queen decided that he wouldn't die that he would bury this hate deep inside of him but the ticking on the clock made him so angry, it upset him so much and made him cover his ears and close his eyes. He needed to stop the ticking. He needed to, he needed to!
Arthur waited for his king to sleep, he waited and quietly he slipped out of the bed and moved towards the clock. He stared at the golden pocket watch and slowly he rolled it towards their bathroom. He locked the door behind him and set the watch down onto the floor. He had made plans for this, he was going to make the ticking stop. The loud ticking that was ringing against his ears and driving him insane. He just wanted to rest and if this brought him some kind of rest then it would be a step forward. It would be, yes it would.
The queen grabbed a dagger from underneath their stacks of towels. He had hidden the blade there after taking a bath and now, now it was time to use it. Arthur stared at the pocket watch, he stared at the big golden clock and his hand moved on its own as he lowered the blade over the face of the watch. The glass trembled with the first hit and Arthur just smiled as he stabbed the thing once again. He kept hitting the glass with the dagger until he hear the glass cracking. The golden watch was so pretty and so big and so shiny and Arthur could have sworn he heard screaming coming from it every single time the blade hit it but that couldn't be. That was impossible, yet he kept stabbing it, aiming for the same spot until the crack grew bigger.
Arthur watched with glee in his poisonous green eyes as little pieces of the glass slowly started to bounce off. The queen laughed quietly and felt tears running down the corner of his eyes. The pain on his chest was growing and the ticking was getting louder and louder. He could feel blood in his mouth and then the door in the bathroom was blown open.
Arthur stared at the door that was broken into many different pieces. He was frozen in place, with blood slowly running down his mouth. The queen stared at Alfred, just stared at him with wide eyes, he was glancing in between him and the pocket watch as if he was murdering someone. He heard the king growling and before the little queen could do anything the king was shoving him away. He pushed him so hard that the queen bounced against one of the walls and then fell on the floor with a low whimper.
The ticking was ringing against Arthur's ears and all he could do was crawl on the floor, blood now pouring out of his mouth and the side of his head but he needed to stop it. He had too, he just needed to. The pain in his head was too much and he couldn't stop crying. He wanted to sleep. Just one night, please, just once. He needed to close his eyes and rest.
Arthur let out a weak noise when Alfred picked him up. He was held by his neck and was forced to look at the king that was glaring at him with eyes so cold that they made the queen shiver. He wanted to say something, Arthur tried to say something but the moment he opened his mouth Alfred's fist found his stomach. He punched him so hard that the queen chocked and coughed out blood again. The blow spilled out any air the queen had been holding him, making him breath heavily through his nose but he barely had a chance to do it. Alfred was pushing him and then he felt the strong hand smacking his face, making him fall onto the floor.
The queen stared at the white tile in front of him and the small puddles of blood, his body and his mind feeling so weak and lost to let him move. He heard the king walking around the bathroom and then he watched him picking up the clock and dragging it out until it was gone. Only then the king was back and he held the queen by his hair, pulling on the soft hair and forcing him to stare at him, just like so many times before.
"You think you are the only one that hears that thing? I heard it every second, every minute and every hour. No matter where I am. No matter what I'm doing. The clock is always ticking. I know what makes you tick Arthur and I know very well what keeps you ticking but most importantly, I know how to make it stop." The king smiled, looking just as lost as Arthur. The same misery was in his eyes, the same insanity none of them could explain and Arthur just felt himself smiling weakly before he was kicked and his body slide across the floor until the bath tub stopped him.
The queen slowly got on all fours and then on his feet, his ankle looked twisted and his chest was swollen, with broken ribs. He was smiling though, because he knew he was going to be able to close his eyes. He knew it, he knew it! He stared at Alfred was he picked up the dagger from the floor and moved towards him. The cold eyes looking at him without pity as the blade pushed through his body and pierced through the skin.
Arthur's vision went blurry then, his body started to feel cold and his legs were shaking. Alfred was holding onto him and resting his forehead against his.
"If you do not appreciate the life that I am giving you right now...then I'm just going to have to get you another one. I have people following me Arthur, horrible people. People that I hurt and could kill me and you but I won't let them. I won't. Because what I stolen is mine and yours. You are mine, no matter where you are, no matter in which world you are. I am going to find you and bring you back. I love you, I can't let you die." Yet, the king twisted the blade and pulled it out. He tossed the dagger onto the floor and walked out of the bathroom.
The queen stared at his stomach and the blood that was leaking out. He gently touched the wound, tears rolling down his cheeks as he smiled and then laughed, his tired body making him laugh as he slowly fell onto the floor. He crawled and squirmed, blood dripping down as he did so and then, he wanted to be near Alfred. Alfred, where was he. The king was sitting on the bed, staring at the pocket watch on the floor and the cracks on it but Arthur didn't care about that, no he weakly moved near him and smiled at his king before he kissed his leg and then felt his head dropping onto his feet as his eyes went blank and his body went cold.
Arthur was dead and the clock stopped moving then. The ticking stopped and the queen looked so calm, so soft and so gentle that the king couldn't help himself to pick him up and lay him down on the bed.
The queen woke up the next morning feeling sore and tired, yet he felt so relaxed and happy. He couldn't remember the last time he was able to sleep so well. He sighed and slowly got to his feet and then blinked at the unknown room he was in. The room was blue but it was completely empty. The ceiling was bright but blurry, not letting him see the sky through the windows! He moved around the room, trying to find a door but there was nothing. Nothing at all.
Arthur began to panic then. The room was beautifully decorated with expensive looking wallpaper, except it wasn't wallpaper. The queen touched the walls and they felt soft against the touch just like the floor. It was something he had never seen before!
"I met someone that used to live in a room like this."
Arthur turned around and stared at Alfred. The king was standing in front of a doorway that hadn't been there before!
"He was a bit loose in the head and kept talking about tea non-stop. He was also in love with a queen, a red queen. He was loose in the head and he couldn't find any kind of hat to screw it on properly. At least those were his words." Alfred chuckled and stepped inside the room, he stared at his little queen as he ran towards him and hugged him. The queen was crying and shaking. He had been so scared, so frightened.
"It was a shame that he had to die." The king went silent then, his hand gently playing with his queen's hair as he kissed the top of his head.
"What am I doing here? Alfred! What am I doing here!" Arthur held on Alfred's face, gently making him look at him.
"You are here because I have to keep you safe, because I love you...because I don't want to see you hurting yourself ever again." The king kissed his little queen. He kissed him once and then twice. He held him tight as he kissed his ear next.
"I want you to rest and I want you to be with me until I die. Together, we are going to be together until I die before you. Until I watch myself fall in front of you and I can see you die after me." And The king laughed at his words even if there was nothing funny in them. He smiled and his cold eyes seem brighter than ever.
Arthur stepped back and stared at his king. He stared in fear with wide eyes. Alfred was so different, yet he seemed to remember seeing him like this before. Once in a dream, or maybe a nightmare. The little queen couldn't tell because he couldn't remember anything again. He was lost and in an unknown place and he watched as his king turned around and walked away. Arthur ran after him but the king roughly pushed him and closed the door behind him, leaving the queen hitting the door and struggling to open it but there was no handle from the inside.
The queen was trapped and alone. He couldn't see the blue sky, he couldn't see his precious garden and he couldn't even see his king anymore. He felt his body collapsing as he heard himself crying and his heart slowly breaking. He moved around the room, trying to find another exit, clawing on the walls and the floor but it was not doing anything. All he could hear were his own crying and all he could see was the same blue as Alfred's eyes.
Why would his king do this to him? What did he do to make him hate him? Arthur heard himself screaming as he desperately clawed on the floor again until he felt his nails breaking and his fingers bleeding.
And then...he heard it. It was a ticking noise but what scared him the most was the giggling that follow afterward. Someone was laughing at him, someone was laughing at his misery and Arthur heard himself laughing as well and the laugh was hurting his chest and the giggling grew louder and louder until he realized that he had been the one giggling. It was all him, just him yet, he knew he was not alone in this room.
Alfred checked his heart-shaped pocket watch with a small smile. A picture of his little sad queen adorned the top. He sighed contently to himself as he moved down the various set of the stairs. He kept walking and walking until he met a pair of big wooden doors. He stepped outside and into the busy city street where his citizens smiled at him and greeted him. The king kept walking though and only once did he glanced back at the tower behind him. The tower with a big golden clock in the middle of it and the hands that were moving backwards.
In the kingdom of spades there was a very peculiar tower with a very peculiar clock. The clock had become a symbol for the kingdom and so now everyone had a clock that moved backwards. Time was not the same in this kingdom and although the tower was valuable and admired by his citizens, nobody dared to step inside for at night they could all hear loud screams and every morning their king would walk out smiling but sometimes with bloody hands.
The ticking in the clock never stops and if the queen ever feels tired, then the king makes sure to be the one to put him to sleep, until it is time to wake up again. Poor little queen, if only he wasn't so insane. If only he wasn't so lost, if only, but it was okay, because Alfred was there for him, his beloved king was always going to be there for him.
Everything was going to be fine, right Arthur? Of course. Because every life that I borrow belongs to you, and you belong to me, right? You just have to get used to this, love. I did.
In parts of this fic, Arthur goes from being dead to being alive multiple times, which is why it jumps around so often. It was his thoughts as he came back to life or deal with the torture of reaching his lifespan again. I think I made it clear but just in case I am making this little note ouod