In a worn-down theater that had once hosted the Royal Spades Opera, Arthur watched in growing exasperation as a line of men paraded across the stage. His bulletin had specified blond and blue-eyed and young, but that wasn't what he was seeing in front of him. These men looked old and harried and their hair color was all wrong.
"What about him?" Yao asked, nodding towards a scrawny blond at the end of the line.
"Hair's too light and I think the prince would be taller," Arthur murmured as he closed his eyes and pulled up a distant memory. The nine-year-old boy that he had pushed into the servant's passageway had hair the color of sun-ripened wheat and a flash of fearful determination in his blue eyes. Arthur's memories were a little hazy after that, when the mob knocked him unconscious, but it was clear to him that none of the men in front of him would be good enough to play the part of the lost prince of Spades.
"We could always use dye," Yao suggested, but Arthur just shook his head. There were too many other conmen who wanted the reward money; he knew their candidate would have to pass many tests. They needed someone perfect.
"Thank you all for coming," he told the men on stage. "We'll let you know," he lied.
The disappointed group of men filed out into the snowy streets with Arthur and Yao not far behind. The streets were dark and desolate, with a long line of broken gas lamps left unlit on the side of the road. At least a light dusting of snow hid some of the grime. Having grown up as a palace servant, Arthur knew better than anyone that life before the revolution hadn't been perfect, but the instability after the king's death had left Spades a shell of its former glory.
Arthur shook his head and reminded himself that he would leave it all behind soon. The plan would make him very rich. Rich enough to afford a lovely home in the countryside, far away from grimy streets. He tried to imagine that house instead of the squalor around him.
At the end of the boulevard stood the Old Palace, its windows boarded-up with planks and portions unstable from all of the fire damage. He and Yao paused at the edge of the fence. Once they were certain that no one could see them, Arthur pressed a hidden latch and part of the fence swung open to reveal an underground passage to the servant's entrance. Most of the palace had been looted after the revolution, but a few rooms had escaped, especially once rumors started that the royal family still haunted the building and would curse anyone who stole their belongings. It was a cheap place to sleep and Yao's old office was one of the lucky rooms. The Jack of Spades wasn't important enough for gilded ceilings or expensive artwork. He did, however, have an extensive knowledge of the workings of the royal palace and every important family in Spades. Between the two of them, they could coach anyone into becoming Prince Alfred of Spades. They just needed someone to play the part!
Arthur sighed and sat down on one of the two cots they had set up in the room. He reached into his bag and pulled out an ornate paperweight he had carefully nestled into his spare set of clothing. It was the only thing he personally had looted from the palace. He had no idea what it was, but it had been important enough that the prince had tried to grab it while fleeing for his life. He felt sorry for the lost prince. Other than a slight mischievous streak, he had been a sweet boy. It was a pity he had almost certainly died that night in the chaos and the confusion.
Lost in his reverie, Arthur nearly dropped the paperweight when he heard a scream. He glanced toward the door. It had come from the direction of the Grand Ballroom.
"Probably village boys on a dare," Yao suggested.
"Shall we scare them off?" Arthur replied with a smirk. He tossed a flowing robe to Yao, who caught it with a slight grin of his own.
A shortcut through the servant's corridor led to a wooden staircase hidden behind the grand ballroom. Yao went up while Arthur went down. When he reached the ballroom floor, Arthur peeked out through a narrow doorway and caught sight of a young man standing at the center of the beautiful marble floor. He was shivering, judging by the way his candle shook in his hand. Dust motes danced down from the ceiling, giving the room a mysterious air.
Because he knew where to look, Arthur noticed the small figure in the flowing robe walking along the musician's platform at the other end of the ballroom. In the dusky light, he looked like a moving shadow from a bygone era.
The young man stared up at the murals along the upper wall with a confused expression on his face, like he couldn't make sense of what he was seeing. He noticed Yao's shadow a moment later and let out a blood-curdling shriek.
Arthur stifled a laugh at the poor boy's fright, then stopped laughing when he noticed the young man had started running toward the servant's door. "Watch out!" he shouted, trying and failing to move out of the way as the taller man barreled into him and knocked them both to the hard marble floor.
The man yelped in fear and stumbled backward. A large fluffy cat appeared out of nowhere and hissed at Arthur.
"Oh, don't be such a ninny," Arthur grumbled as he brushed the dust off of his pants. He offered his hand to the other man to help him up and gaped in shock as he finally took a good look at the other man's face. The right color of hair. The same Spadian blue eyes. He even had the stupid tuft of hair sticking up in the front! For a moment, Arthur felt like he had seen a ghost, until he pulled himself together and remembered the plan. Fate had dropped the perfect actor into his lap. "I'm sorry for scaring you," he lied.
"I'm not scared!" the prince look-alike protested.
"Riiight." Arthur gave him an unimpressed look. "You were just shrieking in admiration at the murals, I suppose?"
"Shut up. I don't want to talk to you. I'm looking for Arthur." He turned back to walk across the ballroom, but Arthur cut in front of him, blocking the way.
"Hold up. Why do you want to find Arthur?" he asked.
"Somebody said he could forge me travel papers to Diamonds," the young blond whispered. "I'm not supposed to tell you who."
"You want to go to Diamonds?" Arthur raised both of his impressive eyebrows. The right appearance and he wanted to travel to Diamonds? This one just kept getting better and better. Arthur could already imagine the pile of reward money he was going to split with Yao!
"Yeah, not that it's any of your business."
Arthur smirked. "As it happens, I am Arthur and forging papers is my business. Why don't you come up to my office and we'll see if we can work out an arrangement?" He gestured for Yao to join them and tried to hide his glee. Everything was falling into place. The only annoyance came in the form of the young man's mangy cat, who still seemed to hate Arthur, but at least Yao was happy to distract the cat with petting. Despite his sometimes stern exterior, Yao had a strange love for small, furry creatures.
"So, who do I have the pleasure of doing business with?" Arthur asked as he and the young man sat down together at a desk covered in various papers—including three train tickets to Diamonds. He could see the way the blond kept staring at them covetously.
"Freddie."
"No last name?"
"No." Freddie shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know who my family is, okay? I grew up in an orphanage."
"Ah, probably not a lot of money to pay for forgeries then. They are quite expensive, you know."
"They are?" Freddie looked gutted. "But it's just a piece of paper!"
"Very special paper with special ink and cross-hatching. Of course, there is another option…" Arthur grinned when he saw the way Freddie's eyes lit up with hope. "Has anyone ever told you how much you look like the lost prince of Spades?"
Freddie shook his head. "No, usually they just yelled at me for eating too much."
"Yao and I are trying to reunite the prince with his grandmother and we already have papers and a train ticket for him. Have you ever considered the possibility you might be a prince?"
The young man was sharper than he looked, because he pulled back with immediate revulsion. "I'm not lying to some old lady just to go to Diamonds!"
"It could be true," Arthur replied calmly. If he could get the young man to believe that it was possible, he and Yao wouldn't need to split the reward money three ways. "I've seen thousands of men in this city and none of them have looked as much like the prince as you do."
"You don't know who your family is," Yao added as he stroked the purring cat.
"You really could be the prince."
"But what if I'm not?"
Arthur shrugged. "I'm sure the prince's grandmother would know if it were just an honest mistake. If nothing else, you'll be in Diamonds. No cost to you."
Freddie bit his lip. He looked tempted, but an overgrown sense of honor was holding him back. Arthur never could understand why people valued honor so highly. It couldn't feed a hungry man or keep him warm at night. So what good was it?
"No, I don't think I can do it." Freddie lifted his cat out of Yao's arms and walked towards the office door.
"We'll be at the train station at noon tomorrow if you change your mind," Arthur called out. "And they don't allow cats on the train!"
Silence hung over the room and the candles flickered as the door opened and closed. Whatever had scared Freddie before had clearly disappeared, since they heard no screams as his footsteps echoed along the corridor.
"We should have told him about the plan," Yao muttered.
"He wouldn't have agreed to it and this way we don't have to split the money with him," Arthur replied. "Trust me. He'll be there tomorrow."
Even though he was a good judge of character, Arthur's confidence began to wane as the clock counted down toward noon at the cold train station. Bundled in jackets, he and Yao stood near the end of the train and watched and waited as the other passengers boarded. Arthur swore under his breath. In another minute, they would have to leave Soviet Spades and either abandon the plan or hope to find a princely look-alike in Diamonds.
"All aboard!" the conductor shouted as the train whistle blew.
They climbed up the rear of the train and felt the metal rumble to life beneath their feet.
"Wait!" a voice shouted, drawing Arthur's attention back to the platform. It was exactly noon and Freddie was running toward them with a heavy bag in his hand. He'd nearly made it to the end of the train, but it was building up speed quickly.
"Hurry up!" Arthur shouted as he stretched out his hand. As soon as he felt a strong grip on his hand, he pulled Freddie onto the train with all of his strength. The young man and his bag landed on top of Arthur, knocking him onto his back. The bag yowled like an angry cat. Arthur let it drop to the floor of the train and gave Freddie an annoyed look. "I thought I told you that you couldn't bring the cat!"
"You also told me that I was a prince," Freddie replied with a smug grin. "I don't think the no-cat rule applies to princes." Still smiling, he grabbed the bag and left to find an empty train compartment.
"I get the feeling this is going to be a very long journey," Arthur said with a sigh.
A/N: Finally getting around to uploading this from A03. If you wonder why I haven't posted stories here lately it's because I've been posting them all on A03 first.
