Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya, not me.

Royal Cards: The face cards in a deck.

Arthur Kirkland sat on the grass, surveying the wide expanse before him. It felt good to know that someday, all this land would be his. Ever since he could remember Arthur knew he would become King of Spades when the current King passed. He laid back and let the sun warm his face. The next Jack of Spades was known to be from the Wang clan, just as all the other Jacks had been, and the Ace of Spades was usually foreign born. However, no one knew who the next Queen of Spades would be. Arthur always imagined the Queen would be very beautiful with hair like the sun. Of course she would also have a good head on her shoulders and excellent breeding. They would rule the Kingdom as equals and turn it into a paradise.

Arthur was abruptly shaken from his thoughts when he heard someone approaching from the East. He stood up and brushed himself off, preparing to meet this foreigner. He was tall with messy blonde hair and dazzling, cerulean eyes. He looked younger than Arthur and wore simple clothes. He was most likely a pauper of sorts. Instead of talking to Arthur or challenging him (as was expected), he was looking at him as if he had seen a ghost.

"You there, what are you doing on my land!" Arthur shouted at the intruder. The blue-eyed boy opened and closed his mouth a few times as he turned red in the face. "Well, are you going to answer me, or are you going to just stand there, gawking like an imbecile?"

The stranger took a deep breath before asking, " What is your name?"

Arthur smiled proudly as he answered, "I am the future King of Spades, Arthur Kirkland, and I demand to know what you are doing on my land!"

The blonde smiled warmly as he got down on one knee. "Arthur Kirkland, if I ever become King, will you do me the honor of becoming my Queen?"

Arthur began sputtering as his face turned red from embarrassment, anger, and confusion. "You sodding git! I will never be anyone's Queen! I'm going to be King one day and make sure you pay for your insolence!"

With that Arthur spun on his heal and began to calmly walk away, head held high. As soon as he was out of sight, he broke into a run, nimbly avoided branches and logs.

How dare that boy ask him to be his Queen! Of all the insulting...

"Arthur..."

Preposterous...

"Arthur..."

Asinine...

"Arthur, wake up, aru!"

Arthur's head snapped up at the sound of the Jack of Spades's voice. He groaned as his eyes began to focus on his friend Yao Wang's face. "I'm sorry, Yao, I was just resting my eyes for a bit."

Yao snorted and said, "Resting your eyes my foot! You were passed out on your desk, aru! Have you been getting enough sleep? Are you ill?" Yao asked, placing his hand on Arthur's forehead to feel for a fever.

Arthur chuckled as he removed Yao's hand. "Really Yao, I'm fine. I was just resting before the coronation ceremony," Arthur replied as he traced the desk's wood grain with his forefinger. "But I did have that dream again..."

"The one with the blonde boy? I told you, that's all it is, aru! A dream!"

"But what if it's a premonition about today? What if I don't become King?"

Yao sighed and said, "Arthur, if all our dreams came true I would be an award winning chef married to an obese man in a cat suit." Yao ignored Arthur's inquisitive look and continued, "You're going to be the new King of Spades. Everyone knows it! No one else is responsible, brave, or smart enough to fill the position! You're the one, aru!"

Arthur smiled at his friend's speech and smiled. "You're right, Yao. It's just a silly dream. If I didn't become King, who would?"

"That's the spirit, aru! Now follow, me, you don't want to be late to your own coronation ceremony!" Arthur laughed with Yao and followed him out of the office.

Arthur followed Yao into the throne room where he was greeted by a thunderous applause from everyone who lived in the palace. Arthur advanced to the throne with Yao by his side. As the applause died down, Arthur shouted "I want to let everyone know it will be an honor to serve you as the King of Spades...if I am chosen, that is." Everyone laughed at this. Someone besides Arthur chosen as the King of Spades? How humorous! Everyone knew Arthur was going to be the next King.

Yao stepped forward and pulled a letter from his robes. "Here I have the name of the next King of Spades, written by the Master themselves. When I read this name aloud I will be announcing the next King of Spades, who will rule until his death. Do I make myself clear, aru?" Yao received an affirmative from everyone in the throne room as Arthur smiled. Yao smiled back and began to open the letter. Everyone leaned forward in their seats, wanting to hear who the new King would be. "The new King of Spades is..." suddenly Yao's smile faltered until it dropped into a grimace. Arthur raised a thick brow as Yao gave a nervous laugh. "The new King of Spades is...oh dear..."

Arthur leaned close and whispered to the raven-haired man, "What is it? Just say the bloody name!" Everyone else in the throne room also took notice of Yao's nervousness and began to whisper among each other. Arthur lost his patience and ripped the letter out of Yao's hands. "The new King of Spades is...who the hell is Alfred Jones!"

There was a collective gasp throughout the room followed by a loud crash. Everyone turned to the sound of the crash to see a young blonde man dressed in cleaner's clothes. The hand that once held his broom was shaking as he replied, "My name is Alfred Jones."

Arthur marched forward to Alfred and jabbed his chest with his finger. "And just who are you, Mr. Alfred Jones? I don't recall ever seeing you around here before!"

"I just moved here from the Kingdom of Clubs, it's my first day," Alfred gave a nervous smile as Arthur's chartreuse eyes seemed to burn. Everyone went into a frenzy at this. A foreign born King? Who was a cleaner? From Clubs? This was unheard of!

Yao seemed to recover as he yelled, "Everyone calm down, aru! I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this!"

Arthur laughed as he shouted back, "A logical explanation? How can there be a logical explanation for this?"

"I don't know but...I-I still have the names of the Queen and Ace to read? Maybe that could clear things up?"

Alfred seemed to brighten up as he said loudly, " A Queen? Read the name, I want to see who I'm going to fall in love with!" The look everyone gave Alfred seemed to collectively say, this moron is going to be our new King?

"Just read the bloody names, Yao!"

"Alright, the new Ace of Spades is Natalia Arlovskaya and the new Queen of Spades is Arthur Kirkland...oh my..." At this proclamation everyone went silent. Arthur Kirkland wasn't the King...he was...the Queen? Arthur closed his gaping mouth and slowly turned his eyes to meet Alfred's. Alfred held both his hands up in a peaceful gesture as he gave a goofy smile. Without another word Arthur stormed out of the room. After a few seconds Yao dropped the letters he was holding and ran after him.

Yao caught Arthur before he ran into his office and said, "Arthur, Arthur wait, aru! This isn't so bad..."

"Isn't so bad! That dolt stole my position! He hasn't had any proper training, he looks like he doesn't have a penny to his name, and he's a bloody Club! He's probably a criminal! He probably robbed a church or held up a retirement home or committed genocide or..."

"Arthur, calm down, aru! He hasn't done any of those things. Or, at least, I don't think he has..."

Arthur threw his hands in the air and growled in frustration. "Face it Yao, we know nothing about this guy, other then the fact that he looks like a complete nitwit! Do you really think he can rule Spades?"

Before Yao could reply Alfred ran up to the pair, breathing heavily. "Sorry guys, I was talking to the new Ace, turns out she's a chick I knew in Clubs." Alfred missed the way Yao and Arthur flinched at the name of his former home. Alfred turned to Arthur and gave a bright smile. "So you're my new Queen, huh? Well it's nice to meet you, my love!" Alfred caught Arthur's hand and kissed it as Yao tried to hide his laughter at the look on Arthur's face. Alfred ignored the reddening of Arthur's face and continued, saying, "I'm very happy we'll be ruling this Kingdom together and I'm sure we'll make it to best it can be." Yao raised his brows at the seriousness on Alfred's face and how he presenting himself. Perhaps he would make a good king, after all. But that thought was ruined when Alfred turned to Yao and asked with a smirk, "So when will Arthur be trying on his dress?"

This caused Arthur to come out of whatever spell Alfred's blue orbs had put him in as he let out a growl. Yao thought he was going to go into a tirade full of words that even a sailor would blush at, but he didn't.

He simply punched Alfred in the nose and proceeded to once again storm out of the room, growling under his breath.

As the Kingdom of Spades was caught up in crazed excitement, the Kingdom of Diamonds was getting prepared to name their new Ace. The King of Diamonds, Francis Bonnefoy, was currently standing in front of his mirror, primping and thinking of what the new Ace would be like. Of course the Ace's job was to protect the King, but Francis hoped he would be of more use than that. The last Ace was always so serious, what with that intimidating stare of his. He made for such a terrible conversationalist! Francis wouldn't say he was glad the former Ace of Diamonds was dead, but it would be nice to have someone amiable as his new Ace.

Francis left his bedroom and walked across the hall to the Queen's quarters. He saw his pretty young Queen tying an orange ribbon in her hair with her back to him. He creeped up behind her with a lecherous smirk and covered her eyes with his hands. He ignored her small cry and purred, "Guess who, my darling?"

Francis heard the cocking of a gun followed by a gruff, "the Jack of Diamonds, you harlot."

Francis gave a nervous laugh as he said, "Why Basch, I didn't hear you come in!"

Basch Zwingli narrowed his green eyes as he replied, "Of course you didn't, you were too busy groping my sister!"

Elise Vogel turned around and pouted at her brother. "Brother, Francis didn't do anything wrong! He was just having a little fun, right Francis?"

Francis bowed before saying, "Of course my Queen, just a little joke to lighten the mood before the coronation ceremony!"

Basch seemed to accept this as he lowered his gun. "Well, as long as you're alright, Elise." the little Queen assured she was as she left the room with her brother as he gave one last glare to Francis.

Francis gave a melodramatic sigh. Honestly, what was he going to do with that man? He knew it was the Jack's job to protect the Queen, but pulling a gun out every time Francis got within a foot of Elise? What was the point of having such a cute little Queen if he could never show her any love? Just another reason Francis was excited to see the new Ace. He hoped the Ace would be a beautiful young person who didn't mind a little loving every now and then. Was that too much to ask for?

Francis took Elise's place in front of her mirror and ran his hands through his hair a little more before he proclaimed he was as close to perfection as he could possibly get. Then he spun around on his heel and with a broad smile on his face, made his way to the throne room.

He entered the large room shrouded in gold to the sounds of gossip. Everyone was just as excited as Francis about the coronation, some even more so. They couldn't want to verbally tear this new Ace apart!

Just before the ceremony was about to start the royal guards entered into the room holding a young man kicking his legs and flailing his arms everywhere. "My King, we intercepted this man sneaking into the Kingdom of Diamonds without the proper papers. Shall we bring him to the dungeon."

"No!" the man screamed. "I need to see the King!"

The guards threw the man to the ground as Francis said, "Well, I'm right here to see!" At his words the young man lifted his head to look at the king. The man had long, wavy gold hair with a peculiar curl and striking indigo eyes. He had a slight build and might have been mistaken for a girl if it were not the tear in his shirt revealing a flat chest. Francis advanced towards the man and said, "Well aren't you a pretty thing! What is it you need to tell me?"

The man turned bright red as he looked at the ground. "I-I just wanted to see you is all."

Francis cooed as he started to pet the man's hair (which Francis noticed could have even been softer than his). "What is your name, darling?"

The man blushed even brighter at the pet name and replied, "Matthew Williams..from Clubs...your highness."

Francis smiled warmly before standing and holding his hand out to Matthew. "Well Matthew Williams from Clubs, would you like to watch the coronation of the Ace of Diamonds with me?"

Matthew took Francis's hand and gave a little cry as he was swiftly pulled up. "Of-of course I would your highness!"

Francis laughed as he lead him to his throne. Francis sat down and pulled Matthew onto his lap, smirked at his little yelp. Then he turned toward the crowd and cried, "Let the coronation of the Ace of Diamonds commence!" He turned and nodded his head towards Basch, who in turn removed a small envelope from his pocket.

"In my hand I hold the name of the future Ace of Diamonds, written by the Master themselves. Whoever's name is called is to step up and receive his or her responsibilities as the new Ace of Diamonds. Does everyone understand?" There was a resounding "yes!" from the audience and Basch opened the envelope. "The next Ace of Diamonds will be...Matthew Williams!"

Everyone in the room turned to look at the small blonde situated on Francis's lap, who suddenly looked paler than before. "Well love, it looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other," Francis said with a grin.

Matthew looked at Francis, then the audience, then back at Francis, and promptly fainted.

As Matthew lay as a dead weight in Francis's arms, the Kingdom of Clubs was having their own coronation ceremony. The newly crowned King of Clubs, Ivan Braginski, was sitting on the throne with a childlike smile. The citizens of Clubs were applauding, some with deranged gusto, others with fear. The Battle of Clubs was finally over, and The Order had come out victorious while all members of The Resistance were slaughtered. The leader of The Order, Ivan, had become King. Some suspected this was his doing and not the Master's, but everyone was too apprehensive to speak.

"The new Queen of Clubs is...Elizabeta Héderváry!" the audience once again gave its pseudo applause while the new Queen squeezed the hand of the young man next to her. He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek, followed by an unheard whisper in her ear. She nodded sadly and moved to sit on the smaller throne next to Ivan's. A man with carmine eyes and burgundy hair sneered at the Queen, showing a tooth that resembled a fang. The man who had been previously standing next to the Queen looked at the man and tightened his hand into a fist. No one else saw the look the two men gave each other but everyone could feel the tension between them like a chill in the room.

"The new Jack of Clubs is...Roderich Edelstein!" the man who had been previously standing next to the Queen broke his stare with the other man to smile at the Queen. She smiled back with tears in her eyes. The newly named Jack walked over to Elizabeta and kneeled before her. He took her hand in his and kissed it and then proceeded to stand to her right. Members of the audience glanced at Ivan to see if he was going to make any moves to stop them, but Ivan sat still, frozen with that ominous smile of his.

"The new Ace of Clubs is...Vlad Popescu!" The fanged man looked to Ivan and smiled as he ran forward. He bowed to Ivan and then looked back up as he straightened his small hat. Ivan returned the smile and nodded to his left. Vlad took his place as the public of the Kingdom of Clubs began to applaud again. Ivan took Elizabeta's hand in his and raised his free hand, as if to raise the volume of the applause. Roderich glared at Ivan while Vlad glared at Elizabeta before their eyes met. The audience didn't know what had happened between these four, but the tension was so taut is was nearly visible.

As the people of the Kingdom of Clubs stared worriedly at their new rulers, the Kingdom of Hearts was getting ready to appoint their new Queen. The current King of Hearts, Ludwig Beilschmidt, was in his quarters preparing for the ceremony. His Ace, Lovino Vargas, was in the next room tuning his guitar. Ludwig listened to the plucking of Lovino's acoustic as he began to think about the coronation. He had no idea who the new Queen would be, and he was extremely anxious.

As the King of Hearts, people expected him to be a person overflowing with love and happiness. Instead he was a stoic, seemingly harsh man who strived for order. While this was an excellent quality for a king he lacked the compassion all other Hearts were thought to possess. Ludwig had barely smiled since the death of his family. The only person who could still make him smile was Feliciano Vargas, the Jack of Hearts and Lovino's younger twin, but even then his smile was very rarely seen.

Ludwig leaned back in his chair as he tried to picture the new Queen. He had heard his citizens say more than once that he was so impassive because he didn't understand the concept of love. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Ludwig was in fact sick with love. He had been ever since he had first met his little angel during childhood. If he closed his eyes he could still remember...

"Ve, Ludwig?"

Ludwig opened his eyes and turned toward the Jack of Hearts. "Yes, Feliciano?"

"It's time for the coronation ceremony."

"Yes, collect your brother and we'll go to the throne room."

Feliciano pouted and walked over to Ludwig, kneeling down before him. "What are you thinking about," the Jack asked as he cocked his head to the side.

"Nothing Feli, I was just miles away in my memories."

Feliciano smiled and nodded. "I know it might seem better to live in our memories, but we have to look to the future for the questions they can't answer." Ludwig raised his brows at Feliciano's austerity, but as soon as it came it was gone. "Come on, let's get this ceremony over with so we can have pasta!"

The corners of Ludwig's mouth quirked up as he nodded in agreement. "Lovino, can you come here, please?" The guitar made a sour note as Ludwig and Feliciano heard what seemed to be cuss words coming from the next room.

The door was slammed open as Lovino walked in with a frown on his face. "Ready to go, bastard?"

"Yes, let's go."

"Ve, I hope the Queen is really pretty!" Feliciano said with a dreamy look in his eyes. Ludwig tried to push away thoughts of his love as he quickly made his way to the throne room, the Vargas twins at his heels.

Ludwig opened the doors and was rewarded with a boisterous applause. He turned his face away from the various couples in the crowd and made his way to the throne. He turned toward the crowd and proclaimed, "My fellow Hearts, today is the day we meet our new Queen." Ludwig waited for the applause to rise and decline before he continued. "The new Queen will join me as my equal and rule by my side until one of us passes. May his or her life be long and prosperous." As the applause began again Ludwig turned to Feliciano and Lovino. "Which one of you is going to read the name?"

"Ve, I am!"

"No you aren't, bastard! You're going to say the name wrong with that weird speech impediment of yours!"

"What impediment, ve?"

"That one!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, ve..."

"Bastard!" Lovino growled and dove towards Feliciano. They both landed on the ground, wrestling each other for the letter. The audience simply laughed. They were used to this kind of behavior by now and knew it was all in good fun. Ludwig simply groaned and raised his hand to his forehead, sinking into his chair.

Feliciano finally got the letter and stuck his tongue out at his brother. With a grin he opened the letter and read the name. "The next Queen of Hearts is...Kiku Honda!" The crowd applauded, but no one came forward.

Ludwig took the letter and read it to make sure Feliciano pronounced the name correctly and said, "Will Kiku Honda please come forth?" A small man with dark hair and eyes walked up from the back of the crowd.

"My name is Kiku Honda, but there must be some sort of mistake. I only came to the Kingdom of Hearts to farm, not to rule."

"Be that as it may, the Master never makes a mistake. Kiku Honda, you are the new Queen of Hearts," Ludwig said.

"Ve, the Queen of Hearts is really pretty!" Feliciano chirped with a grin. He proceeded to giggle as Kiku's face exploded in color at the comment.

As Kiku hid behind Ludwig from Feliciano's advances, the two Jokers laughed as they watched the proceedings of all the coronations. The older Joker, Gilbert Beilschmidt, ran a hand through his silver hair as he chuckled.

"Good going for your first act of chaos, little man!"

Peter Kirkland snickered as he punched Gilbert in the arm. "Told you I could handle it!"

Gilbert smirked and said, "Shits about to go down for these lousy Suits. Are you ready to cause it?" Gilbert held his hand out to Peter, who grabbed his hand.

"Until I am replaced."

The actors have finally been chosen for our little play. But perhaps you would like to know more about the actors? Shall we see the story behind Alfred Jones and Matthew Williams? Let us begin our tale on the streets of the Kingdom of Clubs...

Review, please (: