Summary: Cardverse!AU. Arthur, future Queen of Spades, lives a lonely life trapped inside the castle walls. Until he meets Alfred, that is. Son of a navy captain, and the boy he's been secretly admiring from afar. They befriend each other, and soon their friendship develops into something more. But what will happen when war ensues and Alfred chooses to follow in his father's footsteps?

Pairing: USUK

Genres: Romance, Drama, Adventure, Fantasy, Hurt/Comfort.

Rating may go up.

"Hey, 'sup dude! I'm Alfred F. Jones. It's nice to meet ya...! Hey, are you okay?"

Those were the first of many sweet words that Arthur would hear from that equally sweet and kind person. But he was not yet aware of what significant role the boy would play in his future.

So far he'd only seen the bright boy from afar, through the window of his personal carriage, longing for the warmth and freedom the outside world had to offer. And that boy, that sunny-haired and sky blue-eyed boy, looked like the very personification of it. He'd been at the harbour the first time Arthur laid eyes on him, helping the older boys and men with loading a ship. Arthur hadn't been able to do other but stare. The boy had appeared to glow in the sunlight, with the light reflecting from the sea dancing over his features, giving the impression of the world – or at least the boy – being underwater. It was an alluring thought for Arthur; having the whole world swallowed by the waves, having himself rest on the bottom of the sea while watching the multicoloured fish swim past, the silhouettes of huge ships grazing the water surface, shadowing him from the burning sun, looking oh so distant from where he lay. Arthur often dreamt about that, both at night and at day. It was a nice escape, he thought.

Since that day he'd visited the harbour daily, though always from the inside of his carriage. Something drew him to the boy, a weird mix of feelings that kept swelling up whenever he saw him. He'd known about his admiration for the boy, but first after a week of observing was he able to define the second feeling.

Jealousy.

Arthur envied the boy.

He was practically bathing in what had been stolen from Arthur, the one thing he desired the most; freedom.

Destined Queen of Spades, Arthur had been locked up since the day he was born. Not allowed anywhere outside the castle residence without at least a handful of guards; he felt trapped within the castle walls. Besides his own chambers the only place he could truly be alone was the Queen's private garden and the Holy Woods that lay on the castle's west side. The Holy Woods were not entirely within the royal grounds though; a stone wall split it in two parts, the other section belonging to the church and its grounds.

Arthur loved coming there.

Despite that the Queens Garden was absolutely beautiful; he much found that he preferred the forest.

The reason was that there were numerous of magical creatures living there. He'd always go there, sitting by the brick wall, he would either read or just enjoy their company.

Since he didn't get to know any peers, the creatures were the closest he had to friends. It didn't appear as if other could see them though. He'd once told the Jack about them, but he'd received a – what Arthur later placed as frightened – look, and had been told to never mention them to anyone. So Arthur hadn't.

He'd always looked up to the Jack who was currently running the country, almost completely on his own. The previous Queen had died in battle, an honourable death, as she'd always used to say. Arthur's aunt, the former King, had passed away when Arthur was seven. His mother had died giving birth to him, and his aunt had taken him under her wing, introducing him to the life of the castle. Their family, the Kirklands, had since long been positioned at either of the thrones as the King or Queen of the country of Spades. Therefore, the council found it evident that Arthur would take on the Queen's role, seeing how his aunt was still King at the time. She had soon fallen prey to illness though, and even though doctors and medics from all over the nation came, they hadn't been able to save her.

This left the throne next to Arthur's alone. Or what would be his throne – he would not be crowned as Queen until his sixteenth birthday, and was currently going under the title of Princess.

Titles weren't based on gender in Spades, and neither were professions – the exceptions being very few. Arthur therefore didn't mind his title. Quite the opposite actually, he was proud of it, as any other boy or girl would be. If it wasn't for the restrictions and responsibility that came with it, he would gladly take the throne without complaint.

Not that he did complain. At least not out loud in the castle. Alone in the woods with his friends was a completely different matter. He could talk with them about anything and they would never judge him, never say that he was ungrateful, and never scold him for wanting something else. So that was where he went when he needed to cry, when he needed to rant about the unfairness of his unwanted faith.

That was where he was, bawling his eyes out, when he first heard that sweet voice.

"Hey, 'sup dude! I'm Alfred F. Jones. It's nice to meet ya!"

Arthur turned his head towards the brick wall from where the voice had come. Looking up, he saw a boy – the boy – sitting on the wall, dangling his legs while studying Arthur with a smile. The smile soon faded, however, as he saw the tears dripping down Arthur's cheeks.

"Hey, are you okay?"

'No!' Arthur wanted to scream, 'I certainly am not!' But instead he just kept quiet and stared at the boy with moist and bewildered eyes. He had a hard time processing what was happening. The golden boy – Alfred – was sitting there on the wall, talking to him. He was sitting there, watching him cry. 'Oh God.' It was degrading, someone – and a stranger, none the less – seeing him cry. He was going to be the Queen of Spades; he couldn't show weakness to anyone, especially not his people. He was supposed to be strong – a role model, an un-budging tower.

He felt blood rush to his already flush cheeks when the situation dawned upon him. He desperately tried to wipe away the tears with his palms, but the salty drops just kept spilling from his panic.

"Come here," he heard the voice say, and looked back at Alfred who now was kneeling on the wall, right hand outstretched and offered to him. His intensely blue eyes were glazed with sympathy as he shook his hand slightly, encouraging Arthur to take it.

Arthur eyed it suspiciously through his bleary vision before hesitantly placing his hand in Alfred's.

He let out a cry of surprise as he felt himself being lifted from the ground. Alfred gripped around the fabric of Arthur's trousers with his other hand, successfully dragging him up next to him on the wall.

Arthur was about to scold his actions when he felt warmness enclose around him. Alfred tightened his embrace around the royal and gently stroked his back, adding a few pats from time to time.

"There, there... You feelin' any better?"

Arthur just stared out into the air in front of him, not sure of what to make of the situation. He was shocked to say the least. No one had held him like that since his aunt's passing five years ago, and the previously welcomed feeling now felt alien.

That didn't mean Arthur didn't like it though.

As weird as it felt, it was also strangely comforting, and he realised that he'd stopped crying – though that might had been from the shock.

"W-w-w-w-wha-," a sniffle, "what are you doing?"

"My mom does this whenever I'm sad. Feels good, doesn't it?"

Arthur dug his chin down into the other's shoulder as a reply. Eventually, Arthur stopped sniffing as well, and the only traces left of the tears were his rosy cheeks. They still stayed like that for a while longer though, relishing in the warmth, until the weirdness of it dawned upon Arthur and he slowly pulled away.

Alfred was grinning lazily at him. "Well, dude, ya feeling better?"

"Yes," Arthur replied shyly and gazed down as he found it impossible to look back at that beaming face, "thank you..." The brightness was once again reminding Arthur of what he couldn't have.

"No problem. But why were you crying?" Arthur stiffened slightly at the question and the embarrassment came back, blossoming on his face.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Oh, that's okay! I totally get it." An awkward silence ensued as both of the boys continued to sit quietly, none taking the initiative to move away first.

"What are you doing here?" Arthur finally asked.

"Huh?"

"On the wall. I haven't seen you here before."

"Oh, right. You come here a lot? Well, I was exploring the woods, and mom told me the area behind the wall was extremely forbidden, so I wanted to check it out," he replied and shrugged. "Hey, how come you are here? And on the wrong side of the wall! Didn't anyone tell ye not to go there?"

Arthur shifted nervously. "Ah, well, you see... This is my side of the wall. I'm forbidden to enter yours."

"What? That's weird..."

No, that wasn't weird at all, but Arthur found he much liked for his identity to remain a secret. It would probably scare Alfred off if he told him, and now that Arthur had finally gotten to meet him he was not going to take any chances.

"Mhmm..."

A shorter silence followed, but Alfred was quick in breaking it before it turned uncomfortable.

"Hey, do you like the sea?"

Arthur stared wide-eyed at the question. "Yes."

"Awesome! My dad owns a ship, you see. He sails to all kind of places in all five kingdoms! I even went with him to Ace once. Have you ever been there? It's amazing! Everything looks so different over there. I'm totally gonna go back there someday. You see, I'm gonna be a captain, just like dad. Oh, and I'll serve under the Spadian navy, of course! Dad does that too. He's saved hundreds of people – awesome, huh? – I'm gonna do that too. Oh, and he's currently at the border to Hearts on a mission. It's so cool! Mom and dad actually met when-" and so he continued on, eyes sparkling more and more for every new sentence that leaved his lips.

Once the boy started talking, he apparently couldn't stop.

Arthur nodded a couple of times and asked a few questions to confirm that he was listening – something he'd learnt from countless political conversations with the council. He actually didn't mind not talking much himself, instead he found it amusing listening to the other – it was the first time he had an actual conversation with a peer, even if it mostly was one-sided.

Time flew by and topics changed. They ended up discussing everything from battleships to snowmen – to Alfred's surprise, Arthur had no idea of what the latter was – and the sun was soon beginning to set.

"Aww, it's this late already? No way... I need to be home before nightfall, so I should get going," Alfred said, a pout on his face.

"Ah, I see. That's too bad." Arthur couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice. For once he'd actually enjoyed himself in the company of another person – an occasion that rarely happened in the castle. And he'd learnt a lot about Alfred. After watching him for weeks from afar, it was nice to actually get to know something about him – he hadn't even known his name before. Now he would have to go back to that old pattern again; constantly watching from a window and longing.

"Sure is, but hey, will you be here tomorrow?"

Arthur looked up and met the sky blue-eyes, hope slowly daring to peek into the corners of his mind.

"Yes."

"Awesome! I'll see ya tomorrow, then?" He said and jumped off the wall, landing swiftly on his feet and turning back to wave goodbye. His hand froze mid-air. "What's your name, by the way?" Alfred's eyes had taken a comically round form as he stared at Arthur.

The royal chuckled at the sight and tilted his head in amusement.

"Arthur," he said, leaving out his last name intentionally. He wouldn't reveal his position now, if ever. Not now that he'd finally gotten to meet with Alfred. He'd always been told not to lie, and Arthur didn't exactly enjoy it either, but he technically wasn't lying. Leaving out the entire truth surely didn't qualify as lying, Arthur told himself.

"Okay, see ya tomorrow, Arthur!"

Arthur nodded.

Alfred flashed him one last cheeky grin before waving goodbye and setting off through the woods.

Neither of the boys had any idea of what wheels had begun to turn that day, what future that innocent conversation had laid ground for, or what heartache that future would bring.

A/N

I've been seriously dying to write some cardverse! And I made Arthur a bit of a stalker... hehe. Anyway, they'll start off pretty young now, but they'll be in their early twenties when I've finished this, so fluffy scenes won't last forever.

And since Arthur will be Queen, I figured he'd be called princess instead of prince... *tries to suppress laughter* as funny as it sounds, it makes more sense to me that way.

Reviews are much appreciated!