Checkmate

Arthur glanced at his pocket-watch as he tapped his foot impatiently. He didn't have all day, and this had not been on his original list of things that needed to be done. It actually ruined his peaceful breakfast of tea and scones. Arthur clucked his tongue as the large doors at the end of the foyer bang open loudly - sending snow sprawling across the red carpeting. Arthur's lip curled in disgust. That was going to need to be cleaned, yet another thing that wasn't on his list of things to do today.

"At least you're on time." he mutters in irritation as he clenches his watch tightly. His gaze turns to the two in red clad. Arthur's lips curl into a cruel smile. "King of Hearts, Ludwig. Queen of Hearts, Kiku. Welcome to our Kingdom. Pity, I don't recall you called an audience."

"Queen of Spade's." Kiku says softly, bowing in greeting. Arthur acknowledges the greeting by lifting his chin. Neither addressing the question, seeing as this was a surprise attack gone wrong…he wasn't surprised.

"What are you doing destroying our mechanical army to get here? The King isn't expecting you here." Arthur says sourly. It took a lot of energy to make those soldiers, and they weren't easy to beat. Yet, here was the Heart King and Queen.

"Kiku." Ludwig orders with his heavy accent. Arthur crouches slightly – preparing for the attack.

"My apologies." Japan says gently as he releases Ludwig's arm. Ludwig lunges forward as Kiku springs. Arthur curses as he dodges to the side before jumping away from Kiku's sword. Arthur glances towards the grand hall, he didn't have time to draw this out, yet he didn't -

"Don't let him escape!" Ludwig barks as Kiku opens his mouth. The air around Arthur vibrates dangerously - his ears ringing with a sound he couldn't hear. He sputters at the sudden pain – having forgotten that the Heart Queen was mute and could do this with shared energy. Without Alfred here...he was completely at a disadvantage. Taking on a King AND a Queen wasn't easy to do, especially as just a Queen. Arthur clenches his teeth in pain as warmth rolled down the side of his head. The unbearable sound destroying his hearing. Now he was bleeding, and losing his hearing would put him at a severe disadvantage. This was going to make things tedious. These two were hardly worth using up all his magical energy – but at this rate… Arthur clenches his pocket-watch as he takes a deep breath, before throwing a hand to Kiku – slamming the queen roughly into the rock pillar before letting him fall to the ground. Ludwig lunges from behind. Arthur's vision began to turn fuzzy as he clasped his pocket-watch and pulled his hands apart, his pocket-watch tripling in size. It levitated in the air for half a second before Arthur grabs it and swings - slamming it roughly against Ludwig's knife wielding hand. The blade summersaults through the air before landing soundlessly on the ground.

Arthur's vision was failing quickly, having using so much magic he had stored up – and having not been given energy for almost a month... Silence hums in the air as Arthur turns - Kiku meeting his gaze. Having been closer than he anticipated. Arthur's eyes widen in a moment of shock before he barks an unheard order. Kiku is thrown back roughly against the wall, his head snapping back against the wall. He wouldn't be recovering from that quickly. Ludwig's arm wraps around Arthur's neck as his vision completely fails, leaving him in darkness. Now that he had nothing to lose - Arthur closes his eyes and releases his large clock as he whispers a spell under his breath. Ludwig's arm drops and Arthur gasps for air before holding his hands out blindly. The pocket-watch slowly comes to a rest on his palm. With a sigh, he crouches to his knees before sitting roughly on the ground. His ears were pulsing in pain, and all he could see was the watch nestled in his hands. There was no point in moving, he couldn't hear to find his way around the castle. And he was exhausted. He had been saving his energy as much as he could – and this had pushed him a little farther than he liked to be. The Heart King and Queen lay in a deep sleep as Arthur attempted to relax and push away the feeling of restless tiredness. His gaze falls to the again normal-sized pocket-watch. It was only noon.

Yao quickly paced through the halls, his large sword swinging from his side as maids and servants pointed down the hall and whispered. He recently returned from a meeting at the Diamond court in place of his King and Queen. And now… Maids were clustered around the foyers large doorway. They sensed him before they saw him – moving to the side quickly before glancing at him in awe and shock.

"The-the Queen!" one stammered. Yao stops as he enters the room. The Heart Queen was slumped uncomfortably against the floor sound asleep, while the sleeping King was close to Arthur's sitting form. Arthur's eyes were half closed as blood colored his pale blonde hair. Yao sprints forward and gently touches Arthur's arm in shock. The touch sends Arthur into a startled fury of curses and blind arm swinging's. Yao jumps back in surprise at the queen's violent attack. Arthur pants heavily as his milky green eyes dart from side to side. Blood dripped from the queen's ears, which meant that he couldn't actually hear anything. Which explained the sudden attack. He was exhausted from the use of magic – and glancing at the pocket-watched nestled in his hands, it was obvious that he used a lot of his energy. Yao glances at the Heart Kingdom's sleeping King and Queen, determining if they needed to be addressed. Judging from the looks on their faces, they would be sleeping for a while. Arthur's desperate tapping caught Yao's attention. The small pocket-watch in the queen's hand was held out slightly. He was asking who he was. Yao touched the 1 before pulling on Arthur's arm roughly, helping him to his feet.

The one meant that he was the first Jack – also the closest one to the King and Queen. 3 belonged to the Diamonds Queen, 4 the Diamond Jack and 5 the Diamond King. The numbers went in order of closeness to the Queen. Arthur could see which numbers were being pointed at, considering that he could clearly see the clock. If someone pointed at a number, according to what Arthur said, he could see the black shape of fingers that paced over the clocks face.

"yaO?!" Arthur starts as a whisper before yelling, holding his pocket watch to him. Honestly, he wasn't sure what other royal of the courts that he thought would touch him. Being the Jack wasn't easy. He placed two fingers before the clocks face as a yes. Arthur nodded in understanding. He helped Arthur through the castle, the view of the Queen in such a state sent maids scattering about. No one was allowed to touch the Queen besides the King, himself; the Jack of Spade, or another royal. Which explained as to why Arthur was sitting alone and in pain. It was a silly rule that Yao wasn't a fan of, but rules were rules. He helps the Queen into a large chair. He needed to get a washcloth and warm water to work on the dried blood. He turns to give the order, but turns to come face to face with Alfred. Yao gives the Spade King a dry look as Arthur launches to his feet. Alfred would have known when Arthur was hurt and would have been able to easily teleport to him. Who knew how long the Queen was sitting there.

"Leave it to you to only come now-" Yao starts.

"YOU BLOODY IDIOT. I WAS SITTING ALONE FOR HOURS. LUDWIG AND KIKU ARE IN THE FOYER SLEEPING. WHY ARE THEY HERE? WHY DID YOU TAKE YOUR PRETTY LITTLE TIME GETTING HERE?!" Arthur snarls loudly as he throws his arm out dramatically, slamming into Yao's back. The Jack winces in pain as he quickly steps to the side to avoid more blows. Self-given rule number one: NEVER stand between the King and Queen.

"I'M SORRY YAO. THANK YOU FOR HELPING. BUT YOU-" Arthur jabs a finger at the King in annoyance. His goofy face and semi-messy hair annoyed him to no end. Alfred smiles widely as he steps forward and pushes Arthur back into his chair roughly before crouching before him. Arthur glared viciously at him. Alfred was in big trouble, and he knew it. Arthur's gaze swept over his King, he looked to be okay, which made Arthur relax slightly. He was still pissed though.

"It looks like we were attacked by the Heart Kingdom. I only found the Queen when I returned from fulfilling my orders." Yao says with a small bow as Alfred brushed at the dried blood in Arthur's hair, his gaze sweeping over his queen.

"Hmm." Alfred muses in thought before pulling out his small pocket watch and fiddling with it before smiling up at Arthur. The blood didn't fade, but he moved time back to before Kiku verbally attacked Arthur – giving him back his hearing. "Thank you Yao, you can go."

The Jack bows lowly before excusing himself. Arthur's vision clears as Alfred brushes at his hair. The ringing in his ear dies before disappearing. The constant sting of pain dissipated as he sighed.

"Better?" Alfred asks, lightly brushing his cheek.

"You are late." Arthur snaps, narrowing his eyes at his annoying King.

"But I'm here now! I bet you missed me. Is that why you're so bitter?" Alfred laughs, winking. Arthur sneers in disgust.

"Hardly." he snorts.

"You cut me deep, my queen." Alfred says dramatically as he holds a hand over his heart.

"Good. Don't get blood on the floor. I already have to get the snow cleaned up in the foyer." he sniffs, looking away in annoyance.

"Mm, don't be like that. I missed you." Alfred says genuinely before standing suddenly, causing Arthur to look toward him. Alfred's lips meet Arthur's, electricity snaps and crackles in the air - causing the twos hair to stand on edge. Alfred pulls away slowly before gently pressing one last kiss against Arthur's forehead.

"You fought extremely well. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner." he apologizes. Arthur sits quietly. Soaking in Alfred's energy that rolled off him in waves. The darkness was pushed away with all the energy that he took in, giving him his sight back.

"Forgive me; I haven't seen you in a while, my energy was running low." Alfred continues.

"Mm. What are you going to do with the Hearts?" Arthur muses in a slight daze.

"Ask them what's up." Alfred shrugs, pulling away from Arthur. His stony face never changed, but he felt almost lonely from the small space between them. The Queen was so fine-tuned to the King, that any distance felt stressful, and took years to learn to manage. The small swap of energy was enough to get his sight back, but it wasn't enough to make up for the magic and energy it took to turn back time on two people. And while Alfred looked fine, after all the magic he used he was hardly filled up with that small energy exchange. Arthur takes a moment to replay the statement mentally before scoffing.

"You can't just ask them 'what's up'." Arthur snorts. "They attacked the castle, and me." He knew he had a point, and watched as Alfred combed his hair from his eyes as he sighed.

"I mean, I can't like keep them here. The other royals will think I'm doing something. And Francis might think I'm turning on him. I honestly have to let them go." he says seriously, meeting Arthur's glance. Arthur cringed at the mention of the Diamond Kings name.

"Why don't we go see what the fuck the Heart King and Queen wanted? Coming in so kindly n' all." Alfred says brightly, offering his hand to his Queen. Arthur had no interest in sitting in on the meeting. However, being that he knocked out a King and Queen – it probably would be better if he went. He eyed Alfred's hand before taking the outstretched hand and pulling roughly. He kissed Alfred deeply, his blood singing in his ears as electricity crackled and popped around him and his King. His face heated as he pushes Alfred away suddenly, glancing away.

"Go do it yourself." He snaps softly, knowing that he should go regardless. Alfred smirks as he adjusts his glasses. The energy swap was almost enough to fill the need of magical energy.

"I can't handle a king and queen by myself." He says, feigning weakness. Arthur turns to meet his gaze, Alfred was hardly weak.

"You just want me to go with you." He muses.

"Guilty as charged!" Alfred hoots before grabbing Arthur's hand and pulling him up sharply.

"Bloody hell you idiot. Becareful!" Arthur snaps.

"Onward!" Alfred proclaims loudly as he tows a livid Arthur behind him through the halls.

Far away, in the Kingdom of Spade; lived a King, a Queen and a Jack. The King was born with a spade birthmark on his chest, while his Queen had a birthmark of a spade typically in plain view. The Jack's birthmark was usually on their back, but it had been known to move from generation to generaton. Alfred, the to-be Spade King, was born sickly like most kings before him. Usually, the King and Queen were united almost instantly from a young age to improve their relationship, and give them time to learn about their powers. However, finding Alfred's Queen took longer than anticipated - leaving the to-be King sick longer than usual.

Arthur was born with the birthmark on his right hand. He was also born blind, something that also tended to go with being a Queen of Spade. However, Arthur lived on the far outskirts of the Spade Kingdom where only twisted rumors reached. When the search for the Spade Queen reached his village, it was quickly brushed aside since they didn't know that the prince had even been born yet. One day, castle guards found Arthur in the village and immediately arrested him. He was dragged roughly to the castle on account of 'withholding himself' from the to-be king.

Arthur was scrubbed clean and checked meticulously for sickness and his birthmark was verified several times, before he was introduced to Alfred. It was instant, Arthur had vowed to hate the to-be king, but as soon as he saw him the connection was instantaneous. Arthur didn't even stand a chance as he stood before his King. The two were destined to be together. And much to Arthur's surprise, he could clearly see Alfred. Having lived in darkness, being able to see someone was completely earth shattering. On top of finally being able to see someone clearly for the first time in his life, and this new budding feeling – Arthur and Alfred had to learn to be together though having contrasting personalities.

At first, Arthur and Alfred had a hard time co-existing. Alfred forgot on many occasions that Arthur was blind, considering that he could see him. Arthur constantly clung to Alfred as his health improved, the feeling of loneliness – on top of being able to touch Alfred and to be able to see everything, was something that he had a hard time getting use to. Alfred wasn't use to having someone smother him and lead to constant fights between the two. It was in the middle of a heated fight that Alfred just couldn't handle it anymore – he kissed Arthur. When Arthur pulled away in shock it was then that he realized that the direct energy from Alfred gave him his sight back. From then on – Arthur took to being on his own, leaving Alfred to his own devices.

Now that the two were older, the simple way of sharing energy; a light touch here and there; was no longer enough to sustain them. Getting energy in the purest form was the only way that the two could survive. Arthur tended to always have his sight, until he used all the energy that Alfred gave him. Alfred spent most of his time away from the castle for months at a time – and Arthur tried not to think about it. Considering that most King's and Queen's couldn't and wouldn't leave their significant others side if they didn't have to. Arthur didn't know what Alfred was doing, and tried not to dwell on that fact. Their relationship was stressed; something unusual for a royal, but honestly, nothing was really normal in the Spade Kingdom.

Queen Captured

Hello! Thank you for reading!

I'm slightly new to this fandom - and I was completely swept up in Cardverse and I just couldn't help writing this!

Please leave a comment!

I hope to see you next chapter!

-Iziz