Hello. A few years ago, I wrote a series called 'Searching for my Queen', in which Alfred, Prince of Spades, was looking for a bride in the legendary Pirate King, Arthur Kirkland. He ran away from home to look for him before he had to marry the dreadful Princess Natalie of Clubs and got caught in a pirate rivalry including Antonio, Gilbert and Romano, Francis, Ivan, who was also Prince of Clubs and Kiku and Feliciano, and escaping the punishment of being the stowaway of Vash, a mercenary. At some point, the story was deleted and it is impossible for me to retrieve it as I no longer have the original files. I planned for a sequel, which became my newest series, Aces, but it is no longer a sequel and has it's own story.

However, I found this file and it was the planned first chapter of the sequel and I wanted to share it. I wish I could revive the old series, but at least with this small glimpse, you can imagine how cool some thought it was and have some closure if you had the fortune of reading it.

Thank you for reading and hopefully you might also enjoy Aces.

From the Desk of Arthur Kirkland of Britannia, Queen of Spades

Life has been very busy lately and I regret not writing in my journal more often, however that is the busy life of a Queen. Today is the seventh anniversary of my marriage and coronation, and a lot has changed over the eight years since I gave up my life of piracy. I'll first start with my crew:

Kiku, Ludwig and Feliciano are now serving as the new suit of Hearts. Ludwig and Kiku worked in the Hearts Royal guard and were highly favored by the King and Queen due to their services and their relations with me and Spades. The former Heart Suit passed and although it was a very sad day that an entire suit dies without explanation, it was joyous that Ludwig and Kiku were chosen. Feliciano is now the Jack of Hearts and he was chosen so that Ludwig could keep a close eye on him, but he also serves as a chef for them.

Matthew and Leon are students now and it has been lonely without them. Leon is in Hearts with Kiku, who was mostly his teacher when we were sailing. He comes home occasionally, but even then he's studying with Yao. Matthew is in Diamonds with Francis, and although it breaks my heart that he wanted to spend time with that tart, he is doing very good work there and I couldn't be any prouder of them.

Francis became the King of Diamonds…I know…. King Germania didn't pass but he stepped down. He wasn't married, but it was written that Lily and Vash would take over. Vash, however, didn't want to be king so he chose Francis, who has been his apprentice in royal relations, and became the Jack. Antonio and Romano are in the Diamonds navy, but I doubt they fight. I think they work for Vash's mercenary as well.

Sir Roderich of Diamonds, Vash's cousin, married Miss Elizabeta, who kindly helped beat the crud out of Ivan's men, and shortly afterward, Crown Princess Catherine of Clubs stepped down as Regent and asked for Elizabeta to become the Queen of Clubs. Now I must say that a King and Queen doesn't have to be married. Francis and Lily and Ludwig and Kiku aren't married and so Elizabeta became queen and since Roderich is her husband, he became Jack. Ivan wasn't happy about that…not at all. Neither was Natalie, but no body really cared. Due to our good relations with Elizabeta and Roderich, we were able to form an alliance and now the entirety of Cardeverse is in a total alliance unlike we've ever seen.

As for me and Alfred, we're doing just fine, although I miss him. I see him everyday: at dinner, breakfast, lunch, meetings and in passing, but we don't get to talk like we used to. He promises that we'll take a vacation, but Cardeverse isn't that big and so it wouldn't be a vacation, just a visit to a place where we'll just do more work. I miss the open seas, the fresh air, and an entire sea at my disposal. I must say that since I became Queen, piracy has lessened and we haven't had any troubles with them. But something quite amazing happened a little while after I became Queen.

On my wedding day, Alfred said that I looked very upset about something. I didn't know what he meant but I do remember feeling jealous. Why? Because Alfred had his entire family present and I only had my nephews and former crew members, but I was always grateful to have them. So that's when Alfred made two goals: 1) to handle all piracy information. Any pirate that was captured or wished to turn themselves in came through Spades. They weren't jailed, but most times they were given civil jobs and people accepted them very well. Another thing goal he had was to find my own family. He said that my father had to come from somewhere and he was determined to find them. I thought he was being an idiot until I was summoned to the courts and came eye to eye with four men, who looked like me.

"These are your brothers!" Alfred's enthusiasm never failed to amaze me.

"How do you know that?"

"Your father, Sir (posthumously) Walter Raleigh Kirkland, is also the father of these fine gentleman. I mean, how could you deny these eyebrows, they look just like yours."

After we beat him up for his comment, my brothers and I sat in the gardens and got to know one another.

Rhys, Liam, Lachlan, and Kieran Kirkland are all pirates and they were quite familiar with me as the pirate King, although they had no clue we were related because they never saw me and I never encountered them. Within minutes, we were talking as if we'd known each other for ever and they even tease me now, which is a very new experience. They live on the castle grounds, but they travel often due to being used to that lifestyle. They often say that I've gotten soft, but I don't know. I hope I haven't.

I envy them when they come home. I can't travel and hop from here to there. I miss the wild life. I miss the ocean. I miss adventure. Heck I even miss raising Leon and Mattie, which on the open seas, is not an easy task. I can't tell you how many times they have been held up for ransom nor how many times they nearly drowned.

Well duty calls. Alfred called a meeting to all royalty of Cardeverse for some idea he's come up with. I just hope it's a good one because most times, I feel that I have married an idiot but I love him the same.

-Sincerely, the bored Arthur Kirkland of Britannia, Queen of Spades.

Again thank you for reading and please review your thoughts!