Queen Elizabeth and the new Jack, Yao, sat down in a large study.

Yesterday, an announcement was made to the people that there was indeed a new Jack in the castle of Spades. It had been quick and formal, straight to the point. No one saw the need to throw party for the Jack as there was already a ball in progress for the leaders of the other three kingdoms to come and meet the new Queen and now, the Jack as well.

Besides, there was much work to be done. Since the king had yet to be found, the Queen and Jack were doing the work for both themselves and the missing king. Elizabeth was somewhat grateful, however. When she had first become Queen nearly two weeks ago, she had been buried neck deep in paperwork. It had been so over whelming and now at long last she had some help.

She looked up at the Jack.

Yao was a hard worker and wasn't one to beat around the bush. He was also an efficient worker who learned quickly. It had not taken him long to adjust to his new job.

The Queen looked back down at her paper and groaned.

"What is it, your Highness?"

"This paperwork is just absolutely dreadful." She said pinching the bridge of her nose.

"There are countless piles of work which are completely pointless."

Yao only gave a single nod.

"It still has to get done and it won't just do itself."

"You're right." She said as she gave a small sigh.

She had just started to focus on her work again when she saw a flicker of motion out of the corner of her eyes. Without turning her head she looked over to one of her friends, a small fairy, which was wildly waving her arms, almost as if she was trying to warn her of something.

What could that be about? She thought.

Then almost as if on cue, the doors to the large study flew open and a brightly colored individual waltzed into the room.

"Francis." You could hear the irritation in her voice.

Though she wouldn't admit it, at least not out loud, Francis and she were friends to a degree. They had met when they were children at a party. Depending on who you ask, the fruit punch bowl incident that happened later after they met was either an unfortunate accident or completely intentional.

"Bonjour, how are you mon cher? Is your new role starting to become normal to you, yes?" He reached to wrap his arm around her waist, but Elizabeth took a step away from the King of Diamonds before he could.

"I was under the impression that you and your people wouldn't be here until noon."

"Ah, we are just fashionable early. Besides, I was eager to see my friend, now Queen."

Elizabeth huffed and crossed her arms.

"Whatever, also isn't it fashionable late, not early?"

The King of Diamonds simply ignored her and went to greet the new Jack of Spades whom he just noticed was in the room.

"Forgive me for my rude entrance. I am Francis, King of Diamonds, as you can tell by my fabulous outfit." He gave him a wink.

The Jack cringed and gave a simple nod.

"I am Yao, Jack of Spades."

"It is nice to meet you." The King of Diamonds responded.

A head popped through the door, waving an arm with something in hand. Yao sighed.

"Excuse me." He said as he moved to the door.

Francis watched as the Jack of Spades left the room, leaving the Queen and King all alone. Elizabeth lowered her arms in a lady-like manner as she turned to the other blond in the room. She wasn't pleased he had arrived early as she hadn't had more time to prepare for guests.

"So," he started turning his body towards her as he flipped his hair over his shoulder, "No King yet?"

"No, we still haven't," she paused searching for the right word, "found him yet."

The way the Spades chose its royals was unlike any of the other three kingdoms. The Spades relied on the magic of the clocks. The other kingdoms usually had blood lines and arranged marriages to choose their royals. Though the Hearts tended for the royals to choose their mates rather than have arranged marriages.

"You mean, you haven't found amour yet?" he had a sly smirk on his face.

Elizabeth felt her face warm up for a split second before she composed herself. She turned her head away from him.

"You're delirious, frog."

Francis smiled knowingly. He moved and wrapped an arm around Elizabeth's shoulders before she could react.

"Ah, but mon cher, we both know that somewhere deep down you wish for such a fairy tale, don't you?" she shoved him off and went to her desk.

"Shut your mouth, don't you know not to speak of things you know nothing about?"

Her hands flew over the papers on her desk.

She tried to focus on what was in front of her, but now that Francis brought it up she had wondered about it herself. What would the future King be like? Would find love of all things with him? After all, the clocks always chose a King and Queen who would be-

She shook her head.

What was she thinking, that stupid frog was getting to her!

"Don't you have something better to be doing anyways? I'm busy can't you see?" she said giving the blond man a frown.

"I suppose I do. I must make sure I ready for the party tonight."

He smiled and walked to the door, but before he left he turned around one last time.

"What?"

"Congratulations to your new title, your Highness."

As Francis left Yao came back into the room. He had a strange look on his face.

"Is it more paperwork? We already have enough as it is."

Yao shook his head and handed over a sheet of paper.

"Last night rebels attacked on the southern edges of the Charlotte Province." Elizabeth read over the piece of paper. She let out a breath of relief.

"At least there were no casualties. There is quite a bit of property damage, however." Yao nodded.

"I have heard of these rebels before, but I do not know much about them. Perhaps you can educate me?" He asked.

The Queen set the paper down as she sat in the seat at her desk.

"The rebels are a bit of a mystery. They come and go and are surprisingly difficult to track. We're not sure who any of them are, but what we do know is that they're Spades."

"They're Spades? Why would Spades attack their own kingdom?"

"I'm not sure about their motive. However, I do know that whenever they come around they demolish the area leaving trash, ruble, and sometimes even people in their trail."

Elizabeth shivered. She remembered when she had visited an area where the rebels had struck. Everything had been utterly destroyed and beyond repair. The worst of it was the cries of a woman who sat doubled over her husband's body. The royal couldn't imagine what it would be like to be widowed young.

"How terrible."

"Yes, it is. I'll have to make sure I send some soldiers down there. If we're quick we might be able to catch some of them."

"Of course. We should get back to our paperwork. We do have a busy day ahead of us."

The blonde sighed. She really didn't want to do it, but she knew it had to be done. She looked out the large window into the open sky.

What did those rebels want? It was really starting to concern her. These rebels had been about since before her parents passed and they were only getting more aggressive. It was a miracle no one was killed this time. But what about the next time they struck? How much more destruction would come before they were stopped? Elizabeth could only hope that their reign of terror came to a stop soon, for both her sake and the sake of her people.

A small fairy tugged at her hand patting her foot. Time to focus on paperwork.

Alfred was packing up his things once again in the heat of the summer day. At least it was later in the afternoon so the sun wasn't so high. He sighed as he looked up to the roof he had been working on. It had originally been a job for him and two of his work friends, but they had ditched him around one to get lunch. Thing is, it had been nearly four hours since they had left. He was actually starting to get a bit nervous. It was only natural, however, since he had overheard his boss and his neighbor talking about how there was potentially rebels in the area. Had his friends been involved in some hit and run? He shook his head. He shouldn't think like that. Besides, they had to come back for their stuff right?

Then almost as if on cue, two figures walked up the path and towards Alfred.

"Sean, Sammy, where in Spades have you two been?!" He walked up to them somewhat frustrated. They had had him worried over nothing.

"Sorry, Al." Sammy, the older of the two, said. "We had a bit of an emergency with our sister."

"Oh, well how is she?"

Reba, Sean and Sammy's older sister, had been sick for quite some time now. While the two boys went out to work, their younger sister would take care of her. Even with that care, however, she only seemed to be getting worse. They didn't have the money to take her to a doctor or to buy medicine for her.

"She's hanging in there for now, but we're not sure if she's going to make it to see the end of the summer." He said.

Alfred's face softened. It hurt him to think about losing a sister. What would he do if that was Madilyn?

"I'm sorry."

Sean's mouth turned into an angry frown.

"She's practically on her death bed. She's a good person she doesn't deserve this. My sister is suffering, and it's all for what? Just because we can't bend over backwards far enough to pay for some basic medicine? It's not fair! Why should we have to suffer while some fancy suit has enough money to pay for medicine for all of the sick threes in Charlotte's Province?"

The blond looked at the ground. He didn't like how things were either. Things were tough on the lower castes, but then again, they had always been rough.

"Someone should do something about this." Sean ran a hand through his hair. "I don't understand why we don't just take from these guys. I mean look at them, living in these nice, big houses all by themselves. They don't care about us."

Alfred looked uncomfortable. On one hand he agreed that things were unfair and everything was set so that the lower castes stayed poor and with minimal opportunity, but on the other, he didn't think that they should just take things from the higher castes. Theft was a crime and he didn't feel like serving a life sentence anytime soon.

"I agree, but we can't just take things. We're not some bandits or rebels." The brothers gave each other a quick side glance.

"Yeah, but how long are we just going to allow the higher ups to push us around? They're not the only ones who are Spades, you know."

Alfred sighed.

"I know." He put his tool bag on his back and turned to head home.

"I'll see you later."

"Al, wait!" Sammy cried. Alfred turned to see a small blade, the blade that had once been his fathers, tucked neatly into its case. The blond nearly smacked himself. He had lent the shape object to Sammy earlier when he had been cutting open the packing for the shingles they were supposed to redo the roof with.

"Thanks a lot, Sammy! I would've had a panic attack if I had lost my dad's knife."

For a second when he was reaching for the blade he thought he saw something dark on the edge where the handle and the blade met. He brushed off the thought, however, and stuck the object into his bag.

"No problem."

And with that he went home not knowing what fate had in store for him later that day.

When Alfred came in the door he instantly knew something was wrong. He dumped his bag on the floor and saw his sister sitting on the cot, her head in her hands.

"Maddi?" He asked. He shut the door behind him.

His sister looked up at him with a devastated look on her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He sat down beside her.

"I lost my job." She said the words so quietly he almost didn't hear her.

"Al, what are we going to do? We need my income. What if no one else hires me? What if I can't find more work? "Her brother pulled her in for a hug.

"It's going to be fine. We'll get by just like we always have." He pulled back.

"How did you of all people get fired anyways?"

She groined.

"Their kid was around and he started complaining about something, I don't even remember anymore it was that ridiculous, and I just snapped at him right as his mother walked in. She fired me on the spot and lectured me about yelling to children."

"Wow." He paused for a second. "Kid must have been wild if he made you of all people snap."

"I know. I'm sorry." He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about we'll be fine. I'll just take on more jobs until you can find more work."

She looked down at her hands.

"But, what if I can't find another job? What if no one will take me?"

Alfred smiled.

"What you won't find a job? That's crazy! When employers see you they'll be throwing themselves at you, I guarantee it."

They laughed quietly. Madilyn looked back at her hands.

"Maddi, don't worry. Everything's going to be just fine." He took her hand. "As long as we're together we'll be okay."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She smiled.

"You bet I'm right!"

It was then that a loud knock coming from the door. The siblings looked at each other confused. Who could that be?

"Open the door now or we will enter with force."

"Al?"

He stood up going towards the door. The pounding became louder.

"Open the door now!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!"

The blond man opened the door and was greeted by the sight of soldier. His sister stood hesitantly, her hands folded together, as she stood at the back of the room.

"Alfred F. Jones of the Charlotte Province?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Yes?" he responded a bit uneasy. He couldn't help himself; after all, what were soldiers of all people doing here?

He was instantly slammed against the wall. He grunted in protest from the sudden collision.

"Alfred!" His sister cried. She rushed forward to help him but was stopped by a soldier.

"What the hell?" He asked. He could feel something heavy and cold against his wrists.

"Alfred F. Jones, you are hereby under arrest for the murder to two soldiers in the first-degree."

"What?!"

Murder? He was being arrested for murder?

"I didn't do anything! Please, you have to believe me!"

They started to drag him out the door.

"Alfred!" Tear were starting to gloss over her eyes as she struggled against the soldier holding her back.

"Don't worry," he said looking her in the eye, "This is just a mix up. I'll be back home before you know it."

"Al."

Then, he spoke again to his sister just in case he was wrong.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Then before he knew what was going on, he was outside surrounded by a group of soldiers with no possible escape.

Just play it cool. He thought to himself. This had to be some big mistake. He hadn't done anything wrong. All He could do was hope that this whole thing just blew over so he could go back home to his sister.

Dun dun duuuuunnnn! Poor Alfred! Anyways, this chapter took a lot longer to write than I originally thought it would. But, life happens you know. Also, I know it's not much, but please tell me what you think!

I do not own Hetalia or any of its characters….