Miss Stealer: Welcome back~! Oh, and Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year to all of you. I hope your new years was AWESOME. I know I was supposed to update weeks ago, but some stuff has happened (I'll explain at the bottom). Anyways, here's chapter 3! I'm actually really surprised people like this, it makes me very happy. ^_^ So I hope you enjoy the chappy!
. . .
"Alfred, sweetie, I know you seem to like this boy, but don't put too much faith in- what's his name? Arthur?" Queen Mariel was sitting with her son in one of the many sittings rooms doing her needle point. Alfred was slung over the arms of a leather chair across the room, having just told his mother about his adventure the day before. He sighed and waited for her inevitable rant.
"Darling, for one, he's obviously a peasant. Now, I'm not saying peasants are bad people, but you now that most of them would do absolutely anything to get money. He could be using you!" Alfred was about to angrily protest, but his mother cut him off. "Don't tell me I'm wrong, mister! Some will! And he's a datorem. There's nothing wrong with them, either, but your uncle's son's friend was a datorem peasant and look where they ended up! They're even more desperate! All I'm saying, Alfred, is to be careful!"
"Mom-"
"You shouldn't be around him, or anyone for that matter, without a bodyguard. Oh! And don't forget to always wash when you come home-"
"Mom-"
"You never know what kinds of things are lurking around those types of people. Datorems are notorious for-"
"Mom!" The Queen stopped in her nagging to look at her son, surprised. Alfred barely raised his voice at his parents, even when he was happy. "What the hell, mom?"
"Alfred! Don't talk to me like that! I'm only trying to keep you safe!" Alfred sighed. He knew it was a lost cause to get his mother to stop being, well, a mother. Then, recalling the comment she almost made about datorems, Alfred felt the need to show his mom just how wrong she was about Arthur. His brilliant plan couldn't fail! He'd bring Arthur to the palace, Alfred would show his mother that he was safe, Arthur would most likely be happy to be treated like royalty, and everyone would live happily ever after! It was perfect! Alfred jumped out of his chair and kissed his mother on the cheek.
"I know, I know. Hey, I'll be back later! Love ya!"
"Wait, where are you headed off to?"
"Out! See ya mom!" The queen sighed and went back to her needle work, hoping her son wouldn't get into too much trouble.
. . .
Alfred peeked over the corner of the wall he was hiding behind. He looked around and saw that no guards were around, and neither was Jack Yao. Slipping out of his hiding spot, Alfred headed into the horse stable and to his prized horse Nova. (Ha! It had significance, see?) The black horse started at his sudden appearance and he quickly shushed her with a carrot and a few strokes to her long nose.
"Hush, Nova. We're gonna go on an adventure, kay?" Nova neighed in response and Alfred chuckled, leading her out of the pen and saddling her up. Before heading out he checked again to see if anyone was around and, once he saw the coast was clear, Alfred mounted the horse and set off for the England County.
Now, mind you, Alfred never really thought things through very often, and this is one of those times. Of course his plan was pretty well thought out, except for the fact that the England County was pretty far away from the Spade Palace. Eight hours, to be exact. Alfred, however, didn't realize this fact until about two hours into his journey. Swearing to himself, he figured he was fortunate enough to have left at around eight in the morning, which gave him an arrival time of about four in the afternoon. Be that as it may, he was not up for sixteen hours of travelling in one day, even for his awesome plan. He figured that if Arthur didn't cooperate right away, he'd have to stay with him for the night. In all honesty, to Alfred, that didn't sound too bad. So, the more he thought about his situation, the better it started to sound.
He arrived at the England County a little after four with an empty stomach and a mission. Well, technically two. The first was to eat. Along the way Nova and Alfred had eaten all the food they had brought for the trip (there and back). The second was to find Arthur. Alfred was a bit worried he wouldn't be able to find him in the large city, but figured if he looked around the places they were the other day he could find him easily. 'Yeah, this'll totally be easy! I'll find Artie in no time!'
Wrong.
Alfred checked all of the streets they had traveled before, and even some he didn't recognize at all, but he still couldn't find Arthur. He would've asked around for him if it weren't for the attention he would get (He pretty much had a sign above his head that said: PRINCE). At the rate he was going, he pretty much had no other choice than to stay the night in London.
"Aw crap, mom's gonna kill me." Alfred said to himself as he entered one of the nicer places for overnight stay in the city. To the right were several crowded tables of men and women drinking, playing games, or just talking. The left had a hall leading to a restaurant of sorts and a stairwell leading to the different floors. The entire place had a sort of dingy feel to it, but at the moment Alfred couldn't care less. While walking toward the front desk, which looked relatively close to a bar, Alfred was looking all around him and not paying attention to where he was going, bumping into someone in the process. The stranger stumbled and dropped a bucket of water, soaking half of Alfred's silk pants and shoes.
"Oh gee, man, I'm sorry-!"
"No, it was my fault I'm incredibly sorry, sir-"They both looked at each other and Alfred found himself staring into familiar emerald green eyes. A smile spread across his face while Arthur's eyes rolled and he silently cursed under his breath.
"Arthur!" Alfred hugged Arthur tightly, causing him to startle ad push the prince away.
"Damnit, git, what are you doing here?" Arthur smoothed his dirty, too-small clothes and started to clean up the mess Alfred caused.
"I came looking for you!" Alfred stooped down to help, "I came here a couple of hours ago, but I couldn't find you! Then it started getting dark and I don't really wanna go back to the palace so late at night, plus I'm tired and hungry and-"
"Shut up, you're rambling." The datorem glared at Alfred and he blushed, embarrassed.
"Sorry, I'm just kinda happy I finally found ya!"
"Yes, well, as much as I appreciate the gesture I need to-"
"'EY!" Arthur paled and stood up straight as an older man, in about his late thirties, came up to the boys and roughly grabbed Arthur's arm. "Did you do this, you dirty datorem? Spillin' suds all over me customers an' makin' 'em clean it up with you?"
"Excuse me, sir, but it was actually my fault." Alfred intervened, afraid the man would begin to get physical.
"Hmpf, don't cover 'im, lad. 'E was just in the wrong place again. I'll take care of 'im. Don't you worry." Alfred could see Arthur was scared, but his face stayed composed. He came up with another awesomely heroic plan.
"No!" they both looked at the prince, "Uh, let-let me do it!"
Arthur's eyes widened in betrayal and the older man smiled crookedly. "'Ere then." He threw Arthur into Alfred's arms, "Take 'im out back and show 'im. Don't go easy, either."
"Heheh, will do." Alfred started to drag Arthur out of the building as he started to try to get out of the prince's hold. They entered the back street and Arthur was yelling curses at Alfred and wiggling around violently.
"Hey." Alfred said, trying to get the datorem to settle down, "Hey!" Arthur stopped his movements and Alfred smiled, letting him go.
"Dude, I'm not gonna hurt you! It was just part of my awesome plan!"
"Your what?" Arthur huffed.
"My awesome plan to get you out of there and save you! Pretty heroic, wasn't it?"
"…So, you're not going to harm me?" Arthur asked hesitantly.
"Nope!" Alfred smiled largely, making his eyes squint. Arthur smacked him as hard as he could, making the prince turn his head at the force. "Hey, what was that for?! I totally saved you!"
"Don't you ever, and I mean ever, scare me that bloody bad again, you hear me?" Arthur demanded; his tone very serious and cold.
"Yeah dude," Alfred calmly agreed, feeling slightly dejected and scared at Arthur's threat," I-I promise."
The two stood there in the alley way, quietly listening to the loud noises emanating from the hotel behind them. Alfred shifted uncomfortably, thinking about what they both should do at this point, and Arthur was wondering why in the world the prince of all people took time to see him.
They were quite an odd sight, too. A well groomed royal dressed in silks and velvets hanging around a street datorem from the poorest part of London who was barely covered by a too-large, itchy cotton shirt and baggy shorts and covered in dirt and bruises. Yeah, not the most common thing you see in these streets.
Now that he thought about it, Arthur didn't think he enjoyed the attention they received. Jealous eyes would wander to him and most likely lead to a beating or two. He hung his head as he thought and could only see the bad things in his and Alfred's 'friendship'. He was startled when Alfred put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, dude, you okay?" Arthur looked into Alfred's eyes and numbly nodded, but it seemed as though Alfred was a bit smarter than he lead on. "Hey, don't be that way, let's go."
Alfred pulled Arthur to where he tied up Nova and put the datorem onto the gentle beast. He was about to jump on too, but stopped and told Arthur to wait, then ran off into the hotel again. Arthur sat awkwardly on Nova, unsure of what was happening, but stayed put like he was asked. The prince soon came back and hopped on the horse's back, told Arthur to hold on, and took off down the street.
Behind them, Arthur saw the owner of the hotel come out and start yelling angrily in their direction, but they were too far away to hear what was being said. He gripped onto Alfred in front of him as they suddenly turned a sharp left toward the city gates.
"Where in the bloody hell are you taking me?!" Arthur shouted above the sound of Nova's hooves smacking against the pavement. Alfred chuckled.
"You'll see, just wait!" Alfred briefly looked back and smiled brightly at his self-proclaimed best friend, "It might be a while, but it's totally worth it!"
Arthur looked around at the now dark sky and rolled his eyes, but prepared himself for the apparently long trip ahead.
. . .
At around one in the morning the duo arrived at the ornate front gates to the Spade Palace. Arthur had fallen asleep after their last food break and was lying comfortably snuggled against Alfred's back. The prince figured that when they got inside, he would have two different hells to pay. Maybe three. Oh well, he was only sure he'd get his ass chewed by more than one point of authority.
He quietly lead Nova over to the stables and decided not to wake the datorem up, so gingerly picked Arthur up and headed into the now quiet palace. He tiptoed through the foyer and up the grand staircase. Half way through he stopped and took a breather (carrying another person through large rooms and up flights stairs gets tiring) then opened his bed-chamber door as best as he could with limited use of his hands. While he was placing the sleeping datorem on the bed, he was thinking about how much fun the two would have once Arthur woke up.
Yeah. That'll totally work out well…
Alfred tucked the datorem in and went over to his large, plush couch at the foot of the bed and fell asleep with a goofy smile on his face.
. . .
Okay, so, let me explain. One: this is a really short chapter, I apologize. It has to do with point two. Two: I've been really busy over the past three weeks. First my grandmother died and I've had to help clear out her house (her husband died a year ago so no one is living there). Second, I got the flu for a week after from stress and couldn't move without moaning in pain. Third, my friend and I have started a cosplay group and have been trying to get it up and running. I'm so sorry for not updating T-T I hope you're all not angry…. But I'll try to get an update schedule and get through this. Anywhoozles, I hope you enjoyed and come back for more, because there will most definitely be more ^_^ Keep Calm and Lemon On, my little lemon drops. Until next time!
~Miss Stealer