Ch.3
Arthur found himself spending the rest of the early morning in the gardens, laying on the fountain and staring up at the clouds. It was shaping up to be a lovely day, the sort they never had when he'd lived in Two; it was warm but not hot, breezy but not windy, bright but not blinding. Even the clouds were somewhat sparse in the sky, and what clouds were there were thin and wispy, like bits of cotton. Occasionally he would roll onto his stomach and let the cool stone grace his cheek, the moss caressing his skin lovingly and the soft gurgle of water occasionally daring to spray a few shy droplets onto his neck or hand. He could have fallen asleep if it weren't for the dozens of thoughts buzzing around in his head- oh, and the demon, he was up there too. Aside from him he wondered how much he would actually have to do, what was expected of him, and all those other political things he had missed out on living in the most ill-informed part of the country. He knew they didn't like Diamonds, that much was apparent, but he knew next to nothing of Hearts or Clubs. They had met a man from Hearts one day who seemed to be on the run, but not a one of them could tell what the man was saying, so he left. They thought he was either dead or arrested by the end of the day.
His attention was drawn by the soft clicking of thick wooden heels on the cobbles. He cracked an eye open. If he could have told what this person was my merely looking at them then perhaps he could have thought of something to say. They were like nothing he'd ever seen before. The person was rather small in every area he could see, short and thin with tiny feet. The only thing long about them was their Hair; so long it was that they had tied it in a loose, flowing braid that sat on their shoulder. Of course they wore a beautiful blue Spadian cloak, so he could only gather that this was an important person, but that was about all he could gather. He cleared his throat and sat up.
"…can I help you?" he asked. The little stranger frowned at him and nodded.
"I should think you can." They crossed their arms. Sadly, their voice didn't portray much in helping him pick a pronoun, but the slight accent to his words said that he probably wasn't from Spades. Hearts perhaps? The person did have silky black Hair and almond eyes, in both color and shape. "Unless I'm mistaken, his majesty King Alfred told me I could find you out here, Queen Arthur?" Arthur frowned. Well, this was clearly a man of some status. He was oddly familiar.
"Yes, that's me… what does Alfred want me to do then?" He asked, sitting up and staring at them.
"He wants me to show you around… excuse me, my name is Yao Wang." They gave Arthur a low bow, the braid almost falling from their shoulder. "Legal guardian of his majesty, and Jack of Spades." It was only the last part that caught Arthur's attention.
"I remember now… you must have been at breakfast, right? Miss… er, mister… um…" He struggled with pronunciation. Yao glared up at him, straightening up slowly and waiting for Arthur to pick a word.
"It is mister, if it's really so difficult for you to see." He grumbled, folding his arms over his chest. Arthur blinked, looking the man over with a slight pinkish tinge to his cheeks.
Good gracious Arthur, I didn't think that even you were that thick…
He felt some part of him snap inside but he pushed it away. "R-right, uh, mister Yao…"
"Just Yao is alright."
"Y-Yao…" Arthur forced himself to laugh. For God's sake, he was terrible. He could feel the Jack's disapproving eyeballs fixed on him, his gaze held a sort of weight to it that made him wish he had something to cover his face with.
"Shall we go inside then, your highness?" Yao was still staring at him, offering a gloved hand from underneath his royal blue cloak. Without hesitation Arthur took it, stealing his last few glances around the grand garden before letting himself be led away from it.
"I don't suppose I'll be allowed out there again anytime soon?" he asked.
"I wouldn't bet on it." Muttered Yao. "I've been here for ages, and I barely have more than a few moment's peace… consider yourself lucky that you haven't got much experience yet." Arthur frowned and glared at his feet. He would find some way to get outside. They couldn't make him work forever, could they? Yao didn't look that stressed.
Looks can be deceiving dear…
He rolled his eyes. Yao noticed and gave him a strange look, and he tried to play it off like nothing. He had to figure out some way of communicating to the demon in his head that didn't involve actually speaking out loud.
/ \
To Arthur, the inside of the palace was almost equally lovely to the outside. Every wall was perfectly papered or painted in blue, white, and gold. A rare splash of color otherwise came in the form of flora, usually little flowery plants placed on tables or in corners. Every room was enormous and extravagant. The library had a roof as high as the ballroom, with shelves that nearly touched the ceiling, each so full of books that piles of them spilled onto the floor; there were various reception rooms in which furniture was carefully arranged, with pretty little whatnots arranged on top of marble overmantles and pretty paintings of past kings and queens hung with proud grins on their faces; a number of different studies, all complete with nice wood desks and bookshelves and comfortable chairs- save for one he didn't get to see, Yao said that Alfred had just about claimed it as his own- and then he was finally brought to see the entirety of the castle staff. Yao had been telling him the whole time that they had a rather large number of people employed there- in fact, he said that there were probably more staff members employed at the palace than there were people in whatever dingy village Arthur had grown up in. This wasn't quite true; there were nowhere near that many people here, probably a little over a hundred. It was the sheer quantity of different jobs that baffled him. There was the Queen's maid, who Arthur had already met, as well as a valet for the King and another for the Jack. Next came the butler and his footmen, all of whom gave him bows that grew deeper as the line of them went on until the little tea boys were in danger of smacking their foreheads against their feet, as well as the head housekeeper and her numerous maids and the few nurses. Arthur was expected to shake most of their hands, until they came down to the chefs and stable workers and gardeners who, while friendly enough, looked like they had jus been plucked from their work to come meet the new Queen. Honestly, Arthur was glad he didn't have to shake all of those hands, his own was getting sweaty, and if just one of these people were sick then he was spreading illness to all of them. From what he was seeing, they needed every one of these people. Most of them were already slipping away from the little meeting to return to their work.
"I don't know, I thought of it as a sign of dedication." Arthur frowned, watching Yao run after a younger footman as the others stood by snickering. Within a few minutes he had shooed away the others, giving the runaway a short scolding before leading Arthur away from them.
"You'll have to forgive me for the state of the service at the present time… things used to be so much better than this…"
"Oh, I don't know." Arthur put on a small grin. "It seems like this place runs pretty well to me, just looking from what I've seen." Yao quirked an eyebrow at him. "We didn't exactly have servants in my house, though I think my mother felt like one sometimes… but they all do what you say, and they all seem friendly enough." He turned to Yao again and, as he had thought he might, he received little more than a look of surprise, and slight disappointment.
"They can run much better than this." Yao muttered stiffly. "I've seen them do it. When this place gets ready for a celebration, they can work at triple speed to ready this place. Never mind the servants anyway, you've got plenty of this place left to see."
As it turned out, 'plenty' was enough to fill another hour or so of traipsing around the place and being shown every room. There were grand bedrooms, for the most important guests, and there were smaller guest rooms, and even smaller servant's rooms- which interestingly had the most beds in them, leading Arthur to wonder if their servants were packed in like sardines and for Yao to ignore him. Of course there were kitchens, but Yao didn't lead him past the first one that seemed to be used for preparing dishes. What were the others for? Yao refused to tell. Arthur's favorite rooms, however, were the ones there seemed to be only one of: there was only one room for painting, which had a lovely view of the gardens and an easel by the window; there was a music room, complete with a grand ivory piano with a chandelier gently swaying above it; finally was the room that truly held Arthur's attention for the longest- the library. In fact, he spend almost a solid minute just gaping at the sheer number of books. Was it even possible for one place to hold so many? He had heard of libraries before, and he had considered the small collection of children's books at the church to be a library before, but now that dinky shelf seemed to pale in comparison. Dozens of shelves filled the room up to the ceiling, each loaded with books to the point of having some stacked into small mountains at the base of each one. There was a lovely fireplace that warmed the room to a cozy heat in the winter, spring, and autumn, and warmed it slightly less during the summertime, and around it stood beautiful reading chairs, the sort one could curl up on and be comfortable in no matter what position they decided on. Arthur tested this himself.
"Come on your highness, there are other rooms you should see." Yao grabbed him by the arm, leading him towards the door.
"No, wait!" Arthur's eyes darted between him and the heaps of books, beckoning him back to the comfort of the hearth and the welcoming arms of any number of fantastical worlds. "C-can't I just stay a little longer? A few minutes, maybe an hour or two?"
"I'm sorry your highness," Yao rolled his eyes, not even the littlest bit sorry "but there are other rooms that we need to get to. Alfred is waiting for us you know. When you get a free moment, you're more than welcome to come hide yourself away in these books, but the royal pain doesn't like to be kept waiting." With great reluctance Arthur tore himself away, leaving the books behind.
"I'm going to make myself a spare moment…" He muttered. "Whether I've got one or not, I'm going back to that library later…"
"Of course you are." Yao muttered. "Come on then, we've a dozen other rooms to see."
\ /
The royal pain himself was waiting in a small circular room in a high tower. It had a high, domed ceiling, and a balconied window with a view out over the city. Every object in the room had a touch of blue in it, whether it be cerulean, navy, or even indigo. Arthur noted this immediately, as the few things in the room that weren't blue were gold or ivory-colored, or with a touch of green in the few plants the cold weather could sustain. A grand marble fireplace squat like an animal in the corner, warming the room with its steady glow. Alfred was sitting back on an ornate sofa, lazily sipping at a cup of coffee so loaded with sugar it could arguably be called dessert. Several other men stood or sat in the room, strange men to Arthur. They might have been at the breakfast table that morning, but that meant little seeing as it told him nothing about a single one of them other than that they were either wealthy or very important. Upon closer examination he vaguely recognized one, deciding that the spindly little man must have been from his homeland of Two. Alfred noticed Arthur as soon as he and Yao stepped into the room, and mustered up a small smile to greet them with.
"Arthur." He sat up, setting his cup down on its saucer. If nothing else, he seemed to have calmed down from earlier, so Arthur had a feeling he wasn't in trouble. Not really at least. "For a minute there I thought you weren't going to come… you must have taken your time with the tour." Yao scowled at him. Arthur's eyes flitted around at the faces of the men, and he took a seat closest to the hearth to warm his hands. The soft crackling was unnerving, the quiet growl of a hungry beast searching for its next meal. A cup of hot tea was set before Arthur and he took it, not even looking at the person who handed it for long enough to mutter a 'thank-you'. His eyes were fixed on the fire. It had been a while since he had felt so warm, but he got the feeling that the fire was trying to roast him. One of the shorter servants stepped forward to poke at the fire. In turn he earned a satisfying crackle from the burning log, though it was charred to the point of being black. Arthur was engrossed in watching the man leave the fire, take a fresh log, and toss it in. The moment the log hit the fire, the soft crackling turned into a long, deafening shriek. Arthur's eyes darted to the fireplace. He saw his brother, his beloved little brother, lying in the middle of the flames with his arms around his head. His clothes were charred to his skin so badly in places that it was hard to distinguish cloth from flesh. He screamed Arthur's name, tears running down his soot-streaked cheeks. Arthur was snapped from his vision by a loud crash and something hot in his lap- fire. More fire. He screamed and swatted with his hands at it, trying to put out the flames in his lap until Alfred could grab his arms. He fought desperately until a voice could snap him out of it.
"Arthur? Arthur!" It shouted. Arthur's peridot eyes fixed on him, wide with terror. "Hey, are you alright? What's the matter?" Arthur blinked, his gaze slowly lowering to his lap and the floor beyond it. The teacup he had been holding lay shattered in his lap, with hot tea splashed onto his legs. He shot a glance to the fireplace just to confirm that it was just a gnarled log and not his brother. Finally, he came to look up at the people across the table. He could feel the slow rise and fall of his chest and the deafening thump of blood in his ears as his eyes slowly scanned the room. Every single person was staring at him, even the servant who had been tending the fire. Alfred was still holding him by the wrist in the hopes of keeping him from hurting anyone. His eyes held a mix of shock and concern, perhaps even a touch of fear. He lowered Arthur's hands back to his lap before remembering what had happened, and that Arthur's was soaked to the skin in tea.
"…someone fetch him a towel." He muttered. Even after one of the servants scurried off to get one Alfred held Arthur's hand, his thumb running over his knuckles. "I… I suppose the stress must be getting to you already." Arthur didn't look up to see the way Alfred stole a glance his way, hoping that he could coax a response out of him. Arthur said nothing. "Well… I'm sure the rest of you know that we've got serious business to attend to." Something soft dropped into Arthur's lap and he jumped, though he quickly realized that it was just his towel. He spread it across his lap with his free hand, keeping his gaze down on his feet. He knew that Alfred was talking, and he knew that he probably should have been listening, but he was more worried about what it was he'd just seen. That had been his brother a moment ago, with charred flesh and hands that reached out as if for his help, and not he was nothing more than a hunk of pine wood. He realized then that he didn't even know where his youngest brother was in the first place.
What do you mean, don't you know?
Arthur paused, listening to the taunting voice in his head. Beyond the usual sing-song tone, there was a touch of genuine surprise.
Don't you remember what happened to your brothers, your home… your life?
Arthur bit his lip. That was right, he'd been brought from a village in the region of Two, he had lived in a hovel with his sizeable family. "Where are they…?"
"Well, where do you think they are?" Arthur was jolted from his thoughts by the response. It hadn't been the voice of the demon, nor even that of Alfred. He didn't know this voice. I seemed to have come from a large and rather pompous looking man who sat in an armchair a little ways away, staring at Arthur in mild annoyance. "Haven't you been listening at all, you stupid child?"
"Leave him alone." Arthur felt himself being tugged to the side, as well as a rather familiar arm wrapping itself around him. "Give him a break, he's clearly already stressed enough. I don't blame him for being lost in his thoughts." Arthur stole a glance back, giving Alfred a brief but grateful smile, and sat up again. Alfred moved a little closer to him anyway. "We've been discussing a new alliance with the Clubs. I assume I don't have to remind you why this is a rather serious issue?" He smiled anyway, waiting for Arthur to smile and nod in response. He didn't. Slowly Alfred's own grin faded away. "…surely you know of the wars? The bloody battles, the famine, the sickness…? The thousands of deaths at the hands of the former King?" Alfred looked at a loss for what more to say. Arthur merely shook his head.
"Oh for God's sake, don't they teach you fools anything in Two?" The pompous man scoffed, sitting up in his seat and staring at Arthur as if he were a child. Arthur scowled at him, sitting a little straighter.
"They don't, actually." He snapped back. "We haven't got schools in Two. Most of us have more important things to do than spent our time bent over an arithmetic book all day, like earn a living." Arthur looked about ready to go off on the man before Alfred pulled him back a bit, mumbling something along the lines of "pick your battles" and ghosting a kiss against his ear. Arthur fell quiet, still giving the pompous man a glare as icy as the waters of his homeland. Alfred gave his hand a somewhat comforting pat, trying to regain Arthur's attention.
"Well, since you should be able to keep up with the conversation…" Alfred started. "We've had some… less than desirable run-ins with the Clubs in the past, most of them involving massive amounts of death… but the old King passed away a while ago, and his son was crowned just last month. One of the first things he's been trying to do is form an alliance between our lands, but-"
"But it's absolute madness!" The pompous man was red in the face, his sausage fingers curled around the ends of his armrests. "The people of Clubs are nothing but a bunch of psychopaths, and trying to befriend them can only result in trouble!"
"Not necessarily." Another man stood up, though he was so small that sitting down may have added to his height off the ground. "If it is the new King himself who proposed the arrangement, then he may be trying to make up for it. The Clubs are wise people…"
"Wise people without the money to fund their 'great' ideas." A third man stood, with a funny upturned nose and blond Hair so perfect it looked as if it had been sculpted into its shape. "The only reason Clubs stopped attacking us is because it ran out of men to throw our way. I'm almost certain that this 'alliance' is their way of trying to suck us dry. Besides, we all know their stance on the arts." With little more than a crackle from the fire, the room silenced. Arthur glanced around, taking in the sudden tension that had settled in and deciding not to ask. Even he knew better than to bring up those darkest of arts that were so terrible to even speak of. For a little while not even Alfred would speak, but it took him only a moment to overcome the silence.
"I am of the mind that if it is the King himself that can acknowledge the need for an alliance between us, then we can at least have a meeting arranged to talk to them about it." Immediately the three men exploded at him, shouting their opinions at the King. Arthur retreat to the far end of the sofa, his eyes flitting anywhere but the intruders to his already constricted personal space. Yao stood to the side, pinching the bridge of his nose and slowly shaking his head in disgust. The only person who appeared to be unfazed by the outburst was the thin man from Two. He was still sitting quietly and sipping at something from a china cup, and when he caught Arthur's gaze he gave him a sympathetic smile and rolled his eyes at the other's behavior. Arthur decided that he liked this man.
"Surely you cannot agree with this as well?" One of the man reached to grab Arthur by the arm but Alfred slapped his hand away. It was the hand of the incredulous, pompous man, who looked rather disturbed to have been slapped by the King. Arthur glared at him, sitting stiff and straight.
"I think it's a fine idea." Arthur hissed. "Just dandy. If they want to make peace, I say we give them the benefit of the doubt. Why not? At least someone can acknowledge when they've made a mistake." The large man stepped back, sputtering and fumbling with his words for a counter argument until someone could get him back to his seat. Arthur huffed a little sigh and looked up at Alfred, glad that he could at least get his approval. Surely the approval of the King was more important than the approval of some portly politician. The thin man from Two seemed to be in agreement with him, for he stood and cleared his throat with his cup still in his hand.
"I see no reason to condemn the poor boy for something his father did…" He muttered. His voice was soft and gravely, and thickly laden with an accent Arthur knew by heart. "Like his majesty said, he's a smart enough boy if he knows his father made a mistake, and here he is trying to make it up to us. I say we let him."
"That's exactly what you would say, Manus." Snapped the blond man, still standing with arms crossed over his chest. "Going and saying something just to appease the King and Queen, like the little rat of a man you are!"
"Don't be ridiculous, I wouldn't change my tune so quickly just to please them. Who do you think I am, you?" He took another long sip from his cup before settling into his plushy armchair. "And besides, I am of the mind that this alliance would benefit us all. You said it yourself, Clubs is full of brilliant minds without the funds or place to use their genius, and with so many young people these days going into the fine arts or the military, the schools are just begging for more students… Spadian or otherwise." The blond man looked enraged, even his Hair puffed angrily like the body of an angry swan. He was about ready to blow up at Manus when Alfred stood, setting down his cup and saucer with a clatter loud enough to draw his attention back to him.
"As usual, this meeting has gotten us nowhere." He muttered. "Half of the representatives didn't even show up this month, I don't know why we even bother with these meetings anymore… but I've come to a decision. I'll be inviting the King of Clubs over soon for negotiation, and that is the end of the discussion." Alfred stood and started towards the door. The pompous and blond men looked mortified with the outcome of the meeting, practically climbing over each other to go after Alfred and convince him of the evils of giving their enemy a chance to negotiate. The short man followed after them, squealing his own opinions, and with only a word back to Arthur about where to go next Yao had disappeared as well, leaving Arthur alone. Or rather, he thought he was alone, until Manus chuckled and startled Arthur. He gave the Queen a warm smile.
"Ah, just listen to them go… imbeciles, every one of them." He sighed and swirled around the contents of his cup. "Not that anything they do will affect me, the people of Two don't have much in the first place, so they need not be worried about being sucked dry… you and I know all about that." Any hint of a smile Arthur had given disappeared.
"You don't look so poor yourself…" He muttered, gesturing to Manus's clean clothes.
"Oh, I'm not. This is all paid for by the crown though. Back in Two I live in a house in the closest thing we've got to a city… you've probably seen it." Almost everyone in Two went there at some point, usually to sell their wares or buy things that had been brought from other regions. Arthur nodded, having only been there once with his father on the night before Christmas to buy eggs. "I'm hardly a politician at all really… I used to be a carpenter. A highly charismatic carpenter, who tends to the people better than any leech that came before him."
"Indeed! You've hardly done anything!"
"And have you heard anyone complain about that?" Manus looked up from his cup. "I've lowered the taxes, that's what I've done, and I've left the people alone." Arthur stared, wide-eyed as he realized he couldn't remember a time where the man called Manus hadn't been representing them. He had only heard horror stories of people's homes being taken out from under them at the hands of some greedy politician, and then they stopped a few years after his own birth.
"…yes, well… I'm going to the library." Arthur stood, checking his lap to see that the tea had dried for the most part and starting towards the door. Manus looked up at him.
"Enjoy it." He called after him. "It's full of excellent books… I would recommend a few history books for you though, your highness, it seems you could use a little studying."
Arthur said nothing more to the man once he had left the room, staring down at his feet as he walked.
What, you don't enjoy that man's company? You two have so much in common, you're both dense, you're both from the slums, and you both drink tea. Is that not enough for human bonding?
"Oh hush." Arthur grumbled. "I was just sick of staying in that little room now I know there's a big library with my name on it downstairs…"
Ah, of course. I keep forgetting how terribly simple you humans are… or perhaps I'm thinking of how you over-complicate things. It's alright to admit you just don't like someone you know.
"I know it is." Arthur scowled at the carpet, his hands balled into fists. "I just need time alone… like he said; I've got studying to do."
Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter was a little weird! ;w; I intended for Yao to be a different character at first, I thought I had fixed that… sorry guys!
