Quick Author's notes:
In case you're wondering, yes, I did stay up almost all night writing this. XD I'm sorry if this chapter is so boring, but I wanted to explain a few things to my readers. And I'll try to update the story again by the end of the week, but I can't make any promises. I should be studying for a college final right now… 3
No translations for this one. Unless you count Arthur's British, but it's nothing that you can't figure out from context clues. And if you can't figure it out, I'll gladly explain it. :D
Songs for this chapter: [Remove the spaces for the link]
Lose Control – Natalia's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=_GyW0I-yjVE [May contain future spoilers if you think about it hard enough.]
Colors of the Wind – Arthur's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=CkA711L5WTY [Lame song choice is lame. -.-]
Chapter 3 - The Confrontation and the Truth
Alfred pushed through the doors and strolled into the throne room.
"You're highness! I shall announce your pre-"
"His majesty Prince Alfred coming through," Alfred called out. His voice seemed to stir the woman sitting at the end of the long room from her thoughts.
"You're late," she hissed. Her harsh tone made Alfred's blood run cold. He froze and took in a deep breath, gathering all the courage he could muster. He swallowed a little harder than normal and wiped away a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. 'Okay, breathe. You can do this. She's just your mother.'
Alfred began his trek down the stairs and to the back of the room. His boots clopped against the red carpet, creating more noise than necessary. The chandelier lights flickered above him, casting an eerie shadow across his mother's face.
His mother crossed her right leg over her left and stared into his eyes. Alfred stopped dead in his tracks and tried his best to keep his fingers from twitching nervously. She lifted up a hand to brush her platinum blond hair out of her face and tucked the rogue strands behind her ear.
"Well?" She barked making Alfred flinch. "What do you think you were doing?"
Alfred swallowed hard and shoved his hands into his pocket. "Just… taking a walk."
"A walk, huh? Tell me, since when did you grow authority in my kingdom?"
"What? I-"
"Did you or did you not interfere with the royal guards this morning?"
Alfred felt the courage slip from his body. That stare she gave him was enough to drive any guilty man to full confession. 'Come on, Al. Get it together! She's just your mother, remember? The stupid old dragon. You can do this! Open your damn mouth and say something!'
"I-" He cleared his throat and tried again. "They were taking their authority way too far. I was doing the right thing standing up to them."
"What I order my guards to do is of none of your concern." Her voice was monotone, but her words still pierced Alfred's confidence with deadly precision. "Besides, if you interfere with my royal soldiers, you are interfering with my wishes. I'm sure you do not want to see me upset, do you?"
Alfred's eyes widened and he looked down at the floor. Her icy eyes still dug into his skull, sending shivers down his spine. He took in a deep breath and searched for the right words to say.
"No, I guess not." He decided not to push his mother's anger any further.
"That's my boy." She cracked a smile and unfolded her legs.
Alfred snorted and hissed under his breath, "I'm not your boy."
"What was that?"
Alfred's heart skipped a beat. "I didn't say anything." He looked up from the ground to be locked into a staring contest with his mother. She smirked and stood up from her throne, walking over to circle her son like a hawk.
"Alfred, my child, I've raised you on my own for the past 14 years. I've given you the best that I can offer and kept you safe from the neighboring kingdoms. Not once have I ever struck you, and I've stuck my neck out for you quite a few times. However, it seems as if you've been taking my kindness for granted the past few months. Maybe I need to teach you a little respect, starting with that fr-"
"Queen Natalia! I have some urgent news!" A soldier burst into the room slamming the doors against the stone walls. His blond hair was slicked back behind his head and he wore the captain's uniform. The queen looked up from Alfred and to the guard.
"Yes, what is it, Captain Ludwig?" she hissed and walked away from her son. Alfred felt his shoulders slouch. He took in a deep breath to slow his heart rate and turned to look at the captain of the royal soldiers, Ludwig, confronting his mother. 'She's distracted… this is the perfect time to get the hell out of here!' As Queen Natalia conversed with Ludwig, Alfred opened a hidden door behind her throne. It was constructed originally in case the king and queen had to evacuate the castle in an emergency situation, but the only time it was used was when Alfred and his father would play hide-and-seek. As he crawled inside, Alfred heard his mother raise the volume of her voice.
"So it was all for nothing." She cursed under her breath.
"I'm sorry your majesty, but Angelique wasn't the servant either." Alfred paused recognizing Angelique's name.
Queen Natalia cleared her throat and began to speak again. "We must keep searching. The servant must fall into my hands before the end of this year. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, your highness!" Ludwig stood at full attention until Queen Natalia dismissed him. She didn't call out Alfred's name once to see where he went, but instead slumped back into her seat. There was a pause before Alfred heard her voice again.
"I must find the servant by the end of this year. Without them, all my hard work will have gone to waste."
Alfred waited to see if she'd continue, but there was only silence in the room. He turned around and began to crawl down the stone path until the stone ceiling was high enough for him stand up. He straightened his back, his spine crackling in protest and looked around.
'Okay, what was the witch talking about back there? What did they call Angelique again… something called "the servant" or something? Maybe that's why the guards were trying to take her, and the whole story she told me about Francis falling behind on his taxes was a lie. But why would she cover something like that up? … Unless she's hiding something from me. I have to get back to their house and find out what this is all about.'
Alfred continued down the murky stone corridor, wishing he had a torch or something to light his way. The moonlight only cast more shadows on the wall instead of giving him the light he needed in order to see. Every creak, drip, and scrape made Alfred's heart pound in his chest. Something brushed past his ankle, making him shriek and fall backwards, cracking the back of his head against the stone. His vision went fuzzy for a few moments, and the world spun. He elevated his hand to feel a sticky substance coating the back of his head. With his knees buckling underneath him, Alfred used the wall to push himself into a standing position and continued down the dark corridor. His body resisted his forward motion and cried out in pain, but Alfred pressed himself forward.
'I have to stay awake! I don't have that much farther to go. I can make it…' Apparently, Alfred was doing a good job convincing himself he'd make it, because the pain began to slip away from his body. There was no longer a trail of liquid dripping down his neck and his headache disappeared into thin air. 'Yes! That's it! Come on, I can do this!' Alfred pushed a large rock at the end of the tunnel out of his way and he found himself face to face with streams of moonlight. He shielded his eyes for a moment from the light and stepped out of the corridor.
"Yes!" he cried out and placed his boots into the mud underneath him. Alfred noticed a lovely fragrance in the air and looked around to see where it was coming from. He looked down and noticed his boot crushing a rose. The roses were everywhere. Alfred swore under his breath. 'Damn! Toris is gonna be pissed at me when he finds out! …Now, back to business. Finding out what Angelique knows.'
Alfred walked to the edge of the garden and followed the pathways all the way to the woods. He froze and stared into the dark spaces of the forest. 'You know what… it's really late. I'm sure Angelique is sleeping... I'll wait until the morning.' He turned around and walked back into the palace to return up to his room.
The next afternoon, Alfred was awoken due to the sun's rays dancing through his window and onto his face. He forgot to close the curtains that covered the window after his escape yesterday, and now he was paying for it. He cracked a blue eye open, blinking to try and get used to the light disturbing his slumber, but decided it was still too early to wake up and rolled over onto his other side.
"Good afternoon, Alfred," a familiar annoying voice said.
"Leave me alone, Arthur. It's too early to get up yet." Alfred slid his pillow out from under his head and slapped it on top of his ear to block out the words interrupting his sleep. It seemed peaceful, until the blankets on top of him were yanked off of his body, allowing the frigid morning air to nip at his skin. He shivered and huddled his legs closer to his chest in attempt to keep himself warm.
"Don't you know what "leave me alone" means?" Alfred grumbled under the pillow.
"You do realize it's in the afty, right?" Arthur grumbled fighting to seize Alfred's pillow from his head. "For the love of the queen, you bloody-"
The pillow Arthur and Alfred clung onto ripped in half, sending Arthur backward and skidding across the floor. White feathers blanketed both of them as if it was snowing indoors, and Alfred sneezed as a feather attempted to fly up his nose. He sat up, feathers flying from their resting points, and he jumped out of his bed to brush himself off.
"Thanks a lot, Iggy! You owe me a new pillow."
Arthur sat up and rubbed his back. "Bloody hell, I'm getting too old for this nonsense. Someone my age should be retired as far away from you as possible."
"You're not even thirty years old yet."
"True, but you're going to drive me to an early grave."
Alfred walked over to Arthur and offered his hand forward to help Arthur off the ground. Arthur slapped it away and stood up by himself using the wall nearby for balance.
"There, I'm awake. You happy now?" Alfred crossed his arms over his chest and sat on his bed, picking up a feather to examine it.
"Jumping for joy," Arthur grumbled and massaged his spine. He sat on a wooden chair next to the doorway and let out an exasperated sigh. "Now about your lessons you skipped out on-"
"I ain't taking no more lessons from-"
"For god's sake, let me finish you impatient git!" Arthur cleared his throat. "I've decided after yesterday's events you could use some time to yourself."
Alfred glowered at him, obviously not amused. "Ha-ha. You're so funny, Iggy."
Arthur glanced over at him, his emerald eyes dull. "You think I'm joking?"
"Duh! I have you all figured out. You're here to keep me busy while my dragon of a mother rules my country with an iron fist. Then when I'm ready to take the throne, she can sneak up on me with her ninja army and take over the world. That's why I need to build a superhero league to fight her off and save the world from all the tyranny she's going to cause."
"Poppycock. Do you ever listen to yourself?"
"Better than listening to you."
"Well maybe if you had a shred of intelligence."
"Funny, coming from someone who never got out of this damn place while he had the chance. I could beat you in an intelligence test with both my eyes closed."
"It amazes me how you're all mouth and no trousers."
"In English, please."
"Exactly my point."
Alfred stood up from the bed and walked over to the doorway. "I don't have to sit here and listen to you. I have better things to do like make sure Francis is-"
"Francis?"
"Did I stutter? Yes, Francis."
"How do you know Francis?" Arthur stood up from his chair and blocked Alfred from walking out the door.
Alfred gazed down at Arthur and tried to step around him. However, Arthur kept blocking his way. "What do you mean, how do I know him? I do talk to people outside the castle."
"Where did you meet him?"
"While I was out in town. His kids Angelique and Matthew were in trouble yesterday and I saved them." Alfred got fed up with trying to step around Arthur and pushed him out of the way instead. Arthur followed at Alfred's heels grabbing for his wrist.
"Will you wait a minute, you wanker!"
"Why? I'm done talking to you."
Arthur felt irritation bubble inside the pit of his stomach. He succeeded in grabbing Alfred's wrist and stopped him for a moment. "Damn it, hold on for two seconds! I need to tell-"
"Let go!" Alfred ripped his arm backward in attempt to pull Arthur off of him but the older male continued to cling to his wrist. Alfred cried out in fury and pushed Arthur's chest backward, ultimately forcing Arthur's hand away from his wrist. Arthur stumbled backward but lashed back, this time grabbing onto Alfred's arm.
"I'm trying-"
"Don't-"Alfred whipped around and his shoulder collided with Arthur's nose. Alfred watched Arthur stagger backward clutching his injury. Thick blood began spilling out between the cracks of Arthur's fingers and dripped onto the floor. Alfred stammered, "Arthur… I- I didn't mean-"
"Get the hell away from me!" Arthur cried out, backing up from Alfred. His eyes began to well up with tears which he battled to keep inside his tear ducts.
Alfred walked over and tried to put his hand on Arthur's shoulder, but Arthur strayed from Alfred's path and turned around to walk away.
"Arthur, wait!" Alfred followed after him. Arthur picked up his pace from a quick saunter to a jog and eventually to a full sprint. Alfred followed close behind, knowing he was faster than Arthur. The gap between the two of them narrowed, and Alfred wrapped his arms around Arthur to stop him from running any farther. Arthur flailed around to try and break his grip, but Alfred's hold on him was too strong. He cussed under his breath and gave up, knowing that Alfred had won.
"All right, what do you want?"
"Look, Iggy-"
"It's Arthur, dammit!"
"Arthur! I was just…" Alfred paused. 'Damn, this apologizing thing is a lot harder than it looks' "I… it's just sometimes your-"
"Oh, here we go again! Suddenly everything's my fault."
"Let me finish… please!" Arthur shut his mouth, shocked that Alfred would even consider saying the word "please", especially to him. "Sometimes you get under my skin and I don't know what to do to get you to stop. I'm … I'm sorry that I hurt you."
There was a pause between the two before Alfred let his grip around Arthur's chest loosen. Arthur turned to look at Alfred with a slight smile on his face. "That's more like it. Now, are you going to let me finish what I was trying to tell you?" Alfred nodded his head and followed Arthur to his bedroom. Arthur closed the door behind Alfred and locked it so no one could enter during their conversation.
Alfred flopped down on Arthur's bed and stretched. "All right, Iggy. You have my attention. Don't bore me."
Arthur stiffened his back and took in a deep breath. "You told me that yesterday you met Francis when you-"
"Totally came in like the coolest hero ever and vanquished the evil trying to capture Angelique!"
"… right. When you stopped the guards from taking Angelique away."
"Yeah, I already know all this. Get to the point!"
"Hold your horses! I'm getting there. The reason they wanted Angelique is because they thought she was "the servant"."
"What's that?"
"In order for you to understand, you need to know a little of your family history."
Alfred rolled his eyes. "Not another history lecture."
Arthur cleared his throat and continued, "In your royal family, every generation gives birth to twins."
"How the hell do they give birth to twins every generation? I mean, you can't just wave a magic wand and say "Poof! You're going to have twins!"
"It's part of an ancient legend. Back when the country of Peleo-India was being formed, there were two twins born, Len and Rin. In that era, twins were seen as a curse and brought only doom to their kingdom. So the queen lied to her people and said that she only had one child, a girl."
"Hold on, why didn't she keep the son instead of her daughter? That would mean her daughter would become queen." Alfred shuddered. "Women and power shouldn't be used in the same sentence."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, the queen chose her daughter as the one who would rule, because she believed a man in power would only lead the kingdom to ruin. So her son was stripped of all royal title and led his life as a servant. Eventually the queen passed away, and her daughter, Rin, came into power. However, she was spoiled, malicious, and unjust. Blind by her lust for power, she ruled the country with an iron fist."
"Sounds like someone else I know."
"Will you stop interrupting me? Even though she was cruel to everyone, her brother still remained faithfully at her side. The queen ordered him to do her dirty work, which he would execute without questioning. Eventually, the people got sick of her tyranny and they formed a revolution. Before the people of their country could breach the castle, the queen's younger brother, Len, created a deal with the queen. Instead of the citizens capturing and murdering Rin, they merely killed her brother instead."
"So he decided to be the hero and take her place, huh?"
"You could say that. His sister realized that the only reason her brother was dead was because of her selfishness. In pure hatred of what she had become, she laid a curse on the new royal family coming into power. She stated that every generation will have twins until they have fixed her mistake for her. The first born twin will become the king of the country while the latter twin will be born for the sole protection of the first child."
"Okay, you lost me."
"Because of her curse, each generation of the royal family will have twins. Both twins share an internal bond with each other. Since Rin was the second twin and looking for amends to her guilty conscience, she cursed the second twin to be the servant to the first twin. That way the first twin wouldn't have to suffer the same fate her brother had lived out. She did this because she thought it would fix her mistake. Now do you get it?"
"I think so. So, which twin am I?"
"You're the first born. That's why-"
"So I have someone who listens to me no matter what and I can't get hurt." Alfred paused and his smile widened. "Sweet!"
"Not entirely."
"What do you mean, "not entirely"? How can it not be cool?"
"There is a darker side to this curse. When the two-"
"Ve, Sir Kirkland!" A knock sounded from Arthur's door.
Arthur held his breath hoping the guard was only there for a moment or two. "Yes, what is it?"
"Her majesty requests your presence at once."
Arthur cursed under his breath and turned back to Alfred. "We'll talk about this later."
Alfred shot up from his sitting position on the bed. "No wait! It was just getting to the good part! You have to finish what you were going to say. What dark side? Who's my other twin? Why haven't I met him? When did we get separated? Where is he? Why does my mother need to find him so badly? What are they planning?"
"I will finish once I see what the queen wishes of me," Arthur took in a deep breath and lowered his voice. "I will answer all your questions later."
"Oh, come ooon!" Alfred whined. "I have to know now!"
Arthur grabbed a few papers off his desk and turned back to Alfred. "I will only be a few hours. You can wait that long, can't you?"
"No."
"Too bad." He shuffled out the door and met up with the man in the hallway.
The boy who summoned Arthur was around Alfred's age with chocolate colored eyes. He had short, chestnut colored hair with a wild strand that curled to the right side. The boy smiled and bowed at the waist, "Ve, good afternoon, Arthur."
"As well to you, Feliciano," Arthur replied and bowed slightly. Glancing back at Alfred with quivering emerald eyes, he shut the door behind him. Alfred perceived the angst Arthur's eyes meant he didn't want to face the queen, so Alfred scurried over to the door. He flung it open with so much force it smashed into the other side of the wall.
"Arthur!" He yelled out, but found no one in sight. His head whipped from side to side trying to find any trace of his teacher, but with no luck. 'Something's wrong. My hero intuition can sense it.' He paused and looked down at the floor. 'Why would Arthur be nervous about seeing my mother? He's never feared my mother before. And he had to leave right before he told me who my twin was. I know this was planned.'
Alfred huffed under his breath. 'Well, I guess I can go see Angelique now that Arthur left. I'm sure she… wait, didn't Arthur say that the dragon thought Angelique was my twin, and that was the reason they were trying to capture her? They're obviously looking for the servant, and I'm sure Arthur knows who my twin is. Oh crap, what if the she-devil knows that Arthur knows who my twin is? What if she's going to torture Arthur until he cracks under her power and spills everything he knows? I have to save him!'
Alfred ran down the corridors of the castle in search for his mentor. The first place he checked was the throne room where the queen normally presided. However, the room was empty. From there, he ran clear across the palace where his mother's room was. Again, there was no one in sight. Alfred leaned against the wall on the right side of his mother's room.
'At this rate, I'll never find him…' Alfred growled and slammed his fist against the wall. There was a hollow thump from behind him, making Alfred go rigid. He turned around to see a section of the stone was indented into the wall. 'Another secret room? How many does this castle have?' Alfred threw all his weight into the stone in order to push it farther into the wall. Soon the stone collapsed onto the floor behind it, and Alfred could crawl into the tiny hole. There was a heavy scent of mold in the air and the walls were covered with some kind of slimy substance.
The room he crept into was in pure darkness. Alfred found a torch holder next to him, and knew that's how he'd have to illuminate the area. He backed out of the room to grab a box of matches in his bedroom and returned to light the stick next to him. The whole room brightened up at once to destroy the gloom it was plunged into.
Alfred looked around to find a desk in the right corner. There was a feather quill resting in a bottle of outdated ink and a letter adjacent to it. Alfred walked over, brushing a cobweb off the chair and blew the dust off the piece of paper. He coughed as the dust rushed into his airways and examined the letter closely. He was about to read it when a portrait to his left caught his eye.
The portrait contained a much younger version of his father. His violet eyes looked calm and peaceful, and his unruly blond hair disturbed the formal appearance he was trying to portray. What caught Alfred's attention was the fact that his father wasn't alone in the portrait. A beautiful woman stood next to him with long, curly black hair and bright blue eyes.
'Okay, she's way too beautiful to be the old cow. And I'm sure it's not Aunt Evangeline because she had blond hair like my father, not black. So, who is she?'
Alfred turned his attention back to the letter on the table. His blue eyes had to pause every once and a while to try and figure out what the text was trying to say.
My Dearest Kateri,
I am writing to inform you that I plan to refuse my position as king and let my younger sister, Evangeline, take the throne instead. I will bring Alfred with me so we can be a family once again. No more politics ruling my life. All I want is to be with the woman I truly love and raise the family I helped create. The marriage between Natalia and I will be annulled, and she will be sent back to Alba Ruthenia. We should be together again soon.
Yours Forever,
Joseph Fredrick Jones
'Well, apparently he was in love with this Kateri woman, because he said "we'll be a family once again" so... what if… Natalia isn't my real mother and this Kateri person is? Then why isn't she ruling instead of the pig? I have to find out more about this woman. Maybe Arthur knows something about it or… wait, I almost forgot! I was trying to find Arthur and see what the royal pain in the ass needed him for.'
Alfred darted back into his mother's bedroom leaving the area behind him fully lit and the stone door still open. He darted down the long corridor leading away from his mother's room and was about to turn into the hallway on his right when he crashed into something. The force made him fall backward onto the concrete.
"Who the fu-" His words were cut off when he was staring at Feliciano, the man who took Arthur to see the queen. "Feli, what are you doing here?"
The brunette rubbed the back of his head and sprung up into a sitting position. "Ve, Ludwig asked me to get you, but I couldn't find you in Arthur's room, so I looked in your room. You weren't there either, so I was running around trying to find-"
"Wait, what does Ludwig want with me?"
"Ludwig said that her majesty wanted to see you immediately and sent me to find you. It's important."
"Wait, so you know where Arthur is?"
"Of course!" Alfred smirked and grabbed Feliciano's hand, earning a squeak from the timid boy. "Ve, Prince Alfred, where are we going?"
"Tell me which room they're in."
"Um, they're in the courtyard out behind the garden."
" Hey, Feli, how'd you like to play a game?"
"Oh, I love games! What are we playing?"
"Secret Agent."
To Be Continued
So I'm not sure if I answered any important questions in this chapter. (I may have created more instead of eliminating a few. XD) But what's the fun of reading if the author tell you everything in the beginning of the story, right? :)
Again thanks a lot to my reviewers:
Demoness Drakon, nupinoop296, serene528moon, o-chan, akane sarumara, MarshmallowTree, and vine!
As well as a giant thank you to our beta, darandomninja, who we're surprised hasn't lost all patience with my lovely lack of explaining myself! And her comments are always made of pure awesomeness (almost if not as awesome as Prussia). You rule so hard! 8D
We never expected to have so many people interested in our story. We're not worthy! *tears of joy*
(Note from Ninja (beta person)!~ Sorry if this chapter took too long to come out. Please do not blame the awesome writers. Instead blame me, because it's my fault. I took too long to beta this chapter. )
