I'M BACKKKKKKKKKKK! Sorry for the hiatus and I want to give a big shout out to two guest reviewers who helped put the spark back so this is dedicated to you, Anon and UsUkShiZaya.
This chapter came out extra long so wasting no more time, enjoy!
Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya!
Chapter 4 : Welcome Home!
Alfred was on pins and needles as Arthur's return grew nearer and he watched for the carriage every day, waiting to see his future queen again and to get an explanation for the self-imposed seclusion that Arthur had lived in since they were children.
"Come on, Alfred," Matthew called from the table where he and Yao were sat for their usual talk while Alfred stood staring out of the window toward the road that lead to the capital city of Spades and the castle itself. "We're supposed to be talking to each other and I'm not shouting across the room at you."
"Artie could be home any day now," Alfred replied. "His carriage could come over that hill at any time." Matthew sighed. As the time for Arthur to come home got closer, Alfred spent less time with him than usual, choosing to look out for Arthur's carriage and Matthew was feeling forgotten and ignored again.
"Many carriages come down that road," Yao said. "And you're always disappointed when they stop in town or take another road. Come away from the window, Prince Alfred, a watched kettle never boils, aru." Alfred took another look out of the window, sighed and came back to the table.
A few miles away, Arthur's carriage was rolling along the road, carrying a very apprehensive future Queen of Spades toward, what felt like, the greatest test of his life. The carriage with a driver and footman had met him at the edge of the forest where Emil, Gilbert and Peter had waved him good-bye. Peter had offered to accompany him but Arthur felt that he needed to do this alone. For the first time in nearly thirteen years, Arthur would be out in public. Not full public, like when he became queen but in public with the inhabitants of the castle as well as Yao, Matthew and Alfred.
Alfred! The one he wanted to be close to the most. And the least.
Arthur thought about how to deal with Alfred, both his curiosity about why Arthur had hidden away from him most of his life and being able to look Alfred in the face with that white lock of hair, knowing what that lock could do to Alfred if he ever remembered what Arthur had done to him. The vision of Alfred turning to ice before his eyes …...
The carriage seat began to ice up.
This would not do! Arthur imagined the meadow and breathed deeply, calming his emotions and drew the power back, forming a snow ball in his hand that he threw out of the window, scaring a pheasant out of a bush as the carriage rolled away.
What to say to Alfred? He did not want to lie but he could not tell Alfred the truth either, not without endangering his life so what to say? What to say to any of them? Well, with the exception of Yao.
The carriage crested a hill and the Spades Palace appeared with the city surrounding it and, as apprehensive as he was, Arthur knew one thing.
He was home.
Alfred was sat with Matthew as Jack Edward walked around, giving a lecture on the political history of the four kingdoms with Yao writing things down for them to read later because Matthew's eyes had glazed over and Alfred was nodding off. His head drifted down, fell and came back up as it jolted him awake.
"HANDS OFF MY HAMBURGER!" he shouted and then looked around to see everyone staring at him like he had two heads and blushed embarrassingly.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"Are we keeping you awake, Prince Alfred?" Jack Edward asked, sarcastically.
"No," Matthew muttered. "That's the problem."
"What was that, Prince Matthew?"
"Nothing!"
"Good," Edward replied. "Now, as I was saying, King Marcus of Hearts …..." And Alfred and Matthew's eyes glazed over again.
A footman opened the carriage door for Arthur to disembark and Arthur asked him to take him to rest of the royal family. He had hoped to deal with them one at a time but he was informed that the other royals were all together, taking royal instruction and he sighed. Oh well, perhaps it might be better to get it all over with at once.
He stood outside the door to the study room and listened to the droning coming from inside and could just imagine Alfred sitting glassy-eyed and staring into space. He remembered the times that Edward would come to his room to give Arthur his royal tutelage. Arthur would listen but it really was boring!
Arthur grasped the door handle and turned it slowly and quietly and opened the door carefully. Matthew and Alfred were both sat beside each other while Yao sat a little to the side as Jack Edward continued the boring lesson. Matthew was pretty much staring into space while Alfred was nodding off again, Yao was looking down at a piece of parchment and scribbling notes on it as Edward walked back and forth, giving a lecture that he knew was not sinking in.
Arthur smiled softly at the three princes that he had not seen close up since he was a child. At first glance, Yao could be mistaken for a girl until you got a good look at him and he held himself with the air of someone much older than his twenty-nine years, like a wise old man in a young body. His black hair, like when he was young, still fell on one shoulder with his gold-brown eyes fixed on the parchment that he was writing on.
Matthew resembled his brother but he had violet eyes instead of blue and he had grown his hair longer and it was slightly wavy with the curling strand springing out and falling between his eyes. Arthur knew from watching Matthew and Alfred from his window that Matthew carried himself with less confidence than his brother when he thought no one was looking but with Kumajirou by his side, who had grown to a large size in the past years, he looked like someone you did not mess with.
But it was Alfred that held most of Arthur's attention, even though he was almost asleep again. Even slouched in his chair, his physique looked toned from his training His messy blonde hair was falling down and almost hiding his face, making him look vulnerable which pulled at Arthur's heartstrings. Then he saw the lock of white hair standing up from the blonde and the guilt rose up in him but he fiercely tamped it down before his powers surged again and he was proud of the control he exerted. Maybe this could work after all.
"Prince Arthur!" Jack Edward had turned and spotted the opened door and the newly-returned prince in the doorway. "Welcome home, Your Highness!"
Alfred's head came up and he looked round at the door to see Arthur standing at the door in his travelling cloak. This was the first time Alfred had seen Arthur without a window between them and then at a distance. Arthur was shorter than Alfred but still had the brilliant green eyes that Alfred remembered although the eyebrows had grown with Arthur. Blonde hair covered his head that would never be tamed. He also seemed to be slender but it was harder to tell under the cloak.
Alfred got out of his seat as Arthur came into the room and Matthew and Yao stood up too. Arthur's heart was pounding as he faced what he believed to be his biggest test, facing his fellow future royals with the exception of Yao who knew everything. He could feel his power surging and he concentrated on keeping it under control as he knew that, sooner or later, he would be besieged with questions.
Alfred approached Arthur slowly, afraid his childhood friend was going to disappear again if he moved too fast. Arthur was looking at him with a hint of nervousness and Alfred wondered what that was all about.
"Hello, Prince Alfred," Arthur said, softly. Alfred smiled at his childhood friend.
"Less of the prince, Artie," he replied. "Ya don't have to be formal with me."
"All right …... Alfred."
"It's good to see you home, Prince Arthur," Yao said, putting down his writing tools and coming over, followed by Matthew. "I hope your trip was productive?" Arthur recognised this as a subtle way of asking about how his training had gone.
"Progress was made," he said, evasively and both Yao and Jack Edward gave a small smile. Edward was particularly encouraged. The very fact that Arthur had come to them immediately meant that Arthur felt capable of handling the situation but he also knew that Alfred was itching to interrogate Arthur and he want to limit the damage as much as possible.
"Yeah, where did ya go to, Artie?" Alfred asked.
"Prince Arthur went to the Solitaire Isles," Edward replied. The diplomatic relationship between Spades and the Solitaire Isles, while not hostile, was not strong and diplomatic visits were rare but there had been talks about strengthening ties so a royal visit was not completely unbelievable but never did Edward think that the reason he gave would come back to bite them all. "In fact, I would like to speak to Prince Arthur about his trip so. Prince Arthur, if you would …..." He indicated for Arthur to leave the room with him and Alfred grabbed Arthur's arm to stop him leaving.
"Do ya have to do it now?" he asked with a pout. "Artie just came home. Can't we spend some time together?"
"I just need Prince Arthur for an hour or two," Edward replied. "And as you say, Prince Arthur has just arrived home so I'm sure he would like to rest a little. You can spend time together after he's rested."
"Awwwwh, but …..."
"Please, Alfred," Arthur plead. "I am rather tired from the journey so I would like get this meeting over with and rest but I promise we'll spend a lot of time together tomorrow …. all of us." He looked at Yao and Matthew too. Alfred looked resigned.
"I'll hold ya to that, Artie," he replied with determination. "If ya don't turn up, I'll come break your door down." Arthur gave a small chuckle.
"Then I had better keep my promise," he joked. "I'm rather fond of that door."
"If you'll follow me, Your Highness," Edward said, indicating Arthur to leave the room with him and they departed, leaving the other three future royals alone.
"I believe that we are done for today, aru," Yao surmised.
"And we're not going to find out about Arthur today," Matthew replied.
"We will tomorrow," Alfred promised. "We won't let Artie go until he tells us exactly what going on."
Edward took Arthur to his private chambers and ordered food and drink to be brought. Once the refreshments had arrived and they were settled and alone, they began talking.
"I can see that progress has already been made, Arthur," Edward commented. "The fact that you feel confident enough in your powers to come to see us immediately gives me great hope."
"I have more control now," Arthur replied, looking at the vase of Spadian roses in a vase on the table they sat by. "But it's not prefect. I still have moments where I feel my powers surge and I have to do things to burn it off." As if to demonstrate, he removed the gloves he was wearing and a long piece of ice began to grow from his fingers of his left hand and he moved his right hand over it and began adding ice to the top in delicate pieces to burn off the excess power increase created by the emotions of seeing his fellow royals again after so long. Especially Alfred.
"Still, this is a vast improvement," Edward said as he watched Arthur intricately create ice layer on ice layer, building the ice sculpture up as he concentrated on what he was making. "You didn't run to your room and lock yourself in and hide again. You stayed and maintained control. This is very encouraging."
"I still need to be careful, though," Arthur admitted, still concentrating forming the ice that was burning the excess power and making him calm. "I can't let my anger or fear get the better of me and I need to practice that but to do that, I need to interact with people more. Speaking of which ….." He finished what he was making and looked up at Edward.
"Could you arrange for my family to come and see me?" he asked and then his eyes saddened a little. "That's if, they will come …." Edward smiled, sadly at the idea that Arthur thought that his family would reject him now when he knew they had been waiting for this day. Edward had corresponded with the Kirkland family, giving them news of what was going on with Arthur but, up until this moment, the news was despondent to say the least but now, he would have good news to tell them and the fact that Arthur was willing to see his family now gave Edward greater hope for Arthur's future as Queen.
"They'll come," Edward reassured him.
"Even after I refused to see them for years," Arthur replied, moving his hand around his creation, keeping the air cold around it to keep it from melting.
"Even after," Edward said. "They know fear of hurting them made you keep them away, you think they won't be happy that you've conquered that fear and they can see you again? They'll be here so fast, there'll be a trail of fire from the Kirkland farm to the palace." Arthur gave a small chuckle then Edward looked serious.
"You know Prince Alfred is going to demand answers tomorrow," he told Arthur. "Not just about where you've been this past year but why you hid yourself away for so long. What are you going to tell him?" Arthur sighed, stilling cooling the air around his sculpture.
"I don't know," he replied, honestly. "I've no wish to lie but I can't tell him the truth either. Do you have any suggestions?"
"We'll think of something," Edward replied. "But Alfred's almost convinced himself that he did something that made you cut yourself off from him." Arthur's head turned from his icy artwork to stare at the Jack.
"That's ridiculous!" he exclaimed. "How could he possibly think that?"
"That's just what he thinks," Edward replied. "That you hate him because of something he can't remember doing."
"I could never hate him," Arthur stated, adamantly. "I …..." He faltered and elapsed into silence after almost revealing too much of his inner feelings.
"I know you love him," Edward said, taking a sip of his wine. "You forget. I helped raise you and the others and I've seen how you used to stare out of the window at him. You don't need to hide it from me."
"It doesn't matter," Arthur replied, putting his sculpture down but kept his hand over it to cool it and keep it from melting. "Even if he felt the same, I don't deserve him after what I did to him."
"Arthur," Edward sighed. "It was accidental! You would never deliberately harm Alfred or any of them for that matter."
"Even so," Arthur said.
"A discussion for another time," Edward concluded. He did not want to upset Arthur with such memories. "We need to talk about what you're going to say to Alfred and the others tomorrow and don't worry! Yao will back you up." They spent the next half hour hashing out what Arthur could say to Alfred when he began his inquisition. What they came up with was not perfect but might keep Alfred at bay, at least for a while. Arthur yawned.
"I'll let you leave and get some rest, Arthur," Edward said. "And tomorrow I'll send a message to your family to arrange for them to come to the palace. And, may I say, I'm sure they'll be delighted to get such a message."
"I hope so," Arthur replied standing up and leaving his creation on the table. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Good evening." He gave the Jack a respectful nod and left
Edward looked down at the table and wished there was some way to prevent the beautifully detailed ice sculpture of a Spadian rose from melting.
Arthur reached his room and was about to go in when …...
"Prince Arthur!"
Arthur turned to see Yao walking toward him and breathed a sigh of relief that it was not Matthew or Alfred but, of course, Alfred would have been less formal and would have yelled out 'Artie' rather than 'Prince Arthur' but it was good that the person who wanted to talk to him was the one he did not have to pretend with.
"Prince Yao," he replied. "What can I do for you?"
"I just wish to discuss tomorrow," Yao replied. "Perhaps we should go into your room for this?" Arthur nodded. It would not do for them to have this conversation where it could be over heard and they went into Arthur's chambers.
Arthur noticed that they had changed the carpet in his absence as the colour was a little different but everything else was the same but it had been kept clean and aired as his return had been expected. It made a change for it to be dry too as the ice and snow Arthur would create kept it constantly moist. That was something he would not miss. Someone had also lit the fire and it was burning, merrily.
"I just wanted to say, Arthur," Yao said. "That whatever you say tomorrow to explain your absence and keeping to your room all the time, I will support. I wish I had known sooner so I could have helped you, aru."
"There was nothing you could have done, Yao," Arthur replied. "And it had to be a secret. You've been told what will happen if Alfred remembers that night, haven't you?"
"Yes, I have," Yao replied. "And I promise he will not hear of it from me, aru."
"Thank you,"
"I took the liberty of ordering a bath for you," Yao said. "I thought you might like one before you retired to bed so it should be ready, aru." Arthur sighed.
"Thank you, again, Yao," he replied. "That sounds wonderful."
"Then I'll leave you to your rest, Arthur." Yao smiled. "It's good to have you back, Arthur. Goodnight, aru." When Yao said, have you back, he was talking about more than just the year Arthur had been away in the Troll Woods and Arthur knew that.
"Thank you, Yao," he replied. "Goodnight." Yao turned and left. Arthur went into his separate bathing room and, sure enough, the bath was ready with warm steam rising into the air and a bathrobe lying on a nearby table with cleansing lotions next to it. Arthur sighed contentedly and removed his clothes before sliding into the warm, scented water, scattered with rose petals, letting the warmth seep into his bones and relax his muscles.
Tomorrow was going to be the real trial, fending off Alfred and Arthur hoped he would be able to keep Alfred's questions at bay but at least he would not be alone. Arthur was glad that Edward had confided in Yao because Arthur needed an ally in his camp when he faced Alfred tomorrow.
There was no putting that off and it made Arthur worry that he was not up to the task and he could feel his power rising so he laid his head back on the rim of the bath and imagined the warm meadow, the warmth of the water helping with the illusion. He imagined that the rose petals in the bath were full flowers, grazing that tickling his skin and he imagined Alfred beside him as they both laid down among the flowers. He lost himself in the make-believe meadow until the sun seemed to cool and he came back to reality when he realised the water was beginning to cool down.
Not that cold bothered him very much, after all when you have ice powers, cold was something you pretty much had to get used to but Arthur took it as a sign that it was time to get out of the bath so he quickly cleansed himself with the lotions on the table by the bathtub, washed his hair and got out of the bath.
Dressed in the bathrobe, Arthur went into his bedroom and began rubbing his hair by the fire with a towel. When it was dry enough, he changed into the pyjamas that had been left on the bed for him, doused all of the candles but the one by his bed which he blew out after climbing into the bed, snuggled down in the covers and drifted off to sleep.
Alfred looked out of his chamber window at the dark city below, lit only by the moon, stars and occasionally still lit window, thinking about the day's events and the fact that he had seen Arthur, up close, for the first time in years.
The green eyes, like emeralds, that Alfred felt he would never get tired of staring at, the messy blonde hair that somehow looked right, even the oversized eyebrows were not out of place on the delicate porcelain skin of Arthur's face, finished off with the small, determined chin below the soft lips. Yes, that would be Alfred's queen in a month's time.
But why had he shut himself away for so long? They had been so close until Alfred turned eight and Arthur was ten and then, suddenly everything had changed. Alfred never saw Arthur again, except for when Arthur stood at his chamber window and only spoke through his door to tell Alfred to go away. What had happened to make Arthur do that?
And, despite every reassurance from the Jack, Alfred suspected that it was something to do with him.
As Alfred left the window and climbed into bed, he vowed that he would find out tomorrow. He would make Arthur tell him what he had done wrong and he would do everything he could to right that wrong.
Anything to make Arthur like him again.
With Kumajirou snuggled up by the side of his bed, Matthew just laid their in the dark, condemning himself for his thoughts. Part of him wished that Arthur had stayed away for longer. Since Arthur had been gone, Alfred had spent more time with his brother and Matthew had been a little less lonely but he had seen his brother's face when Arthur had stepped through the door and he knew that Alfred would be spending time with Arthur. Matthew felt a pang of jealously and the other half of him stomped on it hard. He knew that Alfred held affection for Arthur and always had, even after Arthur cut himself off from everyone when he was ten. And Alfred lived for the day that Arthur would opened up the door again and let people back through.
And now that day was here. Part of Matthew hoped that Arthur was no longer like he was when they were children and it would make Alfred lose interest in Arthur but, then again, he did not want Alfred and Arthur to dislike each other now. After all, in a month they would be running the kingdom together and it would not do for the royal family to be at odds.
Matthew felt guilty for feeling the way he did. He did not know what was going on with Arthur or why he retreated from the world all those years ago but, maybe now he was back, they would find out the story behind all that and things would settle into companionship for all four future royals.
As Matthew drifted off to sleep, he could only hope.
Alfred, Matthew and Yao sat in the sitting room that they usually met in each day but this time, it would be different. Today, hopefully, the fourth member of the future royal family would be joining them.
Or Alfred would go and break down his door to drag him here, just like he promised he would.
"That's it," Alfred huffed after he watched the clock crawl round for another minute and stood up. "I'm gonna go get him!" Matthew pulled him back down into his chair.
"He's only five minutes late," he said. "Give him time, he only came back yesterday. It will take time for him to settle back into a routine." Alfred slouched back into his chair.
"As long as it's not the routine he had before," he grumbled.
Another five minutes and Alfred was out of his seat again.
"No arguments this time," he growled. "I'm bringing him here!" As he stormed to the door, it opened and Arthur stood in the doorway, dressed in a simple blue suit and gloves with his hair still messy and a wary look in his eyes. He looked a little startled to find Alfred right behind the door.
"Hello," he said, softly. Alfred smiled back.
"I thought you weren't gonna come," he said.
"I promised that I would," Arthur replied. Yao stood up.
"Welcome, Prince Arthur." he greeted.
"It's nice to finally have you here, Arthur." Matthew gave his welcome. Arthur walked into the room with Alfred at his heels.
"It's nice to finally be here," he replied and sat as Yao indicated to the chair in between his and Alfred's around the table they were sat around. He knew that Alfred would insist in being near Arthur so he made sure he was sat on the other side so he could support Arthur and be a buffer between him and Alfred if he needed to be.
Yao poured out some tea, giving a cup to Arthur and then gave some to Alfred and Matthew. Alfred actually hated tea but when he watched Arthur take a sip and sigh with pleasure, he took a sip of his own and choked it down.
"I really missed tea," Arthur said, taking another sip. He had not had access to tea in the Troll Forest so it had been nearly a year since he had seen a cup and he savoured each sip. Alfred choked down another sip of his.
"So what were the Solitaire Isles like?" Matthew asked. Arthur took another sip of his tea as he formulated his answer. Edward had given Arthur information on the Solitaire Isles as either Alfred or Matthew would ask about it.
"Warm," Arthur replied. "Beautiful scenery. Just no tea."
"And what was King Sadik like?"
"Hospitable," Arthur said, internally wincing at the fact that he was lying when he had said he did not want to. "It was strange, making conversation with a man who always wears a mask but you get used to it. But, hopefully, we can build diplomatic relations with the Solitaire Isles."
"That would be good for trade," Yao commented. "The Solitaire Isles has some of the rarest spices and metals, not accessible in the Land of Cards so a trade deal with the Isles would be of great benefit,aru."
"Let's hope we have something to offer them," Alfred said.
"We have some of the best pharmaceutical advancements and our industry is growing," Yao replied. "I sure we could find something to trade with them, aru."
"That would be good," Matthew commented. Alfred put his tea down.
"Well, that's the past year discussed," he said. "Now what about the rest of the time you've hidden away from us." Both Yao and Matthew were tempted to face-palm at Alfred's lack of tact and they hoped that he would do better when dealing with visiting dignities and royals from the other kingdoms. Arthur, who had just taken a sip, spluttered into his tea.
Arthur had known that this would come up sooner or later but he never thought he would just be ambushed with it like this. Alfred, it seemed, had no restraint when wanting to know something. No subtle shift in conversation, no 'by the way', just straight out with it.
"Oh," Arthur replied. "That," He looked down at his tea, thinking through all the explanations he and Edward had discussed. He could come up with something, after all he had already been less than truthful about his absence but he did not want to lie any more than he had. He just had to be selective about his words.
"Perhaps this is not the time, aru," Yao said, trying to put this off to save Arthur from this awkward and almost impossible situation.
"It's all right, Yao," Arthur replied. "This was going to come up, sooner or later. Best we deal with it now." Arthur took a moment and put himself in the meadow in his mind to calm his powers. Alfred watched Arthur sit there with his eyes closed and breathing deeply.
"Arthur?" Alfred asked. Matthew put his hand on Alfred's arm.
"Give him a moment," he said. Arthur breathed deeply for a minute before opening his eyes and turning toward Alfred.
"Something happened when I was ten," he said. "Something that made me …... shun contact with everyone. I just couldn't be around people. And please don't ask me what it was, I don't want to talk about it!" Alfred looked down at his tea on the table and played with the handle.
"Was it something I did?" he asked, too afraid to hear Arthur condemn him and tell him that it was. "I know we were playing the night before you stopped coming out of your room so tell me what I did and I'll do anything to make it right." Arthur's heart broke as he realised that Edward had not exaggerated Alfred's self blame over that but he was also worried that Alfred remembered that they had been playing that night and afraid he would remember the rest. He reached over, took hold of Alfred's chin and raised his head so he could look in Alfred's eyes.
"Alfred," he said, firmly. "It was nothing you did so stop that, right now. You're not responsible for it." Alfred took hold of Arthur's wrist and stared into his eyes.
"Then why don't you want to talk about it?" he asked, softly. Arthur smiled sadly at Alfred.
"I just can't," he replied, keeping his power that was swirling with the emotion of the moment under firm control. "Maybe one day I can tell but not now. Please don't ask me to."
"But Artie ….."
"Alfred," Matthew said, seeing that Arthur found the subject upsetting and would only dig his heels in more, if pushed. "Arthur's clearly not comfortable talking about it. He said it's wasn't you so you can stop worrying about that. Leave it alone for now." Yao had been about to jump in to help Arthur but he never expected Matthew to jump in and give unknowing aid. Alfred looked ready to argue but the combination of glares from Yao and Matthew and pleading eyes from Arthur made him buckle.
"Fine!" he huffed and turned back to Arthur. "But you have to promise you'll tell me eventually." Arthur breathed a sigh of relief.
"I promise," he said and he meant to keep that promise. the moment he found a way to remove the ice he had shot into Alfred, he would tell him everything.
"Jack Edward asked me to tell you," Yao said to change the subject. "He sent a messenger to your family's farm to tell them that he's sending a carriage for them in a week so you'll see your family soon."
Alfred hoped to see that smile on Arthur's face more often.
There was a week of the three royals getting to know each other again and there were moments where Arthur would disappear on his own for a while. When it first happened, Alfred was afraid that Arthur was going back to his old ways but, after Arthur returned the first few times, Alfred was finally convinced that Arthur was not going to hide away again, although he came across a few unusual things.
When walking out in the garden when Arthur 'took a moment by himself', he came across the ornamental pond that was surrounded by shrubs and hidden from sight to find it frozen over, puzzling as it was nowhere near cold enough to freeze. He also found a melting ice sculpture in a secluded alcove and sometimes areas covered with snow.
Something twitched just beyond the reach of Alfred's memory, just that little too far for him to grasp and he and everyone he asked had no explanation for the strange events so, as no one seemed to be hurt by any of these happenings, Alfred put them to the back of his mind.
Arthur had moments that taxed his control and he would excuse himself to go off alone and do things to burn off his power. He was almost caught by Alfred when he froze the ornamental pond and hid behind a shrub when he heard Alfred coming and did not come out again until he left. After that he was more careful.
The week past and the day arrived when Arthur's family was coming and he was so nervous that he had to make several ice sculptures that were melting in the bathtub but, at least he did not have to pretend in front of them. No, he was nervous of their reaction to him suddenly wanting to see them again after rejecting them for so long and he did not know if he could handle it. He did not know what he would do if they turned away from him or, worse, refused to come at all.
He jumped when he heard a knock at his chamber door and took a few breaths to calm himself before calling out, "Come in!"
The door opened and one of the footmen peered in then bowed slightly when he spotted Arthur.
"Your Highness," he announced. "Your family has arrived. They have been shown to the Summer Room so if Your Highness wished, I will take you to them."
"Thank you," Arthur replied. "Please give me a moment and we'll go." Arthur disappeared into his bathing chamber and stood by the bathtub, taking a few calming breaths before burning power by freezing the water in the tub, left by the other melted ice sculptures, then he made it snow in the bath for good measure. When he had burn off enough power, he felt ready to do this and, after another few deep breaths, he left the chamber.
The footman accompanied him through the palace to the sun-facing room. He waited at the door before Arthur gave him the nod and then he opened it.
Sat in the room was ….. everyone! His father was stood by the window and he turned when the door opened. His dark red hair was now peppered with a few grey strands and he had a few lines around his green eyes but his body was still in good condition thanks to hard work on the farm. His brother were equally well built too. Allistor was easily as tall as their father and resembled him greatly while Patrick and Rhys were a little sort but taller than Arthur, both green-eyed but Patrick's hair was a little more auburn while Rhys's was almost brassy and both had a little more of their mother's features. Peter, the little imp, was sat on a table, swinging his legs back and forth and grinning. Then Arthur saw his mother.
Alice had aged well in the past thirteen years but she had aged. White-ish strands of hair mixed with the gold and there were now small lines at the corner of her eyes but, to Arthur, she was as beautiful as she had ever been.
Alice ran her eyes over the son she had not seen in thirteen years and he had understandably changed. Taller but easily the shortest of her sons, with the exception of Peter who was still a child, he was the one most like her. He was also the most slenderly build but the face was still the same with the shape of his eyes like hers and the tilt of his chin, the same blonde hair messily covering his head and his eyebrows being one of the few things that he got from his father.
Nothing was said and everyone just stood looking at each other, not knowing how to break the dead-lock. Alice still had her eyes on Arthur, wondering just how far her son had come. When the messenger came with the letter from the Jack saying that Arthur was out meeting people and he want them to come and visit him, she had cried. Cried tears of joy that, after so many years, Arthur was finally overcoming his fear and facing the world.
And she would finally see her son again.
Now he stood in front of her and she wondered, had he come so far as to accept a hug from her? Would she get to hold him now?
She gave a timid smile and opened her arms, waiting for him to make the decision. He did not move and Alice began to tear up at the thought that Arthur still could not be hugged.
Arthur watched his mother open her arms, eyes pleading for him to run into them and he looked around at everyone else who were watching to see what he would do. He could see the expectant look in their eyes and realised that they were waiting to see if he would accept his mother's hug.
Accept them.
He looked back at his mother and could see her eyes welling up with tears, willing for Arthur to come into her arms.
So he did just that.
He took a small step toward Alice. Then another. And another. Then he shot forward and almost knocked his mother over as he practically leapt into her arms. Alice's arms came around his shoulders and she sobbed as she held him tight. Arthur realised just what his fear had denied his mother, his whole family in fact. He had fractured the family, leaving a hole that could not be filled and kept the family from being whole. This is what his fear had done.
"I'm sorry!" he wept. "I'm sorry I wouldn't see you for so long. I was just so …..."
"Hush now," Alice replied as if Arthur was four again and she had to comfort him after a bad dream. "It's all right. You were afraid, I know but you're not afraid any more." Arthur stepped back but could not go far as Alice refused to relinquish her hold on him.
"I'm still afraid," he admitted to her, wiping a tear from hie eyes. "But I have more control now." And, one, to demonstrate his control and, two, to burn off the power that had surged from the recent emotional upheaval, Arthur held up his hand and formed a snowflake over it. Then the snowflake ejected parts of itself to form satellite snowflakes that spun around the parent snowflake like moons around a planet. Then Arthur split the snowflakes again. And again. And again. Then he pulled all the snowflakes together to form a snowball.
Which he threw at Allistor.
The first thing Allistor realised about was that, suddenly, there was this white thing flying toward him which exploded when it hit him straight in the face. Patrick, Rhys and Peter were stunned for a moment and then they exploded with laughter at the look on Allistor's face.
When Allistor came out of his shock, he saw Arthur looking at him with a mischievous look on his face and Allistor smirked a smirk that promised retribution.
"Oh," he said in mock anger. "So you think you're funny, do ye?" He shot forward, making Arthur cry out in mock fear and run for it. "Come 'ere, Bunny!"
Allistor chased Arthur around the room while the rest of the family laughed. Both Alice and Robert remember how Arthur used to make snowballs in mid-summer and throw them at his brothers and they were relieved that Arthur still had that playful side as they were afraid that the years of isolation might had made Arthur too serious and withdrawn. Allistor had caught Arthur and had him in a head-lock, rubbing his knuckles on Arthur's head.
"Try getting out of this, yer wee shite." Allistor challenged.
"Allistor!" Alice scolded. "Language!"
"Challenge accepted," Arthur replied as he created a huge pile of snow above their heads and allowed it to fall on both of them. Allistor cried out in shock and let go of Arthur who had emerged from the pile without a flake on him.
"That's enough, boys," Robert said as Arthur made the snow blow out of an open window before it could melt and soak the carpet. This was a reunion with his second youngest son and Robert had yet to fully greet him. He went up to Arthur and pulled him into a hug.
"It's good to have you back, my boy," he whispered, tucking Arthur's head under his chin like he used to do when Arthur was four.
"I'm sorry, Dad," Arthur replied, hugging his father back. "I'm sorry I broke the family up for so long but I promise I won't do it again." Robert squeezed Arthur tight and squeezed his own eyes shut to try and prevent the tears of happiness from leaking from his eyes. Patrick and Rhys came in to hug their younger brother as well and Arthur surrendered himself to his brother's arms. Then Peter came up to him.
"I told you it would be all right, Jerk Big Brother," he smirked. Arthur hugged Peter who squirmed a little.
"Yes, you did," Arthur admitted. "I should have listened." Then the whole family came in for a group hug.
"Welcome back to the family, little brother," Patrick said, hugging Arthur from one side while Rhys hugged from the other.
"Yeah, welcome back, Bunny," Rhys concurred. "Don't ever run away again."
"I won't, I promise."
Engulfed in the warmth and love of his family, Arthur's power was little more than a small pulse, easily contained and tears of happiness fell from his eyes. Even after shutting them out for so long, his family still loved him and wanted him back. He was controlling his emotions and his powers and he would get even better with practise and, hopefully soon, he would find a way to take back the ice he had infected Alfred with and he would be able to tell Alfred and Matthew everything.
In a few weeks time, Arthur would be crowned the Queen of Spades and, for the first time in ever so long, he felt that he would be able to cope and the future would work out after all.
Just so you know, King Sadik is not Prince Hans but he will play an important part in the next chapter. I'm deliberately avoiding watching Frozen while writing this as I get stuck in the details when I do that and I'm thinking up differences to put in this story so we'll see how it goes.
I'll be writing a Christmas story after this which, hopefully not take very long, and then I'll begin the next chapter in which I'll introduce the other Royals of Cards and we'll have the Coronation ….. where things will really kick off.
So till then,
Hasta la Pasta!
