Chapter Eight: Out of the Blue

In which the hour hand begins to tick, many nobles are disappointed, Arthur nearly drowns, and the new King is found.

On midsummer's day, a terrible thunderstorm knocked down a tree near the Grand Hall. One of the branches crashed through a window, letting in water and leaves. Chun-Yan sighed at the expense and closed the hall for repair work. Fortunately, there wasn't a noble's birthday party scheduled for several weeks. The National Day was coming soon, but it was celebrated outside with fireworks and festivals in the streets. As they began repainting the walls and fixing the window, the workers covered the Queen's Clock and Princess Clock to protect them from stray paint. Their decision proved to be a mistake.

Arthur suffered through his fourth National Day with as much grace as he could muster (i.e. not much). He didn't understand why the fireworks had to be so loud or why the food had to be so greasy. His main enjoyment came from watching Hong and Peter set off their own set of fireworks. They had quite a gift for pyrotechnics.

The next few days involved a great deal of work to catch up on all of the documents that had been pushed aside in favor of the preparations for National Day. Arthur woke up early and went to bed late, shorting himself on sleep to complete his work. And so it was the Arthur didn't immediately realize what he had seen when he saw it. The King's Clock had fallen out of Arthur's pocket and as he put it back he realized it was nearly tea-time. Arthur had taken to carrying two watches, since the King's Clock was nearly useless with its immobile hour hand. Arthur was already half-way to his garden, where the servants would have tea ready soon, when he stopped dead in his tracks. He had read the time without looking at his second watch. He slowly pulled out the King's Clock and confirmed what his eyes had already recognized—the hour hand now marked the time. At some point in the past two weeks, it had started ticking.

Arthur ran to Chun-Yan's study and pounded on the door. Chun-Yan seemed confused by Arthur's frantic appearance. "What is wrong, aru?" she asked, her tone vacillating between worry and annoyance.

"We have a king," Arthur panted—out of breath from his run—and thrust the King's Clock into Chun-Yan's hands.

"And the problem?" Chun-Yan asked, even more confused.

"I don't know who it is! I don't even know when the clock started ticking. God dammit, I should have watched the clock more closely," Arthur glared at the clock as if it were the source of all his troubles.

"Calm down," Chun-Yan suggested. "Many nobles who live far away do not bother to come for their 18th birthday. I will simply let them know to come, aru."

They contacted the far-flung nobles. Five hopefuls arrived and five left disappointed. They contacted the distant branches of noble families. Dozens of hopefuls arrived and all left disappointed. They even searched out illegitimate children—the nobles were slightly more willing to acknowledge their by-blows given the possibility one could be King. After weeks of letter-writing and waiting, Chun-Yan and Arthur had to admit the obvious during a session of the Royal Council. Arthur was the first to acknowledge it in words.

"The King must be a commoner."

"I agree, aru."

Several of the high-ranking nobles, including Lord Kirkland, argued against expanding the search to commoners, pointing out that they may not have reached every noble. But with the Jack and Queen in agreement, their arguments fell on deaf ears.

Unfortunately, Arthur and Chun-Yan had few options for broadening their search. Nobles kept meticulous written records of birthdates and family trees, commoners did not. Based on the census records, Chun-Yan estimated there were ten thousand 18-year olds within the Kingdom of Spades and that four hundred would likely have a birthday in the right time range. The hard part was identifying those four hundred.

"We should have a town-crier go to each town and invite those within the right time range to come to the castle. It will take a few weeks, but the odds of finding the King are high, aru," Chun-Yan offered.

"And make ourselves the laughing stock of the Four Kingdoms?" one noble huffed. "We might as well go door-to-door with a glass slipper!"

"The rumors are already spreading that we have an unknown King," Arthur remarked. "It won't help to try to keep it secret much longer. We should start with Ace. We'll spread the search to the outer towns if necessary."

Chun-Yan nodded. "I'll prepare the proclamation, aru."

"Wait one more week, there are still nobles who haven't responded to our earlier letters," said Lord Kirkland. The other nobles on the Royal Council nodded in agreement. Chun-Yan shrugged. Arthur—thought tempted to spite his father—thought it unwise to go against the entire council. "Very well," he agreed.

In the end, the proclamation and search of the towns turned out to be unnecessary. Arthur found the king himself, although not in a way he ever expected. Despite the frantic search, the business of the country continued and Arthur was obliged to attend to his Queenly duties. The least welcome at the moment was his presence at a party celebrating the launch of the newest ship in the Spadian Navy. The reason the party was particularly unwelcome was the guest list—Stuart and Seamus were both attending, Stuart because of his positions in the navy, Seamus because he could always find his way into a party with free booze.

Arthur in his finest Queen regalia, broke a wine bottle on the bow of the ship. He swore he could see Seamus sniffling at the waste of liquor. The crowd gave a wild cheer and Arthur and the other guests boarded the ship for a quick sail around the harbor. The deck was filled with food, drinks, an orchestral quartet, and even dancing for those brave enough to move with the gentle sway of the ship. The harbor was a beautiful sight in the setting sun. Arthur watched the scenery from his position next to the railing instead of paying attention to the party going on around him. The other party guests seemed equally happy to ignore him. The only friendly face was Alfred, who seemed to have taken a position guarding the food. Alfred flashed Arthur a quick smile when he caught his glance. Arthur stared down at his watch and silently willed time to move faster.

"Think ya too good fer the likes of us?" a drunk and familiar voice asked him.

Arthur crinkled his nose at the sight of his drunken brother. "Ugh, Seamus, you're disgusting. Do try to preserve your dignity."

"S'all yer fault," he slurred.

"I hardly see how your lack of dignity is my fault," Arthur said, looking away from his brother, which turned out to be a mistake. Seamus' fist connected with the side of Arthur's head. Dazed, Arthur was unable to fight back or even cry out as Seamus pushed him over the railing. The impact of his back hitting the water knocked the air out of Arthur's lungs, but it also pulled him out of his daze. He frantically fought to make his way to the surface, his cloak and heavy garments pulling him down. Arthur wanted to scream, but he couldn't even breathe. It felt like he had been struggling for hours, although he knew it couldn't be more than a minute. His lungs were burning and the edges of his vision began to darken.

Suddenly, arms reached for him and Arthur wildly grabbed hold. He climbed and pushed his way to the surface and gasped a breath of air before going under again. Arthur couldn't seem to stay above the waves and felt himself going down again. The arms grabbed him from behind this time and Arthur feared that Seamus had followed him into the water to finish the job, forgetting in his panic that Seamus couldn't swim either. He kicked as hard as he could, but the cloak got in the way and the attacker wouldn't let go. One foot finally connected with the attacker, who jerked and squeezed Arthur in the middle. Arthur felt the remaining air leave his lungs, replaced by salt water. His vision darkened again and Arthur lost the strength to fight more. Suddenly, he was at the surface, gasping for air, with a voice yelling in his ear. After a few seconds he recognized his name, a few seconds more and the words made sense, "Arthur! Arthur! Stop fighting, you'll drown us both!"

Arthur coughed and forced himself to relax. "Al… fred?" he managed. Alfred yelled up towards the ship, "The Queen's fine! Give me a moment to tie the rope!" It was hard to make out details in the twilight, but there seemed to be a number of people standing around the rail.

Alfred held Arthur from behind, the steady and powerful strokes of his legs keeping them both above the waves. Alfred shifted position to hold Arthur with one arm and reached forward with his other harm. "Hold still, I'm unbuttoning your cloak," he said as his fingers began to undo the clasp around Arthur's neck. Arthur felt the weight drop with great relief.

"I've got a rope tied around my waist, I'm going to tie it around you and have them pull you up, okay?" Alfred said, speaking slowly.

"Wait. Check for the clock," Arthur said inbetween gasps of air. Alfred spotted the chain at Arthur's waist and lifted the glowing clock in the water.

"Still there," Alfred reassured Arthur as he slipped the clock back into Arthur's pocket and began tying the rope around Arthur's waist. "When you're ready, just yell to have them pull you up."

"No. I can climb up myself if they throw down a rope ladder." Arthur said, beginning to feel a bit more like himself now that he wasn't struggling to stay above water.

"You sure?" Alfred asked.

"I don't want to be pulled up like an invalid."

"Okay," said Alfred, and Arthur thought he could hear a smile in the word. "Hey! Throw down the rope ladder!" Alfred yelled.

After a few moments, the rope ladder hit the water with a splash. Alfred helped Arthur swim over to the ladder and made sure Arthur had firmly grabbed the ladder before he let go. Arthur pulled himself up the ladder feeling a mixture of emotions. Fear, shock, pain, and anger. By the time he reached the top, anger had won out over every other thought.

Arthur climbed onto the ship the perfect image of watery wrath—wet hair plastered to his forehead and eyebrows scrunched in a furious scowl. He dropped the rope from his waist and stalked over to where his brother Seamus was held between two guards. "You… bloody… wanker…" Arthur hissed each word with a cold fury. "Do you know what the punishment for treason is?"

Seamus paled, looking suddenly queasy for reasons completely unrelated to alcohol. "Please, brother…" he began.

"Brother?" Arthur hissed. "No, I am not your brother. I am disowning you from the family and banishing you to Foulness Island. Consider yourself lucky that I'm sparing your miserable life."

Arthur glanced quickly to the side to make sure Alfred had made it back on board (he had and was looking uncharacteristically grim) and then stomped over to the captain, who took an involuntary step back. "Take us in," he ordered. The ship returned to its berth in near complete silence. Arthur was the first to disembark, quickly followed by his guards. He ordered the two guards still holding Seamus to "Deal with him," and then he told Alfred to "Come with me."

Stuart stepped forward at this moment and said, "Arthur..."

Arthur looked over and glared. Go on, he silently willed, just try and say something you rotten bastard. Stuart dropped his gaze. Any other day, Arthur would have considered it a major victory, but today it felt like it was worth nothing. He turned on his heels and walked to the waiting royal carriage, Alfred close behind.

Once inside, Arthur let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He sat facing backwards and Alfred sat on the seat across from him.

"I'm so, so sorry," Alfred started babbling nervously. "I should have been watching closer. I saw you and your brother at the railing and then I looked down for a second to get more to eat and then it was just your brother and I knew he had pushed you over and I shouted 'man overboard!' but I should have been doing my job instead of stuffing my face and—"

"Alfred, breathe," said Arthur. "It wasn't your fault. Even I didn't expect my own brother to try to kill me on a pleasure jaunt around the harbor." He was surprised by how calm his voice sounded while Alfred sounded so panicked. Arthur even felt calm, as if the near drowning had happened to someone else.

The rode in silence for several minutes as the carriage climbed through the center of town towards the castle. Arthur stared out the window, but didn't really see the scenery as it passed by in a blur. Eventually he realized he was hearing another sound above the noise of the cartwheels on cobble streets. "Are you crying?" he asked, turning to look at Alfred.

"No," Alfred lied, trying unsuccessfully to hide his tears by rubbing his eyes. Arthur just stared. If one of them was going to cry, shouldn't it be him? But Arthur didn't feel anything at the moment, not even the anger that had propelled him up the ladder. He watched Alfred cry and dimly realized he should probably do something. He sighed and shifted seats so that he was next to Alfred. He tentatively reached an arm around Alfred's shoulder and made the same soothing noises he remembered his mother using when he was a child and upset by his brother's taunting. Alfred responded by leaning into his side.

"You could have died," Alfred whispered between hiccuping sobs.

"It's okay. I'm fine, you're fine, it's alright," Arthur murmured. He continued to hold Alfred for a few more minutes, repeating his reassurances, until Alfred pulled away, rubbing his eyes and looking embarrassed. Arthur pulled back his arm. He had the nagging sense he was forgetting something.

"Thank you," said Arthur.

"What?" Alfred looked confused.

"For jumping in after me."

Alfred smiled weakly. "It's what any hero would do, right?"

Arthur felt a little cold, so he reached for his cloak to wrap it around himself, before remembering that the cloak was now at the bottom of the harbor. He patted his pocket and felt the solid weight of the King's Clock. And then he remembered. The clock had glowed in water and he had not been the one touching it.

"Alfred, your 18th birthday was this summer, right?" Arthur asked, hearing his own voice as if from a distance.

"What? Yeah, on National Day. Are you okay Arthur?" Alfred looked worried. "You seem, I dunno, out of it and paler than normal."

"Excuse me for being naturally pale," Arthur snapped.

"Nevermind, I guess you're fine."

"You're an idiot." Arthur snorted and pulled the King's Clock out of his pocket. It glowed in his grasp.

Alfred leaned closer to see the watch. "Is it still working?" he asked.

"It takes more than salt water to stop a magical clock." Indeed, the King's Clock had survived far worse. The clock had an uncanny ability to find its way back to Ace, no matter what happened to its owner. After the previous King's death, the Clock had washed ashore within a matter of days before a merchant brought it to the Jack. "Do you want to hold it?" Arthur asked as he unhooked the golden chain from his clothing.

"Can I?" Alfred asked with perceptible excitement, nearly bouncing in his seat, his earlier sadness clearly forgotten.

Not even bothering to correct Alfred's grammar—after all, there would be plenty of time later to explain the difference between can and may—Arthur handed over the clock. They both watched it glowing in Alfred's hands, although only Arthur knew what the glow truly meant.

"Did you know that we've been searching for the chosen King?" Arthur asked.

"I heard some rumors, but that's stupid, right? I mean, I can't believe some noble forgot that it was their 18th birthday." Alfred laughed weakly.

"You don't have to be noble to be king."

"What? But everyone says…"

"The 7th Jack wasn't noble and neither was the 4th Queen. The 2nd King's family didn't become noble until after her reign."

"But that was a long time ago. Nowadays…"

"If you want a more recent example, the 13th King is a commoner."

"What?"

"You're the King, Alfred. The clock only glows for the King, the Queen, and the Jack. I realized you were king because it glowed in the water. I would have told you then, but I was somewhat distracted. Keep the clock, by the way, it belongs to you now."

"Wow…" Alfred breathed, looking completely stunned. But he quickly recovered and began to smile happily. "What now?"

"Now we tell Chun-Yan, and then I suggest your first royal action should be a warm bath and fresh clothes. You stink of salt water."

Alfred laughed. "You too."

One more thing occurred to Arthur. "Did you see anything the first time you touched the King's Clock?" he asked.

"You mean other than the glowing?"

"Yes, it would have been something like a vision. Most royals see a vision when they're chosen, but the details vary greatly."

"No, I didn't see anything. I think I was distracted too." Alfred paused and frowned. "Actually, there was something a little strange. It might have been when I touched the clock, I'm not sure, but I thought I heard a girl's voice yelling 'You've got to help him!' Does that sound like a vision-thingie? I just assumed it was someone on deck, but there weren't any girls, were there?"

"I suppose that's possible…" Arthur frowned in thought. If the voice was Alfred's vision, it wasn't very helpful.

The carriage arrived at the castle and Arthur exited with as much dignity as he could manage in wet clothes. Arthur led the way to the Jack's study with his head held high, grateful that the hallways were mostly empty.

Chun-Yan met him at the door with a perplexed expression, the expression growing increasingly confused as he took in Arthur's appearance. "What happened to you, aru?" she asked.

"My brother tried to murder me by pushing me overboard, I nearly drowned, and I ended up banishing his drunken arse to Foulness. Also, I've found the king." Arthur gestured at Alfred.

"Hi." Alfred waved, holding up the glowing King's Clock.

"Uh, hello, I'm Jack Chun-Yan Wang, pleased to meet you." Chun-Yan bowed slightly.

Alfred saluted. "Alfred F. Jones, at your service! Or maybe not, I guess, I'm not really sure how this all works."

Arthur and Chun-Yan exchanged a look, both realizing that preparing Alfred was going to take some time. "I'll cancel the proclamation," said Chun-Yan. She looked at Arthur and Alfred in their damp clothes and added, "We can plan the rest in the morning, aru."

Arthur nodded and turned to Alfred. "Alfred, time for a bath."

"Nice to meet you, Chun-Yan!" Alfred waved as he left.

"God, I need a drink and a bath," Arthur remarked as they walked along the hallway. "In that order."

"You need to see a doctor." Alfred looked concerned.

"What are you talking about? I feel fine."

"You took in a lot of water and you still look pale. Extra pale. Not your normal pale. Also, we're walking in the wrong direction." They both stopped and Arthur looked around, realizing for the first time that he was in the wrong part of the castle. Without a word, he turned and walked back the way they had come.

"I don't need a physician," Arthur muttered.

"I'm not taking a bath until you promise to see a doctor."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Yes, I would. And then you'd have to introduce me to everyone tomorrow while I stink of sea water. If they ask, I'll just tell them it's what a fisherman's son smells like."

"Do you always insist on acting like a petulant child?"

"Only until I get what I want," Alfred replied with a laugh.

Arthur glared, frowned, and then finally gave in. "Fine," he said. When they reached his room (taking the correct path this time), Arthur directed a servant to take Alfred to the king's chambers, prepare his bath, and fetch clothes for the new king. Then he had another servant bring in the royal physician while a third prepared his bath. Alfred, who had actually insisted on waiting until the doctor visited Arthur (as if he was worried Arthur wouldn't follow through on his promise) seemed uncomfortable ordering servants around, preferring to ask politely for what he wanted. Arthur sighed, realizing this was another area where he would have to correct Alfred.

The physician diagnosed Arthur with a mild case of shock and prepared a small glass of medicine. Arthur initially refused to drink the mixture, but gave in when Alfred threatened to skip his bath again. Arthur was going to be extremely displeased if Alfred used bathing as his leverage point for everything. He was glad when Alfred finally left and he could take his own bath in peace. As much as he had wanted to find the king, this was not at all what he had expected.

Alfred was nice enough, but his political naiveté and complete lack of social graces would leave him helpless in Spades politics. It took more than enthusiasm and charm to run a country. In fact, it seemed that Alfred's only real distinguishing trait was that he got along well with Arthur. For the first time, Arthur began to wonder if the rumors were true, and if the clock had failed to choose a King because it could find no one who would be able to work with Arthur.

That night, Arthur fell into a fitful sleep and dreamt of stormy waves and a cloak dragging him into the dark depths of the sea. As much as he struggled, he couldn't reach the surface. Arthur woke up sweating, his body completely tangled in his sheets. Dawn light had barely begun to enter the room, but Arthur didn't think he would find any more sleep that night.

He dressed and entered his study, finding, to his surprise a new rose and a new message. "I'm really glad you're safe," the note said. Arthur clutched the rose to his chest, even as the thorns bit into his fingers. "Me too," he whispered to no one in particular.


Author's Notes

Okay, I'm sure you all saw it coming from a mile away that Alfred was going to be the King, but hopefully you didn't predict the exact manner!

For the record, jumping in to save an actively drowning person is an insanely dangerous idea. Drowning people fight incredibly hard and can end up drowning their would-be-rescuers. So what Alfred did was very stupid, although at least he took a rope with him. Since it was both stupid and brave, I thought it was in-character for Alfred, who's really lucky that he's strong enough to pull it off.