A/N:The first part of this chapter was fairly inspired by Kuroshitsuji. Minus the fact that Jack isn't some young earl, there is certainly a super butler in play XD Hope you enjoy the update and let me know what you thought.

XIV. King

I dreamt of him. I wasn't really the sort of person who had dreams, but this one was different. I finally saw him after six years, yet our reunion was far from touching.

I awoke in cold sweat, still fervently recollecting what I had felt and seen. He was there, happily talking to me and telling me everything that he had to say. It was like old times, as if he had forgotten that I had discarded him for my future or that he never knew that that was what I had done. I hadn't felt so relieved, just tranquil in listening to his words and letting everything except us slip away.

I struggled to find my slippers in the dark. I rarely ventured around the corridors at night, if at all. It was a long time since I had woken up in the middle of the night, sneaking about the silence and penetrating its peace. I wanted nothing more than a little light to keep the eerie shadows at bay, but I chose not to. It would have felt unnatural to ruin its serenity now.

I didn't know where I was going, only that I was shivering slightly from the lack of the dressing gown that I hadn't touched upon arrival. My hand felt for my stomach, and I frowned. It still stung just below my diaphragm, even though there physically wasn't anything there. It was still stuck in my head how I had doubled over, and Charles had simply watched me bleed.

Dreams were supposed to be messages from the subconscious. What was the message of mine?

I approached the end of the hallway, letting a hand touch the pane that had frosted over in the early morning. The Ludors lived in the casino, granted, but in a separate building. It was from here that I could see it, the Silver Lynx in its sleeping state. Luminous colours still danced on the walls of various estates, but the unbearable racket was simply nothing and the casino existed as just the bare bone with the skin picked off. And it wasn't a sight that I was accustomed to.

That was what I had chosen all those years ago. And worse, I hadn't had the chance to look back at the damage I had caused. Or rather, I didn't want to see the damage I had caused.

My eyes narrowed as I thought about the dream again. There had to be a reason why I had it tonight of all nights. Did my brother hate me, or was he willing to forgive me? There was no way for me to know after all this time, and perhaps he was finally reaching out for me.

It was only several hours before I make the claim of being the Silver Lynx's heir. And as I ran through my speech I was scheduled to do, there was so much of it I was uncertain of.

It started with, "I want to take the time to thank you all for coming". Would I really be thankful? Would some small part of me be looking in the crowd for someone I recognised, or worse yet would the room know instantly I was not the man they wanted to inherit?

And, the closing statement? "I look forward to working with you all, and commit myself to the Silver Lynx when my time comes". The future held nothing but false promises – why, therefore, was I making one?

I didn't know what to do with myself. I was confident of succeeding my father in ruling the casino, but now one insignificant dream effectively turned everything upside down. Just when I had thought I had moved on, it all flew into my face tenfold.

"Master Ludor?"

If it wasn't for his height, I wouldn't have been able to tell who had managed to sneak up behind me. The winter light didn't do a great deal in illuminating the hallway.

I acknowledged Joker with a nod before resuming to the window. It certainly did have a better view than it was out my bedroom window. "I expected nothing less from you. Were you patrolling?"

A small laugh was enough to tell me I had missed the mark. "I was resting." He was polite enough not to be in range of my peripheral vision, however I could still see half his body using the window. The other half was hidden by the rather exquisite curtains.

I was fully aware of the definition of resting. Joker, along with the rest of his family, was trained to be an elite bodyguard. As well as offering advice, he guaranteed 24 hours protection. He was the only one (or perhaps along with several other members of the family) that assured us Ludors would survive until the morning. Joker's definition of resting was like a dolphin – one half of the brain slept whilst the other kept all senses open. Similar to what I was seeing through the reflection of the window.

"And when you rest, have you ever had any dreams?"

Joker's gaze hardened somewhat. "I used to. What are you implying?"

I let the issue hang. It was plausible to believe that if I told him of mine, he would want to know more about it. Offer me guidance on something that I should be doing myself. There were some secrets that were best kept to oneself, and consoling with someone else only complicated matters.

"I was curious about if you had any sort of objective you had wanted to fulfil, perhaps when you were younger." Being from a family that relied on lineage, he suffered the same fate as I had. Instead of co-owning an item shop with my brother, I was the heir of an infamous casino. What had Joker sacrificed to be here? "A certain job profession that wasn't suitable for your talents, or several grandchildren," I continued.

I saw him blink and look away. "What my aspirations were doesn't matter. I live for today, and words can't express how grateful I am to see my mission through almost three generations."

Being with Joker meant being on the offence. Even if it meant hypocrisy. "Your secret's safe with me. What was your childhood dream?"

"And what would you do with the additional information, Jack?" he countered a little too swiftly. "Would you judge me if I was to tell you I wanted to play the recorder?"

I laughed softly to myself. The way the remark had come out, it was evident jokes didn't suit Joker at all, despite the title. Not the ordinary jokes anyway – he was perfectly adept in making pranks about serious matters. "I have no obligation to tell you how I would react. Likewise, you have no obligation to grant me that information."

He sighed, and I knew I had won. Joker had the right to retain information, but it was vital for him to listen to my orders, even if it meant delving into his deepest secrets. Any moment from now, I could claim the name of King. "I had a lot of aspirations. I wanted to visit my parents more than once a year, and I wanted to live a life without deceiving everyone day in and day out. Our training made us skilled liars and capable killers, but ultimately they shaped us into people that we weren't inside. We were brainwashed to think that that was how we were born, and how we had only one reason of living." He paused dramatically as he made to clean his glasses. "To honour our ancestors."

I shut my eyes. "You wanted to escape," I summarised. That was all there was to it.

"They were the immature thoughts I had before I was appointed as Joker," he elaborated. "My intentions have changed since then. My childhood aspirations serve as nothing but a limitation in my actions. The purpose of my life isn't to honour my ancestors, but to protect the future generations of the Ludor family."

Nice recovery.

However, the frown that tugged at my lips failed to agree. "How do I know that you're not being dishonest to me now?"

He lowered his head slightly. "That's up to you to decide."

"You got me there," I chose to reply. "You've been around since my grandfather was King. There is no reason whatsoever why I should believe everything that comes from you other than because those before me have trusted you."

I turned my head a fraction. "In fact, today seems an appropriate time for you to earn my trust. I had taken your advice for the simple reason that I didn't know what to do with myself, but all that will change. I will be twenty-one, and you will serve me. Show me how much you're willing to follow me."

The corridor was still, and we were the only two breathing it and taking in its monotonous state. What should have been moonlight, neon from the Silver Lynx streamed across the floor and painted our faces in hues of purple and green. Our elongated shadows touched, but we were still far from being on the same side.

Joker didn't say anything at first. Then, very slowly, he kept his head down as he got down onto one knee. My father's subordinate and the father before his, finally accepting my place in the world of the same social standing, not my father's son. And as I acknowledged the presentation unfolding before me, the approaching certainty of winning was bittersweet on my mouth.

He was mine.

"Until this humble servant draws its last breath, I will serve you through the tough and the harsh. It will be my honour."

I gave Joker a good surprise when he entered my room for the morning routine. He has the usual tray of tea and newspapers, but it was so strange how it all was now that I was standing rather than in the folds of my bed.

Joker recovered quickly, as expected. "I'm taking it you never went back to sleep?" he asked as he traipsed the room to a small table by the window. It seated two, but the company had never been more than one. That was how isolated it was to the outside world.

"I had a dream," I explained as I didn't look up from my lonely game of solitaire. "I haven't had one for a long time, and it still impresses me how vivid it was."

I took a card from the sofa and drummed it on my chin. Where to put it?

Joker picked up on the sour mood that emanated around me. "In dreams, your subconscious shapes the area and the people within it. If it doesn't make sense, it's not meant to."

I couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh. "If dreams are the desires of the subconscious, is there a way to know?"

Much to my annoyance, he laughed. Even after hours of being awake, the laugh was still harsh against my eardrums. "You're better off asking someone else." He straightened and let his green eyes scan my outfit: a white suit with a light gold waistcoat that emphasised the upturned collar. "Your cravat."

I moved away from the lonely game of solitude and let him arrange it as he saw fit. Despite it being white like the majority of my attire, Joker had the knack to emphasise it.

My thoughts of Charles wouldn't leave me. Was he happy for me, or did he detest me? Was there a way for me to know what he wanted, what I want?

"May I ask why you changed the waistcoat?" Joker looked down at me expectantly.

Most of the suit was decided beforehand for today, the exception naturally being the waistcoat. That too was originally white. I was still thinking about the dream when I had gotten dressed, and I made the decision that gold would disguise the blood at least marginally better than white. I would have to change into the evening suit in a few hours anyway. "Does it matter?" I challenged.

Joker shrugged. "Not particularly." He took the ends of the cravat out the waistcoat and tugged at it. I almost stumbled onto the floor with the sheer force. "I thought that you might want to try your excuse with me before Mister Ludor comments on it."

I instinctively grinned, and the edges of Joker's mouth twitched as he almost mirrored me. "I didn't like the style. That's all there is to it."

Joker nodded sagely as he took off my cravat altogether. "Absolutely nothing to do with your dream then?"

"You would be correct," I said sternly as I flipped over another card. Drat, another unhelpful card to add to the pile. "Although, out of curiosity, do you miss dreaming?"

Joker laid the cravat on the sofa's arm and made to fold it again. "I wouldn't say so. They serve to confuse more than help. If you want to be King, I would suggest you too discard of them."

I didn't look up from my game, in case the look on my face made me out to be weaker than I already was. I placed a hand on top of the pile that comprised of the completed suit of Hearts. Discard the dream and everything that came with it. To be King, I had to look forwards.