Ugh, sunlight. Time to wake up and feed those chickens before they try to bust their way out of their pen and raze the country-side to the ground.

Wait.

Someone drew a sharp breath against Alfred. Someone much less warm and way bonier than Matthew. Before he could open his eyes and feel around for what was going on, something sank into his tender stomach. Alfred grunted, peeling his eyes, and saw pretty green ones...a moment before he was shoved away. He yelped and rolled, trying to grab the blankets. Assaulted again. Arms flailed, and he hit the carpet.

Arthur's voice, so strong so early, "I fucking told you if I found you on my side-" He cut off as Alfred yanked, ripping him off the bed just as painfully as he had experienced. A blur, then their bodies collided.

Arthur freaked, ready to shove away like Alfred's skin burned his own, but Alfred latched onto his arms, grinning as his catch squirmed and spat, "You fucker! Let go of me this instant!"

"Not until I get an apology, rude ass! What kind of wake-up call was that?!"

Arthur twisted to plant a hand on Alfred's face, probably to push him away, but Alfred gave his wrists a generous squeeze, keeping him close while trying not to get bit (figuratively, for now). "I told you to stay on your own side of the covers! You had your entire side, and you still crept into mine! Let go!"

"Ooh, let go! Let go!"

"Shut up!"

"Shut up. Ooh!" Usually, Alfred did not make a habit to imprison people (unlike the lovely Queen) or physically coerce them, but woo! The way Arthur wreathed against his body! Alfred swung a leg over his hip, teasing as nobody, not even bulls, could escape a farmer's grip, "Your side of the bed, you say? Oh, I don't know. I might want the whole thing and everything in it. I am just a greedy King, aren't I?"

"You're no King!"

"Not yet!"

"Not ever!"

"Want to bet?"

"Absolutely not!" The wreathing subsided. Arthur huffed and leaned closer to curl back his lip and seethe, "You'll never fuck off. That's why, when I get out of these stupid chains, I'm going to watch you rot in jail."

"You are? It's going to take a while for me to rot. You'd be there the whole time?"

The Queen released quite a un-Queenly yell, "Agh! Shut up! Shut up!" Wiggling double-time. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

The double doors busted open. Yao, with Matthew and a handmaiden by his side, gawked at the pile of bodies on the floor. The lady put a hand to her mouth and fled. "Al," Matthew said, rather disturbed, "seriously?"

Yao reached for the door handles. "We could come back another time, if you two are...getting better acquainted."

"No!" Arthur hollered, "Get this idiot off of me!"

"Come on." Alfred sent the Jack a wink. "We're just cuddling, isn't that right, your highness?"

Arthur sunk his teeth into Alfred's shoulder.

"Ow! Ow, oh, wow!" Alfred automatically released, clamping a hand over the offended area. "What the fuck?!"

Arthur swung, and his palm connected with Alfred's cheek before he scrambled onto the bed. Alfred made a bunch of faces, tenderly rubbing that also-offended area. His brother crouched right next to him, obviously trying not to laugh. "Are you all right?"

"Pssh! Yeah!" Alfred's eyes watered as he tried to smile past it. "That was just a little love tap."

Arthur hissed from the bed. He actually hissed.

Ignoring that, Alfred nodded to Yao, "What's new?"

Yao and Matthew exchanged a quick look. The latter announced, "Alfred, we've been talking, and there's something about the farm..."

"What?" Alfred scrambled to his feet. "What about the farm? Is everything okay?"

Matthew shot his hands up. "Everything's fine. Still intact. I said I wouldn't go back without you, but I would never expect you to go back farming when you could be a King!"

Alfred said, "It's not so bad."

Matthew swung his head side-to-side, "I know it's not, but Yao told me there's a forth member of the Royal Court. Since we already have a Queen, a Jack," Matthew counted with his fingers. "You're planning on being the King..."

Alfred blurted, "You want to be King?"

"Oh, no, Al. That's on you-"

To Yao, "Can there even be two Kings? We're twins, after all."

"No, there cannot be two Kings!" Yao shook his head. "What kind of question is that?"

"How's that work out if there's twins, but only one King?"

"Whoever's born first."

Alfred and Matthew glanced to one another with 'Oh, crap' faces.

Yao caught it. "What?"

"Um...actually, Mattie is the one that came out first."

"Oh. Oh, really? Hm...that's..." Yao threw his hands forth, "Let us not concern ourselves with unnecessary troubles we don't need to be making. Alfred, you shown the true strength of a King. You're literally bound to the Queen. Sorry, Matthew, but no, it is not happening."

"Don't worry!" Matthew eyed Arthur with his arms crossed and back to the group. "I don't think I'd want to be King, anyway."

"Good. No problems with that, then. Now, four members of the Royal Court." Yao pointed respectively, "King. Queen. Jack. A forth member," to Matthew. "May not arise in every generation, but I consider this a good signs for us to have both of you here now. The Ace of Spades."

"Wow!" Alfred praised as his brother obviously brightened. "What's that mean?"

"It's always good to have a secondary member in each role. Matthew will help us out with anything the Kingdom needs. If we need protection during a mission. To stay behind and look after the palace. As an extra set of hands. He will be there with us." Yao's eyes narrowed as they zoned on Arthur's back. "An ease to the strain on the Queen's shoulders, who has been doing the job of three for too many years."

Alfred glanced behind himself. Arthur's shoulders hunched up without a word. "What about the farm?"

Matthew said, "We can sell it. Make sure the animals go in good hands."

"Oh! But what about the cow? Do you think we can keep her?"

Yao scoffed, "A filthy animal like that, at the Royal Palace?"

"She's not filthy!" Alfred protested. "We wash her regularly!"

"Err..."

Matthew quickly offered, "Or like, make it a veterinary clinic, and the cow could be our motif."

"Yeah!" Alfred brightened. "Royal Vet Clinic!"

Yao had a funky expression on his face like he ate rancid potatoes. "Right. Anyway. Would Matthew's initiation be all right with you, your highness?"

"Go ahead," Arthur said. "Everyone does what they want around here anyway."

The twins gave one another dubious glances as Yao closed his eyes in a sharp sigh. Matthew bowed, even though Arthur would not see it. "Thank you, uh, my highness. I-I meant your Queen. I mean..." He groaned at himself. "Thanks! I just want to be of help. That's all."

Yao put in as he beckoned Matthew out of the room, "You need it more than you think."

Alfred waved to his brother, the going-to-be Ace of Spades. Wow. Yao stopped in the doorway to ask, "Are you two going to come down for breakfast, or would you like something to be sent up?"

Arthur was still pouting. Alfred said, "I think we'll come down in a few."

"I look forward to it. Eat plenty, Alfred. We start your royal training today."

"Really?! Awesome!"

Yao gave him a weird look.

"Um...that sounds...absolutely splendid! Thanks! See you soon."

"Ahem. Right."

The doors shut, and Alfred fell back onto the bed, kicking and squealing, "Royal Kingly Training!"

Arthur snorted.

Alfred propped himself up with an elbow. "Got something to say, you big grump?"

"Oh, plenty, but I think I'll wait to experience your utter disappointment first-hand."

"Why? 'cause you think I can't work hard? Hard work was all I did on the farm!" Alfred sat up with a suggestive wiggle, winking, "I'm nothin' but hard work for you, darlin'!"

Arthur loudly blanched and tossed up a hand. "You're utterly despicable!"

~.~

"The main room is obviously...the main room. You know where the kitchen is."

"He's dragging me there all the time, so he better."

"Ha-ha! Artie!"

"Arthur, whelp."

"You two," Yao led the chain through the ground floor of the Spadian Palace, on Alfred's first Kingly agenda; a Royal Tour! He stopped before a wall covered in small and enormous paintings containing scowling and smiling people. "This came to be known as the Royal Wall. Obviously for the history of all Spadian Royalty preserved in ink, right here."

Alfred marveled at their clothes, their food, and their downright awesome poses. His gaze grazed from a child embracing a large mutt, to a couple timidly smiling at one another as their hands met. Another man in a crown looked miserable as a fur lined blanket draped over his shoulders. He wondered which ones went insane.

Yao kept going. East wing, hallway after hallway, back balcony, back inside to the library. Matthew sat on a plush chair, almost overtaken by books. He barely looked up from his cozy corner at their passing. Alfred was surprised he managed to catch his brother in the sights of looming bookshelves and curvy seats. A smaller hall led to a staircase, to the second floor of the library. Yeah, Spades had a library with two stories. Actually, there were way more than two stories in that library, in the paper sense. Alfred made sure to remember to tell Matthew that one.

"You know the Queen's wing," Yao gestured down a hall leading to double doors. "With the water closet and the bathing room from there."

That's right. The bathtub had its own room. Alfred nudged said Queen, throwing in a cheeky wink, "We sure do!"

Arthur obnoxiously groaned and rolled his eyes. They almost got stuck in the back of his head.

Yao pointed to two doors. "That hall leads to my room, and what will be your brother's room."

"Let's go in!"

"Let us not." Yao said, continuing to another fancy door.

Alfred asked cryptically, "What are you hiding, Yao?"

"My bed." Yao opened the door, and stepped inside to let the pair through. "This is something you will appreciate."

Dark wood trim ran along the walls, and Alfred marveled at enormous bookcases and seats lining the room. In the center, a couch faced a grand desk, which was accompanied with a standing globe, waiting for someone to give it a spin. "A royal office?" He squealed, "I get my very own office?!"

"Get acquainted with it, young man. You will be slaving over important papers in here until you feel like spewing ink."

"Eugh. Sounds promising."

Arthur made a snooty noise behind him, "The Royal Office is a place of gathering and commerce for all of the Royal Court. Not just any one hog to camp in it. You'll have your own smaller, private office for that."

"Of course!" Much to the horror flipping on Arthur's face, Alfred squished their sides together, almost knocking off of balance. "Our office."

Arthur jammed an elbow right into Alfred's ribs.

"Ow."

Yao sighed, ushering them out of the Royal Office with a deep shake of his head. "One more floor after the next one, then we can get started on other things."

"One more floor?" Alfred asked. Sure, there were a few towers and huts poking over the Spadian rooftops, but he wasn't sure those could be considered proper 'floors.'

"The basement, idiot." Arthur hissed, "I think you'll enjoy going back down there."

"Oh." The dungeons. Slipped his mind. Good. He needed to knock that smarmy smirk off Arthur's face, so he said, "At least this time, we'll all be together!"

"Ugh!"

Yao coughed. Maybe he laughed. It sounded like a cough, though.

Arthur scowled again. Success.

Down the steps again, there was another hall, and a staircase leading to doom. Alfred knew the Royals were intently watching him, so he kept his head up and carefully stepped down into dim light, one stair at a time. Knights huddled around a table, cackling over cards. Once they saw the trio, however, they shot to their feet with bows and, "Your highness!" and, "Your Grace!" Yao held a hand up, motioning for them to be at ease. Across from their game, one of the cells still had its bars bowed from Alfred's touch.

Alfred nudged Arthur, getting swatted again. "I did that. Bare hands."

"Maybe you should do that to your own head."

"Huh?" Alfred couldn't help a baffled laugh.

Yao left them to follow like little ducks, past another door and into a narrow hall. Of course it was stony, cold, damp and creepy. Alfred glimpsed over some doors, but they didn't stop to acknowledge them. "Wait, what are those for?"

"Storage," was all the Jack said.

"Yes," Arthur hummed, "for prisoners."

Alfred's steps skittered to a stop. "What?"

"You should see all that dried blood and bones in there. We still can't get the stains and scratches off the walls."

"No!"

Arthur let loose a vile cackle, smacking the back of Alfred's head. "You fool. Yao already told you. It's storage. Our oil, pipes. The torture chamber has been long removed."

They kept going.

"But-!" Alfred almost rammed face-first into a wall when Yao turned a sharp corner. "Where are we, in a maze or something?!"

"Yes, we are," Yao granted. "Look around. These underground twists and turns are older than the palace itself. When Spades was trying to get on her feet as her own land, she suffered many invasions and frontal assaults. This labyrinth was built to lure our enemies down here, to get lost and never to see the sun again as our leaders knew the way out."

Alfred's eyes jumped around the candle holders protruding from the stony walls. Arthur's voice groveled in his ear, "Some say the wind blowing through here are the echoes of the enemy's screams as they realized they were doomed to roam and perish in these exact halls to this day."

"A-Arthur!"

Yao snapped, "Pay attention! You will be leading us on the way back, Alfred."

"What?!" This kept getting worse. "Why do I have to lead?! I don't know where I'm going!"

The walls ricocheted the Queen's laughter. He was actually laughing. Alfred almost ran into a corner. "That is something I have been asking myself the whole time."

Alfred's ears grew hot.

"Here!" Yao said, ignoring the squabbling. The candlelight gave way to daylight, streaming down a staircase leading to the outside world. They popped their heads out. Bushes on one side, and a complete drop-off on the other.

"Holy cow!" Alfred shouted down the mountainside. "What, you rather us plunge off a freaking cliff than get caught by people?!"

"And be held prisoner? You of all people should know that."

"Yao! No! That's ridiculous!"

Yao tsked, "Look closely. The purpose for all of this is to ensure longevity. There's a narrow path down the mountain. Perilous, but under our last resort, it is necessary to do it than meet the enemies' blades. It would be best for you to familiarize yourself with it."

Alfred clutched his neck.

"There is also another maze behind you, leading back to the garden."

"Oh! That's a whole lot prettier than mountain climbing!"

"Yes, but I'm afraid that leads closer to the palace, and you don't want to do that when its infested with intruders." Yao guided an unwilling Alfred down the steps again. Once surrounded by walls, he snapped, and the halls went dark.

A shriek. Rattling of chains.

Arthur yelped, "What're you doing? Get off!"

"Stop it! Stop it, turn back on the lights!"

"Yao! He's squeezing me!"

Alfred hunched up as someone grabbed his shoulder, shrieking again. Yao called out, "Alfred! Calm down! This is the same basement you just went through. Nothing is here except us."

"But Arthur said—the ghosts!"

Arthur winced against Alfred, "Idiot. I was trying to scare you. It worked."

"You...you jerk!"

"Yes," Yao murmured, "dark basements are not the most inviting places, but the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can be upstairs."

"C-can we have at least a little bit of light?"

Arthur again, "You think we're going to light every single one of these candles when we're trying to flee from the enemy? You want it to make it easier for them to get you?! Do you like being in prison?!"

Alfred protested the hands clamped against his chest, trying to pry him away. "But we can have like, a torch with us or something, right? Right?!" The basement air pressed on his lungs, and he shoved his face into Arthur's jacket to blot it out. "I don't like the dark! Or the cold!"

"Oh, for the love of—seriously? Seriously. Spades is constantly dark and cold. You're trying to be the King, but you're afraid of the dark like a child?!"

"Creatures hide in the night and come out and eat you! Or eat your chickens and leave nothing but blood and feathers and-"

"Alfred," Yao tried once more. Light flickered, and a blue flame flared from his palm. Alfred picked up his head, blinking in wonder. "Since this is your first time through here, we can take a light with us, but I won't ignite the candles. Deal?"

Arthur retorted, "And you can let go of me right now."

"Um...yeah..." Alfred begrudgingly relinquished his hold on a scowling Queen. Arthur was the only good-smelling thing in the entire underground. Roses, of course. Alfred wasn't sure about Yao—he wasn't going to go around and take a whiff from everybody. He let off a huff, though it didn't stop his heart from galloping off the mountainside just yet. He pressed his palms to the damp, stony walls, side-stepping closer to the next turn. Just them. No ghosts seeking revenge on him for the sorrows old Kings and Queens and Jacks caused them...

A sharp sigh, "This is going to take forever, isn't it? We'll be down here until nightfall!"

Alfred retorted past the shaky feeling in his chest, "Why don't you lead the way then, huh? Bet you don't know the way out either!"

"Ha!"

Yao barked, "Absolutely not. You will get us out of here, young man. How will you learn, otherwise?!"

Learning was cool sometimes. Not this time. Alfred didn't want to learn about dark creepy basement mazes. He pressed closer to the wall, almost sticking his cheek against it as he glanced down a split before choosing a random path. Arthur sighed again behind him. "Is this the wrong one?"

"I roamed these halls since I was a child. I can find my way out backwards and blindfolded!"

"Oh, darn it." Alfred decided to back up and take the other path. He swore he heard a snooty noise coming from the Queen's face. "Is that what they made you do as a kid? Roam dark hallways and balance books on your head?"

"My posture is the finest in all of Spades."

Alfred whistled. "That's actually kind of sad."

"Sad? How is it sad? I was raised to be the Queen of Spades...as soon as I shown the signs of being such." Arthur's eyes quickly flickered around, and he sniped, "It's an honor. There were far more important things to do than play around in mud or...whatever children do these days."

"Aw, but playing in mud is fun!" With no response, Alfred grunted as Yao's light flickered against a corner, casting spooky shapes. "You know, that kind of gives me insight to why you're such a brat."

"Me, the brat?!" Alfred peeped just as Arthur latched onto his shoulder. "Oh, you little-!"

Yao, "Your highness."

"Hmph!"

Alfred was spared.

Great, a three-way. He lifted a hand, feeling which direction had a breeze. The air was that stuffy, basement air no matter where he went. He grumbled, squinting at the unused candle holders hanging off the walls and glinting against Yao's light. No way felt like the right way, as if he would inherent some awesome Kingly instincts with his super strength. Apparently not.

"Ooooh."

Alfred froze as cool breath ran down the back of his neck. He sucked in stale air, and unleashed a shriek. Yao and Arthur yelled as he spun around, fist raised, and punched the wall where the Queen's head was a second ago.

The light went out.

Alfred screamed again and swung. His fist connected with another wall. The ceiling shuddered.

"Ai-yah! Stop it! Stop it!" Yao hollered, "You're going to bring the whole palace down on our heads!"

Rough hands grabbed Alfred's forearms. He yelped again, but Arthur gave him a brutal shake, "Knock it off! There are no ghosts! It was me! Gods!"

Throwing his head to the darkness, Alfred's eyes were useless. He looked in what should be Arthur's direction, "That was you?!"

"Yes! I was just trying to make you get a move on!"

Alfred yanked away, clutching himself as debris tumbled to the floor. Light flickered to life in Yao's hand, and his shocked face overlooked cracks and a dent in the stone. "I-I need to get out of here!" Arthur yelped as the chain yanked his arm forward, and his feet stumbled to keep up as Alfred shoved his way toward the exit they came from. The stairs, open sky, he clawed his way to fresh light and air. Alfred collapsed on the grass, gravel jabbing into his knees and his eyes bulged at the reckless drop-off. A frightened chitter escaped his throat as he shrunk toward the bushes leading to the maze instead. This place was a lot. Too much. Too much, why did the funny fate feelings bring him up here? The Queen already hated him, and the Jack probably thought he was an idiot!

Yao popped his head out, almond eyes going wide as he stared at Alfred crouched on the ground, but Arthur dug in first, "Gods, you idiot!" One of Alfred's hand flung up to clamp over his ear being chewed apart, "The walls could have collapsed and killed us! All because you're afraid of some stupid tale?!"

"Shut up!" Alfred snapped over ragged breaths. "You're the one that thought it was a good idea to scare someone that can crush rocks in his bare hands, while being cramped in a cold, dark, and creepy basement!"

"Oh, great!" Arthur threw his hands in the air, "You can't control your powers!"

Alfred shoved himself to his feet, almost stumbling into Yao and sending him down the steps. "You can't control your face!"

"All right," Yao quietly said. "That is enough, you two."

"That was stupid."

"Your highness!"

"You're stupid!"

"Alfred!"

"As if!"

Yao planted his hands on the quarrelers' shoulders and shoved them away from one another. "Enough! This is some kind of child's argument!"

Arthur crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air.

"We will go through the tunnels again."

"No!" Alfred protested, "Yao! Come on!"

"And no ghost-noises!"

"Whatever." Arthur yanked on the chain.

"Can we have a few minutes, at least?"

"What, so it can get worse and worse as you procrastinate? Absolutely not."

Alfred gave Arthur a dirty look as the shackle pulled against his wrist.

Yao shook his head, muttering to himself, "It's as if I'm dealing with children I never had."

~.~

"Something to wind down after...everything." Yao set a stack of paper and pens on the desk in front of Alfred. That's right—The Royal Desk. It was very big, and very awesome. "Can you read and write, young man?"

"Pssh! Of course!" Yao and Arthur (who sat in his own seat beside the desk) exchanged a dubious look. Alfred was just glad he was relaxing in a well-lit office instead of—ugh—basements. He snatched one of the papers and started to read it aloud, "'We hereby recognize Matthew Jones as the Ace of Spades...' Oh, heck yeah, I do! Give me one of them pens!"

Arthur snipped, "One of those pens."

Yao clamped a hand over them. "These are important documents that we should discuss together. As this is your first one."

"Oh, yeah, of course. Um, it says Mattie should be the Ace. Yep. I totally agree with this."

"And why do you agree with that?"

Alfred wiggled in his big ol' seat, making the leather squawk. "He's like, super good at sniping stuff."

"Would you think he would fare better as an archer, or a Knight instead?"

"No! He's my bro! I don't want him to be a guard, standing around all day. He'd kill me if I did that to him!"

Yao noted with an edge to his voice, "That's rather biased of a King, don't you think?"

Alfred sank his teeth into his lower lip as Arthur swung a leg over the other. "Okay, yeah. Mattie...Matthew is as good with his hands as he is with his mind." Smiling as words came easier, from his heart, "You wouldn't expect it, but he's really witty. I like to hear what he has to say, and he definitely can hold his own in an argument, even if I don't want him to sometimes. It's more appropriate to have him by my side as my brother and our wild card, rather than standing guard. He would do so much better and be more valuable to us as the Ace of Spades."

Yao gazed at Alfred, thinking in silence for a long moment. Alfred fidgeted. The chair made a farting noise. His chest bubbled in a giggle. "That was exact, Alfred. I agree. I favor him to be our Ace as well. Your highness?"

Alfred tried to keep his long draw of breath quiet, watching Arthur eye his fingernails before making a shooing motion. "Yes. I agree. Matthew is more willing to take responsibility and seriousness than your supposed King at the moment."

Yao stared.

Alfred put on a smile past his stomach wringing in mild offense. "It's settled then. We all agree in favor of my bro—Matthew to be our Ace." He touched a pen to paper to write his name.

"No!" Yao leaped from the desk like it sizzled his behind. Alfred looked up in alarm. "Not print! No printing names! You sign it!"

"I...did."

"No! You printed your name! You're supposed to sign it in cursive!"

"Uh..."

Arthur commented, "You don't really know how to write, do you?"

"Yeah, I do!" Alfred held the parchment close to Arthur's face. "I did right here!"

Arthur scowled until the paper found the desk again.

Yao grabbed a blank sheet and slapped it in front of Alfred. "Right here! Practice your signature right here."

"Okay..."

"Cursive!"

"I don't know what that means! What's cursive?!"

Arthur told the ceiling, "Oh, my Gods! Of course a farm boy wouldn't know what the most popular style of writing is!"

"Everyone writes like this in the lower district, and considering I was feeding cows and helping out on the farm, I didn't need your fancy-shmancy cursive." Alfred held up a arm, pulling up his sleeve to flex, "You need these!"

Arthur pointedly looked away.

Yao swished a hand to get Alfred's attention. "You'll learn. You'll learn! Write the alphabet like you usually do, here, and we will go from there. Leave a space between each letter so I can show you the cursive forms."

Alfred grumbled, "Writing normal is so much easier."

"This is normal for us, young man."

~.~

"Hey, Mattie! Can we come in?"

"Um...it's the Spadian library, Al. I'm sure anyone can come in."

Alfred beamed, sticking a frame behind his back as he sauntered up to what had to be his brother's new favorite reading spot. "I didn't know if you had your nose in a really good book. I know how you get!"

Matthew pulled his eyes from his book and pushed his glasses up his nose, unamused.

"I got something for you."

"Oh, you do?"

Alfred brought out the Royal Letter of Approval, all wrapped up in a sleek wooden frame. It had Matthew's name all over it. Well, only in one place, the middle, but big. "Here you go. I thought you'd appreciate it! Who's the best?"

Matthew straightened in the chair, wide eyes on the frame before he would answer that. "Is this...? 'We hereby recognize...as the...' Oh, Al!"

"You like it? Here, hang it up or something!"

Tentatively taking the frame, Matthew gazed at it like a man seeing the moon for the first time. "This makes it official."

"Yep!" Alfred jumped as his brother flew out of the chair and tossed his unoccupied arm around his back. "Whoa, hey!"

"You are the best! Thank you so much!"

"Your first royal gift! Straight from the King!" And dang, did it feel good!

Arthur was probably rolling his eyes. Alfred could almost hear it happening, but didn't check. Matthew turned a shy smile to him, and stuck out a hand. "You, too, Arthur. Uh, Queen Arthur. Thank you. If you ever need anything, let me know, okay?"

"Err...thank you. And you're welcome." Arthur brightened and shook Matthew's hand. Alfred pursed his lips over how easy that was.

Matthew couldn't stop grinning. "So, where's your papers, Al?"

"I don't get any. Not now, at least. There's going to be this big crowning ceremony in front of like, the entire Kingdom."

"Gods, that sounds..."

"A pretty big deal, yeah!" Alfred nervously chuckled. He glanced to Arthur, who just crossed his arms. "Got to train for that, too."

"Actually, Matthew," Arthur stated, "I think I'll take you up on that offer now."

"Oh, yeah, go ahead!"

"I want you to look for anything that you think can get this chain off of me."

Matthew glanced to Alfred, and affixed a tight smile on his face. "I-I can get started on that right away."

Alfred flapped a hand, nonchalantly putting in, "Actually, before you get to that, Yao mentioned something earlier about us heading to the sand pit? Says he got some team-effort plans to help us burn off lunch. You should totally come. Get some fresh air and stretch your legs."

Arthur slowly craned his head in Alfred's direction, pouring the hottest fires onto his soul. Matthew sputtered as he let out a bull-like snort from his nose, "I-I think I should stay in here."

"Nah, it's fine! I want you to join us, Mattie! It wouldn't be the same without you!"

Arthur yanked on the chain as he stormed away. "Whatever!"

Matthew cringed as Alfred tittered, egging on their Queen all the way outside.