Time for the next chapter! Enjoy!
Chapter 3 : Dry Land
When it came to the Jokers changing Arthur, he would lose his ability to breathe in the sea so this was best done above the water and they decided to go to the same shore that Arthur had taken the king to as the starting point for Arthur to find him again.
"How do I return to Spades?" Arthur asked.
"Call me," Gilbert replied. "A less pleasant way is the same way your land-dweller will become a mer, the way Ace Matthew did." Arthur remembered how Matthew was when he was first found and he still had nightmares about drowning and Arthur really did not want to do that so, despite the fact he could still breathe underwater, he felt relieved that the surface world was now only a few feet above them and they all broke the surface of the water together. They were not far from where Arthur had taken the land-dweller and they swam to the spot and hid behind rocks to make sure that no land-dwellers were around before making their way to the shore where Arthur beached himself on his stomach in the shallow, lapping waves.
"I still think you should discuss this with the pod!" Gilbert said, again.
"Gilbert, we've been through this," Arthur huffed. "I have to find the king and they would stand in the way and tell me to wait for him to come to us but that could take years, if at all. I'll be fine and it shouldn't take me long to find the land-dweller. Convincing him might take a while but I should be back soon. We have to do this to be complete, you know that!" Gilbert sighed.
"Ja," he agreed. "But I still don't like it."
"Everything will be fine," Arthur reassured him and Gilbert and Peter looked at each other again.
"Yeah," Peter concurred. "Nothing will happen to my brother, even if he is a jerk sometimes."
"Oi, you brat!"
"Let's get started, ja?" Gilbert said before it all turned into a fight. "Peter, you needed to sing this with me."
"Yeah, yeah," Peter groused and took his place beside Gilbert.
"Like I said," Gilbert said. "This won't hurt but it will make you feel strange," Gilbert dug into the bag, salvaged form an old shipwreck that he had brought with him and pulled out a hand-sized sapphire as Arthur had been born a Spadian and both Jokers began to sing. The song was ancient and unrecognisable to everyone who heard, known only to Jokers, and light, like a mist, drifted from the sapphire and floated toward the beached royal mer.
When the light touched Arthur, he immediately felt strange in his hips. Not having legs, mers did not have any bones below that, other than an extended spine that ran down part of the tail and the tail itself was mostly muscles but the magic soaked into Arthur's skin and made his tail tingle as leg bones began to grow and the tail bone shrank as the tail itself began to split. It began at the bottom and went upwards as the bones grew down in the two new sections of his tail. The scales pulled into Arthur's body and revealed pink skin beneath and the flowing fan sections of the end of his tail rolled up and formed flesh that became lumps of flesh that ended with five smaller lumps of different sizes on each, resembling some kind of deformed hand. The top of his tail, where his new legs ended were topped with round, firm portions of flesh on his lower body but the front could not be seen with him lying on his stomach. Arthur watched his hands as the webbed skin between his fingers shrank, making his fingers look longer and could feel more tingling around his neck.
When the feeling ended, Arthur looked down at himself and saw two pale, skinny legs instead of his tail, staring at them in wonder and then he felt his neck to find that the gills were gone. He was a land-dweller! Arthur pushed himself on to ….. what were they called? Oh, legs! Arthur pushed himself on to the knobbly joints in the middle of his new legs and prepared to test them out.
He moved his right leg and put the foot flat on the floor and tried to get himself into an upright position. He wobbled and fell back to his knees but tried again and this time made it to both feet where he struggled with his balance to stay upright, not through lack of strength but rather a lack of co-ordination, after all he was not used to using legs and then Arthur looked down at himself and he noticed a problem. Exposed genitals.
Mers had no problem with nudity, they were pretty much nude all the time but their genitals only appeared when aroused and ready to mate or expelling water from their bodies whenever they felt the need, all other times they were tucked away in a slit within the confines of their tails and to show them at any other time was considered indecent. Arthur looked down and realised that he was equally exposed and put his hands over his private parts to hide them from view and wondered if this was why land-dwellers wore coverings over their bodies.
"Are you all right, Arthur?" Peter asked from the water and Arthur turned toward the Joker mers.
"I'm fine," Arthur replied and looked down at where his hands hid his genitalia. "But I'm exposed! I can't go among the land-dwellers like this." Peter thought for a moment.
"Wait there!" he ordered. "I'll be back soon." And Peter disappeared under the water.
Alfred had promised to rest for three days before venturing out but he was restless. He kept looking out of his window in the direction of the sea and the beach, not that he could see the beach from his window but something was telling him to get down there, that it was important. He tried to keep his promise but, finally he could not resist it any more, threw on some clothes and left his room.
Peter was back rather quickly. He had gone to the wreck of the Baltic and found a trunk of land-dweller coverings and brought back something to cover Arthur's body, a brown lower body cover and a white upper one. Arthur had a problem putting them on, it was difficult while they were soaking wet and the fastenings confused him for a moment but he managed so he was decently covered, although it was a strange sensation, wearing coverings.
Arthur was getting used to using his new legs, although he was still a little wobbly when walking and had fallen over a few times, much to the amusement of the Red Joker but he was encouraged by Peter to keep trying.
"How do you plan to find the land-dweller?" Gilbert asked.
"He must be here somewhere," Arthur replied. "I can find some land-dwellers around here and asked about the one who was found on this beach. I don't think he'll be too hard to find."
"But what if...," Peter began and then they heard sounds coming toward them. Arthur fell over in surprise and the other mers swam out to sea and hid behind the rocks while Arthur struggled back to his knees. It was then that Gilbert wondered if he had forgotten something but decided it could not be important. Footsteps on the sand could be heard and a land-dweller came into view. A land-dweller with sun-kissed hair and Spadian blue eyes and Arthur's own eyes widened with surprise.
It's him! This is going to be easy than I hoped!
Alfred ran down to the beach without really knowing why he was going there, only that he had to and his feet thudded on the wet sand. He rounded a group of rocks and came to a stop when he saw what was there.
There was a man kneeling on the sand, soaking wet. He was barefoot, wearing brown trousers and a white shirt that were too big but what happened to him? Had he been caught up in a shipwreck like he had? But he had not heard of any other ships being lost at sea and he did not look like anyone on the Baltic but that did not matter for now, he clearly needed help.
As he got closer, he could see more of the man's features. He had large eyebrows and looked like he was in his earlier twenties, had green eyes and blonde hair that was plastered to his scalp. He had a slender but toned physique that drew Alfred's eye as he struggled back to his feet.
"Are you all right?" The man looked at him in confusion, cocking his head at Alfred's words and frowning. It was as if he could not understand him.
Arthur watched as his future king came toward him and he was just as handsome as the first time he saw him, especially as he looked a little more healthy and wearing something strange in front of his eyes but he was disappointed that he could not see the King's Mark as the future king was wearing upper coverings and then he spoke. At least Arthur thought the land-dweller spoke but the sounds he created made no sense to Arthur, he did not recognise any of them.
"I'm sorry," he replied. "I don't understand."
The man continued to look at Alfred in confusion and then he spoke.
"Ack eeek," he said. "Ack chirp click." Alfred frowned in confusion. What was that?
"I'm sorry," he said and the man looked at him in confusion again.
"Ack eeek, ack chirp click." he repeated. Alfred shook his head, still confused and the man sighed.
"'Whistle' erk at squeal ick click?" the blonde man said, questioningly. Alfred had the feeling that the man could not understand him so could that be some weird language he was speaking? If it was a speech impediment, the man would at least know what Alfred was saying. To try and get around this language barrier, Alfred went for something simple so he patted his chest.
"Alfred," he said and patted his chest again. "Alfred."
Arthur tried to speak to the land-dweller but it looked like he did not understand Arthur any more than Arthur understood him and Arthur looked back at his King.
"What are you trying to say?" Arthur asked. The future king looked confused and frustrated and then his face cleared and he patted his chest.
"Alfred," the land-dweller said. "Alfred." Arthur realised that he was saying his name and he tried to replicate what he was saying.
"Al're," Arthur said but he frowned. It was not quite right. "Al're." He could not get his tongue round the name but 'Al're' just smiled.
"Al," he said and Arthur smiled.
"Al," he replied. That was when he realised that Al bore a resemblance to Matthew and Matthew had had a twin brother called Al, had he not. Could it be that Al had not died and this was him? It would make sense that Matthew's twin would have been born to be the future king if Matthew had been born the Ace. Arthur would have to find out and, hopefully he would have a big surprise for Matthew when he finally brought the new king back to Spades. Al smiled and pointed at Arthur and he realised that Al was asking for his name.
"Arthur," he replied.
Alfred smiled. They were making progress and at least got the blonde man to say some variation of his name but when he asked for the man's name, he could not quite understand what the man was saying but it was definitely a language.
"Arrtre," the man said and saw Alfred frowned. "Arrtre."
"Artie?" Alfred asked and the man shrugged. Alfred knew that he had not got the name right but the man was going to allow it. "Well, it's better than nothing." Artie suddenly swayed and lost his balance, beginning to fall and Alfred rushed forward to catch him. Artie fell into his arms and Alfred felt a warmth run through his body as they made contact and, as Artie looked up at Alfred, Alfred became lost in the emerald depths that held a hint of …... Alfred did not know but it was like Artie wanted him to do something and Alfred felt a hint of recognition as he looked into Artie's face.
"Have we met before?" he asked but Artie did not understand what he said and so did not answer. Alfred continued to look at Artie, trying to figure it out and could only think of one time he might have seen Artie before. Was he the one that had saved Alfred from the shipwreck but Alfred had no way of asking him, Artie did not understand his language. As he continued to look down at Artie, he saw something on Artie's chest, showing through the wet shirt. A marking of a black spade like the one on his own chest but, like with his long lost twin, Artie did not have a K in his, instead he had a Q. This could not be a coincidence and Alfred decided that if he was going to find out what that meant and, if Artie was the one that saved him, he needed to spend more time with Artie and he put Artie's arm around his neck to support him, taking Artie back to the castle.
When Arthur had fallen and been caught in Alfred's arms and he looked up at him, Arthur poured all his pleading for Al to recognise him into his own eyes but there was no sign that Al remembered him but Arthur remembered that Al had no been in the best of health when they first met so maybe Al had no memory or maybe the reason Al was wearing that strange item over his eyes had something to do with it, Al had not been wearing it when Arthur pulled him from the ocean. Never mind! Arthur would find away to explain who he was and how they first met and Al pulled Arthur's arm around his shoulders and began to guide Arthur away from the beach.
Gilbert and Peter watched from the rocks as the land-dweller took the Spadian Queen away with him, too far for them to hear what was said but it was then that Gilbert remembered what he had forgotten.
"Ah, Dummkopf!" he exclaimed, hitting himself in the head. "I forgot! He can't speak Land-dweller, that's going to be a problem!"
As they left the seashore and moved into the streets of the city toward the palace, Arthur began to notice a difference between the sea and the land and that was the smells. There was a fresh smell that came from the green stuff, like short seaweed that grew here and there but more unusual smells greeted Arthur's nose, some pleasant, like the building they past, out of which drifted a warm smell, cinnamon-like and sweet, as well as a smell that emanated from the new king. Not part of his natural smell but pleasant all the same, something on his skin. Not so pleasant was the smell coming from containers that stood by the sides of buildings, of something rotting assaulting Arthur's nose as the castle came into view.
Soldiers came to help Alfred when they saw him stumbling back to the castle gates with his burden, trying to take Arthur from him but Alfred refused to give Arthur over for which Arthur was grateful. He did not want to be separated from Alfred and was happy that Alfred continued to help him so the soldiers merely escorted them inside the castle.
"Your Highness!" Alfred turned toward the slightly scolding tone to see Toris coming toward him. "You should be in your room, you promised to rest for three days!" Alfred looked back at Toris, sheepishly.
"Yeah," he replied, like a little boy caught doing mischief. "I'm sorry but I had to get out and get some air. Good thing I did otherwise this man would have been without help." Toris turned and saw the blonde man, who seemed to have trouble walking, being assisted by Alfred.
"Who is he?" he asked curiously.
"So far, I only know that his name is Artie," Alfred replied. "He doesn't seem to understand our language and he speaks a strange one. I think he got shipwrecked and washed up here." Toris gave Arthur a good look and spotted something through the still wet shirt.
"He has a marking, similar to yours, Your Highness!"
"You noticed that," Alfred replied. "That's why I brought him back with me, I want to find out what it all means. In the meantime, I want him taken care of."
"I'll arrange for rooms and a bath, Your Highness," Toris replied. "I'm sure he'll want to wash the sea off him after such an ordeal."
"I want him close by me, I think," Alfred advised. "I think he'll be more comfortable being near someone familiar." Toris nodded.
"Of course, Your Highness," he replied and left to make the arrangements while two footmen came to assist Alfred with the newcomer. Alfred, once again, refused to relinquish Arthur and helped him to his chambers himself.
Arthur was ushered into Alfred's room which was filled with strange items and Arthur could only guess at their functions. Some of the items looked like you might sit on them, like mers would sit on rocks or for putting things on but Arthur could not understand what the large thing was that dominated the room. It was like a sleeping stone but it was almost perfectly square and it lacked sand. Instead, what sat on top of that looked like it was made of something similar to the coverings that the land-dwellers wore and was coloured blue which Arthur found very fitting, considering Al's destiny. In each corner was a post that supported a roof above the whole thing and more coverings stuff hung from the roofing and reached the floor.
Alfred helped Arthur over to the bed and sat him down on it and Arthur was surprised when whatever covered the thing that he sat on gave underneath him. He pushed down beside him and his hand sank into the surface and Arthur found it very soft and squishy. He started bouncing on the squishy thing, laughing, although all Alfred heard was Ack, ack, ack, ack!
Alfred looked at Artie, bouncing on the edge of the bed, making that strange sound and, at first, he was perplexed. It was like Artie had never sat on a bed before but then Arthur looked to him like a little boy who had discovered a new toy and could not help but smile. Then Arthur stopped bouncing as there was a knock on the door and it opened to show Toris at the door.
"I have maids airing the rooms, two doors away, Your Highness," he said. That put Artie next to Toris's chamber which were next to Alfred's. "A bath is ready for our guest and the king wishes to see you."
"Ughh!" Alfred complained. He had wanted to stay with Artie but when the king calls …...
"Sorry, Artie," he said, turning to his new guest. "I'll be back soon. Toris will take care of you while I'm gone." The only word Arthur understood was Artie and then Alfred walked out of the room, leaving Arthur alone with the stranger who had greeted them when they came to the palace that Alfred had introduced as Toris.
"This way, Sir Artie," Toris said, assisting Arthur out of the door.
"You wanted to see me, Uncle?" Alfred said as he walked into the king's study. King Alex looked up from the parchment he was perusing to look at his nephew.
"Do you know the meaning of 'rest for a few days'?" he asked. "And who's your new friend?" Alfred sighed. News travels fast around here.
"I'm sorry, Uncle," he replied. "But I just had this need to be out there."
"What surprises me is you went to the beach," Alex said, candidly. "After what happened, I expected you to be in the opposite direction."
"I know," Alfred mused. "I just found myself going that way. Just as well 'cause that's where I found Artie."
"Artie?" the king frowned. "That's the man's name?"
"Close enough," Alfred replied. "I don't know for sure, he doesn't speak our language."
"And where is he now?"
"Toris has arrange rooms for him," Alfred said. "Uncle, I think …..well, I think this is the guy that saved me."
"How can you know for sure?"
"I can't," Alfred replied, honestly. "But perhaps if I spend some time with him, I might find out." The slight blush on Alfred's cheeks did not go unnoticed by King Alex so it was clear to him that his nephew for developing a crush on the stranger but he did not know if he liked this or not. He had not even met the stranger yet and the alliance with Mertoris could be beneficial but, on the other hand, he wanted his nephew to be happy, something he had not been for a long time. There were times when he seemed happy but Alex could always see the sadness lurking deep within Alfred's blue eyes and sometimes, the happiness he was showing was fake, a façade to hide the grief that had never left him. If this stranger could drive that away, it would be worth sacrificing the alliance.
"Very well," he said. "Spend time with the man, see if it is him. If it is, we own him much. Maybe we can find out why he didn't stay around." Alfred silently admitted that he would like to know the answer to that himself.
Arthur was fascinated with the large container full of water, warmer than any he had ever felt, and with the bubbles that floated on the surface that he picked up with his fingers and blew into the air and watched as they floated about before they burst. It felt strange not having water in his mouth all the time so he put his hand into the bath, scoped up some and brought it to his mouth to taste the water, distracting Toris who was trying to remove the upper body covering that had dried against his skin. The water tasted bad, some foreign taste stung Arthur's tongue, making him gag and spit the water out while Toris rushed to get him some clean water, confused as to why their new guest had tried to drink the soapy bath water and helped Arthur gulped the clean water down. It was missing the salt but it helped clear the foul taste from Arthur's tongue. He could feel moisture on his upper covering where the water had escaped both the glass and his mouth and he relished the familiar feel of moisture against his skin again. It was a strange sensation being dry but he could still feel the salt on his skin and in his hair which was a comfort.
Toris managed to unbutton the upper covering but stopped when he opened it and Arthur found Toris staring at his Queen's mark. Toris had assisted Alfred many times when he bathed so he was well-acquainted with the mark that sat over Alfred's heart and, even though Alfred had told him that Sir Artie had a similar mark, to see something so familiar on a complete stranger …... Toris shook his head continued to help Sir Artie but when he reached to undo Sir Artie's trousers, the blonde man shot back so hard, he fell over.
Arthur wondered why the brown-haired land-dweller had been reaching for his lower covering and then he realised that he meant to remove it and Arthur moved back so fast that he lost his balance and fell down. Toris looked confused by his reaction but Arthur could not expose himself. The upper covering was no problem, there was nothing on his upper body that was indecent but, in his land-dweller form, Arthur had no way to hide his genitalia without the covering and he was shocked that the land-dweller wanted him to expose himself.
Toris was surprised by Sir Artie's reaction. Other than the bath incident, he had had no problem removing Sir Artie's shirt but when he reached for Sir Artie's trousers, the man reacted like Toris was coming at him with a dagger and now he was looking up at Toris with an disgusted look, like Toris had done something offensive. Was the man prudish about undressing before others? But Sir Artie had had no problem with the shirt ...
Toris wondered if he had committed some kind of cultural taboo, that it was forbidden for anyone to see him naked but that did not seem right because, if that was the case, then taking off the shirt would have been an issue too. Was there something about exposing his private parts? That made more sense to Toris, he just wished that he could ask Sir Artie what he had done wrong. Then there was the sound of someone entering the chambers and Alfred came into the bathing chamber to see Arthur sat on the floor, staring up at Toris like he was a snake about to strike.
"What happened?" he asked. It looked bad for Toris but Alfred knew that Toris would do nothing to harm Artie so this had to be some kind of accident.
"I'm not sure, Your Highness," Toris replied. "Sir Artie was fine when I removed his shirt but when I tried to remove his trousers, he fell, moving away from me. I don't think he wanted to be seen completely naked." Alfred thought that maybe Toris was right. He had assisted Alfred with his baths before so Alfred was all right with the nude state in front of Toris but he would not be with a complete stranger so it made sense that Artie might object. He went to Arthur and held his hand to help Arthur back to his feet and he wondered how to explain to a man that did not understand him. His eyes were drawn to Arthur's bare chest, which was not broad but toned, and more especially, to the mark that mimicked his own. He shook his head and turned to the problem at hand. How to explain to Artie to get in the bath when he did not understand them.
"Artie," Alfred said to get his full attention. "We'll leave. (He indicated to Toris and himself and them pointed to the door) You get undressed and get in the bath (He pointed to Arthur and mimed taking off his trousers, then made motions to get into the bath) then we'll come back. (He pointed to Toris and himself again, pointed back to the door and then to the floor where they were standing) Okay?"
Arthur watched Alfred as he did his little pantomime and worked out what he was trying to tell him. They would leave so he could undress in privacy but they wanted him to get into the water. Why? Then they would come back. Arthur supposed that the soapy bubbles would cover him and he nodded his agreement.
"Okay, Toris," Alfred said. "Let's give Artie a moment of privacy." And both men left while Arthur looked at the bath with curiosity. Did land-dwellers really submerge themselves in warm, foul-tasting, bubbly water? Arthur shrugged. As long as he did not drink it, when on land, do as the land-dwellers do!
He removed his lower covering, feeling expose for a moment and stepped into the container with the warm water. The warmth actually felt good against the skin of his new lower appendages and he sat down in it. It was not large enough for him to stretch out his legs but it was deep enough to cover his nether regions and he gathered bubbles together to hide them altogether. then Arthur sat in the water, wondering what to do next.
Toris and Alfred waited outside in the main bedchamber as a maid built up and lit the fire before curtseying and leaving. Alfred was hoping that Artie had understood what he had mimed to him while Toris found the man that his prince had found very strange and as for that mark …..
"Your Highness," he began. "Did you notice his mark is almost exactly like yours?" Alfred nodded.
"I saw it through his wet shirt on the beach," he replied. "It's one of the reasons I brought him back, it made me curious."
"He's ….. a little strange," Toris said with caution. "He didn't seem to know what the bath was for. He actually tried to drink the water and his reaction to being undressed..."
"Maybe his people don't undress each other," Alfred replied. "It might have seemed strange, even offensive to him, although I admit, the water thing is odd. Maybe his people don't like bathing but he doesn't look like he's never bathed, there was no dirt under his finger nails or anything." The sea might wash away bodily dirt but finger nails would be a different thing and his skin looked healthy. "Maybe we'll learn to understand him and he can explain everything to us." Toris hummed, noting the fact that Alfred had it in his mind that Sir Artie was going to be with them for a while.
"I wonder if he's in the bath yet," Toris mused. Alfred knocked on the door.
"Artie!" he called out. "We're coming back in." Alfred opened the door slowly so that Arthur could give out a shout if he was not in the bath yet. When no shout came, Alfred and Toris entered the room to see Arthur sat in the soapy water of the bath and Alfred smiled at the cute scene of Arthur surrounded by bubbles.
"There," Alfred said. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Arthur just cocked his head at him as Toris came toward the bath.
"We can get started now, Sir Artie," he said with a friendly tone. "Let's start with your hair." It felt familiar and comforting when Toris poured water over his hair but strange when he poured something thick but with a pleasant smell over it and began rubbing it into his scalp. Strange but oddly soothing, similar to when his palace attendants would run their hands through his hair to dislodge any seaweed or small sea creatures that got tangled up in it. Alfred had mimed keeping his eyes close while Toris did this so Arthur did that and almost fell asleep as the scalp massage lured him into a drowsy contentment.
Toris brought over a jug of fresh water to rinse the shampoo out of Sir Artie's hair, flattening it against his scalp. Sitting and watching, Alfred found it strange that Artie's first reaction was not to rubbed the water out of his face as Toris move on to cleansing Artie's body. As each body part was washed, Alfred found his mouth going dry. Artie was wiry but with well defined muscles, covered with pale, soft looking skin and Alfred itched to touch it. Toris had finished washing Artie and Alfred realised that he had just sat through another man's bath and he blushed. Then came the next problem. Getting Artie out of the bath while preserving his modesty.
Toris completed his strange ritual of rubbing Arthur's body with a cloth after finishing pouring water over his head, washing out the strange substance that Toris had rubbed in and Arthur had wondered what it had been all about. Then Toris stepped away and picked up some covering that was just a large piece that he held out in front of him. Then Toris and Al averted their eyes and Arthur understood what to do. He stood up and took the covering, wrapping it around his waist to hide his nether regions. Toris looked back at him and smiled before helping him out of the water filled container and he went for another piece of covering that he used to rub over Arthur's hair and then rubbed over his body, absorbing the water.
Arthur raised his hand to his nose and smelt his skin which now carried a smell that was not unpleasant but the smell of salt-water was now missing, making Arthur feel a little homesick. Toris finished rubbing him with the covering and they all moved into the bedchamber where some coverings were waiting on the bed. Toris picked one of them up and it was a lower covering that were thinner than the one Arthur had been wearing and Toris helped Arthur put them on and he was able to discard the covering around his waist and Toris put the other covering on him, an upper covering. Both were a little big on him and very light but he was not exposed.
Toris guided Arthur closer to the lit fire, seating him in front of it and continued to rub his hair while Arthur stared at the flickering, orange thing in fascination. It did not seem solid but it gave off a warmth that left Arthur's hair mostly dry, Toris got an item that had many prongs in it and began to pull it through the blonde strands, not noticing Arthur's hand reaching toward the fire. Arthur wanted to find out what the flickering thing felt like. It got warmer against his hand as Arthur reached nearer, almost unbearably so. He was close to touching it when his wrist was suddenly seized by another hand and pulled away.
"What are you doing, Artie?" Arthur turned to see Alfred's shocked expression. When Alfred saw Arthur reaching toward the fire, he thought Arthur was just seeking more warmth but when he realised that Arthur was trying to touch the fire, he dove forward and pulled Arthur's hand back before he could burn himself. Arthur looked up at Alfred in confusion and Alfred realised that Arthur did not know that the fire could hurt him. Who did not know that touching fire was dangerous?
"Artie, you can't touch the fire!" Alfred said. "It burns!" Arthur just looked and Alfred in confusion so Alfred stretched his own hand toward the fire, pulled it back and faked a look of pain. A look of realisation swept over Arthur's face. Alfred was telling him that touching the orange flickering could harm him. Now Toris was staring at Arthur, at the man who did not know that you did not play with fire. Who did not know that? The message had hit home as Arthur stared at the fire with apprehension and even pulled away a little and Alfred nodded to Toris who continued to comb Arthur's hair. Like the head massage, it was soothing and soon, Arthur was yawning. It had been an exciting day and, even though it was not dark yet, Arthur was feeling tired and was nodding off. When Toris finished, his hair was pretty much dry and he guided the tired blonde to the bed and pulled back the covers, making Arthur lie down, putting his head on the pillows before pulling the coverings back over him.
Arthur had never known something so comfortable and he fell further into sleep as Alfred came over, rubbed his hair and said something that Arthur did not understand as sleep claimed him.
Alfred watched as Artie's eyes drifted closed, he came over to the side of the bed, ruffled Artie's hair and said, "Sleep well, Artie. I'll see you when you wake up." By then Artie was completely out. Alfred and Toris quietly left the room, Alfred giving the sleeping figure one more look before silently shutting the door.
A ship, flying the flag of the kingdom of Mertoris, sailed across the waves with a young woman, dressed in the best finery stood at the bow of the ship with her eyes firmly fixed in the direction they were going, in the direction of the Sea Prince, the man she was going to marry. Princess Erica had short blonde hair with a red hair-band and eyes that were blue, a shade darker than Alfred's. From the moment she laid eyes on the handsome Altheian prince, she was determined that he would be hers, despite her brother's attempt to reduce the time they spent together during Prince Alfred's visit. She had heard the whispers around the court about her. The King's making sure she doesn't spend too much time with the Altheian prince so he doesn't realise what she's like. Spoilt! Obsessive! Unstable!
She would show them! That's why she boarded this ship a few days after Alfred left, following him to Altheia. She would come back with Prince Alfred on her arm as her husband.
He was hers!
And enter the bad guy...girl...whatever!