The only problem with Alfred's plan of finding Arthur and declaring his love all over again was that he had no idea where Arthur would be. None of the history texts he had written or any of the stories told by the soldiers mentioned the exact location of the Fey Kingdom, only briefly stated that it was somewhere in the forest. There weren't even any clues to which forest that specific one might have been.

And that was why Alfred was currently standing at the fork of a crossroads at sunset, glaring down first one way and then the other. The sign stated that one of them led to the borders of the Kingdom of Hearts, and the other went on through Spades, back to the royal capital. He certainly didn't want to go that way, not after how long he had been avoiding the soldiers and mercenaries that his parents had sent out after him, but though the Hearts Kingdom had always been a close ally, he doubted he would find refuge there either. He only wished he had some way of finding all of the forests that dotted the Four Kingdoms, no matter how small, and searching through them one after another. Of course, that was almost impossible.

Alfred let out an irritated groan, kicking at the cobbled road beneath his feet. The horse he'd stolen from the festival snorted at him, and he turned his glare towards it. "I wasn't looking for your input," he snapped. And there he was, talking to a horse of all things. Everything was not going to plan. He sighed and rested his hands on his hips. The sun had nearly vanished over the horizon, and he would need to set up some kind of camp for the night. Riding in the dark had not proven to be a good idea.

Soon enough, a makeshift camp had been set up in the small patch of trees a little ways beyond the fork of the road. Alfred had been getting more than enough practice in setting up his cloak as somewhat efficient roof, building up a small fire, and covering himself in leaves on the cold night, though luckily summer was coming and there were far fewer of those than there had been. His hunting knife, which he was glad he'd thought to bring to the festival, concealed beneath his clothes, held some of his nightly fears at bay. He never did tie up the horse. It seemed to realize that he hadn't just taken it without any reason, and though it did offer its negative opinion more often than Alfred would have liked, it appeared to be willing to stay with him until the end. Even though it was just a horse, it was nice to have at least some companionship.

Alfred sat by the side of his fire, his knees drawn up to his chest as he stared into the flickering flames. The night was warm enough that he didn't think he would need to create a blanket of leaves, but even though the sun had set and he had no reason for staying awake, he found that he wasn't tired at all. The past several days of running from his parents and the long reach of their royal influence had given him a lot to think about. This was the most abrupt, wild decision he'd ever made, and considering his adventurous childhood, that was saying something. When he returned home- if he returned home- there was no way his parents would immediately forgive him or trust his choices. Trying to convince them that marrying Arthur was the right thing to do wasn't going to be easy.

And of course, that led to the matter of Arthur himself. Alfred had been so caught up in the exhilarating idea that he had another chance that he hadn't really thought through Arthur's likely reactions to him just showing up and declaring his love again. That would probably result in some kind of argument, maybe even a really bad one, and that wouldn't help him convince Arthur to give a relationship a chance. And besides, all Alfred was running with was the faint hope that Arthur still wanted him and hadn't moved on in those months apart. He should have thought of all this before rushing off without a real plan.

Time seemed to pass slowly during the night. Alfred sat there for what must have been hours, feeding the small fire with branches and twigs when it got too low, his mind racing with possibilities, some far worse than others. He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear the noises that began in the woods around him. They started off almost silent, slight whispers in the darkness between the trees, but as Alfred listened, he heard them grow ever so slightly louder. They were coming closer.

Alfred only knew one person who could walk so quietly, and though it was certainly not him, there was no doubt in Alfred's mind that it was a racial trait. He unwound his arms from around his knees and turned towards the shadows, stretching his legs out along the ground. "Hello," he said casually into the woods. "What are you both doing here?"

The sounds stopped. If Alfred hadn't been used to this already, he might have believed that he was alone, but as it was, he kept up his friendly smile and stared fixedly into the shadows. Finally, an unfamiliar voice broke through the quiet. "You heard us coming?"

"Well, I've gotten used to listening for it," Alfred replied with a shrug. He didn't mention that most of his time was actually spent listening for one specific pair of feet. "Eventually it's just like hearing anyone else."

"Gotten used to it?" a second voice demanded, and Alfred watched as a Fey stepped forward into the light cast by his fire. It was a woman, dressed in the hunting gear of a man but still obviously maintaining a graceful, feminine air. "How could you get used to it?" she went on, glaring down at Alfred. "No one's supposed to get close enough to a Human for that!"

Alfred shrugged again. "What are you doing, then? I mean, I think you're pretty close to me out here."

"That's entirely different," said the first voice. Another Fey stepped out from the cover of the trees. This one was male, though he was wearing the same kind of clothing as the woman. "You're the Crown Prince of Spades," he continued, his voice neutral even as he stared suspiciously down at Alfred. "We've been watching you for some time now, ever since you ran away. Our King was curious about what you intended on doing out here."

"Wait a second, wait, is that what they're saying now? That I ran away?" Alfred frowned. "What would I be running away from? It's not like my parents are out to kill me or anything."

"The general consensus among our people is that you were feeling too pressured by the whole marriage idea and ran off to avoid having to pick just one girl for the rest of your life." The female Fey's eyes swept across his face, sharp and cold.

That hurt. The very idea that a whole group of people would believe him to be some unfaithful, loveless, spoiled brat stabbed right into Alfred's core. He turned his gaze down to his hands, still frowning. "I'm not afraid of marriage," he muttered. "But I'm not going to marry some girl I don't love just so I can take the throne. That wouldn't be fair to me or to her."

"If that's the case, then what are you trying to do, running off like that?" the female Fey asked, her hands clenching around the wood of her bow. "Why wouldn't you go out and try to find the person you do love instead of ride around Spades so aimlessly?"

"Aimlessly?" Alfred said incredulously. Within seconds, he was on his feet and glaring at the two Fey, ignoring the arrows now pointed at him. "Aimlessly? Do you really think I would bother to practically steal a horse and be chased around by guards if I didn't have a reason?" A pair of green eyes and a burst of soft laughter passed through his mind, and Alfred's resolve hardened further. "How can you judge me like that? You have no idea what kind of person I am. How do you know I'm not out here looking for the one I love?"

The female Fey scowled at him. "Well, are you?" Her companion sent her a warning look, but she just shook her head and kept staring at Alfred.

"Of course I am!" Alfred's voice came out louder than he'd expected, almost a shout, but then again, after every disappointment and obstacle he'd dealt with for the past few weeks, there was a good reason for the tension. "Of course I'm looking for him! I've been looking for him every single second of every day since I left the castle. I haven't stopped looking for him. And do you know what? It's all because you stupid Fey don't have any maps or signposts or anything to help me find the way to your forest Kingdom! It's all your fault!"

For what felt like a very long time, there was silence, broken only by Alfred's heavier breathing and the crackle of the small fire. The Fey's expressions were still carefully neutral, but Alfred was beginning to mentally berate himself. That last part of his speech had not come out like he'd wanted. Making a point was one thing, but making an utter fool of himself was not what he had intended. The horse he'd taken seemed feel the same, judging by the stare it was giving him.

It was the female Fey who broke the silence first. "The person you love is a man?" she asked. Her lips twitched upwards in what threatened to be a smile.

"More importantly," the male Fey continued before Alfred could reply, "the person you love is a Fey?"

Alfred nodded slowly, warily. "Yes and yes. I'm not going to have to fight you about this, am I?" Even though he'd learned a lot from Arthur, he had no idea how these specific Fey would react to that.

"Fight us?" the female asked, surprised. "Why would you have to fight us?"

"Well, the man I love taught me about your culture and everything, but I just wasn't sure." Now the question sounded ridiculous. Alfred bit back a groan. "If I don't have to fight you, then, do you think you could let me get some rest? I still need to keep searching for your Kingdom tomorrow." Hopefully he would be allowed to end the conversation with at least some of his dignity intact.

But it didn't seem that the female Fey was going to let him go so easily. She strode forward until she was standing only about a foot in front of him, staring up into his face and smiling crookedly. "No, no, you don't get to pretend this never happened. You've got me curious now, with all this talk about true love and your secret, forbidden lover, and I want answers." She gestured towards the ground. "Take a seat, your Royal Highness, and let's get started."

"Angelique," the male Fey said sternly, "we were sent to follow him, not to ask questions about his love affairs."

The woman- Angelique- rolled her eyes. "I know that, Hong. But if he's sitting right here next to me and answering my questions, obviously we haven't lost him somewhere in the countryside, so I think this counts as part of following him. It's not like I'm hurting him or anything."

Alfred looked back and forth between the two of them curiously. Something about their features reminded him of Arthur, though that was likely due to the fact that he had never encountered another Fey, but their bickering reminded him painfully of the way he and Arthur had been when they were still friends. His chest ached at the thought, and he pushed it aside to focus on the two Fey in front of him. Painful reminiscing could wait until he was alone.

Hong seemed to give in beneath Angelique's unwavering stare. He sighed quietly and motioned for them to sit down. "If you so desperately need to learn about the Human's love life, fine, but don't expect me to join you. I'll be keeping a watch on the roads. Try not to take too long." With that said, he turned and walked back into the shadows.

"Yes, yes, fine." Angelique immediately returned her attention to Alfred. "Now sit, your Majesty, and I want some real answers from you about this secret romance of yours."

"Secret romance?" Despite his faint confusion, Alfred couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I think you've got the wrong idea. There hasn't been much romance yet." Still, he sat back down on the ground, watching as Angelique sat beside him. "So, what do you want to know?"

Angelique didn't say anything at first, just looked over his face again, though this time there seemed to be more curiosity than judgement. "Start at the beginning, I suppose," she said after a moment. "Who was this male Fey of yours, and how did you meet him? We're supposed to keep contact with Humans as only a final resort, so I have no idea how you managed to get to know him well enough to fall in love with him, especially if you don't know where our Kingdom begins."

"Start at the beginning," Alfred repeated. "Alright, but I'm not going to tell you his name." And so he started at the very, very beginning, back at the day where he accidentally came across Arthur in the woods. Sure, he might have accentuated a few minor parts, but Angelique seemed to be enjoying it and he didn't see any harm, so long as he wasn't actually lying. Soon enough, the story moved on to their meeting at the masquerade, and Arthur's magic, and then to that cold winter night, and the start of their friendship, the long days spent together, spent learning from one another, and then, finally, to the very end of it. "And he left," Alfred finished quietly, staring down at his hands and the flickering pattern that the flames cast upon them.

"He left? Just like that?" Angelique breathed out a heavy sigh beside him, and he watched her feet shift out of the corner of his eye. "That's horrible. I can't believe he would walk away like that."

"Well, in all honesty, some of what he said was true." Nodding slightly at his own words, Alfred looked over to meet her eyes. "No one would accept us. A Human and a Fey, getting married, and both men? It's never happened before. No one wants it to happen."

"But you're still out here looking for him." Angelique's lips quirked up in a small smile.

Alfred smiled back. "You're right, I am. Because you know what? No matter what anyone thinks about it, I'm in love with him. He's the One, I just know it, and I'm not going to marry someone else just because of a war that ended years ago and some old traditions. He didn't believe me when I said it, but I wasn't lying when I told him that I'd give up the throne for him. If he still wants me when I find him, I'll fight every single law in existance to keep him by my side."

Her smile widening into a full grin, Angelique pushed herself back up onto her feet and extended one hand down to Alfred to help him up as well. "I think I might have misjudged you, your Royal Highness."

"Just call me Alfred," said Alfred as he grabbed her hand. She was stronger than he'd expected, but then again, he never knew quite what to expect when it came to the Fey.

Alfred was just about to go gather some more twigs to feed the dying fire when Hong reemerged from the dark. He looked suspiciously between the two of them. Angelique simply smiled, and Alfred did his best to do the same, though it felt somewhat hesitant on his lips. Obviously Hong still did not trust him, even if Angelique had changed her mind. "Anything on the road?" he asked, just for the sake of trying to start a conversation, and immediately wished he could have taken it back.

Hong stared at him silently for a moment, then turned back to Angelique as if Alfred hadn't said anything at all. "Are you done with your interrogation, or do you still need to know more details about his Fey lover?"

"No, I suppose I'm done." However, Angelique's eyes narrowed almost instantly, and she shot a sly glance over at Alfred. "Though I would like to know the name of your mystery man."

Raising his hands apologetically, Alfred shook his head. "Sorry, I can't tell you that."

"Why not?" Angelique demanded. "We're not going to turn him in or anything. Come on, Alfred, you already told me your whole story, and I know Hong was listening even if he won't admit it. You can trust us." She caught Alfred's wary glance at Hong and sighed. "Hong won't get your lover in trouble, either. He promises. Don't you, Hong?"

At first it looked as though Hong was going to deny any and all promises of the sort, but as his gaze flicked back and forth between Alfred and Angelique, that stern façade broke somewhat. He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "Fine, I won't turn him in." His frown deepened. "Do not make me regret that promise."

Alfred looked nervously between the two Fey in front of him. He knew that he shouldn't give out Arthur's name to near strangers, but there was a large part of him that simply wanted to tell someone, anyone, so that he would be able to stop feeling as though he was committing some kind of crime that needed to be kept secret. Loving Arthur was no crime at all. But still… "You also have to promise that you won't tell him I told you," Alfred insisted. Neither Fey looked like they had any intention of keeping that promise, which he had expected, so he merely sighed lightly and shrugged his shoulders. "The man I love… His name is Arthur."

"Arthur." Angelique hummed slightly, biting her lips as she thought over the name. "That sounds familiar- Wait a second." Her eyes went wide. "You can't tell me that you fell in love with him!"

"With him?" Alfred repeated, confused. "I have no idea how many Arthurs you know. Maybe?"

"She's speaking of the librarian," Hong replied. Though his facial expression wasn't any more pleasant than it had been earlier, Alfred almost thought he saw surprise in there.

"Yes, yes! That's him. Arthur, the royal librarian." Alfred's mouth gaped open and closed for a few long seconds as he struggled to find what he wanted to say. Finally, he settled on, "You know him? How is he? Is he doing alright? He hasn't gotten hurt, has he? He hasn't said anything about me?" The questions threatened to keep tumbling out past his lips, a constant stream of everything he'd been wanting to know about Arthur for months.

Angelique ignored all of them. "You fell in love with him?" she asked again, as if that was the most ridiculous, illogical thing she had ever heard. "All of those romantic lines you told me about, you said those to him? He said all that back?" She gasped, one hand rising to touch her lips. "And then… It all makes sense! Of course, that's why he's been so irritable these past few months." Her eyes flashed with inspiration, and a grin began to pull at her mouth again.

"Angelique," Hong said warningly.

She ignored him too. "Hong, we have to take Alfred to the palace."

The burst of hope that exploded into Alfred's chest was so powerful that his knees shook. "Take me to the palace? Now? You're really going to?"

"No, we are not." Hong glared over at Angelique. "You know the law. Don't promise things you're not capable of giving."

"But I am capable of giving it," Angelique replied firmly. She crossed her arms over her chest, straightening up to her full height, which admittedly wasn't very impressive, and glared right back at Hong. "I never said it was legal, but if Alfred is willing to break all those laws to find Arthur again, I'm can do the same. You can't stop me."

Hong's glare intensified. "I can, and you know it."

"But will you?" she insisted.

Then there was some very tense silence in which Alfred looked back and forth at the two of them, waiting with baited breath to see what would happen. If Angelique won, he would hopefully at least be able to see and talk to Arthur again, even if he was sent away. But if Hong won, it was back to his futile searching. He shuddered at the very thought of having to return to that, especially after being so, so close to his goal. His heart thudded heavily in his chest as he awaited his sentence.

Hong broke the silence. "Fine." That was it. There were no apologies or threats or even any more words, just that one concise statement, but all three of them knew exactly what it meant.

Joy surged upwards through Alfred's body. He nearly shook with it, and before he realized what he was doing, he had picked up Angelique in a tight hug and was spinning her around in a circle. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he chanted over and over again.

"You're welcome." Angelique pushed at his head, laughing. "Now put me down so we can bring you to your One True Love!"

If the reality of the situation had not set in before, it would have right then and there. Alfred's face felt like it would tear from the force of his smile. He set Angelique back down on the ground after another spin and stepped away. "Are we going right now? We can go right now, can't we?"

"Of course, of course."

And they did. They left Alfred's makeshift campsite behind and began to walk, the horse wandering along behind them. Though the sky was clouded and barely any moon or starlight managed to shine through, both Angelique and Hong seemed to have no trouble in navigating the darkness. Alfred followed them as silently as he could and felt embarrassingly like a bumbling child. He was nearly twenty years old, and had been taught to keep himself hidden by some of the best hunters in the Four Kingdoms, but he was still much louder than the two Fey. The longer he walked, however, the less he heard his own footsteps, seemingly blending into the sounds of the night. The lack of the familiar noise left him feeling as though he was floating, but he refrained from saying so aloud. Angelique and Hong both looked very focused on what they were doing. He didn't want to interrupt, not if it meant risking his chances of seeing Arthur again.

Their strange procession wandered through the night, across streams and over hills, past fields of long grass and between the trunks of thick trees, deep into strange caverns and out again into the open air. There was no way that they could have passed out of the borders of Spades, Alfred knew that, but he had never seen any of these places before, at least not like this. He wondered if this was what Arthur spent his life seeing. How could Arthur be so curious about Human life if he grew up surrounded by such beauty? Alfred couldn't understand it. The sheer loveliness of everything around him left him breathless.

However, even as his mind whirled with thoughts of adventure in the night and exploration to find even more of this beauty, his heart was beginning to sink in his chest. This was Arthur's world, not his own. How could he ask Arthur to walk away from all of this? To marry a Human, and especially a Human Prince, would exile any Fey from the mystical beauty around them. But the very idea of turning around and going back to the castle, back to a life of duty and responsibility without his True Love, sent a stabbing pain through him. He had to see Arthur. Even if nothing came of it, he had to see Arthur again.

So on they walked.

A/N- And chapter six! Still no Arthur, but we're getting there.

Hong is Hong Kong and Angelique is Seychelles, by the way. I know it's probably not very clear in the actual story, but I'm trying to avoid major descriptions of any of the characters.

Hope you enjoyed! And thank you so much for all the reviews and favorites and alerts.