~Spades~
What's all the noise about?
There are so many soldiers here today.
The river is blocked.
We can't work like this.
Didn't you hear?
Hear what?
The queen…
The queen has passed.
What?
He fell asleep. For a long time. When he didn't wake, he was announced dead.
The king is in sorrow. But he's still here to see him off.
Poor queen.
Indeed it is. It's an unknown cause. But I think we all know what did him in.
And what would that be?
Are you daft? Poison! of course.
Why would you think that?
Well, what else would it be?
Shush, the king is coming this way.
The whispers of the crowd reached the deft ears of the king. He reacted none to the people, and the people understood. Today was a tragic day. The day of the queen's death. The queen was a dear treasure of both the kingdom and the king himself. He did his best to protect their people, even in sickness and health. He was a brilliant man who respected all. Most of all, the king.
They were very close. At times people would see the king and queen play in the very river the queen is being sent off in. In those times the queen is always smiling, no matter it be raining or storming with snow, he would smile. The king, as eccentric as he was, would follow in suit, and just the same, smile and laugh.
It was sudden. There was no time for the king to understand what had happened, but he does not wish to see the queen go. No one did. The queen is not to be buried, but to be set as the sleeping beauty under the gazebo. He will not rot, for his beauty is too great for that. No. He will grace his people even in death.
The casket was set, and the candles were lit. The king stood by his queen. He took his hand in his. The warmth long gone, but still there in the queen's smiling face. He looked so peaceful. So innocent, and he truly was.
He just couldn't understand. What had his queen done to deserve something like this. Those perfectly carved features…the perfection… he knew why. It had nothing to do with whether his queen was innocent or not. It was the fact that he was queen that he became the victim of this tragedy.
He did not shed tears for the fallen queen. Tears will not bring back the dead, if it did then let this river be his tears, and the cries of his people be his own rage against the heavens, but nothing will change. War is upon them.
He turned from his queen and faced his people. The flames from the candles burned, just like his soul. The few words that fell from his tongue spread like wild fire. This is war.
"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"
Long live the queen… The murmurs of the crowd spread within themselves before it became a chant.
Long live the queen…! Long Live The Queen!
Night fell, and most of the kingdom is asleep. The children who don't understand what is going on are still childishly playing the night away despite their parents' lectures. The animals have long hibernated in their dens. Only the nocturnal come out.
Under the gazebo where the queen lied another awaits. Staring into those flawless features. The blonde of his hair shimmered despite the state of the body. It was enticing. As if he were still alive.
He extended his hand, a movement to try and touch the queen. To test whether the queen lying there is real or an illusion. He paused in hesitation. He didn't believe it, but what if it's real. What if the reality is no longer an illusion and this is reality. He continued despite his worries and instantly pulled back at the slightest of touch. It was just so unreal.
"He looks just like you."
Startled, the man immediately pulled the hood of the cloak over his head and turned away from the stranger.
"Or maybe you look like him." He continued. The other only kept quiet. "Of course I know it means the same thing." He chuckled. "You're free to take a closer look if you want. But looking at a dead corpse really isn't that pleasant no matter how beautiful he was."
The man sighed before extending his hand out to the other. "Pleased to meet you, my name is Alfred, and you are?" He asked, but the other just hid his face behind the hood even more, but he did speak.
"Of course I know who are. You are the king after all. But for someone like myself, to give my name is unworthy of the memory."
The king dropped his hand and a small smile crept up into place.
"You're both so alike."
The man watched as he sat on the edge of the casket towering over the dead queen. It was so unreal. It was like watching Sleeping Beauty being kissed by her prince. The feeling that the slumbering might wake at any moment swept through him, but this is a fairy tale. The queen is dead.
"Breath taking, is he? Almost like he's still alive. If only this fairy tale were real, and this sleeping princess of mine would come back to me."
He closed his eyes and shook his head waving those thoughts away. Because the queen will never return.
"… … Kirkland. My name is Arthur Kirkland."
The king smiled and looked up from his daydream.
"And the same name! So alike, yet so different. But a word of the wise, in this world of ours, things like a last name doesn't exist."
Arthur was taken aback by the nonchalant comment. A 'thing' like a last name doesn't 'exist'. In this world. And the dead queen in the casket…-
"So beautiful. As if he was still here." The king had taken that moment to get closer to the other. "If only I can make you stay. If only I can make you mine, then you won't ever leave. If only…"
"If only he was still alive." Arthur finished.
Alfred looked away. He didn't know how to answer. He was slightly ashamed to do something like that before the very body of the queen he loved.
"You miss him."
There was a short silence.
"No. I don't." The king wasn't lying. "It hasn't been that long. I don't miss him."
"But you do love him."
He nodded a few and sat down on the edge of the casket. Taking a deep breath, he answered while looking at his beloved queen.
"Yeah, lots."
He ran a hand through those golden locks.
"The night sky sure is beautiful tonight…" Arthur said.
"So beautiful," the king said ,never lifting his gaze from the queen. "It's almost too cruel."
A moment of silence fell between the two. Out of respect for the queen, or maybe there was just nothing to talk about. But it didn't last very long before the king spoke again.
"Please. Come to the castle with me. You must not have anywhere to sleep and there must be a lot of questions you want answered. I don't think I can answer all but I can what I can."
"No. It's alright I—"
"Please."
"…Yes, your majesty."
The king leaped off the casket into the water. With an extended hand he smiled at the other.
"Just call me Alfred, and in turn I'll call you England."