Chapter One:
Alfred was bored. There was honestly no other way to describe the feeling. He was sitting at his desk, looking over papers, and it was boring, boring, boring. Maybe if he were normal, even a little bit normal, things would be different. He could have been a trader, or a knight, or something that wasn't so boring.
Thing is, Alfred was the King. And it wasn't exactly a job you could just quit. It wasn't that bad, if he thought about it long enough. He was important, he was looked up to, he was…something.
He just didn't want to fuck it up.
Things were usually a little bit easier. But his husband, his Queen, and—more importantly—his Arthur wasn't there to help him. Arthur was away, on a trip to Clubs for a few months. He was aiding King Ivan, His Royal Creepiness, to integrate magic back into Clubs. He wasn't alone—the Mages had gone with him, of course, and the letters that he sent contained reports of great success.
In the five years since their coronation, Arthur had come into his own as Queen of Spades. Maybe even better than Alfred did as King. Arthur was a Mage—naturally he cared about magic, and he was working closely to promote the support of magic in places were there was discrimination against it. Some places were not as tolerant as Spades, where magic was as normal as rain.
As Alfred considered these things, he left his office in the Tower of the King. He missed Arthur dearly when he was gone, but he had more important things to do than sit alone and sulk.
And right now, those important things had nothing to do with being King. Recently, another title had been granted to Alfred, one that he hadn't thought much about before it had happened.
And as he pushed open the doors to the nursery, he realized that he preferred father to King, anyway.
…
Until he was around seventeen, Alfred didn't think that he could fall in love. He just never thought it was even an option. And then he did fall in love, twice. First, with Arthur.
And then with Peter. The Prince of Spades, in his two-year old glory, was simply perfect. He smiled a lot, something that Alfred himself was said to do when he was a child. And he was so cute; with a little button nose that Alfred couldn't not pinch all the time.
With Arthur gone, Alfred made sure to spend at least half the day with Peter in his care, even if it meant that he would let Peter crawl and half-walk around his study and knock things over while he read those boring papers.
These times were precious to him, just a little bit of normalcy in what was otherwise so unreal, even if he had grown up in the stone walls of the castle. He refused to be like his father before him, he wanted to be involved in Peter's life. He wanted to teach him about something, help him. Alfred would never wish his childhood on someone else.
And he tried, so hard, to be good at this for Peter, and for Arthur.
Peter had said his first word when he was a year old. To Alfred's great pleasure and Arthur's immense embarrassment, it was "Mama," which Arthur tried to drill out of him before Alfred reminded him that he was talking to a one year old and that was his actual first word. Arthur let up, but it rained for a week.
Not long after that came "Daddy," and some other short words. Poor Jack Yao got stuck with "Meow," and Alfred still couldn't look him in the eyes a year later.
Recently, Peter had been putting together short, stringy sentences, and trying to speak to everyone in the palace who would listen. And as Alfred sat there, trying to work, and not really succeeding, Peter hobbled over to him in the awkward toddler walk, and said, quite proud of himself, "Daddy sad?"
Alfred picked him up and sat the little prince on his desk. "No, Peter. Daddy's not sad. Just a little tired, is all." The King kissed his forehead.
"Oh. Daddy want Papa back." Alfred blinked down at his son for a moment. The kid had Arthur's talents for observation, apparently. Also, Arthur must have gotten "Mama" out of Peter's head.
"Yes, Daddy wants Papa back." He sighed, in a very un-kingly manner.
But he was not moping.
…
Arthur mused about things in his absence. Like, for example, who was dealing with the household while he was gone?
The King certainly wasn't doing it. He was drowned in papers and affairs of state—Arthur knew how busy he was, even when Arthur was there to take on some duties. Alfred's mother had taken to retirement once they got the hang of things, and she expressed never wanting to deal with the craziness of the magnificent palace again.
If Yao was dealing with the state of the palace, he feared for his return. While insanely intelligent in all things diplomatic, the Jack was known to have a very short temper—something that Arthur had learned to control in his time as Queen. He only let loose on special occasions.
But maybe the palace wasn't what was really bothering him. Maybe he busied himself thinking of things that weren't so important.
Truth be told, Arthur wanted to go home. For all his adolescence, he dreaded home—home was where his brothers would taunt him; home was where he would be a disappointment to his father.
But now, home was different. It wasn't a stalwart fortress on a muddy river. It wasn't even the opulent palace in which he now resided.
Home was Alfred and Peter. And he missed them, dearly.
The Clubs Palace was a fortress that barely kept out the cold. It was short, not unlike the places he grew up in, and so very gray. He had been there for two months, and it was unlike any place he had ever been.
His mission was simple really—Arthur and his fellow Mages had to begin the re-introduction of magic into Clubs. At first it was very difficult. The people there were fearful of magic—after all, for the past twenty years, it resulted in nothing but a cruel execution. They had to tread carefully, and King Ivan wasn't much help. He had let them in, that was his help.
The Queen, Elizabeta, was the opposite. She had no magic to speak of, but she did everything in her power to aid the Mages in their quest. She had apparently known Toris, the Mage of Earth, before the great purge, when they were children. Elizabeta, and her lover the Jack Roderick, were hospitable. They were kind.
And with their help, slowly, ever so slowly, things were beginning to change in Clubs. The magic of the elements had gone into the land, bringing more food to harvest and less cold to the air. Somewhere, under all the snow that had refused to melt, was the rich green grass that Clubs had created a name of.
The perpetual winter was ending.
And, with the success in Clubs being as it was, there was no longer any reason to stay. He would be leaving within the week, on the long journey from Clubs to Spades, by boat. It would take weeks. Apparating there would be too tiring.
But, the long journey was all right with Arthur. He was used to boats—they were a family birthright. And better than that, he was going home.
…
He couldn't do it. He wouldn't do it. Would he?
Mathias was conflicted. There was nothing he could do, not easily. Could he stand back and let Matthew and Gilbert have their crazy way with a kid? Matthew's…
Nephew?
None of this made any sense. None of it.
He watched in horror as his brothers in Nowhere went about their lives. They would be part of this. They would put someone in danger for personal gain?
Mathias never wanted to do that.
And now, it would seem like he had no choice. What could he say? What could he do?
Was it worth it to leave, even if there was a way to leave the oblivion that was their home? To betray the only semblance of a family he'd ever had.
He had put up with Gilbert's crazy ways, but never did he think he would be used as a tool for revenge.
The problem was, like most things in Nowhere, the gray areas were far too big. There was no right and wrong to pick from. They lived a life balancing on the line of morally good and bad, lived as bandits and swindlers, but they also helped. They gave a home to the homeless, a family to the orphaned, the unwanted.
But, was this new idea crossing the line?
Either way, Mathias didn't know what to do.
Ah, well—looks like I'm gonna have to wing it.
He would make the right decision when the time came.
End of Chapter One
A/n:
I'm so sorry this took forever and a day forgive meeee.
Introductions are a bit hard for me. I know what I want to happen, but other things need to happen first.
Peter's adorable. Accept it.
Thank you for reading. R&R
Amanda
Ciao!
