Arthur turned around with wide eyes to catch the gaze of his observer – the heart that previously felt like it would jump out of his ribcage calmed again as he recognized the young maid.

"'Saw me'?" Arthur echoed challengingly.

"Yes! You were sneaking off to the woods to meet with your imaginary friends again! You're mad, you know that, right?"

"Yes, Angelique, so you've told me," he answered with a relieved sigh. Arthur had never liked the young girl; she was two years younger and always getting on his nerves. Being a servant, you would think that she'd show more respect towards her future Queen, but unfortunately for Arthur, Angelique didn't know about his significant role.

She'd been brought into the castle at an early age when one of the maids found her abandoned on the streets, and had since then been trained as a maid. She had not been told about Arthur's title since she went to a public school in the city, and the maids were extra careful not to utter his title in her presence. The princess himself hadn't minded this at first, but it was getting annoying how she'd sometimes insult him as if he was of lower standards than her. Sure, Angelique had been told that Arthur was an important person who should be treated with respect, but she rather imagined him being a son of a council member than that of royalty. Where her cheeky attitude came from, nobody knew. "Is there anything else you wanted?"

Angelique seemed disappointed at the meek reaction and huffed first before shouting, "Your eyebrows are weird!" After that, she left the hallway in the opposite direction, her dark pigtails bouncing from her fierce walk. Arthur sighed and gave a hopeless shrug, his hand subconsciously rising to his eyebrows. He knew that they were unusually big and a few shades darker than his blond hair, but he didn't think they were that weird. Angelique was always teasing him, so he tried not to think too much about it – what she had against him completely escaped his mind.

And so, he carried on towards his room to retrieve a book and endure the rest of the dull evening.

"So, what do ya think? It's good, right?" Alfred was leaning over and watching intently as Arthur chewed on his first piece of apple pie. He'd brought the pastry in a small cloth and a fork to go with it. Arthur had frowned in confusion when he first saw it, but taken it all as a new experience with great curiosity.

"It's... different," the royal said, and that was just what he thought – it was different. He'd eaten apples before, of course, but never cooked ones. He just wasn't sure if he liked it or not; it wasn't like it tasted bad, but he still thought blueberry pie was better.

"Yeah, but do ya like it?"

"Yes, it's good. Your mother must be a gifted cook," Arthur said politely with a smile.

Alfred happily beamed back at him before once again lying down on the wall. He watched as Arthur ate with big and bright, blue eyes, and stayed quiet the whole time – much to Arthur's surprise.

Once he had finished the pie, they started talking again, though mostly it was Alfred telling Arthur about school.

Arthur thought it sounded like a nice place, but Alfred gaped in shock at him and insisted that he had no idea what he was talking about. Sure, it was fun meeting with all his friends, but he described the classes with absolute dread in his voice.

"-and then they force you to sit all quiet and read, like, for hours or so! It's so boring!"

Arthur was laughing as the boy continued his rant. They seemed so different and yet so alike.

"Hey, don't laugh! It's murderous, I swear!" Alfred tried, but he too was chuckling. "Trust me, you wouldn't survive a day."

"Pardon me; I'm sure I'd manage better than you!"

"Ha-ha, no way, dude! You'd be screaming out of pain after the first class."

"I would not!"

"Wanna bet?"

"I don't see why not."

"Great! Come with me tomorrow then."

"Oka- wait... What?"

"Come with me to school tomorrow," Alfred repeated. "You can't prove nothin' if you don't."

Arthur received a meaning look from the other boy and he felt himself swallow in distress. How did he manage to get trapped so easily? He really needed to keep his guard up better, but everything just flowed so naturally, he'd forgotten himself and slipped... a lot. His reasonable self told him that he should without doubt call the bet off, it could only bring trouble anyway. His selfish self, on the other hand, was filled with exaltation to accept. Nobody knew about him, after all, so what hurt could one day do? "Well... I..."

"C'mon, Artie! I know you said you couldn't cross, but can't you, like, sneak out or somethin'? It'll be fun, I swear! Or at least more fun than it is now... it's torture, after all," Alfred said with a light chuckle and grabbed Arthur's hands from where he lay, upside-down, and tilted his head to the side in a pleading way. "Please, Artie? Pretty please?"

He looked like some sort of abandoned animal, Arthur concluded, and couldn't help but melt at the sight. "Sure... Yes, I'll come." 'Damn,' he thought, 'I'm too weak.'

"Really? Awesome!" Alfred exclaimed and sat up. He drew in a breath through his nose which somehow seemed to fuel his grin. "I'll hurry there and say you'll be visiting then, okay?"

"Oh, right, but I'm not sure if I can get away... I have classes myself."

"Aww, can't you say you're sick or somethin'?"

"I suppose I could try," Arthur replied hesitantly. The thought of lying to Yao wasn't exactly the most tempting one. He'd always been told to tell the truth less someone – like the Jack – told him not to, and that rarely happened. This might be his only chance to get a real feeling of the outside world though, and that wasn't an opportunity he was going to miss.

"Great! I'll meet you here tomorrow then? Eight o' clock? School starts at nine but I'd like to show you around first," Alfred said, grin intact, before jumping off the wall.

Arthur nodded and waved the boy goodbye. It was first after Alfred had disappeared from sight that his situation dawned upon him. 'What the bloody hell did I just agree on?'

The next morning, Arthur told his maid he was not feeling very well, and she ran off to cancel his lessons and inform the Jack. The princess was usually woken up at seven o' clock so he had one hour to get to the wall. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

Arthur jumped out of bed and quickly made his way towards his closet where he grabbed a casual, white linen shirt and brown slacks, before pulling out other random garments that would work as his replacement under the covers. He had told his maid that he wanted to sleep undisturbed in order to rest up, so neither she nor the other servants would visit him during the day. The royal had a golden bell in which he would ring if he needed something – that sound was directly connected to the kitchen, servant quarters, and other places where the servants might be during the day.

After changing into the more casual outfit and tucking in the other clothes under his duvet – a failed attempt at replacing his own sleeping form – he went out on his balcony to check for the ideal way to make his little escape. He was on the third floor and he doubted he could use the climbing plants growing up the walls to get down, as they definitely wouldn't carry his weight. Directly below him was the Queen's Garden and just at the end of it was a botanical maze with tall bush walls. If he made it there he would be shielded from view and able to reach the Holy Woods unnoticed, which was where one of the maze's ends led. In order to get there, however, he would have to go through the castle. 'Bullocks.'

Why hadn't he planned this better?

Arthur quietly walked out of his bedchamber to enter his private living room. He stopped himself from leaving the Queen's chambers, however, and went back to his closet to retrieve a black cloak before walking to the door again. Even though the cloak would make him rather suspicious lest someone saw him, the royal liked the feeling of having something to cover himself with – he'd feel overly exposed without it, he figured. So with the garment securely tucked around him, Arthur peeked out in the hallway, before hastily tiptoeing down it. He'd need to be fast if he wanted to keep his trip a secret.

Arthur made sure to avoid the main hallways where the servants usually walked, and stuck to the smaller and more sheltered corridors. There were a few spiral staircases which he could take, but he was also forced to go down the Grand Staircase of the Eastern Wing. It was a huge flight of stairs, every other step altering between glass and sapphires. Its railings were made of silver with flourish gold engravings that ran down its sides. The whole thing almost appeared to be glowing in the lights of crystal chandeliers hung above it and was one of the most well-known structures from the castle – and one of the things Spades was proud to show off to the other nations when they visited. The western and northern wings also had quite impressive staircases and constructions, of course, but since the royals' quarters lay in the eastern wing, it was naturally the one that was most embellished. Arthur had always admired the stairs and could be found sitting there reading for hours when he was younger – that was before he made his friends in the woods. Now, however, the massive flight of stairs would likely become his death trap.

The princess warily peaked down the stairs from the corner of a branched off hallway. Two maids were chatting lively and slowly making their way up. Arthur recognized one of them as Svea Andersson, a tall and blonde woman who despite her stoic and reserved personality was surprisingly kind and good with children; she'd always been one of the princess' favourite maids. Arthur had been told that she was originally from Ace and still had family over there, but he'd never asked her, so he wasn't sure.

The other maid was actually the only one talking – though doing so quite enthusiastically. She was a local girl called Chun-Yan, who had been serving in the castle for years before Arthur's birth – though she didn't look old at all. She had dark auburn hair put up in two buns on each side of her head and kind, brown eyes. There were rumours about her being related to the Jack because of their identical features and her unknown surname, but they didn't act familiar around each other, and not everyone believed it to be true – Arthur being one of those who didn't.

The future Queen franticly looked around for a place to hide. His eyes settled on a window with thick curtains that could be pulled over as a cover. The royal skipped over and climbed up on the window frame, drawing the fabric over. He spared one glance backwards and was relieved to see that the small courtyard below was empty. The voices of the two maids – or maid, since Chun-Yan was the only one talking, Svea only humming from time to time – grew closer and Arthur held his breath. It felt to the royal as if the two servants were walking in slow-motion, but they soon passed, and Arthur could breathe out. He made sure no one was nearby before hastily walking back to the Grand Staircase and running down it.

He narrowly managed to avoid a few more persons he was dangerously close to encounter, but in the end, he made it to the Queen's Garden unnoticed. He looked around, and when confirming that no one was watching, ran across the slim path and jumped over a couple of flowerbeds into the maze. The labyrinth actually only accounted for a small part of the entire garden – the other ends of it led to the bigger division of it – but Yao wanted to keep an eye on him – at least somewhat – and therefore only allowed Arthur to be in the smaller section as well as the Holy Woods.

The princess had spent many hours exploring the maze in his younger days and was fortunately able to navigate his way through the network of bushes easily. As he reached the end of the labyrinth he checked his pocket watch. Twenty minutes left until Alfred would meet him. Arthur started a slow stroll and finally allowed himself to relax.

He couldn't believe what he was doing. It was against everything he'd been taught and extremely foolish. Yet, Arthur couldn't help the thrilling feeling that filled him at the thought. It was like adrenaline for the brain, something that made his hands twitch with excitement and left him with an overwhelming urge the run. Run not only because of the paranoia of being caught, but because his veins were being filled with a foreign and uncontrollable feeling that made him want to burst. Just burst and release all that energy building up. And when seeing that nothing actually kept him from it; he took a deep breath and ran. Arthur had never run like that before, ever. He stumbled on some roots that were sticking up but managed to stay on his feet, just relishing in the wonderful feeling of stretching his legs properly and the wind that blew through his blond hair. Laughter soon filled his lungs, and he struggled to keep an even intake of air through joyful gasps. Trees, bushes, stones, creatures; he passed them all by at an incredible speed – according to Arthur – and when he finally reached the wall he was panting like a madman.

"Hi, Artie! Are you okay, dude?"

Arthur smiled up at his friend who also appeared to have arrived early. Alfred was sitting on the wall and dangling his legs while watching him amusedly. The morning sun that sneaked its way down past the intensely green foliage of the treetops was bathing the boy in gold, generously sweeping over his features and making them shine.

"Yes, quite," Arthur answered, eyeing his friend in astonishment as he slowly walked over.

"Ah, that's good then. I almost thought somethin' was chasing you at first," Alfred grinned back at him. "So, are ya ready?"

The princess nodded in reply and grabbed the hand that had been extended to him. Alfred hauled him up easily with impressive strength for his few years. "Right, let's go!" he said, and before Arthur knew it, the other boy was standing firmly on the ground by the side of the wall and looking expectantly up at him.

The young monarch followed, but stumbled as he hit the ground. Alfred was quick in grabbing him, however, so there was no damage done. The still-grinning boy led the way through the labyrinth of trees with Arthur trailing just behind. "So we'll need to go over the church's grounds at first, of course, and then it's a pretty easy way through town. My school lies just at the borders of the eastern district, so it's right next to the canal. It's real pretty there! We sometimes make these small boats out of wood and follow them down the canal. We need to grab 'em before they reach the harbour, of course. Dad always told me that it could be dangerous because it is... hectic, he said, down there, so it is no place for us to play. I usually help out there though, so most people around there know me! They all treat me really nice, but some just does that 'cause of my dad. I think he's told 'em to look after me while he is gone... Or I heard him say it, actually. He thought I was sleeping on the docks, but I never sleep at work! Resting is not the same as sleeping, right?" Alfred finished his small speech with a sigh and looked back at Arthur. "We should go to the harbour, too, after school! I just gotta show it to you – it's real' beautiful!"

"That would be lovely," Arthur replied with a chuckle. Alfred had no idea how many times the future Queen had already been there – already been there and admired its lively nature and beauty.

"When do you need to be home, by the way?" Alfred asked after they'd walked for a short while – or what felt like an eternity to Alfred – in silence.

"I need to be home by dinner... so I must be at the cas- wall at about five o' clock latest," he answered, feeling nervous at his small slip.

Alfred seemed to look past it though and just nodded smilingly at him before turning his gaze to the invisible route again. "That should be enough time!"

A few moments later, their surroundings started to grow thinner until they completely disappeared and a large building revealed itself. It was the church – a structure made not out of stone, but small wooden panels shaped as scales, dyed in the four primary colours. It was a rather colourful building, but not disturbingly so. Even though the four colours normally would cut and strongly contrast with each other, the tones used on the church blended nicely together and gave it a natural look. Churches all over the world looked exactly the same when it came to the colour scheme. Even though religions were slightly different from place to place, the sacred buildings counted as havens during war and were absolutely forbidden to be damaged. In towns and cities where war earlier had raged, the only thing left standing was usually the church. A few additional houses might have survived the burning of the area, but the sacred sanctuary was always to remain standing. It didn't matter what country you were from or whether you were a simple peasant or highly ranked noble, all churches in every nation would accept you and let you in. That's why they were coloured in multiple shades – so that everyone knew that the building belonged to everybody, and was not allowed to be damaged.

Arthur eyed the church with wonder and let his gaze drift from the metal doors up to the clock tower placed next to the building. Engravings of spades could be seen in the gold of the clock even from the distance the royal was standing. That was just about the only thing actually revealing the nationality of the church's grounds, and it was also the only thing attackers were allowed to harm. As inconvenient as it was, the army usually carried clocks with their nation's emblems on with them when they were at war another country. They'd replace the church clock with one of their own kinds and thus signalling that the area or township had been conquered.

Arthur had always found the idea of carrying massive golden clocks when in combat stupid, quite frankly – they weighted an awfully lot, after all, and would likely slow the army down.

"Hey, Artie, this way!" The princess was woken from his thoughts as Alfred grabbed his hand and led him towards the gates of the residence. The brick houses of the city revealed themselves for Arthur's eyes and he felt a bit vulnerable when gazing up at the familiar yet foreign buildings without the protection of the carriage's walls.

"Oh, sweetie, I thought you'd already gone to school?" shouted the surprised voice of a woman. The two boys turned around simultaneously and found the figure of a lady standing at the church's doors. There was quite the distance between the actual building and its gates where the boys stood, so they were only able to make out a few of her features. Blonde hair held up on her head in some way and black clothing with two pieces of blue fabric that hung over her shoulders. It didn't take long till Arthur understood who she was.

"Hi, mom! We're just leaving now," Alfred shouted back and waved happily. Arthur stiffened and squeezed the other's hand in order to get his attention. He gave Alfred a meaning look that said they should leave, but the boy apparently misread it and turned back to the woman who'd now begun to walk towards them. "Oh, and this is Artie! He's my new friend!"

A/N

I know I promised more action in this one, but I got a bit carried away with describing stuff and I'd like to keep the word count around 3k :P Forgive me, please? *puppy eyes* I think you can all guess where they will be going in the next one xD (And if you can't... Well, then you're either really stupid or I'm the worst writer ever xD)

Anyway, three new characters (though they won't play a very significant part in this story): Angelique = Seychelles, Svea = Fem!Sweden, and Chun-Yan = Fem!China. They're probably a bit OOC, but as I said; they won't appear much, so let's look past it? :'D

Thank you so much to all who's read/alerted/faved/reviewed! It truly means a lot! And especially thanks to cigaretta! You have no idea how happy I was when I read your review! w I will reply to them when I get time, but I really need to sleep now ._.

Reviews are much appreciated (even if it's just a little one)!