"Auntie!"
"You want to see me?"
Matthew smiled as the little girl, Katalin, reached out to Erika from where she was comfortably held in her mother's arms. Erzsébet chuckled as she spun the child in her arms and passed her off to Erika's outstretched arms.
"You're getting so big," Erika cooed as she got her wiggling niece comfortable in her grasp.
The child leaned in to rest her head on Erika's shoulder, glancing over at Matthew and staring at him, before pointing a finger at him.
"Mattie!"
"Hi Katalin," Matthew chuckled as he waved at her.
The child did not reach out to move to his arms, cuddling instead into her aunt as the Queen's yellow winter cloak was wrapped around the two of them to keep warm. As the others continued talking and cooing over the child, Matthew spared a glance behind the two Queens, where there now stood a statue of the child's namesake.
It had been exactly two years since the dreadful day where Katerina had died, since Arthur used the urn and was intercepted by the Aces. It had been about a year and a half since the sixteen Royals reassembled and promptly destroyed the urn, returning their memories and restoring them to their proper kingdoms. In that time, the four kingdoms had been able to fully declare peace once again, and begin rebuilding the villages and relationships that had suffered through the conflict.
There was still one matter that could never be reconciled. While Clubs and Hearts were able to make peace once again, Ivan and Natalya had yet to forgive Ludwig and Feliciano for their role in Katerina's death. The Heart Royals did make every effort to make amends, but the loss of family takes a long time to recover from.
Today's unveiling ceremony was only one component of the ongoing reconciliation. On the account of the Hearts Treasury, a sculptor had carved a beautiful statue of Katerina, now placed in the centre of the Clubs Royal Cemetery. The marble statue was in memory of Katerina, as well as all the others who were lost in a war caused by vanity, arrogance and ego. It would commemorate the lessons learned of how balancing family and royal duties is difficult for any Royal to do. Finally, it would serve to teach future Royals the price to pay for resorting to such personally harmful measures.
The ceremony had been simple yet elegant and beautiful, and even the winter weather cleared to provide a beautiful day with a layer of snow. Ivan and Natalya had been the ones to unveil the statue, pulling down the large green cloth from the statue for all to see. The Club Royals had been first to pay tribute and place flowers at the statue's feet, hearty flowers that were still in bloom alongside Imperial Lake at this time of year. Ludwig and Feliciano had been next to pay their respects, placing fresh flowers that had been procured and teleported by the Jokers from southern Hearts just that morning.
Following the ceremony, most of the guests had already gone back into the castle, where the Nodiff servants had already prepared a much warmer reception, complete with food and drinks that were normally saved for the winter solstice celebrations. Only the sixteen Royals remained in the cemetery at the moment, taking the opportunity to socialize among each other before returning inside as well.
Matthew was socializing with the Diamond Royals right now, all four of them at first before Antonio took his leave to go strolling with Natalya along the graves. The other two Aces had become particularly close over the year and a half, although nobody could quite tell what exactly their relationship entailed. Not even the Jokers could define it, despite teleporting the two of them across the Deck to visit each other on a regular basis.
Shortly after Antonio and Natalya ran off, Erzsébet came to join them with Katalin in her arms. The child had just celebrated her first birthday in the autumn, and lived full-time with her mother here in Nodiff. The Jokers were teleporting Basch here and back from Zorora a few times a week, so that he could spend some time with his child. The two parents were reportedly on good terms with each other, although any relationship status discussions were strictly behind closed doors.
Hearing his brother's laughter, Matthew glanced behind Francis and Basch to see Alfred chatting away with Feliciano, while Ludwig and Lovino listened in. Beyond them at the far end of the courtyard, Arthur and Yao were deep in discussions with Kiku, Roderich and Ivan. Ludwig and Feliciano were still keeping their distance respectfully from Ivan and Natalya, only talking directly to each other with other Club and Heart Royals there to mediate every moment, but the relationships were gradually improving over time.
An arm suddenly materialized around Matthew's shoulders, and he came back to attention to find that Gilbert had materialized between himself and Erika.
"Hi Katie," Gilbert greeted, poking at the child's cheek with his finger, "Do you remember me?"
"Gilly!" the child giggled.
"I can't believe she likes you," Basch scoffed.
"I'm just glad she's not exactly like her parents," Gilbert shot back as he retracted his fingers from the kid, his other arm still draped around Matthew's shoulder, "But that's not why I'm here. Mattie, can I steal you away for a minute?"
"Sure," Matthew agreed.
Matthew's vision immediately began to swirl as Gilbert teleported him away, before solidifying once again a few seconds later. They now stood in another section of the cemetery, one where the servants hadn't yet cleared a path in the foot of snow that had recently fallen, and where two other Aces already stood waiting.
"Matthew," Natalya greeted, "Thank you for coming."
"We're only waiting on Lovino," Antonio added.
Matthew felt Gilbert release his shoulders from his grasp, just in time to watch Lovino and Peter materialize just a few feet over.
"Here we go, Natalya," Peter said, "Let us know when you need us again."
The Jokers quickly disappeared, leaving the four Aces alone.
"So whose idea is this meeting?" Lovino asked.
"It's her idea," Antonio answered.
"Yes, I have a matter to discuss with the two of you," Natalya explained, "Antonio already knows about it, and it would affect all four of our kingdoms."
"What is it?" Matthew inquired.
"You've now all seen the completed statue of my sister," Natalya discussed, "The sculptor did fantastic work depicting her, it looks so much like her. He did so well, in fact, that I have decided to commission a second statue from him."
"Another statue of Katerina?" Lovino checked.
"No, of course not," Natalya corrected, "This new statue will be paid for by the Clubs Treasury this time."
"How does this affect us?" Matthew asked.
"This statue is quite unique in its importance to what has happened to us all, particularly for the four of us," Natalya elaborated, "I want it to represent the responsibility of the Aces of the Deck, and to remind future Royals of why the Aces exist in the first place. I intend to have it here, in the Aces section of the Clubs cemetery, though I haven't decided its exact location yet. However, given the circumstances, I thought perhaps a copy of it in each kingdom would be appropriate."
"That's a good idea," Matthew approved, "And who or what would this statue be of?"
"Antonio, if you please," Natalya requested.
Antonio withdrew a rolled sheet of parchment from his cloak and handed it over.
"She had the Jokers assist the sculptor in procuring this initial sketch," Antonio explained as Matthew unfurled the parchment, with Lovino watching over his shoulder, "They used their magic to summon the image of him as he was when he lived."
As the image was fully revealed to them, Lovino burst out in laughter, and Matthew restrained himself from joining in.
"Quite the unusual choice," Matthew chuckled, "It's not every day a man who killed twelve Royals gets honoured in the royal cemeteries."
"And yet it's only appropriate," Natalya justified, "We can't let the Deck forget his story, after all."
Matthew smiled and nodded as he looked at the parchment again and inspected the sketch. The subject was poised in an open stance, with a sword in one hand and magic flowing around the fingers of the other hand.
The subject of the sketch was Tolys Laurinaitis, the creator of the Aces.
THE END