Chapter Four

Everything was dark. The smell of death and decay filled my nostrils, causing me to almost wreck all over the floor. It's hard to see my surroundings but from what that lacks the other senses make up for.

The cold rough surface I'm being chained against to in a stone wall. It must have been a while because I ache all over and some of my limbs are starting to grow numb. But wait. Something feels very wrong. My body doesn't feel like mine. Something is very different, and hair is falling down onto my face and chest. Is this real?

Suddenly, a door that couldn't be scene before opened, pouring light into the room. It was only then that I could see that I was badly wounded and the hair falling was black, not blonde. The people who opened the door looked human enough with their plain looks and lack of expressions, but when they started to move forward their shapes slightly disorientated as if they had a glamour on them.

Their voices were even worse, sounding raspy and so evil it hurts my ears to hear it. But my body remained perfectly still as they come nearer. "Where is he?" one asks. But I say nothing. I just continue to look down as if I know but don't know who they are talking about. Is it me or is it not me? Am I really the person here now or is this someone else? What is all this?

Questions continue to form in my mind as the disguised monsters hiss and shriek, releasing their glamour long enough for me to see what's coming before closing my eyes...

Arthur woke with a start, sitting straight up in his bed before plopping back down in pain. It took him a few moments to realize he wasn't in a dungeon chained to a wall. There weren't any monsters there to get him. It had all been just a dream, a very strange dream. It kept replaying in his mind as he laid there waking up. It must be really important because he couldn't let it fade and go back to sleep. After a few moments what happened before he passed out crashed on him like cold water.

"LILITH!" he cried out. His sister, his sister. The person who was with him all his life, the one who protected, loved, and cared for him no matter what he did or said. The only person he ever loved was now gone, possibly dead. He couldn't bear the thought or the pain accompanied with it, so he left his bed and looked around the room.

It was heavily furnished for royal or noble stature with the finest wood painted with gold and silver designs all over. Some of it even had precious gems embedded in them. It was the most magnificent room he's ever seem. It was a shame he couldn't admire it further. He looked around the room before finding some suitable clothes and venturing out into the castle, holding his side as he went.

It was very painful but he was willing to deal with it as long as it kept him from thinking THAT. She was alive, she was alive. He was sure of it. He kept telling himself in his head until he heard a string of voices coming from a room. HIs pace quickened, desperate to find the source. One voice stood out amongst the others. The hallway seemed endless as he made his way to the two wide double doors at the end of it. The voices grew louder and with all his strength he pushed open the door.

Everyone in the room turned their heads to see their Queen fall to the ground after pushing open the door. Alfred was standing at one end of the table, while Yao was standing to the right of him. Alfred ran over to Arthur, kneeling down to help him up, but Arthur just pushed his hand away. "I'm fine! I can stand on my own. I don't need your help!" he exclaimed.

Slowly he rose from his position in the floor to stand tall in front of the people in the room. He wasn't sure who they were or what was going on but he wasn't about to let what happened go unanswered. "Arthur, you're badly injured. You need to go lie down and-" but Alfred was cut off by Arthur's yelling.

"I will not lie down! Not until I know what happened and certainly not until I know my sister is safe!" he yelled. A look of pain and worry crossed Alfred's face but Arthur turned his attention to Yao, standing there with a guarded look on his face. "I know that you have information on this. I demand that you tell me all that you know." he said to him. For a while, the room was silent before Yao left his spot and started to walk around the table.

"Is that an order, your Majesty?" he said.

"What?" Arthur was taken aback by his question.

"I asked if that was an order. Don't tell me you don't know."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?!"

His suspicions answered, Yao went over to a him and urged him to take a seat. Reluctantly Arthur sat in a chair next to Alfred who was seated once again in his own. Yao started to pace around the room. "Your home was attack by dark forces that have been plaguing these lands since before human life even began. A time when only dark and light existed in this world in constant balance before the humans caused it to shift and turn. At the present time we do not know where your sister is or where she might be. Our theory is that they are holding her captive until she tells them where to find the one thing they are looking for." he paused before looking over at him. "You."

"Me? What on earth could they possibly want with me?"

"Because you are the Queen of Spades."

Silence filled the room as Arthur processed the new information. "You aren't serious? For god's sake! I'm a man! A gentlemen! I can't be your Queen." he exclaimed, standing up from his chair slamming his hands on the table. Alfred slightly blushed and turned his head but Arthur noticed.

"Yes, you are. The birthmark on your chest proves it. Didn't anyone tell you what it meant? You're parents surely would have known. You sister should have as well. What has she told you it was all these years?" Yao asked. He couldn't quite grasp what it was that Lilith was doing with Arthur all these years. He should have gotten the mark at a young age.

Arthur's hands were in fists and he looked down at the table, raising one hand to cover the area of his chest were the mark was. "What does it matter? My sister is gone! You haven't done a bloody thing about it!" he yelled. His head was swirling with memories. She had always told him that he had it all his life and that he was very special because of it but she never told him why. Every time he asked, a look of panic and pain would cover her face and he would regret it instantly. He could still hear her say it, "I'm sorry Arthur. Lily doesn't want to lie to you so can you please just wait until I'm ready?" she had always asked him. Eventually, he had just stopped asking and, eventually, nearly forgot he had it in the first place.

Yao was going to push further until Alfred finally spoke up. "Enough Yao!" he said in a stern tone. Alfred put a hand on Arthur's shoulder trying to will him to calm down. After a moment Arthur did and Alfred addressed the men in the room. "Our meeting is finished for today. I need to be alone with Arthur." he said. The men stood in unison, bowed, before leaving the room. "Yao, you too." he said. The Jack sighed but left without so much as a nod of respect. Alfred never minded that. He hated being treated like a King anyway.

When everyone was gone he let out a huge sigh and started losing his shirt and slouched onto the chair. "Man, I'm not sure how long I could have lasted being in the same room as lose guys." he said, trying to lighten the mood. Arthur just slumped down in his seat and stared at the table angrily. "Look, it's not like we haven't tried. It's just you were our top priority. It wasn't until later that we realized your sister was nowhere to be found. To be honest, no one told me she wasn't there." he said.

"What is that supposed to mean?! You saw her! All those years ago you saw her and you should know that she has always been there for me! You should have guessed straight away that if we were not together then something had happened to her!" Arthur yelled. He knew he wasn't being fair. It's not like Alfred and him were good friends. They had only met once and he had only seen his sister for a brief moment in time. It wasn't enough to come to that conclusion.

Alfred was hurt and it showed plainly on his face but he didn't stop talking. "After you showed up bloody on the castle steps all I had on my mind was getting you inside and having the doctor take a look at you. You were passed out with a fever and a few wounds. You had been passed out for days but the next day I came to see you and you were in so much pain. It was like you were having a nightmare and you kept calling out your sister's name. The nurses said you had been saying it the entire time but no one told me. Only Yao and I knew you had a sister. That's when we started to look for her. It was even longer before we found out where you lived but by then it was too late. She was gone and there wasn't much at the house to go by. All we had left to do was wait for you to wake up." he said.

Arthur sat there in silence listening to all this with his fists on his lap. After Alfred was done he sighed and looked over at him. "I'm sorry I caused you trouble." he said, blushing a bright red. "...Am I really the queen?" he asked. Alfred smiled faintly and slung an arm around Arthur's shoulder. "Yup! Awesome right? Now the Spades has all three like everyone else!" he said. A brighter blush ran across Arthur's face and Alfred was worried he still had a fever until he spoke.

"So.. that means we..." he said but couldn't finish the sentence. "Huh?" It took a minute but Alfred finally got it and he blushed. He started laughing nervously. "Dude, don't be so serious. Come on, you need to go rest in your bed." he said, pulling Arthur out of the room and down the hall. He was told about it and he thought it would be fine since the Queen was usually a girl but it was Arthur... He wasn't sure if his heart skipped a beat because he thought it was gross or if he...

They made it too the room in no time and Alfred turned to Arthur. "Well, I uh, I'll see you later." he said and walked away. He didn't want to deal with Yao and he didn't want to run into anyone who would rat him out for ditching so he took his normal route to his secret spot. Arthur looked after Alfred until he was out of sight and then went inside his room. He closed and locked the door behind him. This whole thing only passed in a matter of hours. He was still very weak and tired but his mind kept racing. He laid down on the bed and finally let his tears stream from his eyes before falling into a dreamless sleep.