In a damp dimly lit room, a man known as the Queen of Spades was about to kill the person he treasured more than life itself. The two stood there, facing each other, one with a dagger in hand, the other cuffed and battered.

"Arthur…" Alfred smiled at him sadly. "Did you regret befriending me, knowing it'll lead to this? Did you regret bringing me food, and treating me more than the sacrificial lamb I was destined to be?"

"Alfred, no I just.." It was unfair. He was sobbing through his words, he could barely form a coherent sentence in his head.

He gave Alfred a chance to run away to a neighboring kingdom, to start a new life. But he got greedy. Arthur wanted to be with him as he started his new life. If only he'd just stayed in his own place, accepted his fate as the queen of spades and move on with his life without him, Alfred wouldn't have been found and the two of them wouldn't be dragged back into the palace. They wouldn't have to be thrown in the cellar, he wouldn't have to kill the person he loved so dearly, over what, tradition? Because tradition demanded a queen must kill a man when he's reached 20? He just couldn't accept it.

"Arthur listen to me. This wasn't your fault. It was just… Unlucky that we got found, that's all." Despite everything, Alfred still somehow had the audacity to let out another forced smile. "This was fate. I was always supposed to die in your hands on this day."

Alfred put both of his cuffed hands on Arthur's, their hands tremble as they held the dagger together, aiming it for Alfred's chest.

The boy he saw in a cage 10 years ago, the boy whom he let free and gave food and shelter to, the boy who became his only friend, the boy everyone in the castle- no, everyone in the entire 4 kingdoms warned him not to be close to, the memories the past 10 years came back to him in a flash. He knew, but he'd always hoped it wouldn't have to end this way. He'd tried his best to cancel the ceremony altogether, and it led them to this, his worst nightmare came true.

"I'm glad you reached out to me, Arthur. Thank you for making my life worth living."

Alfred plunged the dagger onto his chest, immediately releasing it with the little strength he had. His grip on Arthur's hands on the dagger loosening, his legs no longer able to support him, and all he could do was watch as blood stained the two red.

In a world where magic existed, in a ceremony that supposedly gave him more power than he could ever imagine… He looked down at Alfred and never felt so powerless.

Arthur couldn't remember the last time he woke up from a nightmare in cold sweat. No, that might as well have been the first time any dream of his gave his whole being such a reaction. Everything in his head still felt so lucid. The scent of blood in the air, the scene itself, Alfred's last words for him.

But of course it was just a dream, and it'd be foolish to treat it as anything more than that.

At least, that's what Arthur told himself to calm his still slightly trembling body. Rather than being terrified over what happened in the dream itself, the man's more confused why he had to wake up feeling all anxious about it at all. How absolutely foolish.
Arthur took a deep breath, wiped the sweat on his brow, and glanced at the clock at his bedside table. It was time to start his morning routine.

—

Spade Kingdom's royals were invited to Hearts' annual flower festival as guests of honor. something Alfred had always wanted to see, and he was luckily cordially invited that particular year. Sure, formally on paper it had more to do with strengthening the bond between kingdoms, but Alfred mostly took it as a chance to participate in the festivity. After some talk last week, they decided that only the king and jack should attend. He was a little bit disappointed but not surprised Arthur wouldn't be there with him, still it never ruined his excitement for the trip. It was practically a mini holiday for him and a mountain of work for Arthur while they were away.

"Good morning my Queen~!" Alfred practically shouted the second he entered the garden. "I'll be leaving for Hearts soon so I came here to say goodbye!"

Arthur only glared back, shooting a face that screams "must you really be this loud so early in the morning". They've had this talk before, more than twice in fact, that since the castle garden is very much 'outside' Alfred doesn't need to use his indoor voice and he took it as a free pass to... Not act very royalty whenever only the two of them were in these parts.

The castle garden. It wasn't anything too grand in size, it looked good enough from a distance that it adds to the castle's charm. Not to say that it wasn't well-tended, it's just a miniscule part of the castle compared to everywhere else where people come and go. A small edge of the corner not too deep inside the castle garden belonged solely to Arthur's own potted plants.

Alfred never really understood why Arthur wouldn't just order the gardener to water his plants too, he's the Queen after all- not really the man with the most free time in the world. Arthur said a bunch of things that basically went something along the lines of "I don't have time to educate the gardener of every new potted plant I have and I don't want anyone touching my flowers, you know some of these herbs could blind a man if you dilute them with hot water, you think I'd trust anyone with that?"

Nevermind the fact that the Spade Kingdom's Queen had a garden that houses dangerous rare alchemy materials; despite Arthur himself not doing much alchemy with them. Eventually Alfred figured watering them personally and watching them grow was probably a big "part of the fun" in gardening and besides, he'd always feel at peace with his stupid plants and herbs.
Except Alfred noticed Arthur was maybe feeling not so at peace at the moment.

"Arthur you feeling ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Arthur only scoffed.

"You look a little out of it, 's all." He took a step closer to take a good look at his face, squinting before finally adding, "Like you didn't get enough sleep."

"I'm perfectly fine, and you should be leaving."

"Wow, rude."

Arthur knew Alfred had to leave to go to the Hearts Kingdom without him for a week that day, and the carriage taking him there had been ready since dawn. Yao was probably on his way to the garden at the very moment to drag him there if Alfred plans to linger longer. It still made him feel a little bad how hard he was pushing Alfred away considering how considerate and concerned, he was being.

"If you must know." Arthur caved in and sighed putting away his watering can and gloves aside, figuring it was faster to give a clear answer than make him leave. "I had a nightmare, that's all. I feel sluggish but it isn't the end of the world, so stop worrying."

As embarrassing as it was to admit to someone (Alfred, of all people) last night's dream had an effect on him, the last thing Arthur wanted was an unfocused king at a meeting with the strictest of all kings, the King of Hearts. Arthur half expected Alfred to make a small joke or shrug it off in response, but he did none of that.

"What's it about? You wanna talk about it?"

"You really ought to be going, we can talk about it once you're back."

"A week from now?!"

"Absolutely a week from now, I told you it's not a big deal." At this point Arthur was more than tempted to just drag Alfred up to the front gate. He's surprised Yao hasn't interrupted their conversation yet.

"What if it's like a premonition or something, shouldn't I know about it since I'm the King?" Alfred pouted, he thought it was only fair that he should be worried. He never understood magic and he probably never will, however he's learned enough in history books to know that seeing visions of the future through dreams isn't out of the ordinary for the queen of Spades.

He knew from childhood that Arthur had always been able to see and talk with the supernatural, but it was only 3 years ago that he'd gotten through a certain Spade Kingdom tradition that every Queen would have to go through as soon as they reach 20 years of age. The purification ceremony, or so it's called, supposedly enhances the queen's magical capabilities; however, to what extent differs per person. Arthur didn't act any different than he was before or after the ceremony. He distinctly remember Arthur brushing it off saying "all I did was bathe in rose-scented water".

At that point it was more of a formalities for the "good of the kingdom" than a sacred tradition. Still, a part of Alfred wondered if his queen really did gain some newfound powers that no one's noticed. It wasn't like Arthur'd been using high-intense magic on a day-to-day basic, he's got paperwork to do.

As much as Arthur hated to admit it, he understood where Alfred was coming from, but he was still very much wrong to think that it's anything more than a dream.

"No, that wasn't a premonition and no I can't see the future through dreams."

"How would you know for sure though? It hasn't happened so you can't prove you can't have premonition powers!"

"It isn't a premonition because-" Arthur paused, and Alfred saw his face tense up a bit, before continuing in a low voice, "Because in the dream, you looked like you were still in your teens."

"…Arthur…"

Alfred's used to arguing with Arthur; how couldn't he, he could be an annoying prick who's practically asking for it sometimes. He's the man he knew all his life and more years to hopefully come, And yet, he didn't have anything else to say to that. He knew Arthur was still somewhat bothered, despite technically winning the argument in that 'it shouldn't be anything bad and I'll get over it'.
He just wished there was something he could do at the moment to make him feel better before he leaves for a week.

After a long awkward stare where neither of the two said anything, Alfred figured the best he could do was just hug it out with him. He spread out his arms and gave Arthur the stiffest tightest hug he's gotten in a while.

"Let's talk about it once I'm back"

"Have a safe trip, Alfred."

"Yep, we'll make sure to bring you souvenirs from Hearts!" Yao's voice made the two jump and immediately let go of their grip on each other. There he was, the kingdom's own Jack, standing there in the middle of the King and Queen all menacingly. When did he come inside the garden, how long had he been standing there, why did he only choose to say anything after the hug, suffice it to say Yao enjoyed both of their dumbfounded blushed faces.

"When did you-"

"Doesn't matter, we're leaving now. See you in a week Arthur! I'll make sure Alfred behaves when it matters!" And Yao, again, grabbed his own king with no respect by the collar and dragged him out of the queen's garden.

"Dude stop that, I can walk by myself!"

"I wouldn't have to be dragging you if you'd just said your goodbye faster."

"Ugh! See you in a week Arthur!" Alfred waved one last time before finally leaving the garden with Yao.

Once the king and jack were out of sight completely, Arthur let out a sigh.

"That damned idiot."

What the hell was that hug for? As if he needed comforting over a nightmare he had, Alfred made it seem like a bigger deal than it was supposed to be. By a week from then he'd have forgotten all about it anyway. In fact Arthur was willing to bet Alfred would've forgotten all about it once he and Yao reached Hearts.

…

Okay no, he wasn't that heartless.

Alfred may be an idiot; on top of his many other negative qualities Arthur could spend a day listing, but he isn't a complete thoughtless idiot. Sure he does things without thinking a lot of the times, but if he took the initiative to comfort him then it must've looked a bit too apparent on Arthur's face that the dream last night was bothering him. They were close friends, but it wasn't like they hugged everyday or anything at every minor inconvenience.

That's how Arthur rationalized it in his head anyway, that it wasn't a thoughtless gesture, and he was genuinely worried over him.

With that embarrassing thought of the way. As Queen there's lots to do around the castle without the two around. It was time to get to work.