Chapter 27. Dream.
Arthur felt surprisingly well rested as he began to open his eyes. He normally didn't wake up feeling so…warm and cozy when he woke up. Normally, he didn't even have a chance to sleep in his own bed, falling asleep on his desk or even on the couch. His vision was blurry as he woke up, but he could clearly see a figure right in front of him, but he found that he didn't feel any panic at this. As his eyes focused, he clearly saw Alfred's face as the man beside him remained fast asleep.
Arthur blinked in surprise. Right. He had fallen asleep with Alfred the night before… Alfred was resting on his side, facing Arthur, and his arm was tucked securely over the comforter and Arthur found himself distracted by the man's shoulder. As a result of the events the previous night…or early morning, Alfred was shirtless, exposing the socket for his arm. Arthur could clearly see the scarring along the man's shoulder from his repeated surgeries for new prosthetics. This was the arm where the bullet had gotten lodged, not shot clean through, enabling Arthur to closely examine the handiwork of the machinery in front of him. From this close, it was painfully obvious that the material was far from real skin, though it was rather close. The material was hard and sleek, though far from clean, and it was very prevalent that Alfred needed new prosthetics.
Next, Arthur noticed that, with Alfred's glasses now off, he could clearly see the scar that ran along both of Alfred's eyes. It was a clean, straight line that moved across his face, over the bridge of his nose. This had occurred when he was a child and it was clear that the scar had reopened a few times in the man's past. What confused Arthur, however, was the fact that this was done during the time of the first revolution, when Ivan had taken power. Alfred had said counter revolutionaries took his sight and his limbs from him, but the counter revolutionaries were terribly equipped and hardly any of them carried even a glass shard as a knife. They could never make a clean line like that.
It ran over Alfred's right eyelid, though not the left and it was interesting to trace its path. What had really happened that day? Alfred had only been a baby, evidently, and it was due to Ivan's kindness that some of the damage had been repaired. If Alfred had been just a child and had his limbs chopped off and his eyes slashed into, he would have bled out very quickly. Ivan had to have been nearby; he wasn't just passing by and happened to notice him. Could he have been there during the incident?
Arthur's hand betrayed him as he moved his hand up to trace the scar lightly. Alfred only flinched slightly in his, evidently, deep sleep. The scar was deep, but well-closed. The king took good care of Alfred and, no doubt, Matthew. He ensured they had the best supplies they could possibly have and constantly changed Alfred's prosthetics when he needed it. Was it perhaps because he felt guilty? That was certainly a possibility…
Arthur heard the tell-tale signs of the lock on his door being hacked into. How long had they been asleep for Francis to be the one to attempt to wake them up? Arthur, knowing full well the position that he was in, closed his eyes, retracting his hand under the comforter once more. He evened his breathing just as the door opened. Alfred twitched slightly, but didn't wake up.
"I see," Francis gave a whispered chuckle before the door closed once again.
"I think that means we should wake up now," Alfred said simply and Arthur opened his eyes to look at Alfred, who was smiling slightly. "Hey."
"You were awake?" Arthur snapped at him.
"I'm better at pretending to be asleep than you are," Alfred chuckled slightly, sitting upright in the bed and stretching his arms over his head, leaving part of the comforter to fall and leave Arthur's torso rather cold. Arthur noted the way Alfred's skin stretched painfully with the prosthetics, but Alfred didn't even seem slightly bothered by it.
"Go get dressed," Arthur mumbled, rolling over to plant his face in his pillow. He had just spent the night snogging the man and he had spent the morning admiring him while he pretended to be asleep. His focus should really be elsewhere, especially at a time like this. "I'm sure you can get to your room without getting caught."
"Hey, Arthur," Alfred said simply and Arthur glanced up at him. Alfred offered him a small smile. His glasses were still off of his face and Arthur found himself distracted by that scar. There was no way the counter revolutionaries did that… "I'm glad you were strong enough to show me your scars." Arthur felt a fierce violet rise to his face when he realized that his bare back was perfectly visible at that point and he swiftly sat upright, his back facing the wall. "And I really think you won your battle so you don't think you need to be afraid anymore."
"I'll consider it," Arthur snorted slightly. It wasn't quite that he was afraid, it was another feeling entirely.
Alfred nodded to him before darting out of the door with hardly a sound. Arthur sighed heavily as he got up as well. It wouldn't do him any good to continue lazing around. He had to focus, they had just a matter of days before the militaries of the surrounding countries moved forward to help them. They had to ensure that the king was vulnerable. That had been the plan for years and it was only now that it was moving. They had to be ready, regardless of if they really were.
Alfred felt pretty happy. He had gotten a good rest, for one, woke up comfortable for once, and Arthur seemed to be a bit happier as well. During breakfast, Arthur actually bothered to sit down and eat with them, talking through plans with Francis with the others imputing their opinions as well. Before long, they had a complete plan set in place for when the militaries of other countries were ready.
They were stealing an idea from the original revolution 28 years ago. Storm the capital all at once so that the military can't possibly keep up with the force of the attack. They would be fine with just Matthew and Kiku guarding Ivan as long as the two were separated and kept under control. Alfred would be far from the front, especially when they entered the capital building. If he was able, Alfred's job would be to distract either Matthew or Kiku and to keep their group of assassins safe while they entered the building.
"They still haven't contacted me with the day," Arthur sighed heavily, "but we do need to be ready at any moment to move."
"It's a pain in the ass we have to wait so fucking long," Lovino grumbled. "I wish we could just go in now and kill 'em all."
"With only two of them left, Matthew and Kiku won't leave the king's side unless he orders it himself," Alfred said. "Attack both of them together and I don't care how big of a group you're in, you're going to die and at least the king will still be standing."
"We just have to hope that he'll send at least one of them after us when we start the attack," Arthur said.
"All considering, it seems we would have better luck if Kiku was the one," Ludwig stated.
"He'll want Matthew by his side during this sort of thing," Gilbert nodded. "If he sends one, he'll probably send Kiku."
"We should also remember that he knows how to fight, too, right?" Antonio offered. "He was a soldier in the original revolution. That was why he became king, right? He was a popular soldier."
"No one's even seen him with a sword for at least nine years," Francis mused.
"No one's seen him outside for at least eight," Arthur scoffed, shaking his head. "We can't underestimate Ivan, though I believe it would be safe to say he is rusty. Alfred, have you seen him fight before?"
"I've seen him work out," Alfred shrugged. "I've seen him fight off two people; Elizabeta and Gilbert, who used the same tactics to go at him and that resulted in them joining the group. I would say he hasn't entered a true fight in years, decades, even. But I wouldn't underestimate his reaction time or his ability. If you're going to kill him, don't waste time by starting a fight. Kill him as soon as you get the chance."
"Oh, we're going to kill the bastard," Lovino smirked and Alfred looked at the ground. That was the one downside to this morning. Ivan was going to die. At the very least, Alfred would be far away, so he wouldn't have to see it and also to stop himself form doing something he might regret if he was actually in the room. He couldn't trust himself to not…perhaps…kill someone who tried to kill the king, out of mere reflex more than anything else. "Right now it's only a matter of when."
"Sadly, I'm unable to contact any of the leaders on my own," Arthur sighed heavily. "We won't know when we will move until they contact me. We will just have to ensure that we are ready at any time. And not take any unnecessary risks. We need our numbers to be higher than theirs, understood?"
"Of course," Gilbert nodded.
"And this means no more than simple guarding of this town," Arthur said clearly. "Do not leave without my say so."
"You done bossing everyone around yet?" Gilbert laughed. "I think it's my turn to go around the town, anyway."
"Go ahead," Arthur sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I'll send someone for you if any change in plans happens." Gilbert saluted him before heading out the door with a small laugh. "Antonio, I want you to make sure you have enough ammo for anything that should happen, find some if you have to. That goes for everyone, try to ensure that you're well stocked up to attack at a moment's notice."
"Alfred, do you still only have a few bullets in your gun?" Francis asked curiously.
"Yes," Alfred nodded. He knew that this group was rather low on funds, however, and other people needed bullets more than him. "I am not a major part to the battle and, should I wind up distracting Kiku, I would prefer to use my swords, so I don't think it's necessary that I have any more bullets than I have."
"Then that's fine," Arthur nodded. "As long as you feel you're prepared." He stood up, popping his neck as he did so. "I'm going to look further into the layout of the capital to see what route would be the best."
"Would you like some more company, like you did this morning?" Francis asked and Alfred fought back a small laugh, though he did notice the small blush that spread across his own cheeks. Arthur, on the other hand, turned a bright red before walking off angrily.
"What were you two doing this morning?" Antonio asked curiously.
"This morning?" Alfred shrugged. "Nothing."
This felt…weird. Yeah, that was the word for it. Matthew stood to the king's right at all times, Kiku to his left. They had to be ready to fight at any moment and, as a result, Matthew was practically covered in hidden guns and knives. He had no idea when the revolutionaries would attack, but he had to be ready all of the time. He had to be ready to fight off whoever would come. He wasn't sure if that team would be stupid enough to send Alfred in to go through with their plan to, at the very least, put Ivan out of power.
A part of Matthew knew that wasn't all they would do. He knew that the revolutionaries would attempt to kill the king. That was exactly why he was there with Kiku, never allowing Ivan out of his sight unless it was from his direct orders. Matthew had never quite been around Ivan all day and he never expected how much work the man had put under him. Matthew and Kiku had been summoned to his side starting that day at about four in the morning and, even then, it didn't even seem like Ivan had even an hour's worth of sleep. Since that moment, he had been moving around the capital constantly to conduct meetings or work on paperwork. Matthew and Kiku had only left his side once, and that was when a fairly large group of nobles came together to talk to him.
Currently, Ivan was in a meeting with a general that worked the border between their country and Merkatus. Ivan seemed about ready to fall asleep, despite the fact that the general was sure that Merkatus was raising their army. Once the meeting was over, it was the general that got up and left and Ivan was left to sigh deeply, leaning forward on the meeting table.
"If I may, Your Majesty," Matthew spoke up and Ivan seemed almost…startled, like he forgot that they were there, "you should get some sleep."
"There is no time," Ivan sighed, staring at the table for only a few moments before he stood up. "I have another meeting to attend."
"At this rate," Matthew spoke up, standing between the king and the door, "you will not be able to stand up to the revolution that you are watching unfold. Your Majesty, for your sake, please get some sleep."
"You do not understand,' Ivan smiled softly. "I have more meetings to attend to and those nobles…"
"You are the king," Kiku offered, though he still didn't look Ivan in the eye like Matthew dared to. Just by looking at the man's violet eyes, Matthew could tell that he was exhausted. He needed sleep. "Forgive me for intruding on your affairs, Your Majesty, though I do believe that you, of any person, has the right to tell someone you refuse to meet with them."
"I wish that were true," Ivan offered a sad smile before looking at Matthew. "Matthew, get out of my way." Matthew nodded and allowed the king to pass him before following him down the hall. He exchanged a glance with Kiku, who looked after Ivan sadly as well.
Matthew knew that the king worked hard, yes, but he never knew just how much he worked in one day alone. It was no wonder that the man didn't collapse, really. One problem that Matthew had was the fact that Ivan was receiving all of this news, which seemed almost like direct acts of war, and yet he was making no plans to do anything about it. His advice to the general was to wait to see how it played out. He wasn't moving troops further into the country to protect it, he was leaving them dispersed and in, frankly, terrible positions. It was almost as if the king wanted this revolution to happen.
Matthew was going to have to watch him very carefully.
You guys like how I left it very ambiguous with what happened last night? Yeah, did that on purpose just for you guys. I couldn't decide for myself what happened last night, so let's just leave that to never be decided, kay? We also got a glimpse of Ivan as well, which left me feeling very tired indeed. His exhaustion makes me feel tired, really. But, whatever, not a lot this chapter, but look forward to a lot coming up really soon!
And, as always, please review!