It was amazing Yao didn't look twenty times his age. He always seemed to be pacing, eyebrows crinkled, chin scratched, shoulders hunched. He was getting on in his late years, but he didn't look more than forty. Arthur always admired the man's perfect projected image.

However, if the situation got any worse Arthur didn't know if Yao's aging would hold up.

"Alfred is not ready to show up at a Royal crowning! He's barely ready to hold the door open for people going to a royal crowning!" Yao quickened his pacing. Arthur watched him worriedly.

"Yao, there's not much we can do. Francis is a complete arsehole. He knows about my being the destined Queen. He doesn't quite understand the volume of this knowledge, but he knows it will upset me if it was revealed. He would not hesitate to inform all of the Kingdoms. Yao, we must bring him."

Yao tugged at his pony-tail and made a little "Ai-yah!" sound. He almost never lost his composure. Arthur briefly wondered how badly Alfred was doing in his lessons to make Yao act like this.

Knowing Alfred, it was probably quite horribly.

Arthur sighed and pressed his fingers to his temples. Alfred. The git. Why him? For the hundredth time Arthur asked the magic, that of all people, why did it pick Alfred to be the King? He had no knowledge of tradition he payed no mind to manners and all he ever talked about was helping civilians. He was not fit to be King! He was probably better off as the Ace-

"That's it!" Arthur exclaimed. Why didn't he think of this sooner? "Yao, Alfred can come as the Ace! We don't have one now, so no one will question a strong young man escorting the future King as Ace! We can say he was recently appointed, and he's strong enough to dissolve any questions about his youth!"

Yao looked extremely relieved. "That's brilliant! Ai-yah! Where is Alfred? We have to practice!"

It turned out that they didn't need to practice at all. Of course, Alfred had been very worried about what could happen in Diamonds, but presented with the new plan he nearly jumped out of his shoes in excitement. "That's perfect!" He always wanted to be an Ace. Ever since he could talk, he went off about being an Ace. Of course, now that he was to be King he couldn't be one "for reals" but he could pretend to be the Ace! That way, his strange behavior would make sense to the guards!

Yao started going over the brief history of Aces and how they should act and be talked to according to status, but he needn't have started. Alfred rattled off the entire list of known Aces in Spades, he knew just how to walk, talk...he was the perfect Ace.

Too bad he was such a terrible King.

So they all packed and the next week they were off. Arthur had always hated carriages because they bumped around and they were cramped for hours. He hated being in them with other people, alone, with seven chickens (it had happened before.)

Yao used to tell him to hush and then bury his face in whatever book he was reading. Arthur didn't know why he even bothered to read. He knew most everything. His knowledge almost rivaled a joker's. Almost.

But somehow, this carriage ride changed from bad to hell with the addition of Alfred. He thought the idea of a carriage was amazing. He had seen them in town and thought them silly. Why not just ride on the horses like normal people? But now that he was in one he couldn't shut up about how totally awesome it was.

It went on like that for hours. Just when Arthur was about to pull out his dagger and stab him in the throat, love be damned, it was dinner time. The cabby stopped and watered the horses and let them graze, eating his sandwich. Yao brought out some boxes of cold rice and chicken, and Alfred shut up in favor of stuffing his face.

Arthur scrunched up his nose as he watched him. "Alfred that is no way for a future King to eat."

"Yesh, bud I'm an ace, yea?" Alfred asked with a quirky smile, his mouth full of food.

Arthur cast an apathetic look to Yao. He had to train this oaf? Why not just put a crown on a pig? It's be the same thing.

Dinner was over, and Alfred started talking again. This caused him to get into a fight with Arthur as the carriage lurched back into motion. It started about volume of voices but it ended with which color is the best color for flowers.

Arthur didn't even question it anymore.

Yao had long since joined the Cabby out in the cold night air to spare his ears, so there was no one to break up the fight or monitor the profanity. But when it did end, there was no one there to see the apologies.

"I'm sorry, Artie I didn't mean it." Alfred said, wrapping his arms around the blonde.

"Well, I meant most of what I said but I'm still sorry, you git." Arthur had replied, leaning his head against Alfred's chest. He'll never admit how much he liked being in Alfred's arms, his ear pressed against his toned chest to hear that slow and steady heart that sped up occasionally when Arthur did something unexpected. Arthur closed his eyes and sighed. Whenever it was like this, just the two of them, cuddling alone in the dark, it felt like he wasn't the future Queen. He was just Arthur hugging just Alfred and being happy and untouched by reality.
Arthur fell asleep in that delusion, and had the best dream he had ever dreamt, though he never could remember it once he woke up.

Maybe this was because he woke up to Yao's hand slapping them both on the back of their heads and his pointed "Ai-yah! Do you want the world to see you like this? What if I sent the Cabby to wake you?"

Alfred and Arthur detached themselves, but did so slower than they used to. They didn't want to let go. Not anymore.

But they had to, because when they looked behind Yao and out of the door, the great Castle of Diamonds glittered in the none-too-far distance.

All around them buildings shone with pristine economy. You couldn't walk five feet without running into a bank. Everything was white and silver, except for the occasional lily that was light blue. High-class people pranced about in fancy and in no-ways utilitarian clothing. Alfred swore he could see their pockets bulging with money.

The Spadens clambered out of the carriage, feeling very out of place due to their travel-wrinkled clothing and Alfred and Arthur's mused hair. They were quickly rushed into a large building by Diamond Guards.

The building had extensive chandeliers and gold and silver anything. The light blue carpets were anywhere one desired to walk. Plush seats held fat looking representatives and high-ups. Alfred didn't like it at all.

They were escorted the their rooms, at the very top floor. Alfred didn't understand how a building could be so tall. By the time they finally reached the top, Yao was pleading old-age and Arthur was pretending to be perfectly fine. But even Alfred could see he was out of breath.

The guards set down the bags, one of them throwing Alfred the same confused but grateful look that he had given him earlier when Alfred carried some bags himself.

"The Future King and Jack will be rooming here, the Ace shall room with the other Aces." A guard turned to Alfred. "The room is down at the very end of the hall."

Alfred smiled. "Sure, dude! Thanks for showing us!"

The guards all exchanged glances but smile politely and bowed. Aces were always so weird. "Of course. It was our pleasure. Good day, your majesties. Good day, Ace."

With that, they left. Arthur and Yao were too tired to yell at Alfred for his nontraditional ways. Yao simply warned him of the Club's Ace and retired to his room.

Arthur looked around, made sure there was no one in sight, gave him a quick hug, and left.

Alfred was left to venture down the prestigious hall. His appointed room wasn't too fancy. It was tradition for Aces to have duller rooms, as it was considered offensive to them to be so pampered while their troops were down in barracks. The room was still very big and sparsely decorated. There were four beds and four dressers. Three people were already chatting away.

Well, they weren't really "chatting".

One of them had curly brown hair and green eyes—somewhat similar to Arthur's but too dark to be his, really. He was trying to hug a red-tinged brunette that had an odd curl protruding off the side of his head. He was shouting furiously about how he "hated coming to these stupid events because you're here!"

The last person was a female. She was strikingly beautiful, in a horrific kind of way. He long grey-blonde hair had a black bow in it to match her black uniform. Her face was so cold and stony it neutralized her beauty. Alfred wanted to duck under a table a the sight of her. He understood why she was an Ace.

"Oh! Hello there, mi amigo!" The curly brown-haired man greeted after being pushed off of the other man. "Are you the new Ace of Spades? Wow! I heard we're the first to meet you! You're pretty young, eh?"

Alfred matched the man's over-excited smile with him own. "Yeah! I'm Alfred, nice to meet you!"
The man heartily shook Alfred's hand. "No to meet you, Alfred! I'm Antonio. That's Lovino over there. He's being grumpy. And tha-"

Suddenly, the woman was right in front of Alfred. "And I am Natalya."

Alfred flinched. "Yeah...Hey!"

Antonio looped an arm over Alfred's shoulder's and led him deeper into the room. "We already called these beds, so you can get that one in the corner. Just put yourself wherever! Make yourself feel welcome!"

Alfred smiled and dumped his bag on the bed, but came back to the middle of the room where a small conference table sat. He took a seat beside Lovino. "So, who is from what Suit?" He asked.

Antonio laughed. "Right! I forgot how young you are! I'm the Ace of Diamonds. I'm pretty close with King Francis. He appointed me the second he was crowned."

"I'm the Ace of Hearts." Lovino started grumpily, his arms folded over his chest and his eyes to the floor. "I'm the new Jack's brother, but I was Ace before he was Jack. The idiot."

Then the cold melodic voice of Natalya started. "And I am Ace of Clubs, obviously. I will have no nonsense from you, Spaden. My brother is King Ivan and I am completely devoted to him."

Alfred noted the creepy sparkle in her eyes when she said the King's name.

"...yeah. Well, it's great to meet ya'll! I'm pretty close with Artie—I mean Future Que-King Arthur, so I guess that's why I was appointed so young. Oh, and I'm also pretty strong." Alfred scratched at the back of his head. He hated bragging.

"Oh?" Antonio asked. "You think you're really strong? How about and arm wrestling contest?"

Alfred didn't think it was a very good idea. But Natalya was giving him such a disrespectful stare and Lovino looked repulsed by him. So he figured—why not?

"Sure." He put his elbow on the table lightly, Antonio mirrored him and they clasped hands. "Lovi, you say when."

Lovino rolled his eyes. "When."

Antonio began tugging on Alfred's hand. Alfred hadn't really been paying attention, so it lurched back a few inches. But then he said "Oh, crap! Sorry!" and started pushing back.

He misjudged his strength and accidentally punched Antonio's hand through the entire table. It was wood, but it was probably really expensive and now there was a huge hole in it.

"Sorry!" Alfred exclaimed, releasing Antonio's hand and wincing when he saw there was blood on his knuckles. "I didn't-I mean, I wasn't really paying attention and-"

"Quit your rambling," Natalya shushed.

"Yeah, mi amigo! That was awesome! No wonder you're an Ace!"

Lovino grunted.

Alfred smiled. Alright. Maybe this would work.

Hi guys! I hope I'm doing better with this. I'm testing out some new stuff in my writing, so if you could give me any critique it'd be awesome!

Thanks for all your reviews! You guys rock!

-Mallory