Of course by now Arthur was used to the dreaded Royal gatherings. They were rre, but ever since "peace" fell over Deck, there had been more and more of them. Especially with the new monarchs coming in, more crowning had occurred. Arthur had yet to go to a crowning. King Ludwig and Queen Kiku of Hearts had been crowned before Arthur was deemed old enough to represent Spades. Jack Feliciano had not wished to have a public crowning. Clubs never invited other Suits to their Kingdom unless absolutely vital.

Diamonds was a bit different. Being the richest of all the kingdoms, they liked to flaunt their wealth. Any opportunity to do so they were sure to invite everyone from any land to watch. Even in times of war they would often draw a temporary truce to remind their enemies (and allies) how well-off they were.

Arthur sighed as he entered the castle like he had done so many times before, Yao at his side. Arthur might have hated King Francis but Diamonds was a very important ally. Their military was about as strong as a stack of hay, but their money provided the best weaponry. So Arthur gritted his teeth and managed a smile.

He scanned the crowd. There were pompous representatives and people of court. He was almost sure he spotted a crown belonging to Hearts, but he ignored that for now. He was looking for someone else.

"Ohonhon~! Bonjour, Arthur!"

Speak of the Devil.

Francis was at his side, grinning broadly. Probably because the last time Arthur was here he swore to decapitate the King with his new Queenly powers.

But Arthur was not crowned yet, and his powers were still weak and underused. Francis would pay double time when he was crowned.

"Could you not have let me be for just a few moments?" Arthur cried.

Francis laughed, and waved a bit to Yao, who was staring at him with distaste. "I just came to make sure you carried out my little...ah, bargain. But seeing as you have neglected to do so, I have an announcement to make..." Francis rubbed his hands together and grinned with uncontainable glee.

"Don't you dare, you filth!" Arthur growled, tugging Francis back by his collar. "I'll have you know that I did in fact bring Alfred! He's just not with me at the moment."

Francis looked a bit disappointed, but he lifted a finely shaped eyebrow anyway. "Oh? Where is he?"

"Right here!" Alfred said happily. Arthur almost jumped out of skin. How the hell does he keep appearing...

Three other people were behind Alfred. Arthur briefly recognized two of them as the Ace of Hearts and Diamonds (oh god. That Ace of Diamonds...he was a horrid git.) He took the third, a woman, as the Ace of Clubs.

Francis returned Alfred's smile, although his had far more finesse and a double meaning. "Ohoho! So you are the...Ace?"

Arthur coughed. But Alfred just nodded and cocked his head back a bit, to show his uniform that Yao had given him. "That's me! Nice ta meet 'ya, King, sir." Alfred held out his hand.

Francis shook it, but Alfred really did have strength in him! He nearly ripped off his limb! Wait—strength.

"You have quite the muscle," Francis commented. Behind Alfred, Antonio spoke up. "Si! He pushed my hand through a wooden table! Natayla measured, the table was four inches thick!"

Arthur did a double take, spluttering, "What?"

Francis just looped his arm across Arthur's shoulders. "Surely you knew of your Ace's superior strength, and that is why you appointed him, oui? Anyhow, what are we doing standing around? We have a party to attend!"

With that, Arthur cast one last look at Alfred before being dragged away by the horrid King of Diamonds.

Alfred tried not to let the jealousy that flared up in him take over his mind as he watched Francis drag Arthur away. But it was expected for two Royals of allied Kingdoms to hang around each other. It was not expected, however, for the Ace to push the King off of a future king, scream obscenities and then whisk the aforementioned future Queen off onto an awaiting stallion where he would then passionately make out with the Royal. No. That was not expected at all. So Alfred couldn't do it. But he did consider it.

"So, mi amigo," Antonio began, holding a struggling Lovino to his side, "I suppose this is your first Gathering? We should introduce you to everyone!"

"Everyone?" Alfred repeated, looking around at the packed hallway. And it was just the hallway! He could only imagine what it was like in the ballrooms and sitting areas.

"Well, si. We have three days before the actual crowning, and then the last Dinner and Dance after the crowning. Besides, we won't show you to everyone. Just the fun people!"

Alfred stared around him, then back to Antonio and the now cursing Lovino. Natayla was behind the pair, looking bored. "Well, why not?"

Then Alfred was lost in a sea of faces. They all seemed to blend into one another. Only the very fun people stood out. He met one crazy little boy who smiled at him and asked him why he was not wearing his 'special hat'. "What hat?" He had asked him. He just winked, put a finger to her lips, and drifted away. Alfred watched him go, thinking that his eyebrows looked very familiar...

He met countless snooty "big wigs" that he didn't care for at all. They only wanted to know how much money he had and which university he went to and who his parents were. He never answered them, he always gave Antonio their look. Antonio would make an excuse and take him away.

Alfred briefly met the Royals. He had already seen Francis, so he just nodded to him. Arthur was next to him, punching his in the arm repeatedly. Yao appeared to be drinking, eyes heavy. But the person next to Yao was what worried Alfred. He felt his hackles immediately raise. He couldn't have been more than twenty five years old, but his face and body was to intimidating he could have been a mountain. His crown was black, with clubs set into it. Who had a black crown? That was just freaky, dude! The King looked up to see who was staring at him, and his purple eyes flashed. Alfred watched his face as it contorted into a small recognition, then confusion, and then blank. "Hello there...Ace of Spades."

Alfred did not like this man at all. However, he was distracted when a young lady suddenly attached to his side. "Hello!" She greeted. Her crown was normal, silver with club-shaped emeralds set into it.

"Um...Hello, Queen of Clubs."

She laughed, and detached herself. "Oh please, I hate formalities. Just call me Eliza. You're Alfred, right?" She smiled at him. Why were her eyes sparkling like that? Alfred nodded dumbly. She was creeping him out. She was staring at him like she had found a particularly interesting artifact, and she was trying to figure out what the people from the old times used it for. "Oh, it will be a pleasure working with you in the future."

Alfred was confused. "Yeah, of course, Eliza."

She left. Antonio introduced him to someone who looked very familiar. In fact, he was almost an exact duplicate of Lovino. His curl was on the wrong side of his head, though, and his slightly lighter hair was adorned with a small gold crown, a single ruby heart on the front. "Ve~! Hello, Ace! I'm Feliciano! And hi, brother!"

Alfred smiled. He kind of liked this guy. "Hey, man. Nice ta met ya."

Feliciano nodded at him. "Ve~ Yeah! Have you met Luddy? He's my King! Luddy? Where are you?"

A tall blonde appeared at the Jack's side. "Please, Feliciano. Just stop screaming that."

The man was also intimidating, but in a different way. He seemed very serious, his crown was gleaming in cleanliness, sliver with five hearts around it. "Good day, Ace of Spades. I am King Ludwig of Hearts."

Alfred dipped his head a bit.

Next came the Queen. Alfred was super excited to meet the Queen because, hey, he was a male Queen! To all the other kingdoms, that was no biggy, but Alfred thought it was totally awesome! The queen was kinda small (like Artie) and reserved (not like Artie.) He nodded to Alfred. "Hello, Ace. I am Queen Kiku of Hearts."

Alfred smiled. "Yeah, hey! I'm Alfred!" Kiku looked a bit taken aback at Alfred's enthusiasm, but he smiled a bit at stepped away.

Then Alfred was off again. There were more faces, then there was food. "Food" is used very loosely there. It was not just food. It was heaven wrapped in bacon. And there was piles of it. Everywhere. You couldn't walk ten feet without bumping into yet another platter of Happiness with cheese.

By the time Antonio deemed it okay to introduce him to more people, he was stuffed.

More faces, and then he found himself in a patio outside the castle. It was suddenly night and the place was lit with wonderful lanterns and delicious scented candles. There was strange but pretty music in the background, and Antonio left to dance with Lovino. Alfred danced with Natalya but he was too focused on not stepping on her toes (for fear of death) to have any fun. Of course he had no idea how to dance. He was used to the jumping fast-paced of folk dancing back at home. Not...the regulated, stiff slow stuff. It was boring.

Of course that could have been because he really wanted to be dancing with Arthur, but he wasn't around. After Natalya left, someone else grabbed Alfred's hand. "'sup, Kid?"

Gilbert was in front of him, wearing a black suit with checked white trimmings. He began dancing, but it was different from the rest. It was faster, more Alfred's style. He didn't even touch Alfred, except for on the shoulder from time to time. Alfred liked this way of dancing.

"How's you and Eyebrows?" Gilbert asked.

Alfred pursed his lips. "I dunno," he admitted. "I mean, sure I love him and stuff and it's awesome whenever we kiss. But...it's like, we never see each other and it's driving me insane. He's always hiding and stuff and I half just want him to be crowned already so we can stop this make-believe and I can hug him without worrying what other people think."

Gilbert nodded. "It's gonna get worse before it gets better, kid. Sorry to tell you. Spaden Royals are really attracted to each other. Usually once they meet they're inseparable and you'll start getting these weird feelings and all that romantic shit." Gilbert shrugged through his dancing. "Yeah. It's gonna suck. A lot. I could tell you more, but I'm not gonna." Gilbert smirked. "But anyway, Kid, here's the deal. You gotta pick up the slack that Arthur's gonna leave. Ya gotta be the hero or whatever. Deal?"

Alfred lifted his eyebrow. "...kay."

"Cool." Gilbert grinned, and stopped dancing. "Well it's been fun, Kid, but I gotta split. I'm looking for Eyebrows number Two. Crazy Kid. See you...you know. Later."

Then the Joker was gone.

How come every time Alfred talked to Gilbert he felt more confused?

THERE WERE SO MANY HINTS

SO.

MANY.

HINTS.

I love foreshadowing! Anyway, Alfred got to meet everyone! Arthur was kidnapped! Kinda...

Sorry that there wasn't much USUK in this. It's kinda a filler chapter for now.

I love critique.

Sorry for any mistakes, I'm American!

-Mallory