Beware of cursing!

The castle loomed in the distance. Alfred never thought of the Capitol as "looming" until now. The gray sky hung above it, casting a huge shadow over the stone. The city was quiet, either no one was there or no one wanted to be caught there. Alfred took a deep breath and clenched the reins tighter. "This is the heart of Spades?" He whispered, to no one in particular. Both Matthew and Toris looked sapped of energy as they gazed onto their home.

"A Kingdom," Matthew began quietly, "cannot exist for long, without it's King. I fear for Spades' safety." Matthew drew in a deep breath, loosing his shoulders as he did so. "But come on," he said, louder, "we have a Queen to meet. And you, Alfred, are long overdue."

Alfred gulped.

…

Arthur sat on the Queen's throne. He'd always hated the chair. It was made of stiff old wood that smelled of mold, and it was in a huge solitary room. Now, though, he was just happy he had the excuse to sit down. His hand was trembling on the armrest so violently Arthur wondered how his armor wasn't clattering. He wasn't sure what he should feel at the return of Alfred. Matthew had delivered him a message saying that they'd be arriving in the Capitol. Arthur had immediately rushed to his home. He shivered at the sight of the empty castle, but ultimately decided that it was for the best. It's hard to attack something without a heart.

Arthur was caught up in these thoughts when the door was pushed open. Matthew came in first, his head high, shoulders square and chain mail polished. He immediately crossed the room and knelt in front of Arthur.

"Your Majesty," he grunted, a small smile on his lips. It had been a long while since Matthew had called Arthur anything but his name.

Arthur nodded slightly for Matthew to rise. He wasn't paying much attention to him. His eyes were still on the door, trained on the man he wanted to kill and kiss at the same time. He'd changed. It had been months since he had last seen him, sure, but Arthur didn't expect such a...difference.

Alfred was dirty. His hair needed a cut, his glasses were crooked and his lips were chapped. His clothes didn't fit him well and looked as if random strangers had given them out from pity. But never in his life had Alfred looked more like a King.

His head was raised over his broad shoulders, and his eyes were filled with things that were not there before. The joy and youth that had once shone in them was replaced by pain and regret. They were the eyes of a man.

"Alfred," Arthur acknowledged. He felt his hand loosen on the armrest. His voice hadn't come out in a squeak. He could do this.

Alfred stared back at him. They were so far apart. They were always far apart. When Alfred spoke, his voice did not mirror Arthur's controlled tone. It was ragged and broken and full of emotions Arthur wished he didn't understand. "Arthur."

It was then that the Queen of Spades turned into Arthur Kirkland. He stood up from the chair and strode to Alfred. The bubble in his throat wouldn't go away no matter how many times he swallowed. His armor clanged angrily.

"You fucking ass!" He screamed, grabbing Alfred's collar. Toris jumped away from the door. Matthew reached for his dagger. Tears were streaming down Arthur's eyes. "What the actual fuck did you think you were doing? Why did you leave? Why did you leave me? Why did you stop loving me?"

Alfred's eyes went wide. He flinched at each new accusation, as if the words physically hurt him. But he didn't say anything.

"Well?" Arthur pressed, shaking him. "Why? Tell me why!"

Alfred looked around the room, but it didn't seem like he could really see anything at all. He sucked in his bottom lip. A tear slipped down his face. "What do you me to say?" He pleaded. He was so quiet. "That I'm sorry? That doesn't mean anything. That I don't know why this happened? That's not anything new. I could say I love you, but you wouldn't believe me. There's nothing I can say to take it all back."

Arthur's hand slipped. He looked down at his shoes. "Elizabeta cast a spell on you to make you fall out of love with me. But she didn't do anything to make you leave. Why did you leave?"

Alfred didn't know. He still didn't understand the whole "Elizabeta magic evil spell" thing. He knew this would all end badly. Why, oh why, did he drop those books in the library all those years ago? Just when he was about to give up hope for any way to get Arthur back, and fall to the floor in tears, a voice spoke up.

"I have an answer to that."

Arthur whipped around. Gilbert was sitting on the throne of the King, smirking like this whole situation was a big joke. He swung his leg over his lap and nodded to Toris. "Hey cousin. Long time no see. You never call me anymore." Gilbert pouted.

Toris laughed nervously. Arthur wiped some tears from his face. "Gilbert, for once, can we skip the jokes? I'm drained. I am heartbroken. And I just really want some answers."

Gilbert's laugh filled the entire room. For a moment, the Capitol sprung back to life. Orange light filtered in through the high windows, the white marble shone, maids bustled through the halls. But it faded away with the rest of Gilbert's guffawing. "No jokes? But I'm a Joker!"

Arthur almost started crying again.

Gilbert straightened up. "Jeez, okay okay. Don't give me that look. I don't know why you are asking me for answers, anyway. You've had 'em in your head for like, months."

"What are you talking about?"

Gilbert sighed, and laid back in the throne. "You know that headache you had after the whole magic fight with...the Queen of Clubs? Yeah, well, that's 'cause her memories got stuck in your magic. You didn't have enough strength to keep them contained so it hurt you."

Alfred shook. Arthur had been hurting and he hadn't even noticed. But Arthur wasn't concerned with that. He swallowed thickly. "Then why did it stop?"

Gilbert sighed. "Duh! Because you got crowned! So then you're magic grew and now you can easily contain it. Opening it, however, is another story." Gilbert stood up and stretched. "Ya just don't have enough magic in ya to open it, which is why you haven't been getting many answers. But there is a way you can become more powerful."

Arthur wanted to yell at Gilbert to just spit it out already when Alfred gasped behind him. "Oh, fuck."

Gilbert smiled. "That's right! Who'd ready for a Royal Crowning?"

…

Alfred had pictured his crowning thousands of times. Usually it ended with an angry mob screaming that he wasn't fit to be King. Either that or Arthur rejecting him. He never thought it would be in the castle's storage room.

"By the power invested in me as a Joker," Gilbert was saying, with far over-exaggerated hand motions, "hereby pronounce you, Alfred F. Jones blah blah blah something about loyalty and love blah blah blah King of Spades." Gilbert plopped the crown on Alfred's head. "Okay kid congrats you're King now."

Arthur blinked. "That's it?"

Gilbert shook his head. "Nah, you should know that, eyebrows. We gotta go to the time room. Looks like we're having two visions in one day."

Arthur wished that he could forgive Alfred. That his heart didn't hurt every time he looked at him. That he didn't have to remain so professionally stiff. Because he could've really used a hand to hold.

Hello everyone! I'm sorry for disappearing for like, ever. This chapter was so hard to write, and on top of that, I had to write a short story for creative writing and I'm the VP of debate club so I've been super busy!

To my beta: I've had a lot of offers to beta. Thanks to all of you who did, but in the end rexlover180 is the lucky gal! She responded first and foremost. (I sent you a PM to clarify a few things.)

Thanks everyone for waiting and reading! Sorry for any mistakes, my next story should be beta-ed!

-Mallory