Chapter 4

Queen of Diamonds - Part 2

The stabbing pain in his side made it unbearable to walk. The aching legs and feet made him want to crumble to the ground and never stand up again. The energy left his body rapidly and all he wanted was to close his eyes and sleep forever but his duty didn't allow him to be weak or to die with no honor.

The moment he understood the suffering, the pain, grief, and the gore of this war wasn't when he was drafted into the army three years ago at the age of 15. It wasn't the moment when he first stepped on to a battlefield after his training and watched the horror unfold in front of him. It wasn't when he got wounded and was left to die between the bodies of his found friends and comrades. That moment came much more unexpectedly than he thought and under different circumstances.

It was when he survived his wound and didn't die a hero in his first battle. It was when he had to walk all alone back to the camp not knowing where it was, and telling himself he should've stayed beside his fallen friends because dying on his way back would be far more cowardly and pathetic. His thoughts would circle around his home, the tiny village with no more than 200 people. He wanted to come back as a hero, to let them know that he's more than just a troublemaker for them but instead he'd die, not ever seeing those annoyed faces again.

The moment that changed his perspective on the war was far more beautiful and tragic at the same time.

Alfred walked through the forest, trying his best to go back, to stay alive but what was there to live for if there was nothing left for him. He walked slowly with his hand holding his bleeding wound and watched the sun set in the distance. He was sure he wouldn't make it to the camp by sun down and he might die tonight.

He didn't want to die but his mind told him to prepare himself to make it less painful and deal with his never experienced dreams. The dream of doing the right thing and becoming a hero for his people. But this dream should never become reality.

His knees wanted to crumble together and he wanted to rest but a scream tore him away from this action. A growl followed right after the scream and Alfred recognized it as the growl of an Ogre. An Ogre which he had to fight in his first battle. His body stopped, it wanted to flee, it wanted to hide from this Ogre and be safe from its attacks. His mind however, his pride wanted to rescue whoever was attacked by them. His feet began to turn and he stepped towards the scream and growl. He couldn't just let anyone die from an Ogre even if this might be his death. Maybe, just maybe he could die in this fight like a hero. Dying while saving someone in distress sounded way too good for Alfred.

It didn't take long to find the Ogre chasing a girl through the forest.

"Come here, you little thing," the Ogre laughed in a very deep voice and stomped on the ground shaking it.

He watched amused how his steps let the girl lose her balance and he jumped up. When he landed back on the ground, the earth shook so far that even Alfred felt the vibration. The girl lost her balance and fell to the ground. He laughed again and in just two steps he was by her side and bent down to grab her.

"Hey!" Alfred yelled out and the Ogre turned his attention to him. He pulled his sword out of his belt and positioned it for an attack. "Try to pick on someone your strength!"

The Ogre straightened up and began to laugh at Alfred and his miserable stand, seeing his wound at the side of his silver chain armor and his bruised and dirty face.

"What a funny thing you are," he said and his face lit up in amusement. "I'll squeeze you like a grape!"

The Ogre didn't need a sword, his fists were large enough to smash Alfred to death. His height was five times as large as Alfred's and his hairless gery skin was hard as a rock. Alfred's sword however wasn't the ideal metal to fight an Ogre, it made him question why his superior officers thought it was a good idea not to prepare all their soldiers with the special sword against the Ogres.

The Ogre ran at Alfred and his body tensed in fear. His hands began to tremble and his feet wouldn't move. He stared at the Ogre running and shaking the ground, seeing his death coming closer. His eyes wandered over to the girl still lying on the ground and he knew he couldn't die. If he died, the Ogre would chase her again. He wanted to be a hero, he could try and show himself that he was one.

He ran at the Ogre with a yell and the Ogre balled his fist and smashed it to the ground missing Alfred. The boy felt the pain in his side and tensed up to which he swayed to the side and the Oger had missed him.

Alfred stumbled against a tree and hid behind it to catch his breath while blood was dripping down his hip and leg, staining his trousers. The Ogre punched against the tree and it snapped in half and fell to his side. Alfred quickly ducked under the Oger, ran across to his feet and cut with his sword through his achilles tendon. The sword however did nothing to harm the giant and the Ogre turned with a growl and kicked Alfred against a tree. He hit the tree with a pained groan and fell to the ground with his face down.

The Oger growled. "You stabbed me!" He took a tree out of the ground and snapped it in half while yelling.

Alfred couldn't move. His body gave up, he was sure about that. The ground shook as the Ogre took on speed to stab him with the piece of tree but something in Alfred still wanted to live. He wanted to see more and do more, his body should obey him and not his fears. He needed to stand up and fight, fight for others, fight for what he thought was right and fight for his own life. He wouldn't die here and he would be the hero he always wanted to be.

The moment the Ogre landed with his tree on the ground, Alfred rolled around and stood up. The Ogre's height was his strength but also his weakness, it made him slower than him even with his open wound. He took a swing of his sword and once again cut into his feet, and then again, and again, dancing under the Ogre's feet who tried to stomp on him. This time, blood dripped from it, Alfred knew the more he would stab him the more injured the Ogre would become. Even if his sword wasn't sharp enough to slay an Ogre, it was still touched by poison and one little cut could kill it.

The giant growled in pain and smashed with his fist at Alfred. The boy ran around the trees and the Ogre followed him and punched every tree in his way. Alfred was slower than he wanted to be and his lungs couldn't fill up with air any longer. The Ogre still followed him and Alfred wondered how long until the poison would finally work on him.

He couldn't keep up any longer and his legs crumbled under his weight and his eyes blurred together. He fell on his hands and knees and breathed heavily.

Behind him the Ogre growled and then suddenly screamed, not hitting Alfred as he thought he'd do by now. The girl from before suddenly picked his hands up and pulled him upwards.

"Hurry," she said and when Alfred was able to stand up again with his spinning head, she pulled him along.

Alfred turned to the Ogre and it seemed that he got something in his eyes and was blinded for the moment. But that moment was quickly gone and the Ogre yelled into the air and spotted them running away. He was no longer playing games and ran at them at his full speed, breaking trees in his way.

He was far too close but Alfred noticed that he got slower. They needed more time if they wanted to survive and Alfred spotted a wooden hanging bridge in the distance. He pulled at the girl to follow him instead and they ran for it. The Ogre got slower to the point where he was only mildly running but never stopped following them.

They went over the bridge that hung over a steep cliff with a strong current river underneath. Before they made it to the other side the Ogre took the bridge and swung it. Both grabbed onto the rope of the bridge and tried to hold their balance. The girl almost slipped behind Alfred and he quickly took her when the Ogre was about to swing again and pushed her in front of him and to the other side. Alfred himself slipped and fell over the bridge but was able to hold on to the wood.

The Ogre laughed again and swung the bridge happily and with tired eyes. With the next swing however, the bridge got upright for Alfred and he jumped to the other side. The Ogre's eyes went wide in surprise and he growled. The giant wanted to step on the far too small bridge for him but Alfred took his sword and cut the ropes of the bridge.

The giant wasn't amused and grunted before taking a start-up and jumped over the cliff. He landed right at the edge of the cliff, not able to calculate the distance with the poison in his body. Alfred took the chance and once again stabbed him. The Ogre yelled out and wanted to kick Alfred but he slipped down instead. He held onto the edge of the cliff and wanted to climb up but his arms were too weak already. Alfred didn't want to risk his ascending and stabbed him into one of his eyes. The Ogre cried out and grabbed Alfred which led the Ogre to slip from the edge and fall down, pulling Alfred with him.

To Alfred's luck, the grip the giant had on him wasn't strong and he was able to grab onto the grass at the edge of the cliff. He hung there and struggled to get up, too weak to climb up by himself. The girl saw that and came to help him. She pulled Alfred on the steady grass and he laid down on his back breathing heavily.

Now he was sure he could rest as he looked up at the purple clouds and breathed out. He didn't want to move anymore, it was all too much.

-

Birds sang in the trees and the wind breezed through the leaves as his eyes slowly opened. He should be dead but there he was again, living the next day. He felt something cold against his waist and someone sitting beside him. As he looked up, he saw the girl.

Her long blonde hair hung over her shoulders and down to her hips. Her piercing green eyes were concentrated on something at his body but he couldn't care less what it was when he saw her from up close. Her skin seemed to sparkle when the sunlight hit her and his eyes widened when he saw a pair of wings on her back.

"A fairy..." he mumbled to himself but she heard him and looked up at him with scared eyes.

Their eyes met for a second and Alfred could feel those forest green eyes pull him into a beautiful abyss. This moment quickly vanished when the girl backed away from him and hid behind a tree.

"Wait, wait," Alfred called out to her and wanted to sit up but the pulling pain in his side stabbed him once more and he laid down against a large tree.

There were leaves on his wound and he touched over his face, noticing leaves there, too.

"You saved me," Alfred said in her direction. "I won't harm you, I promise."

She peaked out behind the tree but didn't come closer.

"My name is Alfred, what's yours?"

She was silent.

"I thank you for your help. I would've died without you." Alfred wasn't sure if she understood him and couldn't take his eyes away from her.

His superior officers and everyone in the army told him stories about magical creatures and how grotesque and ugly they were. That these creatures were pure evil and had to vanish but she saved him. And she was beautiful.

A simple white dress hugged her body and went down over her knees. She was barefoot but thin brown vines embraced her legs. Her ears were pointy and her small wings transparent with three parts on every side, making it look like she had six wings. A couple of tiny orange flowers stuck out in her hair as well.

"You have to leave or my people will kill you," she said simply.

"Oh." That disappointed Alfred.

"Don't tell anyone where you found me or that we met." Her eyes were serious and Alfred understood her fear of him.

However, he didn't want this to be their last interaction. He was too curious, too mesmerized by her to let her go like that. "Only under one condition. If you promise me that we'll meet again."

"I can't promise you that."

"Then I can't promise you to keep our encounter a secret," he said and smirked at his own great idea. He pulled out a necklace that hung around his neck. It was a silver bird which he found in the abandoned house in his village where he started to live after his mother kicked him out of the house. It was an old necklace with raw details and the bird had a broken tail.

Slowly he stood up, still feeling the pulling pain but it was easier to walk now. Whatever she had done helped his wounds and he was sure he could walk back to the camp and not die on the way. He steadied himself at the tree before coming closer to her. She hid behind the tree again which made him chuckle to himself.

"Here, this is for you," he said and rested against the tree she was hiding.

She peaked around and saw Alfred's outstretched hand with the necklace hanging down. She opened her palm and he let the necklace fall into her hand.

"I want it back the next time we see each other. Then and only then I will promise you not to tell a soul." He grinned as her eyes widened in shock.

"Take it back," she demanded but Alfred backed away from the tree and shook his head.

"Next time." He wandered backwards as he watched her face turn into a scowl and it made him smile even brighter.

The moment his perception of the war changed wasn't when he was drafted or watched the horror unfold at the battlefield. It was when he fell in love with a fairy, the creature that was supposed to be his enemy.

-

Her green eyes would constantly come back in his dream. These were the best dreams, and he would think of her through the day making it the only thing that kept him going through the hard times because he knew he'd see her again.

Six months passed by since the first time he met her and he anticipated seeing her again. He hoped she would be there at the same place where they met. It was risky to go there with her kind around who would kill him and with his superior officers who could get suspicious if they'd see him take another route 'home'. Although he doubted they cared where his home village was.

The part of the forest where they met was more than just magical. It was greener than any other part and moss grew almost on every stone and alongside the trees. The leaves of the trees would curl together and bushes grew taller than him.

Somewhere in the distance he could hear someone humming and when he came closer his smile grew. She was there, sitting on a stone. It wasn't the same place but close enough and he found her again.

Quietly, he came closer to her from behind and watched her bind something with a leaf which looked like a basket. Out of her fingers came golden dust that danced upon the green vines and made them swing up and to the side as she pleased.

"It looks pretty," he said.

She jumped from her stone and turned as fast as she could only for her scared face to turn into a scowl. "You."

"I'm back," Alfred said happily to which she grabbed the necklace that he gave her - he was positively surprised that she wore it - and once she pulled it off her neck, she threw it at Alfred.

"Take that thing back."

Alfred just chuckled and pulled something different from his pocket and held it out for her. "This is for you."

"I'm not taking anything from you ever again," she said and huffed.

"This is a gift, nothing else."

She looked down at the green stone in his palm. It was shining in the sunlight and hung on a dark thread. Alfred found it in a cave and thought of her eyes and that she might like it too.

"I don't care, go away," she said and crossed her arms.

"Fine, whatever you want, lady uptight," he teased and was about to turn.

"Don't call me that." Her voice was low and sounded a little hurt.

"What should I call you then?"

She was hesitant for a moment before she spoke again. "Alice."

Alfred's grin got wider when she said her name and he knew when he looked at her that he wouldn't go anywhere.

He would always return to that place, hoping to see her and every time he came, she was there, too. She'd always tell him that she won't be there but he'd spot her hiding behind the trees, watching him shyly from the distance.

The only time he could come was when he was at that camp and was given a day off until his troupe was sent to another battlefield. There were months when he had to walk great distances and was far away from her but when his troupe was sent back home, he would come back to her. He didn't even remember the last time he was in his village, it must have been six years already.

An unsettling feeling settled down in his stomach whenever he was forced to kill. At first he thought it didn't matter, it were just Ogres but then came goblins, then Griffins, then whole villages of small elves who don't even have warriors.

When he watched his comrades burn down the village in the trees, the feeling intensified. The feeling of doing the wrong thing and the guilt afterwards. Alfred told himself that it was the right thing, and that his superiors were right about magical creatures being evil. He would be a hero to destroy them and make the world a better place but then he thought of Alice and his gut squeezed together in shame for thinking these thoughts.

If he was a hero, then why did he feel shame and guilt killing innocent creatures? Because it wasn't the right thing, no matter how much his superiors would tell everyone. He knew it because Alice wasn't like that and he doubted every magical being was evil and should die. He wanted to leave and do the right thing, tell them they shouldn't kill but no one would listen to him. If he would stop obeying orders, they would hang him as a deserter.

With a heavy heart he would return back to Alice but he couldn't tell her what was going on inside. He wanted her to trust him.

She would greet him with a smile on her face. At first it was always a scowl but the more time they spent together the more she revealed her smile to him.

"I'm back," he tells her.

"You're late," she said with a small smile as she sat on her stone and turned away from Alfred. Her fingers brushed through her hair while the green stone that Alfred gifted her hung around her neck.

"I'm sorry, next time I'll send a pigeon to inform you." He chuckled and leaned with his hand against the tree beside her.

He hovered above her and she looked up at him. He could get lost in those eyes forever and so long and deep that he didn't even notice a couple of other fairies hiding behind the trees and on top of them. When suddenly an arrow shot through the fabric of his shirt and a net was thrown on top of him. He backed away and tried to get out of the net when someone called out to him.

"Freeze or I'll shoot!"

He stopped and saw a red haired girl with a bow and an arrow right in front of him. Another girl jumped from the tree and clapped in her hands with excitement.

"I got him, I got him!"

"What are you doing?" Alice stood up and scowled at the two girls.

"We're saving you from this human," the red haired girl said.

"I don't need saving, he's..he's a.. um," she muttered.

Alfred was watching her and what she would say about him but she couldn't.

"Is he your lover?" the smaller girl that had jumped from the tree proclaimed.

"No!" Alice shrieked out. "Nothing like that!"

"Look, she's getting red," the little girl teased.

The red haired girl lowered her bow and eyed Alice.

"That's why she's gone so often. She's meeting her secret lover," the girl kept on teasing and Alice kept on getting red.

"I'll kill him," the red haired girl said and lifted her bow again to which Alice jumped in front of Alfred and stopped her. "Get out of my way."

"Don't do that, please."

"He's a human, you cannot trust him." Her green and serious eyes pierced through her but Alice didn't budge away.

"Please, Elspeth," Alice begged while the little girl watched with worried eyes at her sisters.

Alfred was able to entangle himself out of the net and placed himself beside Alice to sooth Alice's older sister. "I'm not here to harm anyone, I promise."

She immediately aimed the bow at him. "Why should I believe any human who wears knight armor?"

"You shouldn't and I can't prove to you my innocence but you have my word that I'm here only for the purpose of seeing Alice," he said and looked at her and gently took her hand. "She enlightened my heart and I would do anything to protect her."

The little girl sighed dreamily but the older one scoffed. He's never proclaimed his love to her before. He wasn't even sure if she liked him back but now when she stuttered and tried to save him from her sister, he hoped that there was more to her feelings for him.

"I know your village will disapprove of my wish to stay with her and care for her but it won't stop me from doing it anyway." His hand folded together with hers and her eyes watched him as his thumb caressed over her smooth skin, feeling her mildly cold hands and warming them, wanting to warm them up forever. "I love her and therefore I won't leave her side, ever."

Alice turned her gaze downwards shyly, taking her hair and playing with them. Alfred could only smile at her cuteness.

"We have no village," Elspeth said. "It was burnt down by human soldiers. There's only us."

So it was a lie about her people but Alfred didn't mind. She was only careful around him. "I promise you with my life that I won't harm Alice and you in any way."

"What about you, Alice?" Elspeth asked.

Alfred felt her hand squeeze his and he smiled warmly when she looked up, making him lose himself in her forest eyes again. "I feel the same."

She lowered her bow once more but her eyes still didn't trust him. "If you give me any doubt, I'll kill you."

"Agreed," Alfred said simply.

Elspeth took the little girl away who giggled at Alfred and Alice.

Alfred brushed over Alice's cheek and smiled at her before she pulled Alfred along, taking him to their tree house for the first time.

-

The tents in the camp were poured down with heavy rain. They listened to the wind blow around and the rain dripping above them. It wasn't easy to travel around in small tents who should be able to withstand extreme weather but hardly did in practise.

"I'm hungry," a small guy said and rubbed his hands together.

"Stop thinking about food and you won't be hungry," another one said who sat next to him in the small tent while polishing his dagger.

15 of them fit into one tent and all of them had to cuddle in it when they needed to sleep but with the rain that dripped inside, it was hardly possible.

"We should get some," a third one muttered and sat up. His hair tousled in various directions.

"Where should we get the food, hm?" the second one asked.

"The superior officers always have something to eat," Alfred said and rubbed his own hands and flinched when he felt the rain drip into his clothes around his neck.

"Who should get it," the third asked but no one volunteered. "Fine, Alfred, you do."

"Why me?"

"You proposed the officers tent," he said and shrugged.

Alfred didn't want to go but he was hungry as well. They ate only once a day and anything they found in the forest but that wasn't enough.

With tired eyes he stood up from his place between his comrades and ran through the rain that poured all over him. He ran into the tent, knowing his superiors weren't there right now but he stopped when he saw something strange.

A stone with sandy color stood in the middle. A green stone was in the middle with foreign words circling around it in a spiral. It was the weapon his superiors would always talk about. A weapon to destroy all the creatures and trap them inside once and for all. He's never seen it before and looking at it now, he wouldn't know how to use that weapon, it was just a stone.

He brushed it off and went for the secret stash of food.

"Pillaging, huh?"

He quickly turned around to see his superior but saw a male figure with white hair and pale skin sit on top of the weapon instead.

"Uh, no, just borrowing," Alfred said, unsure of that creature.

He'd seen him before, it was the Joker. A powerful creature and for some reason he was helping the humans to build this weapon. He wasn't allowed to speak to him and excused himself before quickly walking his way to the entrance of the tent but an invisible force held him back from exiting the tent.

"That's what all pillagers say," he said and Alfred could swear he heard him right behind his ear. "You have it bad, don't you. Bringing food to your comrades-"

Alfred scrunched his brows and wondered how he knew that.

"-fighting a never ending war but most importantly keeping your fairy lover safe and sound."

The invisible force that held him back was suddenly lifted and he turned around with wide eyes. "How do you know about that?"

"I know everything, and I can help you." His grin widened and his face darkened in the dim light of one candle. His eyes however stayed fiery red. "You can make a deal with me. You and your lover could be safe from the gore of this war, you just have to do something for me."

"What would that be?"

"I don't know yet," Joker chuckled, which sent shivers down Alfred's spine.

He wanted Alice to be safe and he wanted to stop obeying the orders of his superiors and just end this pointless war of hate and hostility. But he wasn't sure if he could trust him, he didn't seem very trustworthy.

"I'll think about it."

Joker grinned and told him he'll come back to him before vanishing into the darkness of the shadows.

A couple of months went by again and Alfred still thought about the deal he could take. His mind told him to do it, to be safe but his gut told him that he would regret it. He had asked around, people who have met him or knew something and every single one of them told a horror story of a close one who had a deal with this creature. How they lost their health and family or turned into monsters.

He didn't want to do anything that could risk his life, he wanted to stay with Alice and he could do that without the Joker. And so, when he came again to ask about the deal, shortly before Alfred would go home, Alfred declined. He should've felt good about it but somehow his gut still squeezed together.

He would lay awake at night, even with Alice safely beside him. It bothered him too much.

"Do you know about the Joker," he asked her as her naked body hugged his and her head snuggled in his chest.

He stared at the grown over with moss inside of the tree house. It was a large tree house and mostly empty, only Alice and her sisters lived there and occasionally Alfred would come by and spend his nights by her side. The tree roots of this roomhole went up, making it feel more roundish. They laid inside a soft bed made out of fluffy moss and large leaves which were sewn together with caterpillar silk.

"I've heard about them," she said with a raspy voice and hugged Alfred tighter to herself and sighed tired. "They're out of nature and shouldn't be trusted."

"What does that mean 'out of nature'?" Alfred asked her and brushed over her shoulders and down her back to her wings.

"Someone like them shouldn't exist. Even the mages are scared of the Joker and want him dead. Why? Did you meet them?"

"No, but I know someone who did and they made a deal with him," Alfred partially lied to her.

"They're a fool," she said and closed her eyes again. "If you meet them, don't be like that fool."

A small relief washed over his chest and he hugged her tightly and kissed her head. He's done everything right.

-

It seemed that the war wasn't enough for the human beings, the tension between the various kingdoms also started to rise and villages and cities were burnt. Kings and Emperors all heard about the weapons that were about to show themselves on the battlefield and everyone wanted to have it, everyone wanted to be the ruler of this new world and the hero against the evil magical creatures.

Alfred wasn't sure what he should do anymore. The place Alice and her sisters lived in became way too dangerous. Nearby, the soldiers started to burn down every large tree that looked like it could house someone. They couldn't live there for much longer but there was no other place where they would be safe. Sometimes he thought if it was the right thing to decline the Joker's deal.

Alice softly hugged Alfred's arm who stared down at an apple and some nuts in a wooden bowl on a stone below him which Alice gave him to eat but he didn't touch it.

"What's wrong," she asked him but Alfred could only shake his head.

He didn't want to burden her with the things that were going on. She didn't need to worry about them.

"A couple of weeks ago I started to feel very strange and it confused me but Elspeth helped me to figure out what it was and it made me happy and I want you to be happy, too," she said with a loving smile.

She took Alfred's hand and placed it on top of her belly. She didn't say anything, just smiled at Alfred before his eyes widened in realization.

"You're with child?"

She beamed and nodded excitedly.

Alfred wanted to smile and take her into his arms but he stopped when he remembered the situation they were in.

"What is wrong, aren't you happy about this?"

"I am, I am very happy about this, really," he tried to reassure her but her smile fell. "Alice, we live in a very dangerous time and place and I try my best to make sure that you're safe and I worry everyday when I'm not here that something could happen to you and when you get the baby, I will worry even more."

"I feel the same. Everytime you go away into that war I wonder if it was the last time I saw you," she said and her eyes began to tear up.

He wiped her tears away when they started to roll down her cheeks and he kissed her forehead. She embraced him and snuggled into his neck, feeling his warmth and his steady heartbeat against her own chest.

"I'll find a way for us to live in peace, I promise. Somewhere where we and your sisters can be safe."

"And where you don't need to go and fight in a war," she said and Alfred brushed over her head and kissed her again, agreeing with that.

He wished the same with his whole heart. Living a peaceful life and having a family with Alice.

Their circumstances however brought them something different.

When Alfred ran through the forest hearing screams, there was blood, so much blood and he stopped in shock when he saw Elspeth and her little sister laying on the ground. Their blood was all over the green moss and leaves. His worst fear happened and his heart squeezed in pain. His mind screamed at him to find Alice and he ran again. It smelled of burnt wood and his eyes widened when he saw fire in the distance, swallowing more than a hundred trees and growing fast. He ran to the tree house and saw soldiers, grasping on Alice and binding her together.

"Let her go!" Alfred yelled and took his sword.

The soldiers turned around confused. "What do you want here?"

"Leave her alone," Alfred demanded.

"Excuse me? What did you just say to us?" said a tall man with a beard. It was Alfred's superior officer and he knew that there was no other option than to kill all these men and run away with Alice once and for all.

Alfred didn't hesitate to attack the five men. The fight however was unfair. Two soldiers left their position behind their officer and defended while another one attacked Alfred from behind. He fell to his knees when they hit him against his head and his knees. They took his sword and held his arms to which the superior officer came close and punched Alfred's face.

"How dare you attack your superior officer like that?" he asked with a growl in his voice and punched Alfred's face until it bled.

Alice cried out for him to stop and the man turned around with an annoyed face.

She tried to get out of the grip of the two soldiers that held her and the officer grabbed her hair and pulled her head down. "You will shut up!"

"Don't touch her!" Alfred yelled at him and struggled against his comrades.

"What concern does she has to you?" The man pulled on her hair again and Alice squirmed until he stopped. His eyes were fixated on her body and a loud laugh escaped from the officer, confusing the others. "She's with child," he exclaimed when he spotted her small baby bump. His eyes wandered dangerously over to Alfred. "Is it yours?"

"Let her go," Alfred said instead of answering.

He let go of her hair and approached Alfred once again. "You had a little fun, huh?" the man began, his face darkened and his voice became louder and angrier. "We're supposed to kill them, not breed with them!"

He kicked Alfred's gut and then his face before grabbing his hair and pulling him down to stomp his face into the ground.

"Stop it, please!" Alice yelled while tears rolled down her cheeks.

The officer stopped and turned to her. "Don't you worry, I'll come to you next."

"No!" Alfred yelled begging at him. "You can do whatever you want to me but please let her go, please don't harm her!"

He couldn't lose her, he promised her a safe life. He couldn't break it, not when he found a good place far away. Somewhere cold but safe.

"Fine," the officer said and went around her to grab her by the face. "This won't harm her." With a swift motion, he pulled out a blade from his pocket and slit her throat.

Alfred screamed as he watched blood rolling down her neck and the white dress. The soldiers let go of her and Alice fell down, filling the grass with her blood. He couldn't stop his cries as she laid there dying with the fire behind them coming closer.

The only thing that stopped him from crying and trying to get out of the grip and take her lifeless body into his arms was the officer who hit him against his head and let him fall unconscious.

He wished to have died beside her but that wasn't his fate. He was a deserter and had to be hanged for it. He sat in a small cell made out of stone. It was so small he couldn't stand or move, all he was able to do was sit with his knees up to his chest and cry silently.

The door to his cell was opened and someone squatted in front of him. When he looked up he saw a pale figure all in black and a grin so wide that it could swallow him if it opened.

"You...you have to bring her back, bring her back, I beg you!" Alfred cried out and tears rolled down his bloody and dirty cheeks. His hands grasped the black cloak of the Joker and he stared at him pleadingly.

"I might be the most powerful being in the whole world but what's dead is dead."

His hands let go of his cloak and he embraced his knees again. He should've taken the deal. Alice would've been alive and safe, instead she's in the forest lying lifeless on the ground with their unborn child while being consumed by fire.

"But! I can make sure that you'll meet again in your next life," he said grinning.

"My next life?" Alfred asked, confused.

"You'll be dead in a few hours, so that's your only option to ever see her again."

"Will I remember my life here?"

"You will when the time comes for your part of the deal," he said.

There was a big risk in taking the deal but he had once declined it and that's what happend. He won't risk it again.

"What do you want?"

"I'll think about it and tell you when the time comes." He stretched his pale hand with black fingernails out to Alfred and grinned. "Do we have a deal?"

"I want to have a good and safe life with Alice," Alfred said and Joker nodded to which Alfred took his cold hand. "Deal."