Chapter Text
THE QUEEN
“We’re going to do our best here, Arthur, we’re going to come home and our people will love us, I promise.” Alfred’s smile gave Arthur slightly more confidence in what they were doing. He watched as Alfred hunched over to step out of the small carriage door, the sunlight of the Diamond Kingdom illuminating his golden hair.
Arthur sucked in a deep breath as he felt the anxiety begin to froth inside of him, like an illness. He tried to not preoccupy his thoughts too much as he stared into Alfred’s eyes, giving his beloved husband a loving smile.
“I love you,” Arthur said as Alfred turned from outside the carriage, extending his hand to Arthur, where the Queen took it, his skin warming to Alfred’s touch.
“I love you too,” Alfred replied as Arthur stepped out of the carriage and to the view of the world.
As soon as Arthur’s eyes adjusted to the intense brightness of the white stone Diamond Palace, Arthur saw the figures in gold standing by the door, with the eyes of the Diamond King focussing directly on him.
Arthur watched as the Diamond King watched him link his arm with Alfred's and begin to move towards them, and he knew immediately that he and Alfred had broken so many rules, and could only wonder what the Diamond King thought of him already...
They have already broken two codes of behaviour, Alfred left the carriage first; breaking the order, and now he was holding Arthur’s arm, showing intimacy between the two. They were walking like a couple. Arthur held on tightly to Alfred’s arm when he realised that the Diamond King was still looking at him, and his expression hadn’t changed a bit. Was he really so offended? Francis’ stare caught Arthur off guard, and so, the Queen stared back, not wanting to give in to pressure so quickly…
Arthur has heard so much about the beloved King of Diamonds, he has the highest public approval out of all the monarchs: his people loved him and trusted him as their leader. Arthur could not help but feel envious; he wished that the people of Spades loved him and Alfred slightly as much. King Francis is benevolent, charming, and kind… He has heard about how often King Francis can freely leave the palace and walk around the kingdom with hardly any security! That would be a dream come true for Arthur! He can barely leave the palace walls without Matthew and armed security! Assassinations must be unheard of in the Kingdom of Diamonds.
The closer the Spades got to the Diamond Monarchs, the clearer they appeared. Arthur hasn’t seen them since he and Alfred watched the Spades Ball from the balconies the year before, now they are going to meet every monarch.
The Queen was the cutest young girl that Arthur has ever seen, and she was even cuter up close. Her wide green eyes stared into Arthur’s soul as her lips formed into a small smile. She had the face and body of a child; however, she was as loved and respected by her people as Francis is. She is a much-respected Queen. She wore a lovely golden, yellow, and orange dress, decorated with bows and golden diamond embroidery.
King Francis was as handsome as Arthur imagined, and he only looked better up close. His mid-neck length golden blonde hair bordered his mature face; and a subtle beard covered his jawline. He was dashing and looked like the kind of man that would easily earn the respect of a Kingdom. Arthur could see where the tales of the King’s charm and flirtation comes from. His narrowed light blue eyes were still focussing on Arthur, trapping him in their tight gaze; Arthur wondered what he thought of him…
The Diamond Monarchs and the Spade Monarchs stood across from each other, both couples staring in silence. Wasn’t King Francis supposed to greet them?
“Welcome to the Kingdom of Diamonds,” Queen Lili expressed, before politely curtsying before Alfred and Arthur.
King Francis finally seemed to return to reality, “Y-yes, welcome.” He extended his hand to shake Alfred’s hand, smiling politely, “it’s a pleasure to finally meet you both.” Francis smiled at Arthur before continuing, “I am Francis, and this is my Queen Lili.”
“Pleasure,” Arthur replied as he extended his hand towards Francis, who took it and bent down to lightly kiss Arthur’s hand.
“I am Alfred,” Alfred explained as Francis let Arthur’s hand drop.
“Arthur,” Arthur added, smiling as he felt Alfred tighten his grip on his arm, keeping him close. Alfred must be nervous, Arthur doesn’t blame him: He is nervous too. Something seemed off about Francis, he looked even more nervous than Alfred and Arthur.
It was Alfred who asked, “Francis? Are you feeling well?”
“You seem flushed…” Arthur pointed out, tilting his head with concern.
“I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” Francis promised before looking to his Queen, where the two talked amongst themselves.
Alfred and Arthur glanced at each other in confusion, wondering whether this behaviour was normal for the Diamond King.
“Is everything ok?” Alfred asked.
“Yes,” Francis replied as he began to lead the monarchs through the doors into the Diamond Palace, “Please, come inside and meet the others.” As soon as Arthur stepped through the doors to the Diamond castle revealing the beautiful entrance hall, a chandelier hung in the centre of the large hall, which was decorated with diamonds and elegant flower displays.
“This place is so beautiful,” Arthur, gasped. This palace was already so much more grand, bright and lively than the Spades Castle, which was darker and more gothic, but then again, the Spades Kingdom wasn’t as naturally lit as the Diamonds.
King Francis looked to his Jack and spoke, “Vash, may you escort our latest guests to the meeting room?”
“Wait, are you not coming?” Alfred asked.
“I will be there soon, I just need to check something quickly,” Francis replied as he began to make his way up the staircase, “please, do enjoy your stay; the other monarchs are very excited to meet you both.”
Arthur did find Francis’ behaviour a little bit odd; however, he understood that the King must be stressed, with so much going on with the preparation of the conference. He seemed like a nice man, perhaps someone that Arthur could befriend. After all, it is the Diamond Kingdom that the Spades must focus on the most: with everything going on at home, a deal with an agricultural Kingdom would be extremely beneficial. Arthur knew that he and Alfred would have to get onto his good side, because the Kingdom of Diamonds is an agricultural power, of which Alfred and Arthur need in order to satisfy their hungry masses back home.
Alfred and Arthur knew that they had to be on their absolute best behaviour, they needed the other monarchs to love them, and want to work with them. Anything to bring back the best for their kingdom. Alfred and Arthur feared what would happen to them if they didn’t… They knew that the revolutionaries were not going to wait much longer for the new royals to fix the problems left behind by the last monarchs. This conference was their last chance to appease their people and earn their trust.
“Now’s your chance,” Yao whispered as the Jack of Diamonds began to lead the group towards another door. Naturally, Yao sounded nervous, “Remember what’s at stake.”
“How can we forget?” Alfred asked, holding on tightly to Arthur’s hand, “Don’t worry, Yao. It will all work out.”
THE KING
“So explain to me, you and your Queen have a legitimate marriage?” The King of Hearts, Ludwig asked with a surprised look on his face.
With a nod, Alfred showed the King and Queen of Hearts his hand, revealing the two rings he had on his finger. The silver band represented Alfred’s union to the Kingdom, every monarch has one. However, the golden band had a different meaning, “the golden ring is for my marriage to Arthur. We had a wedding, reception and all.”
“Wow,” King Ludwig gasped, before looking to his shorter Queen and chuckling, “No offence, but I could never marry you.”
Queen Kiku chuckled, “Likewise. You’re great as a King, but as a husband: you’d be insufferable.” Both Kings laughed loudly to Kiku’s response.
“Anyways, I’d like to congratulate you on your new Jack,” Alfred announced.
“Thank you, Feliciano has been training hard for years, he’s going to do great,” Ludwig explained. Alfred smiled before turning his head to look for Arthur, smiling to see him speaking with the Queen of Clubs, and the woman looked overjoyed: he must be talking about their wedding. Alfred and Arthur knew that they could use the other monarch’s curiosities over their marriage to their advantage. People will want to talk with them, and so they can use that to engage and become better acquainted faster, which would mean better deals. What monarch would offer a good deal to an uninteresting stranger rather than a new friend with an interesting story?
Alfred returned his attention to the Heart Monarchs, “So, this is your second year reigning, how have you been finding it?”
“It has its stressful moments, however; it is rewarding. I love nothing more than to see that we are doing a good thing for our people,” Ludwig explained.
“We recently built a new fishing village, and so far it is going greatly,” Kiku added.
Alfred nodded, happy to hear that they are going well, now Alfred just has to pretend that the situation is as good as that in the Spades Kingdom. He has to act like there’s no famine, no discourse, and no political revolution on the rise, and this is he and Arthur’s last chance to make things right. “That sounds really good, I’m happy that things are going well!”
Alfred turned around again, hearing Arthur’s voice coming from somewhere, only to see him talking with Francis, who had finally joined the other monarchs. He and Arthur seemed to be having a good conversation, Francis must have calmed down since their arrival, what was that about anyways?
“Well, things could be better…” Kiku murmured as he and Ludwig looked to each other, before looking around to see if any wandering ears could be listening to their conversation.
“How so?” Alfred asked.
“We are planning to make a move at the Conference. And we want to ask for your help…” Ludwig explained, “The Northern Mountains were taken from us by the Clubs during the last war. We are not asking for you to do anything, we just feel that you have the right to know that the Clubs don’t have the same connection to the land as we do.”
“My mother was born there,” Kiku admitted, “People there identify themselves as Heartlanders, and are targeted by Clubs authorities when they protest the ownership of the land. We understand that it is not the fault of King Ivan and Queen Elizabeta, however… Our people still live there, and they deserve to freely call themselves Heartlanders.”
“Wow…” Alfred gasped, looking around to check where the Clubs were, only to immediately spot Arthur still speaking with Francis, smiling. He looked back to the Hearts and leaned in, “Thank you for telling me this.”
Alfred knew that he would speak to Yao about this is as soon as he can. What can the Kingdom of Hearts offer to the Spades, and is it worth going against the Clubs? He could see a perfectly good deal coming out of this situation, even if he has to rock the boat a little bit…
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Alfred and Arthur reunited at the dinner table, holding hands as they sat next to each other, with Arthur sitting next to Lili, and Alfred sitting next to Yao. Alfred figured that now would not be a good time to ask Yao about the deal with Hearts, considering that the Clubs were sitting directly across the table from them.
Alfred stared at the meal in front of him, analysing it. He hasn’t been able to eat a meal without proper examination since he was poisoned a year ago… Could there be something in the lamb; could someone from the rebels back home have snuck into the Diamond kitchen and poison him again…? Would it kill him this time?
“Alfred,” Arthur whispered as he leaned into Alfred and pulled on his Kings hand, pulling him closer, “It’s going to be ok… No one wants to hurt us here.”
“I’m sorry, I just…”
“Shh,” Arthur murmured before placing a light kiss on Alfred’s cheek, keeping their cheeks pressed together so they could speak securely. “It’s ok.”
“I just can’t stop thinking about Coronation night…”
“I know and I don’t blame you. But think of this, Lukas and Mathias said that they would not have anyone hurt us again. And the Chef who poisoned you is still in the dungeon, he is never going to hurt you again.”
“Right…” Alfred whispered, “Also, I will need to speak with you and Yao later, I think I found something that can help us.”
“From who?”
“Ludwig and Kiku, they have proposed something, and I think I can see something good coming out of it, although, it will mean us going against the Clubs…”
“Oh god… Alfred… I don’t know, the Clubs are powerful…”
“Exactly, which is why I want to speak with you and Yao first.” Alfred explained, before chuckling, “I won’t do anything without your approval. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Arthur replied as he and Alfred pulled a part, noticing that the eyes of the other monarchs were on them.
They spent the rest of the night in relative peace, Alfred has to admit that he hasn’t had this much fun in years. The other monarchs are nice people, and have welcomed Alfred and Arthur into their group, he felt as if they had all been friends for years. Alfred could only hope that the Conference does not ruin this.