One Remarkable Mistake [USUK]

Chapter 9

One would imagine that news was slow to travel throughout the Kingdom, which was at the most true to an extent as it was waiting for rain during a drought, but at the first word of Arthur's disappearance the Kingdom went into the primary example of an insect confined to a small space without the ability to be freed after a certain point. Half were out on the search for the devious man, another portion hid inside their homes, uncertain of when or where he would appear, and a select few had come to terms that they were unlikely to be targeted, therefore their lives continued the same with the addition of no ruckus from the rather outlandish few. 

The palace had been more than disturbed by the news, Spades advisor ran into a frenzy and quickly created a flock with the singular member being himself: all meetings discharged, the palace placed under a secure in place, preventing anyone from entering or leaving without confirmation that they were in-fact who they claimed to be, and Alfred suffocated by the pure tension every few minutes. 

At no point was he to be unattended to, which was not the most agreeable as it strained any time to make a legible correspondence to the other half of him; however, it went without saying, Arthur wouldn't make an appearance in the capital of Spades for quite some time. Which had never been a topic of interest or speculation between the two as it was simply the obvious. Who would ever want to step into a Kingdom where their face was known by every living creature, and at the mere sight would be hunted down like wild game? Certainly not someone that had such a rather lengthy background as a pirate, not to mention what else was yet to even be spoken of when it came to such an individual.

To everyone's shock Alfred's response hadn't seemed startled, and rather than letting such a monotonous response settle the people into an eased state, such a response seemed to make the situation worse. Arms were raised in a flurry of panic that the King was poisoned and soon to be found dead on the floor with the Queen nowhere in sight leaving the Kingdom to the hands of whomever took a jab to it, which was absolutely perfect when juxtaposed next to the commotion of the escaped prisoner who managed to bend and break iron. 

Evidently, the response his advisor was not looking for had not in-fact been one of sheer mellowed exhaustion accumulated from months of prolonged additional stress, and perhaps someone should have notified him that there was not in-fact a good response to this at all. An appropriate response may have been, 'Send a group out at once, we must make haste to apprehend someone of such vicious nature'. To say or even attempt to claim that was those were the words that spewed from his melatonin driven thoughts would be far from the from, Yao had stood there, addressing the bandaged hand and creased lines that had only been dug deeper under his eyes from lack of sleep, jaw-dropped and eyes wide at Alfred's feeble, 'Oh shit'.

Needless as it may have been, there were precautions in order, until the moment that it had been decided that nothing would come of Kirkland's escape. Which, was both rather foolish and all the same rather generous as it had been almost two years of the King being secured into a protective bubble. Over what? One may ask. Of something that not many knew anything about. 

Thus, everything was once more up in the air, held by thin wires made of glass that were resistant to the weight they bore by nothing more than the faith that each held for their respective partner. There was no way to say if trust would wander astray for either, but one thing reassured each, more than simple promises or wealth melded into a circle that enclosed their finger, and that was the letters that fell into both of their hands the very moment the restrictions in Spades lifted and it was safe to communicate. 

Except Alfred didn't know how to react when an envelope fell into his lap one day, no address or any indication of who may sent it other than the red wax sealing the envelope closed with a cursive 'K' pressed into the middle. Neither truly knew how to react, hell, Alfred's response had been rather sloppy and unpolished, apparent that there had been bits and pieces each had wanted to say for two years now, only for the rest to be thought up completely.