[Part 2] The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name

[rurushuu]

.part 2.


Initially, Arthur was determined to keep an unemotional façade when not being with Alfred in public. But, against his better judgement, he couldn't help the small droplets of temperament seep through his mask. Such as the one time a general had called him 'my Queen', an absolutely legal way to address him, though he brushed off said person with a spat.

"Do I look like a bloody woman to you?" he had said.

The people around him were left startled by the uncharacteristic outburst. Alfred however was amused.

Although very busy with their duties as monarchs, they never abandoned their little habit of secret dates. Naturally, they had not as many opportunities as when they were still only princes, but they surely knew how to make use of their sparse free time.

Sometimes they would visit the Capital incognito, complete with costumes that were courtesy of Alfred's creativity-sometimes also called idiocy by a certain queen. They liked to secretly attend their people's festivals and sometimes Alfred was even able to persuade Arthur into joining him in a dance. Arthur, of course, found it difficult to adapt to the common people's carefree way of life. And openly enjoying himself was something he couldn't allow himself to do, and, to be honest, he wasn't sure if he was even able to do so.

It was the third day of the flower festival and many people were wearing colourful, flowery masks. And Arthur found it easier to relax if he was hidden behind his mask of green leaves and lilies of the valley. So today he agreed to sway around to the sound of merry music with Alfred, who was being a bundle of happiness and energy.

Those experiences of being among their people, to be talking and dining with them, watching them laugh, all of these were precious to both Alfred and Arthur, and they noticed a new kind of longing in their hearts.

If there were no festivals that they could visit, they reverted to their old hunting excuse. And that day Alfred invited Arthur to see their birthplace.

The Trees of Life were evergreens. No matter the season, the leaves were always flawlessly green with a fresh glow as if recently kissed by the morning dew. It was summer and the sacred birthplace of royalty was covered with partially yellowing grass. Nearby was the small winding river where a legendary woman once slept with a god. It was a secluded clearing where no one except high priests dared to set their foot on.

The new royal couple lay there, right where the legend was supposed to have taken place, and made love in the open.

Arthur moved his hips sensually, meeting Alfred's every thrust. His emeralds were half-lidded and peered at the man moving behind him whilst he was lying on his side. Somehow, having Alfred enter him from behind in a half-kneeling position made everything feel so much more intense and Arthur could lose himself in the pleasure. Not to be selfish, he reached behind to fondle and massage Alfred's balls.

It didn't take long until both of them reached their release and flopped inelegantly on the dry grass, their naked limbs still tangled in a spooning position. Arthur's breathing hadn't yet slowed down; he had his eyes closed and was sated from the amazing lovemaking. Gentle hands caressed his nape and shoulder blades. Arthur smiled once Alfred's lips touched his shoulder to plant one gentle kiss.

The young King of Spades was always like this. He always had to have his cuddling session after one round of sex, no matter how worn out he was. So Arthur let himself be pulled into a gentle embrace from behind and even snuggled himself closer, for Alfred's body felt really firm and warm, making him feel safe.

Arthur thought that this was just another romantic date. Though he didn't know how life changing that day was. And just like everything else that had changed his life before, the source of change was Alfred.

"Let's announce our love to the kingdom," said Alfred in a low whisper.

Arthur stopped breathing.

"What?"

"Let's make them know about us. About us being in love." Alfred's voice didn't waver and neither did his expression.

This time Arthur rolled his body to face his husband, just making sure if he really was serious. When he couldn't spot any traces of a joke on Alfred's expression his eyes widened.

"Alfred, we can't do that!"

"Why not? Aren't we humans, as well? Capable of loving each other?"

"Of course we are humans! But see Alfred…" Arthur had grabbed Alfred's wrist. "The both of us are an anomaly of the world."

"Why so?" Alfred's eyes were uncomprehending. "I see us naked now and we look the same as any other human. So why are we abnormal?"

"Because we're supposed to be perfect beings, not to be affected by imperfections such as affections or distaste. Kings, Queens and Jacks of Spades are effective in ruling a country without fail and there is no place for sentimentality. We are supposed to be perfect humans Alfred, free of every restriction that emotions bring. We do not love or hate and lose sight, we do not greed, and we do not grief."

"Free?" Alfred cocked an eyebrow. They both sat up. "Wherein lies the freedom of man?"

Blue eyes swayed to look at an eagle flying over their heads before focussing back on confused emeralds.

"The freedom of man," Alfred said, "does not lie in the ability to achieve anything out of one's own power. The freedom of man lies in the choice whereby and with whom you want to get involved with. And that man learns to understand that his capabilities will always be limited."

Alfred had taken Arthur's hands in his. The sky in his eyes was endless and full of love. Looking into his eyes, one was able to see a glimpse of how he saw freedom.

"A creature devoid of any emotion is not free."

"Alfred, it's not like Spades royals can't feel…" Arthur tried to bring back some sense to Alfred's head but he too was beginning to feel unsure about his own words.

"But that's usually the case, right? They grew up in an exclusive group of three and they felt nothing for each other. The consequence was that they never learnt to develop relationships with other people in the first place."

"That is true…" mumbled Arthur wearily. "But still, Spades is the strongest of all kingdoms, so it couldn't be too bad."

The younger of them both laughed and shot the other a look of disbelief. He definitely had Arthur all figured out, that he too realised how weak that argument was. "You're right, Alfred. Our strength is defined by our victories on the battlefield. One Royal Flush followed the other."

Alfred nodded eagerly. "Ruling a country requires us to be an actual part of the people. We have to be sensible towards their needs, anger, voices and struggles. And the first step is to be able to feel for your fellow royal family. A sense of brotherhood between King, Queen and Jack is crucial, Arthur. I think we are not an anomaly but, I don't know, evolution of our kind?" The last part was added with a playful wink.

The Queen pondered for a moment. "But the people need to accept our new self…need to accept that we've become like them."

Several issues were bound to be triggered if they were to reveal themselves to the people, like the fact that they would lose their special and mythological position, which had made it their birth right to become monarchs of Spades. And also…was their system ready for this?

To his surprise Alfred found himself in a tight embrace.

"Let's think about this some more, alright?" Arthur tried to appease Alfred and tried to prevent him from taking any rash actions. But he couldn't help but feel pride well up in him. "You know, I like to see your intelligent and inspirational side." His voice almost came out as a purr. Arthur leant forward to nibble on Alfred's lower lip. He eventually tilted his head to kiss him properly.

There was enough time to change the kingdom. Living out their passion for each other was their priority for the time being.

Or so they thought.

They were violently forced apart by the sound of dried twigs breaking on the ground and a voice calling out to them. Completely shocked they snapped their heads to see the person who had intruded their moment. Arthur reacted quickly and grabbed the bow and arrow that had been kept within reach. The arrow was nocked with one swift motion and Arthur drew his bow, ready to shoot. Green eyes narrowed, only to be snapped wide open in recognition.

"I knew it. You two are really together." Yao stepped out. The Jack's eyes were cold and his long black hair covered half of his face, so his actual expression was hard to make out. But one thing the couple was sure about - he didn't look forgiving.

It was then that they noticed their lack of clothing. Arthur and Alfred quickly grabbed their trousers to cover their privates.

"What…what are you doing here, Yao?" Alfred asked with a shaky voice. He had planned to make their relationship public, yes, but now he seemed so unprepared and wished for Yao to forget what he'd seen.

Yao shrugged, he had his arms crossed nonchalantly. "This is unacceptable. I would never have thought the trees would give birth to failures."

Something snapped within Alfred as those poisonous words reached his ear. He bolted up and was ready to punch the Jack in the face, if only Arthur hadn't pulled him back.

"Don't - don't you evercall us that!" Alfred's voice trembled and he looked ready to roar at Yao, who was still as emotionless as ever.

"You will have to face the consequences," the pale-faced man said and turned to leave, ignoring the King's angry shouts.

And they did suffer the consequences.

While the people and parliament were heatedly fighting over the appropriate measures to tackle this problem, Arthur and Alfred were for the time being retained in quarantine in their own separate chambers. Both were anxious in their respective living quarters and spent days of wandering about without heeding their servants any mind. Arthur and Alfred were worried sick about their status, their future, but above all they missed each other. Surely, it would have been more bearable to endure this catastrophe together in each other's safe arms.

Arthur even refused to take any meal most of the time; he preferred to restlessly wander the room up and down, also occasionally peeking out of the window. But the sight outside of the castle was chaos and only succeeded to fan his fear and unease. People were demonstrating and debating out there and most of the time they didn't really seem to know what to do. It was as if they were forced into a world unknown to them.

Of course they were panicked, Arthur thought with a bitter chuckle. They were indeed in a different world now, a different political world where the power of decision was in their hands. A world where the fate of their monarchs was dangling on a thin thread, which was spun by their solution.

The powerless Queen of Spades sighed and rested his forehead on the windowpane and thought about Alfred. Oh, how he missed him. Now more than ever.

Alfred too wasn't feeling any better. How would their people decide to react to this turn of events? Wasn't this what he wanted in the first place? True, but now he only felt scared. He wasn't prepared to be so…weak and without power. And now he had managed to jeopardize his beloved Arthur with his careless little dates. He could cry thinking about how everything was his fault.

The people of Spades were scandalised. Their perfect King and Queen were born flawed. With this dooming addition of 'sentimentality' the kingdom was bound to be driven to the edge that would eventually lead them into fatality. These overly emotional monarchs would be the death of the kingdom as they were just like them, merely humans. And humans crowned with power were bound to turn incompetent. They needed perfect rulers, not to be swayed by hatred or love.

But a pattern of questions arose no matter how long they ranted about this disaster. Who could be the judge over their Sovereigns? Did they have the power to do so? Would they anger their Creator? But surely the God of War would never let failures like them rule over his beloved country, right?

Parliament never adopted a resolution without the King's consent and now they suddenly had to be…independent. Suddenly, the people found themselves being forced into a state of maturity, responsibility and with the freedom of choice. To them, the idea of such power in the people's hand was thrilling but also frightening. Were their well-tried system and world view ready for such a change?

Some people noticed the comical side of this revolution that had been thrust to the Spadians. This whole fiasco and political identical crisis were the result of a busted amorous affair.

One day, in the middle of the turmoil, an unexpected royal mail arrived on the Lord Legislator's desk. It was a letter by the King of Hearts.

Nobody expected this turn of event, especially not something from the Kingdom of Hearts, which was the country of arts and humanities. Spadians liked to call Hearts the kingdom of airheads and weaklings.

Both Arthur and Alfred, upon hearing about the letter, were incredibly surprised and left confused. Why was the King of Hearts of all people intervening in Spades' political affairs?

Said letter contained only one line.

Finally, they have become human at last.

Five days later Arthur and Alfred were called over to the Constituent Assembly for a public hearing.

The quadratic building was plain and merely focused on its functionality rather than aesthetics and it housed only two rooms - an entrance hall and a large assembly hall where there were masses of people gathered behind the balusters. The large windows were left open to let the rest of the commoners have a look at the millennium event. Everything was so chaotic and loud, even more so when the King and Queen of Spades arrived at the threshold of the great hall. The crowd exploded in shouts, debates and questions. To both Alfred and Arthur's surprise, however, the people looked more curious than angered.

Some even recognised them as the strangers who had occasionally visited the festivals and taverns. They had danced and eaten with their royals!

Alfred and Arthur stalked the aisle with proud steps and composed expression, though they didn't appear stoic at all. No matter how dignified they presented themselves, there was no other way to describe their appearance other than 'romantic'.

They didn't appear unworldly. They were simply two individuals holding each other's hand tightly. At this the crowd's uproar died down and an eerie silence settled in the grand hall as they all observed the walking couple. The two finally reached the front of the council. Yao was among them looking out of place.

One particular grey-headed man with sunken eyes leant himself forward from his raised seat. "Well? What do Your Majesties have to say in their defence?" He asked the royal couple.

"Defence?" Arthur sneered. "Are we treated like criminals now? Your own King and Queen, who are lawfully married?"

He felt Alfred squeeze his hand tighter. Looking to his side he could see him shooting a sad smile. Arthur didn't want to see that sad expression on Alfred.

"How are you both different?"

This time it was Alfred who answered and he still had a sad smile on his face. His voice was soft but perfectly audible. "We're merely in love, my Lord."

The council was silent-nobody really knew what to say against such a simple answer.

"We will not treat you as criminals," said Yao, who had finally broken his silence. His expression looked stoic but he spoke slowly, which was unusual for him, who usually had an unstoppable word flow. And were his fingers trembling? "But we will have to strip you from your power as the kingdom's Sovereigns."

A murmur broke out among the audience. This was the first time ever in history such a thing had happened. Somehow, most of them had the underlying understanding that this was a scene of tragedy.

Alfred looked up with his brilliant blue eyes and Arthur noted how that man was in no need of any crown or jewelleries in order to shine. Yao's gaze met Alfred's.

"Yao…are you our friend?"

The Jack frowned and pulled his now even more trembling hands on his lap hidden behind the desk. "I-I…I do not have such sentiments. It is, unlike you, not in my nature to feel something like that."

A Spades royalty never stumbled over his own words. But Yao did.

"Yao, what is your purpose as a Jack?" Alfred kept pressing.

"To rule this country without fail, of course." These questions were starting to visibly unnerve the Jack.

"That is our purpose as well!" Alfred exclaimed and he stepped further forward taking Arthur with him, their hands still linked. "We want to rule this kingdom with our best effort!"

"But you can't. You are emotionally unstable. You-you are too human!" Yao's face was contorted in a pained grimace, another unusual sight. He looked like he was ready to jump up and fight.

"What is wrong with that? Aren't we governing a country of men?"

"Idiot!" The crowd gasped at Yao's outburst. "You are bound to fail, for you will be led by your emotions! You are limited!"

Alfred was now standing directly in front of Yao, both were staring with wide eyes. Arthur followed the heated debate with a weird sense of fascination.

"Could it be…" whispered Arthur to himself.

"I am aware of that! And it is good that I am aware of my limited capabilities because now I can be a ruler with ears perked up for my people's voices, eyes open for their suffering and happiness, and heart sympathising with them!"

Yao bolted up, now completely losing his calm. "This- this is ridiculous!"

"How can a soulless machine rule a country?" That was enough to leave Yao struck dumb and Alfred took this opportunity to once again attack the Jack with his argument. "How can machine men differentiate between what is well and wrong for an ever-changing and unpredictable nation? And wouldn't a group of people eventually become machine-like as well if they let themselves be ruled by a machine king? That would make this kingdom of Spades a totalitarian monarchy, one that is consented by its very own people!"

Those words struck deep in the hearts of every man in the hall. And Arthur felt the urge to kiss Alfred senseless, then and there.

Yao struggled for words. And this was when Arthur stepped in, gently sliding Alfred to the side. With a calm voice he asked, "how do you want to rule the nation, Yao?"

Arthur was a good observer. He had noticed the troubled looks the frail Jack sometimes had after several conferences with the generals and lords. Yao, too, was like them.

"I…I…"

"Say it to us, Yao." Arthur never lost eye contact with his long-time companion.

"I…damnit!" Yao squeezed his eyes tightly shut and sputtered his answer like a stream of bottled up emotions. "I think our military is led by a bunch of brainless barbarians! I think trading of goods and cultivation of our resources are far more beneficial than wars where we would only lose our state's money! We could learn about these things from the mercenary Diamonds and agricultural Clubs…and-and perhaps we could even surpass them! I think we should be a kingdom of progress rather than one of brutality…" The Jack panted. He looked and felt as if he had just run a marathon. But his heart felt pleasantly light.

Arthur however grinned. The rest couldn't believe the scene that had just played out.

At that very moment the massive door at the end of the hall was opened. All heads were turned to see the person who had dared to interrupt the historical showdown, and were baffled to see the King of Hearts standing there, clad in all red and holding his sceptre with self-confidence. To his right side was his Queen, an oriental looking man who had covered half of his face with the long sleeve of his richly ornamented red kimono. To the King's left was their Jack, a bubbly looking young man who was directly staring at Arthur and Alfred with friendly eyes. He also seemed to be singing.

"What is the meaning of this?" protested one of the parliamentary members.

"I am Ludwig, the King of Hearts and hereby I officially announce my support towards the King and Queen of Spades. I do not condone any violation of a human being's right in such an outrageous form…and that to your very own royalty! Also, if any of the Jack of Spades' words were true, then I have been charged to deliver following message: the kingdoms of Diamonds and Clubs are willing to open up trade and exchange with Spades under the condition of an ethically acceptable competition."

And truly, they could see flashes of golden and green fabrics behind King Ludwig. Could it be that the other royals were present as well?

A long period of silence was followed by a loud roar of cheering. The crowd chanted the names of their King and Queen, and even the council had small smiles on their weary faces. "The issue of homosexuality will be discussed at another point of time," mumbled one of them with an eye-roll.

Arthur threw himself in Alfred's waiting arms and kissed him senseless. He had wanted to do that so badly and the fact that they hadn't seen each other for days was more of a reason for them to fall into passionate kisses and caresses.

Spades was ready for a new start as a nation with a new face. This reformation was going to take a long time but the new age of peace made it easier for them to be progressive.

Their King and Queen were now openly together and did not shy away from showing their affection in public but one thing they never abandoned-their secret dates.

No matter how they savoured their people's acceptance towards their relationship, they couldn't stop treasuring their alone time, the sacred moments of privacy out there in the woods, in the gardens or in their now shared chambers. Sometimes, probably out of habit or playful childishness, they would sneak out of the castle, escaping their duties for a few hours to have a little private time.

Once again Arthur was cradled in Alfred's strong hands and their lips were moving together. Alfred sighed into the kiss and savoured the taste of his queen. Their kisses tasted of freedom. And both would always have this sensation of soaring in the sky.

Arthur was lying on the grass whilst Alfred was undressing him. His eyes were directed at the rosy afternoon sky and he seemed to be lost in nostalgia.

"When I was young and you even younger you gave me a red rose. That rose changed my world and I fell in love. Our love changed this nation."

Alfred looked at his beloved with tender eyes. "We were meant to change the world."

"No, we were meant to fall in love with each other," Arthur whispered. He lightly kissed Alfred's forehead. "The love that dared not speak its name has broken free and is now flying over the people's hearts, ready to shape a new world. We were never unnatural. We have only unleashed a power never seen before. One that is ungraspable but felt in the whole world."

End.

A/N: Lol I said End.
Anyways, I hope you guys liked this sappy trainwreck XD...though I enjoyed writing it .___.
"The love that dare not speak its name" is a phrase from Lord Alfred Douglas' poem "Two Loves" and was generally known as a euphemism for homosexuality. In this fanfic's context it's used for the general expression of a 'forbidden love'. Also....Oscar Wilde is fabulous.
The history of creation was inspired by Genesis in the bible and the Babylonian creation myth Enûma Eliš.
The National Constituent Assembly is inspired by the historical Assemblée nationale constituante.