Notes:
Warning - This chapter contains mild gore, violence, gruesome imagery and horror

Alfred stared at his reflection, his toothpaste still running down his chin after spending five minutes brushing his teeth, his gums now sore from the intense treatment. His young blue eyes now looked weary, his cheeks were not so plump as they usually were and his hair was not as neat as it should be, and his skin was not as soft as it used to be. To put it bluntly he looked like a wreck, even more so than usual and it was due to the fact that so much had happened today.

He met with the King of Clubs Ivan, a man he disliked and suspected of imprisoning Arthur.

He tried and failed to discreetly pry information from Ivan regarding his garden prisons.

He broke down in front of Arthur after he feel into a depressed state and cried like a baby.

He actually ended up confessing his feelings to Arthur but before he could get a response he was pulled away from him again.

He almost made a fool of himself in front of Ivan and if it wasn’t for Yao there would have been a much larger mess for him to deal with.

Also on that note, Ivan noticed that he had disappeared whilst they were talking, though he didn’t seem to know where.

So many things and all of them were giving him headaches with all the questions and thoughts that plagued him. His emotions were all mashed up and he had difficulty putting them in order. There were so many things he wanted to think about but he didn’t know which one to think of first. Heck, dinner that night was ridiculously awkward with Ivan, who didn’t ask him about his disappearance but did stare at him with curious eyes. Thankfully Francis engaged him in a conversation and he didn’t get the chance to talk to him. Still that whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth.

He also couldn’t get Arthur out of his mind. His desire to free him from that prison that reduced him to such a depressed state was growing by the second. The only issue was he still didn’t know where he was or who held him. It also just dawned on him that he had pretty much revealed to Arthur that he loved him, though he never got the chance to find out if Arthur felt the same way. Did he like him? Did he have similar feelings towards him? Alfred was keen to know but with all these other thoughts in his mind was distracting him and keeping him unfocused.

With a huff he spat out the remaining toothpaste in his mouth and washed his face with a cloth. He treaded back to his room but instead of flopping onto his bed, he hopped on to his couch and flipped the remote to switch on the TV. Maybe watching an action show would help him get his mind back in order, he did recall one of his favourite action movies was supposed to be on today. If there was one thing that helped him feel better it was action packed movies with the latest cgi graphics. It was like a medicine for him, though a temporary medication, after all there was nothing else he could do at the moment and if there was one thing he learned from all this was that he needed his mind in peak condition.

Flicking through the channels he spotted something that caught his interest for a moment. It was one of those old black and white movies depicting a knight poorly fighting a stop motion dragon effect. Alfred wasn’t too big a fan of the old movies, he couldn’t handle at how cheesy they were. He was about to change the channel when the knight boldly declared,

“I will defeat you foul beast and rescue my beloved from that wretched prison!”

The dragon roared at him.

“You terrible fiend will rue the day you locked my one true love away! After I slay you, I will free her from your cruel prison!”

Alfred lowered the remote, that line catching his interest and he continued to watch.

The knight continued his poorly coordinated fighting with the obviously fake dragon, the fighting painful to watch, until at last he struck it through the chest with his sword. With a roar the dragon tumbled down into a ravine, leaving the knight victorious. The music changed from a dramatic tone to a heartfelt melody, the knight scrambling up the stairwell of a ruined staircase and burst through a door. There a maiden sat upon a chair and she gasped dramatically when the knight appeared.

“Alfonso, you came for me,” she cried out.

“My beloved, I vanquished the beast that held you captive and now I am here to release you from this prison.”

The maiden ran right into his open arms and they embraced each other tightly, the music selling the scene. Alfred watched transfixed, envying the pair of them. He wrapped his arms round his legs and continued to watch the scene unfold, his eyes completely focused on the happy couple and almost forgot at how ridiculous they sounded.

“I almost gave up hope,” declared the maiden, “I dreamed of this day for what felt like an eternity.”

“And I would continue fighting for an eternity if it meant I could hold you in my arms,” stated the knight. “I will never let you go, ever again.”

“But... am I dreaming? Is all this just an illusion formed from my weakened mind?”

“If this but a dream then I pray neither of us will awaken.”

“I would gladly sleep forever if it meant I could be with you.”

“And I will fight every nightmare if it meant you would sleep soundly, and let you dream a dream that the heavens themselves would envy.”

And with that the knight pressed his lips against the maiden’s, kissing her passionately and the end credits displaying, declaring they lived happily ever after.

As the music continued to play, Alfred wondered if that’s how it would play out when he eventually rescued Arthur. Would he end up fighting some beast and storming a tower to find Arthur in his garden? Would they end up embracing and declaring their everlasting love for each other, getting their happily ever after ending? He tried to imagine it as he hugged himself and laid down on his couch. How would Arthur’s arms feel wrapped round him? Would he bury his face in his neck or his chest? Would he say something ridiculous cheesy or get angry and demand why he took so long?

He closed his eyes as he tried to envision it, stupid stop motion dragon and all. Wielding a sword and shield, declaring that he was the hero come to rescue his true love from the beast’s hold. Fighting the wretched creature and slaying it once and for all. Running up those stairs, ripping open that door and finding Arthur waiting for him in his garden. Rushing to his side and finally embracing him, vowing he’d never leave his side ever again. It almost brought a smile to his face as he imagined the day he’d finally find Arthur and hold him in his arms, closing his eyes as he tried so very hard to envision it in the hopes it would come true.

——————————

“Alfred! Alfred, you gave to get up!”

Alfred opened his eyes, closing them briefly as the light of the static TV almost blinded him. With a groan he tried sitting up, his arms stiff from laying down on the couch for an unknown amount of time. He rubbed his closed eyes and tried to stretch out his stiff joints, yawning a little as the desire to go back to sleep nearly took over.

“Alfred, come on! You have to hurry.”

Rubbing his eyes once more, he carefully opened them and spotted the mystery girl standing nearby, her bizarre eyes gazing down at him. His mind was still half asleep but the moment he spotted her he woke up completely and sat up.

“You! I-I’ve been meaning to-...”

“Not now Alfred,” interrupted the girl, “you have to hurry!”

She grabbed him by the hands and pulled him off the couch, pulling him towards the door to his room.

“What’s going on?” demanded Alfred, “where are we going?”

She said nothing but pushed open the door and Alfred’s jaw went slack. Instead if the hallway that was supposed to be right outside his room, he found a large barren landscape stretched out before him. Rocky mountains stretched out along the horizon and Alfred could just make out a tall tower in the distance. Turning round he found his bedroom was gone and it was just him and the mystery girl in this strange land.

“Where the hell am I?” asked Alfred, looking around completely lost. “What is this place?”

A loud and distant roar caught his attention, and he looked up to see a towering dragon stomping around the wasteland. It’s claws were as sharp as swords, it’s scales looked tougher than iron, and the fire it breathed was so hot Alfred could feel the heat from where he stood.

“What’s going on!? Why is there a dragon? Where’s my room? Where am I?”

Without a word the girl suddenly pulled a sword and shield from out of nowhere, forcing them into Alfred’s arms. She then flicked her fingers and Alfred found himself in his normal attire with some armour added on. Alfred could only look at himself dumbfounded, completely unsure of what was going on. One moment he was in his room and the next thing he knew he was in some wasteland with a fire breathing dragon.

“Alfred, this is your chance!” The girl caught his attention, her young face filled with determination. “This is what you desired, is it not?” She pointed at the tower the dragon was stomping around. “In that tower is where your beloved is being held! Slay the beast and you can rescue him!”

At first Alfred had no idea what she was talking about but it slowly began to sink in what was going on. “Wait? You mean Arthur is up there?”

“Yes,” answered the girl, “But you have to slay the beast! Go Alfred and rescue your beloved! It is your destiny to be his hero!”

Then she vanished into thin air, leaving Alfred completely alone. He looked at the sword and shield in his hands, both of them looked exquisite and durable. He then looked up at the tower in the distance, his heart racing when he realised that Arthur was up there. If he scaled that tower he could get to Arthur and free him from his imprisonment, take him away from this wretched land and carry him off into the sunset where they’d spend their happily ever after together. The dragon continued to roar and breath fire, slashing its claws through the air and kicking up the rubble with its scaly feet. Any normal man would flee at the sight of it, but not Alfred.

A cocky and determined smile suddenly grew across his face, and he clenched both sword and shield in his hand. This was exactly what he wanted; to be the hero who’d save his true love from the accursed prison that held him. If all he had to do was kill that dragon to get to him, then that was what he was going to do. He could do it. He was a hero, he was going to be Arthur’s hero and he was going to rescue him at long last.

He raised his sword in the air in a heroic fashion and proudly declared, “I’m coming for you Arthur, after I kill this dragon!”

Then he ran towards the dragon, not showing a single shred of fear as he raced towards it, determined to bring it down once and for all. The beast eventually noticed him, roaring with rage and breathing down a storm of fire upon its would be attacker. Alfred raised his shield and it protected him from the intense flame. The dragon roared again in anger when it realised it’s attack failed and began charging towards Alfred, it’s fangs ready to chomp down at him.

But Alfred was not afraid, as a child he had fantasied about battling dragons and slaying monsters. The closest thing he had ever done to slaying dragons were in his video games, but he knew with his brute strength he could easily best this beast once and for all.

“Come at me, you ugly scale head!” he taunted, banging the sword against his shield. “I’m going to beat your ass to the ground and use your horns as decorations!”

The dragon fell for his taunts and charged at him, snapping his jagged fangs at him and swiping those terrible claws across the warm air. Alfred jumped and dodged every attack, raising his shield to defend himself and slashing his sword at the creature every chance he got. The dragon was quick despite its size but Alfred had managed to slice off some scales, exposing the flesh underneath and he drew blood from the cure he made, the blood reeked but it only boosted Alfred’s confidence that he could beat this wretched thing.

It’s rage growing, the dragon roared until the ground underneath Alfred began to tremble and it unleashed a blaze of flames that nearly turned the ground into molten rock. Alfred jumped and ducked whenever he could, determined not to back down, determined to win. The dragon was way bigger than he was and it could easily finish him off if he made one wrong move, but as he stole a glance at the tower that looked above him, knowing full well what his prize was if he succeeded was enough to push him on. He wasn’t going to let it’s size intimidate him, besides being smaller than it was actually an advantage.

The dragon continued its attacks and Alfred waited for the perfect opening, the one chance to slay the beast once and for all. He continued to taunt it, causing it’s anger and rage to grow until it was just making desperate swipes at him in the hopes to at least cut him, but Alfred wasn’t going to let it. It’s blood rained from all the cuts and gashes he had made, one of its claws snapping off from its fingers. Alfred knew he was close to winning. He climbed up a pile of rubble, the dragon towering over him, hissing and snarling at him. It made a lunge at him but Alfred took the opportunity to jump onto the beast, plunging his sword into it’s face, right between those scarlet eyes. The beast howled in agony, waving it’s head about in a vain effort to shake off it’s attacker, but Alfred plunged the sword deeper and deeper into the beast, the blood gushing out of the open wound, the sound of flesh ripping and bones cracking was music to his ears.

He pulled out the sword and stabbed it again and again, each time caused the beast to cry out in pain, each time made the blood spew out until it gushed out like a fountain. The dragon clawed at the air and unleashed flames for no reason until at long last it toppled over, its heavy body smashing against rocks and boulders. Alfred quickly jumped off, rolling onto the ground and watched as the dragon collapsed onto the ground, giving out one final roar of bitter anger before it fell silent and became deathly still.

Alfred stood up, dropping both sword and shield now that their purpose was complete, breathing heavily in order to catch his breath and get his thumping heart back under control. He kept his eyes on the dragon, making sure it wasn’t just playing dead but after a few minutes Alfred believed the beast to be truly defeated, the blood pouring from its wounds already drying up upon the earth.

“I did it,” he proudly declared, jumping up with delight. His attention then turned to the tower, his heart racing when he realised what he had won. “Arthur!” He called out his name as he started dashing up the stairs. “Arthur, I did it! I did it! Arthur!”

He ran all the way up those steps, ignoring the pain of his chest and gut, ignoring how weary his legs had become from the climb. He was so close, so very close to finally being with the one he cherished above all else, a little pain was worth it. He clung to the wall for support and kept climbing and climbing until at last he reached a set of doors.

“Arthur?”

Clasping his hands round the handles, Alfred pulled the doors opened and ran through them. He found himself in Arthur’s garden, all of his flowers blooming beautifully and the sweet birds singing away.

“Arthur?”

He looked up and saw him, his back to him and standing directly in front of an Elder tree. His heart leapt with joy when he spotted him.

“Arthur! I did it! I found you!”

Arthur slowly spun round, his green eyes locking into Alfred’s blue ones. He looked just as breathtaking as Alfred envisioned him, and his heart continued to thump loudly against his chest. Arthur said nothing to him but smiled and opened his arms, waiting for Alfred to come and embrace him.

It was like a dream coming true and Alfred stepped forward, reaching out to Arthur and couldn’t wait to have him in his arms.

“I knew I’d find you eventually.”

However he could not help but notice that despite he was moving towards Arthur, he wasn’t going anywhere. In fact with every step he took, it felt like Arthur was getting further and further away from him. He felt confused as he was clearly moving but the distance between him and Arthur did not change.

“Arthur, what’s happening?”

He called out to him but he did not respond, he just stood there waiting to be embraced. Then Alfred spotted something emerging from the ground from where Arthur stood. It looked like vines or roots made from silver, growing out of the earth and coiling themselves around Arthur’s body, and yet he continued to stand there with his open arms as if he didn’t notice them latching onto his limbs.

“Arthur!”

Alfred watched in horror as the silver vines began pulling Arthur into the ground, his body sinking into the dirt. He tried sprinting towards him but it felt like he was running through water, the ground becoming unstable beneath his feet. Alfred tried to reach him but he was still too far away.

“Arthur! Get away! Arthur!”

He scrambled as best he could, his heart beating with fear as Arthur’s chest was already vanishing into the ground below.

“No, no, no!”

With desperation he made one final leapt towards him, but when he finally reached him Arthur’s head had already submerged into the ground.

“No! Arthur, no!”

Alfred began clawing at the ground, trying to pull it away to find Arthur but it was like trying to dig through stone.

“Where are you!? Arthur!?”

BANG

Alfred jumped at the loud noise and spun round, his eyes widening in fear when he spotted the accursed silver door. It’s chains rattled and whatever it was behind continued to pound away, desperate to get out. With trembling legs, Alfred stood up and tried covering his ears as the door continued to make terrible noises.

BANG. BANG.

“Shut up!” he shouted, “Shut up, Shut up!”

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.

Shut up! Stop it, stop it, just stop it! Go away!”

The door continued to pound away, the sounds coming from behind it were nightmarish and no matter how hard Alfred tried to cover his ears he could still hear it, as if he was standing right beside it. He squeezed his eyes shut and desperately tried to block it from his mind, but nothing was working. He couldn’t even move. He wanted to find Arthur, he wanted to get out of here, he wanted this all to end.

It was then that the noise had stopped and Alfred cautiously opened his eyes and removed his hands from his ears.

He was still in the garden but the silver door was gone and in its place was Francis, Ludwig and Ivan. The three of them were seated at a small 4x4 table, with a vacant seat and a large chess set was laid out before them. They didn’t seem to notice Alfred as they played away at their game, as if they were completely oblivious to their surroundings.

“What the...?”

Alfred approached them, looking at the chess set upon the table. It had four chess set pieces, one with the Diamond insignia, one with the Heart insignia, one with the Club insignia and the last one with the Spade insignia. Alfred wasn’t an expert on chess but he was fairly certain that there were supposed to be two sides, not four.

“Have you come to take part?” asked Francis, moving one of his pawns.

Before Alfred could answer, Ivan cut him off. “He lacks a piece, he can’t play.”

“Maybe he should hurry up and find it then,” suggested Ludwig, using his knight to knock over one of Ivan’s bishops. “It is difficult to play when there is one missing.”

“True,” replied Francis, his eyes focused on the game before him, “it makes it difficult for us.”

Alfred glanced at the Spade pieces, noting that he was indeed missing the Queen piece.

“Did you know that the Queen is the most powerful piece in chess?” said Francis, moving another pawn.

“It’s more powerful than the King,” said Ivan, moving a knight across the board.

“The King is practically powerless compared to the Queen,” said Ludwig, moving a rook into position.

The three Kings continued to play their bizarre game of chess and Alfred could only stand there and watch them. “Do you know where Arthur is?” he asked.

The three Kings then pointed in unison towards the Elder tree, Alfred glancing over to see the Queen chess piece resting against one of its roots. He never noticed it before, or maybe he never had the chance to notice and it was exactly an answer to his question. Forgetting about the game, he walked towards it but before he could get it someone else picked it up.

“You don’t want this.”

Alfred gasped when he saw Gilbert the Joker, juggling the chess piece with a single hand. “Hand it over!” he demanded.

Gilbert laughed. “But you don’t want this. It’s far more powerful than you.” He then stepped back to reveal a large silver chest behind him, opening it up and jumping into it, cackling as he did.

Alfred gave chase and peered into the chest, but saw nothing but a black void. Before he could give a proper investigation, a pair of hands suddenly appeared and yanked him into the chest. He cried out as he fell into the nothingness for what felt like forever, until he fell onto a hard surface. With a grunt he pushed himself up and found himself in a large conservatory filled with rotting plants and decaying flowers.

He rose to his feet and looked around, wondering where he was and where Arthur could be.

“Alfred, where is your Queen?”

Spinning round he found that a table had appeared out of nowhere and upon it sat Kiku, Elizabeta and Erika, the three of them drinking tea and eating tarts.

“We can’t finish this tea party without our missing guest,” declared Elizabeta, biting down on a tart.

“All four Queens need to be present,” stated Erika as she sipped her tea.

“How else are can the four Kingdoms run? They are nothing without us,” said Kiku, his golden eyes unusually dark.

Alfred noticed the vacant chair but it was rusted over and covered in vines. The unused tea set was chipped, the tea cup full of a mouldy beverage and the tart upon the plate was covered in insects and grime.

“Maybe you don’t want the Queen here?” suggested Erika.

“Maybe he’s humiliated because he’s weaker than his Queen?” retorted Elizabeta.

“Yet without a Queen you are nothing anyway,” sneered Kiku, “no matter how much you try to pretend.”

Alfred growled and slammed his hands against the table. “I want to know where Arthur is! Do you know where he is or not?”

The three Queens pointed over towards an empty birdcage that looked like it was ready to collapse. He approached it and peered inside, gagging at the sight of the corpse of a dead bird, its body ruined and covered with crawling insects. He felt sorry for the poor thing but gasped when it twitched and made a vain attempt to flap its wings. He tried to open it but the cage was locked right.

“Where’s the key?” he shouted, glaring over at the Queens who continued with their tea party without a care.

“How should we know,” snorted Elizabeta.

“You’re the one who locked it,” sighed Erika.

“You’re the one who feared it,” chuckled Kiku.

“You’re the one who replaced it,” they all said together.

Alfred was ready to snap at them when another voice entered the fray. “I know where the key is!” He looked over and spotted Peter, the young Joker sitting on a bench and holding a small silver box. “It’s in here,” he declared as he opened it.

Approaching the Joker, Alfred peered into the silver box but saw nothing but the same black void he saw in the silver chest. Before he could ask Peter where the actual key was, the black void reached out and pulled him in.

He now found himself in a large open field, the night sky high above him and full of stars that seemed to be staring straight at him, those beautiful twinkling dots he had always been fascinated with as a child now filling him with dread. He looked about, hoping to find some sort of clue as to where he was or where Arthur could be.

“Alfred.”

A voice called out to him and he spotted Yao sitting cross legged upon a stone, writing down something upon a parchment of paper.

“Yao,” cried out Alfred, dashing over to his side. “Where are we? Have you seen Arthur?”

“Alfred,” repeated Yao, “Why did you hide it? Why did you hide it from the world?”

“Hide what?”

A loud noise caught his attention and he looked over his shoulder to see Roderich playing upon a grand piano.

“Why, he’s asking about the missing piece you silly boy,” snorted Roderich as he ran his fingers across the ivory keys. “You hid it, did you not? You hid it because it would ruin you?”

“I-I didn’t hide anything,” declared Alfred.

“Liar!”

Alfred flinched when a spear was almost shoved in his face, staring into the angry eyes of Basch who wielded it against him. “You were ashamed, so you locked it away!”

“Locked what away?” Alfred stepped back, completely confused with what he was being accused of. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s such a shame that you did,” came another voice.

The voice came from Feliciano, sitting upon a stool as he painted a picture that Alfred couldn’t quite make out. “Pride is such a terrible sin, and you allowed it to swallow you whole, and you committed a crime so great that you are beyond salvation.”

“What crime?” demanded Alfred, “why are you all accusing me of these things that I have not done? What did I lock away? What did I hide? What the hell did I do?”

Feliciano said nothing but pointed at his painting. Alfred looked at it again and was now able to make it out. He saw four open graves, each one containing a silver casket. Then, without warning, one of the silver caskets opened to reveal a dark shape that was darker than the night itself. It was as if the painting had come to life and Alfred could feel himself being pulled into it until he was completely smothered.

Opening his eyes he found himself back in Arthur’s garden but the flowers had rotted away and the sky was a terrible shade of red. He looked around until he saw a lone figure standing before the Elder tree, an axe in his hands and raised, ready to strike at a smaller figure. Alfred spring into action and ran forward, determined to protect that person from the attacker.

“Leave them alone,” he barked.

The attacker stopped with his advance and turned round to face Alfred. The moment Alfred saw his face, he skidded to a halt and gasped at what he saw.

He saw himself, drenched in blood and smiling like a maniac.

“I can’t leave them alone,” declared his doppelgänger, “if I do then he’ll use them against me!”

The doppelgänger then pointed his axe towards the small figure who, much to Alfred’s shock, was a younger version of himself.

“I’m doing this for you, I’m doing this for him, I’m doing this for us!” shouted the doppelgänger, “we are the King of Spades! We are the mightiest of the might, yet he was going to use those five against us! I did what I had to do!”

The child version of himself wept and shook his head. “You murdered them! You murdered them! Why did you murder them? By murdering them, you murdered me!”

Alfred took a step back, his foot brushing against something. He peered down and almost screamed when he saw the four corpses of young children, their blood flooding the ground beneath him. He saw his own clothes were drenched in their blood and in his hands was the very axe that killed them. He threw it from his grip in terror and stumbled backwards.

“I... I didn’t kill anybody!”

“By killing them you doomed the world!”

“By killing them you secured your power!”

“I didn’t kill anyone!” shouted Alfred, his voice echoing across the rotted garden. He fell to his knees and sobbed as the accusations thrown at him grew louder and louder. He shook his head over and over, trying to block it all out. “I didn’t kill anyone,” he choked.

“Of course you didn’t.”

A voice he knew reached him and he looked up to see Arthur, kneeling before him and smiling sadly. “You didn’t do anything wrong Alfred, but we still have to pay the price.”

“Arthur?”

Alfred tried reaching out to him, but Arthur stood up and walked away.

“Arthur!? Wait!”

He scrambled to his feet and tried to chase after him, but Arthur was walking further and further away, vanishing into the darkness of the void. He tried his best to keep up but he ending up tripping over his own feet and fell flat on his face. He pushed himself back up but found himself completely alone in a vast dark space.

“Arthur!”

His voice echoed into the dark and Alfred sobbed, slamming a fist into the ground. What did it mean? What did any of it mean? What did he lock away? What did he hide? Who did he kill? He didn’t know anything. He felt like he had all the answers but he didn’t know what to do with any of it. He just wanted Arthur, all he wanted was to have Arthur in his arms and comfort him, listening to the sound of his voice as he sung him into a peaceful slumber.

“Alfred?”

With weary eyes he looked up and saw the mystery girl staring down at him. She raised her hand and displayed four fingers.

“You only have four left Alfred.”

“Four? Four what?”

“It’s time to get up.”

“What?”

“I said it’s time to get up Alfred!”

Alfred’s eyes snapped open and he found himself staring up at his bedroom ceiling with Yao’s face peering down at him.

“Did you fall asleep on your couch? I warned you what that can do to your back!”

Alfred sat up and looked around, finding that he was back in his room with the morning light peering in through the windows. His TV still displayed a static screen until Yao turned it off, his dark reflection staring back at him. His head was aching and everything from that nightmare he obviously had was still fresh in his mind. He groaned as he forced himself to sit up and tried to get his mind back in order as Yao yapped away.

“I had to tell the other King’s you weren’t feeling well when you never showed up for breakfast, it’s not good manners for the host not to show up and dine with his guests! I’ve arranged for a quick breakfast for you here, so hurry up and get cleaned up!”

With a sigh Alfred tried to stand up but wobbled backwards and fell back onto the couch. His vision was a little blurry and he felt lightheaded as the blood rushed through his head too quickly. Yao groaned angrily and pulled Alfred up, pushing him towards the washroom.

“Alfred please, I would normally let you relax but something urgent has come up and I need you 100% focused!”

“Like what?” moaned Alfred, who was really not in the mood.

Yao but his lip and actually appeared uneasy. “The King of Clubs... Ivan, wants to talk to you in private.”