Before Alfred had left, he had given Arthur a letter he found while snooping around Pat's tent. This letter gave evidence that Arthur had not been the only spy in the rebel camp. To confirm that, though, Arthur would have to interrogate Gilbert, and after what the albino had done to Matthew, Arthur knew he was going to enjoy it all too much.

The former captain was being held in a shallow basement of one of the wooden shelters. It was dim and damp, the only light coming from one bright oil lamp above the albino's head. The hatch to enter creaked almost ominously when Arthur opened it, and the ladder shuddered underneath the English Provincianer's weight.

Gilbert was shackled to an iron beam that he slumped apathetically against, the cuffs chafing against his pale skin and leaving angry red marks. He looked tired, but in decent condition. If he cooperated, maybe he would stay that way.

"You were the last person I expected to turn on me," the albino laughed as Arthur approached. "How'd they get you to switch sides?"

"I'll be asking the questions," Arthur hissed. "And I didn't switch sides. I joined my own."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Arthur shoved the letter in his face. "Explain this."

"It's a letter. What is there to explain?"

Arthur felt anger rising up from within him. "And did you write this letter?"

"I don't know. I can't see."

"You still have one good eye."

"I can't make out the words."

Arthur raised a hand as though to slap Gilbert. "Don't test me, Beilschmidt. I'll make you regret being born."

"I'm serious! I can't see!"

"And why not?"

"It's too bright. Red eyes don't function well with tons of light, you know."

Arthur snatched the lamp from its hook and threw it to the ground, shattering it against the earth. "Better?"

"Easy there. You could've started a fire," Gilbert scolded, but at the dangerous expression on Arthur's face he shrank back. "Yeah, that's better." He took another look at the letter before him. "Yeah, I wrote this."

"To Pat?"

"To Pat."

"So he was another spy of yours?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah."

"That explains a lot." Arthur gave a little mock bow to Gilbert. "Thank you for your cooperation." He turned to leave.

"Arthur?"

A sigh escaped the England Provincianer. "What?"

"Can I go home?" Gilbert's expression was not stern. It was not intimidating, or powerful, or any number of things that it normally was. Rather, it was soft, almost pleading. "My brother's coronation is soon. My little, baby brother. I want to be there to watch." His body shook, as though trying to contain a sob. "I never wanted to be in this war. I swear to you, if you let me go, I won't aid your enemy. Please."

"I'll see what I can do. We may need you for more information, but if not...
Tears bloomed from Gilbert's one eye, tears of joy and relief. "Thank you, Arthur. You're a saint, you know that?"

As Arthur left, he was happy to note that, though he could not lie to Alfred, he could still fake out anyone else.

"Wait. Back up. You're asking me to kill the king?"

Baron Kirkland nodded. "That's right."

"I thought you were loyal to Spades!"

"I am loyal to my son. If he wants to make a statement, there's no better way to do it than kill a public figure. While I may not keep in contact with him, I do care about him. Arthur is the only son have left. The only family, really."

Alfred tilted his head curiously. "What happened to your other sons?"

"Plague, boy. Now, do you want to know how to go about killing the king or not?"

The baron explained in detail what Alfred had to do, answering every question with impeccable confidence. At the end, Alfred felt more ready to continue with the plan, but he still felt wary.

"So when's the next meeting of Parliament?"

"This afternoon, in about three hours. Use the time to get past the guards and into position."

"And how do I know this isn't a trap?"

"You don't. The same way I don't know if my son is safe." The baron extended his hand. "I trusted you. Now you trust me."

Alfred looked at the hand for a moment, just thinking. Yeah, he was technically a criminal now, but killing a king? That was way beyond his figurative payroll. But if it helped his cause...

Alfred shook the baron's hand, determination in his eye. There was no going back now.

The American left the study through the window, running across rooftops until he reached the wall surrounding the castle, at which point he started scaling it. At the top, he ran swiftly, ducking into shadows when a guard came too close.

With a leap, he fell into the garden, landing safely in a shrub. Looking left and right, he dashed to the door leading into the castle proper.

The walls inside were pearly white, covered in sconces and paintings. the floor was polished marble decorated by a thick, plush navy rug embroidered with black gold. The ceiling was high and arched, with cherubic figures painted onto it. The castle was everything Alfred expected it to be.

He hated it.

There were no guards patrolling the hallways. It was almost too easy for Alfred to make his way through the royal halls and into the empty Parliament Chamber. Once inside, he walked to the raised platform where the king's throne sat, watching the seats of the politicians with royal grace and disgust. Alfred followed the baron's advice and climbed up the walls onto the arched ceiling, stopping over the figure of a cherub. There, Alfred began to set up his system of pulleys that would put this assassination into the history books.

When all was done, he waited. A beast in plain sight, awaiting its destined prey.

AN: Wow I'm really sorry for the long wait. Finals got in the way, and then I got caught up in summer... You get the picture. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things?

...Did I say that last chapter? I think I might've. I'm really sorry.

Hey, y'all should review. It makes me update faster, yanno.

I'm kind of upset with the quality of this chapter. I wrote this chapter (and a whole bunch of others) a long time ago to keep you all alive while I work on The Phoenix in July, and I guess my writing improved since then because this seems low quality. Or maybe it just actually is low quality. I dunno. Leave me your thoughts.

Okay, see you next chapter! Which hopefully won't be a month from now.