Hi! Can I ask what personality type 1p England would be attracted to? What traits does he value in an s/o?
He is way more attracted to personality than looks. As far as hes concerned if you have a bad personality, you’re ugly. He is very picky about who he spends time with. He needs someone who won’t be bothered by his moods.
He is mostly attracted to:
Witty and sarcastic
Classy
Respectful
Caring
Gentle
Bookworm
Even if you aren’t a bookworm someone who would enjoy being read to
Someone who he can have a discussion with
His get rather annoyed when people have a hard time focusing
Intelligent
Not a smart ass though
Proper
Has good manners
Things he dislikes
Being obnoxious
Rude
Stubborn (he’s stubborn enough for two people)
Someone who is angry all the time
Someone who is too hotheaded (you two will get in fights constantly)
Summary: When the future King and Queen of the Spade's Kingdom come of age, a mark appears on their body. Alfred is the kind Prince of Spades, heir to the throne. Arthur is his fated husband, the future Queen. The only problem is, Arthur is one of the most infamous pirates to sail the seas, a wanted man in all four kingdoms, and he violently refuses his place in the castle.
No attempts at capturing him have been successful and he remains on the run, fulfilling his lust for defiance. Alfred, following his nineteenth birthday, decides to take the task of bringing Arthur home into his own hands.
--- ♠ --- ♠ --- ♠ ---
Also available on my AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shytalia
--- ♠ --- ♠ --- ♠ ---
Chapter One
--- ♠ --- ♠ --- ♠ ---
Sometimes, Alfred swore The Gods were laughing at them.
As he kneeled before an altar, dressed in shabby clothes and in a small, port town with nothing but fish and brothels to its name, he wondered how this had all happened.
Arthur Kirkland, one of the four kingdom’s most wanted pirates, was named the next Queen of Spades.
Alfred had laughed at first when he heard the news since he figured it had to be some sort of shitty joke, only the punchline never came. It was confirmed that Arthur was, in fact, the correct person. It wasn’t easy, of course. A lot of people tried to take fake ownership over the title, brandishing their skin with false symbols of the Spades. But they were each debunked as frauds and the search for the real queen had continued.
Usually, it was not this difficult to find the queen. When the next King and Queen came of age, slowly a mark began to appear on their bodies to reveal their true destiny. So, as one might imagine, a deep, navy mark in the shape of a spade on someone’s skin coming out of nowhere was fairly hard to ignore. There were no rules as to where it appeared, it could be flashy and materialize on someone’s wrist, for all to see. Or, it could be more intimate, on the small of their back or on their thigh.
Alfred knew his mark was due to appear soon after his eighteen birthday and it wasted no time making itself known on his right hip. His many fans marveled at the placement, it was easy to cover up, but it also conjured seductive fantasies into their minds at the prospect.
Of course Alfred expected the reaction, ever since he had been a young teen, girls and boys alike wished to see the matching mark appear on their own skin. Not only for the power and the wealth, but many wanted Alfred himself. Why wouldn’t they? He was the Spadian Golden Boy.
Everyone swooned over his tanned skin, revealing in the way it shone with sweat when he sparred or practiced his weaponry skills. They simply wanted to run their fingers through his wheat blonde hair and stare into his eyes, often equated to the vast, blue sky in which their gods shone down on them. Everyone wanted him.
Well, almost everyone.
Arthur’s mark had appeared before even Alfred’s had, considering he was a good four years older. By this point, he had already become one of the most hated people in all the kingdoms.
He had started to make a name for himself early on, seemingly coming out of nowhere but with such a feisty attitude, wit, and the will to fight, he quickly rose from just some shabby nobody to a master of strategy on the sea. He gained a following and by the age of seventeen had already accumulated enough loyal people to call himself a Captain. This also meant he rose to the top of most wanted criminals, but despite the navy’s best efforts to collect him, Arthur always managed to escape. Almost.
There had been one faithful day in which the British Spadian had not been as lucky and was promptly detained by military guards. They had been following the Captain and cornered him in a coastal town, managing to lock him up and report back to the castle that they finally had the menace in custody. All they needed to do then was escort the prisoner back to the capital to face judgement.
That was how it was supposed to go, anyway. But before they could make it to their destination, they had to prepare the prisoner to enter the castle. They surely didn’t trust a pirate not to have weapons hidden on him, after all, and a change of clothing to better prepare him to stand before the current king and queen was only proper. That way, they wouldn’t have to subject themselves to peering down at a rogue pirate, dressed to fit the description. He had been in torn, black pants, a low cut shirt, jewelry no doubt stolen, piercings in his ears, and a deep, blood red coat to show his authority. That power held no meaning with the guards, however, as they began to strip the bound prisoner to change him into more moderate clothing.
It was then that the fate of the Spade Kingdom would change forever.
As they undressed him, they could tell the captain grew more and more agitated. He turned and twisted, making it progressively difficult for them to take off his shirt. Eventually, one of the guards buckled under the annoyance and pulled out a knife. Reportedly, Arthur had not shown any fear at the blade and only matched the sharpness with his own, cold glares.
His resolve wavered slightly, however, when he realized the knife was not meant for his skin but for his clothing. In one quick movement, the guard had yanked his shirt and cut through it, making it impossible for Arthur to fight the removal any longer. It was then that both guards stopped and stared, questioning their sanity as well as their positions to the crown.
Before them was a man, gagged to keep his curses muffled and hands cuffed to keep him from running. A wanted gunman with blood on his hands. But on his back, between his shoulder blades, was a distinct, dark mark perfectly in the shape of a spade.
Having been trained relentlessly to find the queen should they come across them, like all royal guards and military personnel, their first instinct was to test if the mark was truly what they feared it would be or if it was just a normal tattoo. To their horror, the truth was revealed that the pirate in their custody was marked as their next queen. They sent word immediately to the castle, who at first did not believe them, but upon inspection after inspection, and test after test, there was no denying the horrible fact that Arthur was indeed Alfred’s intended by fate.
He was to be brought to the castle immediately.
By some miracle, at least in Arthur’s eyes, the wagon was intercepted and he was freed by members of his crew and, strangely enough, a new friend they had made along the way. His name was Lukas, he learned, and he was not only a devoted priest of The Gods, he was an excellent mage with magical powers almost unmatched. With his help, the loyal crew members were able to rescue their captain from his undesired destiny.
Shortly after, word spread of the shocking revelation. People didn’t believe it, not at first. But, as the gossip spread farther and farther, the infamous Arthur Kirkland became wanted less for the crimes he had committed and more because the royal family wanted their rogue queen apprehended and brought to them.
Alfred was finding it particularly hard to pray when all these thoughts kept swirling around in his head. It was said that The Goddess herself marked the new queens with the royal symbols, but the young prince simply couldn’t understand why She had to mark Arthur Kirkland of all people.
He had lots of dreams about his future and the person he was going to be spending it with. He had prayed fervently to The Goddess in hopes to have a joyful and easy love life with his mysterious, future queen. Many monarchs simply tolerated each other, if they didn’t down right loathe one another, and very few ever actually fell in love. Alfred didn’t want a life of hating his partner but now, as he kneel before a statue in Her honor, he could only imagine she was laughing at him.
It had been nearly four years since Arthur’s secret was discovered and in those years, the royal military had tried desperately to claim him. Their navy occupied the seas he sailed, their guards watched many ports and coasts like hawks, they even put out a handsome reward for anyone who could capture the elusive Brit and deliver him. All these attempts at capture had failed miserably.
Many balked at the way Arthur evaded his fate, shouldn’t he want to claim his place? He was practically promised riches, food, clothing. Anything he ever desired, he could have in the palm of his hand. The royal court had tried desperately to play on this mindset as well, promising the Brit that if he surrendered himself, he would face no judicial punishment based on his past actions. It was unheard of! For a pirate captain as notorious as him to be given full pardon, everyone figured it was only a matter of time before Arthur came waltzing up to the castle gates himself. But as days turned into weeks and weeks into months, they realized the stubborn pirate was not interested.
--- ♠ --- ♠ --- ♠ ---
Alfred’s eighteenth birthday had been celebrated with a feast and loud celebrations. He had finally come of age and was expected to marry his queen soon. The lack of the new queen at the festivities put a sour mood in Alfred’s mouth, despite his signature smile and all the gifts. Don’t get him wrong, he was not at all thrilled about being married to Arthur-renegade pirate-Kirkland, but he was the Prince and therefore, needed to put aside his own feelings for the betterment of the kingdom. It struck a nerve in him to think that Arthur was considered any sort of ‘betterment’, he had no idea what The Goddess could possibly be thinking with this.
Nonetheless, it had been years since that fateful day his future husband was found out. Every single day they had failed ceremoniously to bring him home. So now, at age nineteen, Alfred decided he would be the one to bring Arthur back himself. He had waited patiently, as he was told to, but now that a year had past since his eighteenth birthday and they still were no closer to capturing Arthur, he grew tired of being idle. He was past his coming of age and Arthur was already twenty three, well past the usual marriage of a future queen. It was only adding insult to injury.
So here he was, in a small, modest temple fit dimly by candles and incense. He finished his prayer and stood up, walking out into the chilly, sea-salt air.
He had not been permitted to leave the castle on his own and surely not on some wild goose chase after a wanted criminal. That was why he had to sneak out, he was a prince after all and he knew how to evade his guards so he could go have a good time. He was notorious for sneaking out and just having fun in the capital, talking, helping, eating, drinking, and dancing with the locals. It was part of why he was so loved by them, he felt like one of them, not just some up-tight kid sitting on a throne of privilege. Alfred loved his people and showed it openly and without apology, and in turn they adored him for it too.
Now, those secret passages out of the castle grounds served a new purpose, to get him out so he could find Arthur. That’s exactly what he did, only pausing to leave a parting note for his dear parents.
He also made sure to dress less extravagantly, he didn’t want to tip anyone off as to who he was or get robbed. Many people knew his name and who he was, but surprisingly many also did not know his face as well as they thought they did. Once he managed to sneak out of the main capital, it became easier and easier to blend in. In towns and villages not as close to the castle as the big city, less people recognized him and that made traveling easier. After all, they weren’t as invested in the royal family as those closer to the castle. They had hard jobs to do dealing with agriculture and fishing, too busy working with their hands to provide for their families to care what some rich people looked like.
That worked in Alfred’s favor as he made his way to the coast, in a little town near where he had heard Arthur was last sighted. He searched for clues and asked subtle questions, but found himself disappointed when not much was revealed. After a couple of days, he was starting to lose hope in his search, as no one he talked to seemed to have any sort of lead for him to follow. That was, until, he heard someone mention a large ship coming towards the dock. His ears perked up at that and he listened in.
A large ship of some sort was coming to dock at their shores and the people of the town readied themselves. They were either there to pillage or to spend money, and being in a coastal town, you had to be prepared for both.
Alfred took this information and ran with it, making his way towards the waters to see just what ship they were talking about. Upon lying his eyes on it, he knew there was no mistaking it.
This was a vessel he had never seen with his own eyes, but had heard described like it was a prayer. The dark, mahogany wood stood proud against the cool waters of the sea. The masts, to Alfred, were a synonym for depravity and refusal of divine fate. But, it was the figurehead that protruded from the front of the ship that was truly a dead giveaway, no other ship had anything like it.
It came in the shape of a wooden woman facing outward, her hair curling around her face and behind her, as if the wind itself was blowing through it. In her hands was a bow and an arrow, ready to be shot at the foes foolish enough to stand before her. She was a symbol of fear to those unlucky enough to come across her wrath but a thing of beauty and grace for those who simply watched it bob from the waves. It was the famed figurehead of The Siren's Arrow.
Alfred knew he couldn’t let this chance pass him by, so he slowly made his way closer to where the boat had stopped and allowed some of its passengers to exit. Thankfully, they all looked rather docile at the moment, laughing with one another and heading right for humanly indulgences in the form of either food, bars or brothels.
The young prince watched them each carefully, but his frown sunk lower when each passed that didn’t match Arthur’s depiction. He had never seen Arthur in person, obviously, but there were enough “Wanted” posters around to know what he looked like.
Finally, after a painfully long half an hour in which he lazily leaned against a wall and watched, he caught sight of something that made him catch his breath. From among the crew members still spilling from the ship, he pinpointed a bustle of messy, blonde hair. He moved to lean in closer, squinting his eyes to watch the newcomer as he stepped off the ship and onto the pier.
He was smaller than Alfred expected. He had heard stories of the unlikely captain, that he was not as tall or large as many other pirates tended to be. In fact, he looked petite beside his rough cohorts. He was also rather attractive. Alfred caught his thoughts before they trailed off too far and kicked himself for thinking that the man walking casually onto the beach was anything but a slimy criminal. Small or not, the prince knew that Arthur was a dangerous man, not above breaking the law or killing him if he saw him as a threat.
He was also sure he would be less than pleased to see a royal, of all people. This was where Alfred’s plan came to a fault. He had been evading guards and gathering clues as to where Arthur was, with no real plan of action to actually get him back home with him. He surely was stronger than him physically, just based on their bodies, but he couldn’t exactly pick the Brit up and run all the way back to the castle with him. Surely, he’d be dead before he even got out of this town.
He had been so trapped in his thoughts again as he watched Arthur, he didn’t process that the man in question was growing ever closer to him. He also didn’t notice that the other blonde noticed him staring intently.
that moment when you finally, FINA-FREAKING-LLY draw your otp nicely in together. (its not perfect or finished, but after 100 tries im pretty freaking satisfied.)