Kurt stopped in mid-sentence, looking up in alarm.

No. It couldn't be. It couldn't be. How could he possibly have missed one of Firae's sentries? He had thought they were safe. He had thought Blaine was safe.

But the sound was unmistakable. It was the royal guard, and they would be upon them in minutes.

Unless...perhaps they hadn't been spotted? Perhaps the guard were headed somehwere else, and it was just a coincidence that Kurt and Blaine happened to be on their path. Perhaps it wasn't too late after all.

"Kurt, what is it?" Blaine asked nervously.

Kurt tried not to panic. If they had any kind of a chance, they were going to have to move.

"Blaine, we have to-"

The buzz of the grimchins was growing louder. Much too loud and much too fast. Kurt looked around desperately to see which direction they were coming from.

He grabbed Blaine's hand, both their cups of tea falling to the ground as he ran toward the closest grove of trees, pulling Blaine behind him.

"Blaine, we have to hide. We can't let them-"

But it was too late.

The sound was coming from all around them.

Which could only mean one thing.

It wasn't a coincidence. They were coming for Kurt and Blaine.

It felt like no time at all before the grimchins were upon them.

Once it became clear that they were completely surrounded, Kurt stopped trying to run. There was simply no point. He would have to face them with Blaine at his side.

Blaine.

Blaine was staring at the royal guard in open amazement. He had that same look of wonder on his face that he'd worn when he had first seen pixies and flower-trees. It was tinged with a bit of fear, but not nearly enough. Not for this situation. Kurt felt a hot flare of protectiveness surge through him, and moved to stand in front of Blaine. He reached behind him and grabbed Blaine's hands, holding them firmly in his own.

"Don't move a single step away from me," Kurt whispered. "I'm going to keep you safe."

Blaine squeezed Kurt's hands, and pressed himself tightly against Kurt's back. Kurt could feel Blaine's heart pounding against him, and all he could think about was how fragile Blaine was. How much Blaine was going to need him. And how far he really was willing to go to keep him safe.

The first members of the guard began to land and dismount.

"We are unarmed and seek passage through this land. I am escorting this human to Khryslee and wish your king only pleasant tidings," Kurt called out to them.

The Marshal dismounted and began walking toward them, and Kurt's heart sank when he saw who it was. Her pet name was Sree, and she had always been one of Firae's most trusted advisors. She hadn't yet achieved the rank of Marshal when Kurt had left.

Sree had never particularly cared for Kurt. She had once been suspended from service for telling Firae that Kurt was frivilous and not worthy to become his lifemate.

"You have returned," she said simply, her eyes shifting suspiciously between Kurt and Blaine. "And you brought...a pet."

"He isn't a pet," Kurt answered, trying to keep his voice even.

"So you are escorting humans to Khryslee now? In direct violation of the non-interference doctrine?"

"The doctrine says nothing about escorting humans to Khryslee."

"It does say something about bringing humans across the border, though, doesn't it?"

"I had to bring him across," Kurt said defensively. "He risked his own life to save mine, and the King of Villalu is out for his blood because of it."

"And why would the King of Villalu care about you?"

"Because I was his son's slave, that's why," Kurt spat. "Where did you think I was for the past five years? Drinking nectar in the border towns?"

Sree shrugged. "I always figured you just decided not to marry Firae and couldn't face him. But if you were actually enslaved as you claim..."

"As I claim? Do you even have any idea what goes on across the border?"

"Not my concern," Sree said flatly. "But your human will have to go back."

Kurt glared at her. "No."

"Then we'll have to kill him. He can't stay here, and the Khrysleans can't keep using our lands to transport fugitives."

"Fugitives?"

"You said he was wanted by the Villaluan King. That makes him a fugitive, wouldn't you say?"

Kurt gripped Blaine's hands even harder. "Sree, he is not going back to Villalu. I am bringing him to Khryslee and I am going to personally see to his safe arrival there, and then I will come back and explain everything to Firae. But if you so much as try to touch a single hair on his head, if you so much as think too hard about hurting him, I swear I will-"

"What, Kurt?" She taunted. "What exactly will you do to me in front of an entire guard of armed soldiers? Even if you managed to survive, your human certainly wouldn't."

She didn't actually call him Kurt, of course. Calling him by his pet name would be a sign of affection, and she seemed to have even less for him now than she did before.

Kurt's eyes narrowed. So this was her game. If she attacked Kurt, Firae would never forgive her. He would probably kill her. That is, of course, assuming that Firae wouldn't prefer to kill Kurt. She was daring him to call her bluff.

If it was a bluff.

Did Firae think the same thing that Sree did? Had he spent the past five years thinking that Kurt had abandoned him? Had he foregone the customary grieving period and already taken another lifemate?

Kurt felt his insides twisting with an intense barrage of confusing emotions. He had assumed Firae would still want him, that he had been grieving him. But the fact that perhaps Firae wouldn't want him anymore meant that he could stay with Blaine.

But then nothing would change in Villalu.

But then he could stay with Blaine.

Before Kurt could figure out how to respond to Sree, he caught sight of a familiar-looking group of grimchin-mounted Sidhe.

In the middle of the group was one of the largest and finest grimchins Kurt had ever seen. She was just as Kurt remembered her.

And then he saw the man that rode her. He gasped at the sight of him.

Because it had been five years. Five years since he had seen anyone from his childhood. Five years since he had seen his family.

And this far east, Firae was the closest thing to family that Kurt had. After being sent to the Eastern Border Lands following his mother's death, Firae had been Kurt's rock. He understood what it was like to be different, to have everyone keep him at a distance but treat it like a privilege. He knew what it was like to see the fear and awe in people's eyes when they looked at him, and he knew what it felt like to hate himself when he sometimes secretly enjoyed it.

But most of all, he knew what it felt like to lose his mother. And when they talked about it together they would look each other in the eye, and they never had to pretend to be okay.

Firae couldn't hate him. He couldn't. Firae had been his best friend. Firae had been his first love. At one time, Firae had been his everything.

But that had been a different time and Kurt had been a different man.

That was before he really understood himself. That was before he saw what true strength looked like. That was before he knew that it was possible to love someone as much as he loved Blaine.

Firae was still beautiful. He had barely changed in the last five years. He dismounted and walked toward Kurt, a look of pure disbelief on his face.

And warmth. And tears.

Firae stood before him and simply stared.

"Kurt," he whispered.

And suddenly it hit him. He was safe. He was home. And his best friend, his childhood confidante, his source of comfort when he was small and frightened and alone was standing before him.

Kurt had never truly believed that he would see him again. That he would see any of them again.

"Firae," Kurt said, his voice shaking with emotion. He launched himself at Firae, throwing his arms around the King's neck.

"You're alive," Firae sobbed. "You're alive!"

"I never thought I'd see you again," Kurt whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I missed you so much."

"Kurt...where...what...when the sentry reported that she'd seen you I thought she had to be mistaken. I had to come see for myself, because I never would have believed...what happened? What happened?"

"I was captured by slave-traders," Kurt answered softly. Firae tensed and let out a wail of despair.

"I never would have gotten out alive if it hadn't been for Blaine," he added.

"Who is-" Firae froze, and seemed to suddenly notice that Kurt wasn't alone. He broke the hug, and Kurt instinctively turned back to Blaine.

And when he did, his heart nearly shattered.

Kurt had never seen Blaine look like this before. Not when he had realized how different their lifespans were, not when he left Kurt in the cafe in S'aufa, not when he was at Brec's mercy, refusing to fight the compulsion.

Blaine looked utterly broken. His face was awash with pure, unmasked anguish.

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt murmured, reaching for his hand. Blaine gripped it so hard Kurt thought he was going to break his fingers.

Kurt wanted nothing more than to take Blaine into his arms, to hug him and kiss him and tell him how much he loved him. But he was fairly sure that the rest of Blaine's life would take place in the next five minutes if he attempted any such thing.

Firae's Villaluan wasn't excellent, but it was too good for Kurt to try and communicate anything reassuring to Blaine. So he tried desperately to do it with his eyes.

"I thought you had your compulsion bound," Firae said. Kurt could hear the frown in his voice.

"I did," Kurt replied, turning back to face him without letting go of Blaine's hand.

"Then why is he looking at you like that?"

"He...I..."

Why hadn't he prepared himself for this? Even knowing that he might not get Blaine to Khryslee without running into the royal guard, he really hadn't expected to run into Firae himself.

His frown deepening, Firae strode forward and grabbed Blaine by the collar. Blaine's eyes widened in terror.

"Firae!" Kurt shrieked in alarm.

Firae pulled Blaine close and pressed his neck to the base of his throat, inhaling deeply. When lifted his face, his eyes were blazing with burgundy-gold fire.

"He defiled you," Firae growled, the earth beginning to shake around them. Blaine yelped as if in pain, a hand flying to his chest.

"No," Kurt insisted, his voice hard. His eyes met Firae's, blue fire lashing against burgundy, and the earth stilled. Blaine let out a breath and lowered his hand slowly.

"You stink of him, Kurt."

"We've been traveling together for months!"

Firae gave a harsh, mirthless laugh.

"Kurt. Have you forgotten who I am? You stink of him. It's in your pores, your musk, it's all through you. There is only one way for that to happen, and you know it."

"He didn't defile me," Kurt repeated firmly, his voice soft.

"Kurt-" Firae began impatiently.

"Would you like to know how many men did defile me?" Kurt shouted. "It might take some time, you know, because I lost count within the first year. I'm sure you'd all be interested to know," he added, directing his wrath at the attendant guards around them. "It will just confirm what some of you have thought all along, that I'm not good enough to be your other King. Because now I've been defiled. Used. Wasted. Ruined!"

Kurt shot his flashing eyes back to Firae, who was staring at him in shock.

"Kurt, no..." he began weakly, "I didn't mean..."

"You know what, Firae? Blaine is the one person, the one person who never made me feel like I'd been defiled. He never made me feel like there was something wrong with me because of what other men did to my body. And yes. Yes, I have been with him. Many times. But it was entirely mutual, and I was the one who initiated it."

Firae's emotional reaction seemed to be struggling to resolve itself between rage and guilt and overwhelming sadness.

"I...Kurt...I didn't...I'm sorry. Of course there isn't something wrong with you. I just...it shouldn't have been him." He looked at Blaine, a look of near-hatred in his eyes. "It should have been me."

"Yes, well," Kurt replied, his voice soft again. "It has been five years, Firae. Have you remained chaste all that time?"

Firae flushed slightly and looked at the ground.

"Kurt..." the voice was so small, so pained that Kurt acted on pure instinct. He pulled Blaine into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"It's going to be all right," he whispered.

"It shouldn't have been him," Firae repeated, the rage seeming to win out in his voice.

"Well it was," Kurt said defiantly, moving out of the embrace but keeping a hold on Blaine's hand. "And he did save my life, Firae, and I owe it to him to see him to safety. I promised him that I would bring him to Khryslee, and that is what I am going to do."

"It most certainly is not. That thing is going back to Villalu or into the void or he is dying by my hand this very day. But you are not bringing him to Khryslee."

Kurt clenched his jaw and looked into Firae's eyes, his gaze ice-cold. Firae was unable to suppress an acutal, physical shiver.

"And how exactly do you propose to stop me?" Kurt hissed.

Firae looked dumbfounded.

"Kurt, you wouldn't-"

"Firae, try me. I'm not the same boy you knew five years ago. I have spent those years living in hell, fighting to keep hold of a trace of sanity and a will to live. Blaine saved me from that, and he almost got killed in the process. If you harm a single hair on his head-" Kurt advanced on Firae, pulling Blaine behind him, and grasped a strand of Firae's hair for emphasis - "a single hair, Firae, I will never speak to you again. I will never so much look at you. If you hurt Blaine, Firae, it will make me hate you."

Firae swallowed, struggling to keep a look of superiority on his face.

"Fine, then. We'll send him back to-"

"No. Sending him back to Villalu is hurting him. He will be killed if he is returned. Just...just let me bring him to Khryslee, Firae. Please."

Firae sighed. "You really expect me to let you bring him to Khryslee."

"Yes."

"In direct violation of the non-interference doctrine."

"Yes."

"In direct opposition to the choices I just presented about what is to be done with him."

"Yes."

They stared at each other hard, their eyes burning into one another.

For that moment, it seemed that no one besides the two of them so much as took a breath.

Finally, the corners of Firae's mouth began to twitch. He fought for a moment before allowing himself to surrender to laughter.

"Kurt. Oh, Kurt, you are the same boy I knew five years ago! I don't care how else you may have changed, no one else would ever dare to speak to me that way."

Kurt smiled a little too, in spite of himself.

Firae sighed deeply. "All right. I don't want our reunion to continue like this, Kurt. You're finally back, and I...all I want is to be alone with you. But I can't let you take him to Khryslee."

Kurt opened his mouth to argue, but Firae held up a hand.

"I can't, Kurt. I can't have him free to roam the Eastern Border Lands when...when it's clear to me that he holds a piece of your heart. I just can't. But...I will allow him to be kept in a holding cell for now. And then we can calm down and discuss this further."

Kurt studied him for a moment.

"It has to be a nice cell. In the Northern tower."

"Fine."

"And I need your oath that he will be treated well and afforded all the reasonable comforts."

"You have it."

"And you have to assign him guards that speak fluent Villaluan. And I have to approve them."

"Kurt..."

"These are my conditions, Firae."

"I am still your King, you know."

Kurt simply looked at him, unblinking. Firae sighed.

"You're lucky I love you," he muttered.

"I'll take that as a yes," Kurt said with a smile. "And I have to be the one to escort him to Cloudlen."

Firae crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, now you're just making a mockery of me altogether."

"You have to let me talk to him! Explain what's going on."

"All right, Kurt, but under no circumstances are the two of you to be alone together. And tonight..." Firae lifted Kurt's free hand to his lips and kissed it. "Tonight, I want you all to myself."

"Agreed," Kurt answered softly.

Blaine wanted to die.

The moment when Kurt had pulled his hands away from Blaine and thrown them around Firae had felt, unequivocally, like the end of the world. The end of all hope. The end of color and vitality. The very end of Blaine's heart.

It all made sense, and it emptied him of hope.

Kurt wanted to end the slave trade. If Kurt married Firae, he would be in a position to do exactly that. And no matter how much Kurt may love Blaine, Kurt was not selfish enough to walk away from something like that.

But when Kurt reached for him, his heart surged with mindless hope.

Could there be a way? Even now? Perhaps Kurt could convince Firae. Perhaps he wouldn't have to marry him. Perhaps...

No. It was clear that Firae wanted Kurt, and it was also clear that he wanted to rub Blaine out of existence. And the more heated it became between them, the more Blaine's heart surged with fear.

Because even though he couldn't understand the words, Blaine could see that underneath Kurt's anger there was affection. And he and Firae seemed to have something akin to passion dancing between them.

The fire in Firae's eyes didn't scare him nearly as much as the fire in Kurt's.

But then, when he whimpered Kurt's name without even really meaning too, Kurt had hugged him and told him that everything was going to be all right.

And now, as they sat in the carriage together, a tiny seed of hope tentatively planted itself in a hidden corner of Blaine's heart.

Maybe it really was going to be all right. Maybe, somehow, it still could be.

They were going to Kurt's feririar. Or rather, to Cloudlen. Kurt told him that the community of Sidhe who lived there made up the feririar, but that the name of the place itself was Cloudlen. Blaine didn't entirely understand the distinction, but he didn't really care.

Blaine was going to be a prisoner. Technically, he already was.

The King had promised that he would come to no harm, that he would be well cared for. Kurt promised to visit him as often as he could until he and Firae had "figured things out."

Kurt didn't say much else. They were not alone in the carriage; two members of the royal guard accompanied them, one beside each of them, as they sat facing each other.

The royal guard that served the King. Firae. Kurt's first love, and perhaps his future husband.

Firae was a beautiful Elfin King with burgundy eyes who lived in a great hall of flowers. And Blaine was a simple peasant from a tiny fishing village who badly needed a bath and a shave.

Between the two of them, the choice was obvious.

When the carriage pulled to a stop, Kurt managed to get close enough to Blaine to whisper "I love you" into his ear.

And then Blaine watched him walk away, toward Firae, who had already dismounted from his grimchin. They strolled off into the night, hand in hand, looking completely at ease with one another.

They looked beautiful together.

Blaine didn't even take in the village, though it was surely full of the wonders of Faerie country. He didn't even watch where they were going. His heart was smashed and his life was broken.

Because even if there could be a way, Blaine realized, he had been counting on Kurt loving him and wanting him as much as he loved and wanted Kurt. But Kurt obviously cared for Firae. Maybe he even loved him. Maybe, even if he loved Blaine more, he loved Firae enough.

The guards led him up a long set of steps spiraling around a mighty tree. It was much like the inn he and Kurt had stayed at in L'auhe. Blaine didn't care.

He didn't even know how long he had been there, curled into a ball and crying, when he suddenly realized that he was alone.

There were bars on the windows and the door.

Firae led Kurt toward his bedchamber, babbling excitedly about all of the people that were going to be so excited to see Kurt the following day.

Kurt paused in the doorway.

Firae looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "Problem?"

"No. No, of course not. I was just wondering...is my old room occupied, or should I use one of the guest chambers?"

Firae frowned. "Kurt, I was hoping...that you might consider staying with me tonight."

Kurt inhaled sharply. "I...Firae, it's just...it's too soon."

Firae walked back toward the door, taking both of Kurt's hands in his.

"Kurt, I would argue that it's been too long. Look, I'm not saying that we have to...do anything. Just stay with me? Hold me?"

Kurt pulled Firae into a tight hug.

"Firae," he whispered. "Please, just don't push. It's me. I'm here. But...I need my own sleeping chamber right now. I just need some time to myself. Please understand that."

Firae sighed, but gave Kurt a gentle squeeze before pulling back. "I understand. I'm just so happy to see you again. I suppose I'm afraid that if I let you sleep somewhere else you'll be gone in the morning."

Kurt gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "I'm not going anywhere. Now, can we please get some tea and honeysuckle? I want to hear about everything that's been happening."

Firae laughed. "That may take all night."

Kurt smiled. "We have time."

Firae went to find a handservant to fetch their tea and flowers. Kurt walked to the window. He looked over to where he knew the Northern tower stood, shrouded in darkness.

"Blaine," he whispered. "I just...I..."

He couldn't find the words.

Kurt wiped the tears from his eyes and plastered a smile on his face, turning to face Firae as he strode back into the room.

Blaine moaned as the morning sun invaded his eyes. Despite the luxurious-looking bed in the room, he had slept curled up on the floor.

He rolled onto his back and threw an arm across his eyes to blot out the light.

He didn't want to be awake. Being awake meant facing reality. And facing reality meant facing the fact that he had lost Kurt.

Kurt was probably still sleeping right now, exhausted from a night of passionate lovemaking with Firae. They were probably tangled up in the sheets of Firae's obnoxiously large bed with obnoxiously soft sheets and Firae was probably an obnoxiously perfect lover, and Kurt was probably thanking the gods that he finally knew what making love with a real man was like and Blaine simply wanted to die.

He decided that he wasn't going to move all day. He ignored the sound of the door unlocking and creaking open. Let them kick him or kill him or leave food for him that he probably couldn't even eat because it was probably just flowers anyway. Blaine didn't care about anything anymore.

"Wow. Uh, were you wasted when they brought you in last night? Because Kurt didn't say anything about that."

At the sound of Kurt's name, Blaine contemplated moving his arm away from his eyes.

"Or...are you sick? Do I need to get a healer? Or...gods, did Firae do that thing where he burns you on the inside without it showing on your skin? I hate it when he does that."

Blaine was pretty sure Firae had started to do that before Kurt stopped him. He hadn't known what was happening at the time, but now he did and it was just another obnoxiously impressive thing about the smug, arrogant prettyboy King. Somehow Blaine didn't think that his skill with a bow and arrow would quite measure up to burning someone from the inside out with just a look.

"Hey, friend." The voice was closer, as if the person were kneeling beside him. Blaine really wished that they would just go away.

It sounded like a man's voice, and quite a bit less musical than the other Sidhe voices he had heard.

The man clearly wasn't going anywhere. Blaine sighed and shifted his arm to his forehead, peering at the figure above him from underneath.

The Sidhe fixed him with a cocky grin. "Man, you are pretty. No wonder Kurt boned you all across Villalu."

Blaine felt his eyes widen in shock. Who was this man? What was wrong with him?

"What do you want?" Blaine asked, surprised by the gruffness in his own voice.

"Hey. No need to snap at me, my friend. You are my new idol. You fucked Kurt raw and then walked right up to Firae holding his hand, and Firae not only didn't kill you, he put you in the nicest cell in the Northern tower, and he let Kurt send me to stand guard. The gods will be singing your tale across generations!"

So this man knew Kurt. In fact, it sounded like Kurt had specifically asked for this man to look after Blaine.

He tried to imagine Kurt having any sort of amicable relationship with this man and he simply couldn't. He seemed far too lewd, for one thing.

Blaine studied him. His skin had a healthy Sidhe glow, with a soft brown tint. His eyes were dark amber, and seemed to actively sparkle with mischief. He wore an odd hairstyle; his head appeared to be shaven except for a single stripe of hair from above his forehead to the nape of his neck, the stripe ending in a glossy braid that reached his shoulder blades.

He reached a hand out to Blaine. Blaine stared at it.

"Am I not doing it right?" he asked, his brow furrowed. "Don't Villaluans clasp their hands together and shake them when they meet each other?"

"Oh," Blaine muttered. "Yeah. Sorry." He sat up. This may be the worst day of his life, but the man was trying to be friendly and personal misery was no excuse for poor manners.

He took the man's hand. "I'm Blaine," he said, shaking it.

"No shit," the Sidhe said, shaking so hard he almost wrenched Blaine's arm out of the socket. "You can call me Puck."