Finn pressed in closer and whispered urgently, “Is he... will he...” Obviously the prince was too frightened to speak the question at all, and Blaine was in no mood to waste energy comforting him.

“No.” Blaine gave a terse shake of his head. “I need to get him to my chambers, find out what poison it is.” The words made him feel sick. He knew already precisely what was coursing through Kurt’s veins, and he cursed himself. To have put the mixture into Finn’s goblet instead of the king’s and the fact that Kurt had seen at all, that he had been so careless were absolutely unforgivable mistakes. That he had saved himself by not intervening sooner was even worse. He had seen the prince searching for him and known he could stop it all in an instant. Kurt was the first person in longer than he cared to remember who seemed interested in him for something other than his services. Even outside their lessons, the prince more and more often lingered in Blaine’s rooms and chatted about nothing in particular. Blaine looked forward to those moments more eagerly every day.

It dawned on him that Finn was speaking again as he kicked open the door to the compulsively neat workspace he called his own. “What?” he snapped, not even bothering with a title. Blaine found it difficult at best to pretend he cared about the prince’s words when Kurt grew paler with each passing moment. He carefully lay the young man down on his own cot and knelt down next to it. Blaine’s fingers sought Kurt’s neck, and he felt the pulse beating a steady but slackening rhythm there.

“What can I do?” Finn repeated, more determined than annoyed. The young man’s tone was soft as he added, “Please, he... he’s my brother.”

Knowing he had to make some sort of show, Blaine leaned in closer, pretending to check Kurt’s breath for a sign of what might have caused his condition. “I’m sorry,” he whispered quietly against Kurt’s ear before drawing back. Silently he prayed for forgiveness though he knew he deserved none. “We have to get the antidote. It’s a flower... it only grows in a cave south of here.” He gestured to a nearby table. “Bring me the map.”

Apparently not bothered at being ordered around by a servant of the court given the circumstances, Finn grabbed the map and brought it to Blaine along with a pen and inkwell. “Show me.”

Blaine quickly marked the cave on the map. He had chosen this poison because the antidote was so difficult to procure. “The way will be dangerous. There are beasts in the forest, strange reports of strange creatures in the cave itself, but... the flower is red, bright red. It is small and grows in bunches in the shadows of the rock.” For the first time Blaine forced himself to really look at the younger prince. The confidence in Finn’s eyes did his heart good even if he had trouble sharing the emotion. “You have less than a day. He...” Blaine’s voice faltered, and he looked back at Kurt’s prone form on the cot. “He may have less than that. Speed is of the essence.”

Finn sucked in a breath as if he’d been punched but nodded anyway. “Of course.” He snatched the map back and rose in one smooth motion only to hesitate at the doorway. “Are you... you’re sure you can cure him if you have it? This flower?” His eyes silently begged for reassurance that his brother would live long enough for him to return victorious.

“Yes. I can.” He had to. Whatever it might mean for his own future, Blaine couldn’t let something happen to Kurt because he had been sloppy. “Go. Tell your father that I will do all I can. It is best that we not be disturbed. Whatever strength he has... I... I would rather he conserve it.”

The words and the catch in the physician’s voice seemed to bring the gravity of the situation home on a new level, and Blaine watched the prince swallow hard. “Of course. I will tell them and leave at once.”

Blaine heard Finn’s footsteps retreating but didn’t look up again. He watched Kurt’s face intently instead. His eyes burned with desperate intensity. “He’ll find the flower. I can fix this. I can.” Blaine’s hands shook as he reached out to gently push back the prince’s hair. “If you give me the chance, I promise I can fix this.”

Blaine quickly rose to bar the door. He couldn’t risk interruption if he was really going to help Kurt survive until his brother returned. Knowing that cold would help to slow the progress of the poison, Blaine opened the prince’s shirt and placed his hands flat on that pale chest. With an effort Blaine resisted the urge to savor the feeling of the warm, soft skin beneath his fingers, reminding himself that the liberty was one he neither deserved nor had permission to take. He murmured a few words under his breath and a chill slowly crept over Kurt’s skin. The sensation was apparently enough to rouse the young man momentarily. Blaine tried not to flinch as Kurt’s gaze fell on him. He had never felt so naked in front of his apprentice before or perhaps before anyone.

Instead of any recriminations, the prince only managed, “Cold,” in a rough whisper.

“I know, but it... it will help,” Blaine assured. He sounded uncertain even to his own ears and forced a note of confidence into the next words. “Finn has gone to find the antidote. You’ll be fine. I swear it.”

Kurt’s eyes were unfocused, and he shook his head slightly. “What did... what is...”

“I’ll tell you everything, Kurt, but right now, I need you to rest. You have to get stronger.” Blaine swallowed hard at the pallor of the young man’s features. He knew it was his own fault, that he was the cause of Kurt’s pain and would be the cause of his death if Finn didn’t move fast enough. “Sleep. I have no right to ask you to, but... trust me.” As he watched, Kurt sighed and finally let his eyes close once more.

It took no time at all to gather together the things he would need when Finn returned. No time. Blaine glared at the table, looked back to Kurt, and raised his hand. A few words and a great deal of concentration brought his energy into focus. Using magic was dangerous. Using magic twice in a day when the guards could well break his door down at any moment demanding answers was stupid. But Blaine needed to know what was happening with Finn. He needed to know whether Kurt’s brother progressed unmolested. Blue light flared against Blaine’s palm and swirled into a ball. “Go,” he whispered to the beacon and it flew from his fingers and away to seek the younger prince.

While the tendrils of his magic chased Finn, Blaine settled into a wooden chair at Kurt’s side to wait. And hope.

************

Every hour felt like an eternity. Blaine never slept for a moment. He watched as Finn struggled through his quest, but mostly he watched Kurt. He forced himself to study the prince’s face. For the first time since the prince came to him and asked for instruction, Blaine forced himself to admit how much he had begun to care. Had he taken the time to examine the emotions sooner, Blaine knew that he would have held himself back. He might never have made the poison that coursed through Kurt’s veins. He might have lost all courage or taste for the revenge he had planned for so long. He might not have made the most foolish mistake of his life. He might never have realized that he was falling rather hopelessly in love.

************

“There was... there was a light... I’ve never seen anything like it!” Finn exclaimed as he watched Blaine mixing herbs and grinding them together while water bubbled nearby. The prince looked exhausted and one cheek was cut open from a near-fall in the cave. “If it wasn’t for the light, I never could have seen these,” he gestured to the pile of half-crushed flowers. “It was like-”

“Gas accumulates in those old caves. Phosphorescent, some of it,” Blaine muttered, only half paying attention to Finn as he worked. He was in the business of making excuses for odd things. He had been doing it his entire life. Seeing Finn’s brow furrow with disappointment, Blaine added, “But lucky.” The young prince reminded him very much of a dog - all energy and affection and emotion. While it grated rather heavily on Blaine’s nerves, he found that it also added another layer of guilt at the idea that he had nearly hurt Finn when he had no real quarrel with the young man.

“Very. It will work?” Finn asked for the hundredth time. Even he was sharp enough to spot the annoyance on Blaine’s face at the repeated questioning and held his hands up. “Sorry. Of course you heal him. Court physician. I know.” He glanced back over his shoulder at Kurt, who looked gray and had sweat beaded on his brow despite Blaine’s best attempts to keep him cool and comfortable. Finn’s arrival put magic off the table and out of reach, leaving only cool cloths and essential oils to do the same job.

Blaine managed to steady his hands to pour the water in the mix, watching as the herbs steeped in the water until it took on a dull reddish color before pouring the whole of it over cheesecloth. The potion dripped through into the glass beneath while the herbs collected in the cloth. Blaine tossed the fabric aside and hurried to Kurt’s bedside again. “Can you help him sit up?”

Finn pitched in at once and eased Kurt up, one hand on his brother’s back and the other braced at the nape of his neck. “How’s he going to drink it?”

“Hopefully he’ll wake enough to take it himself,” Blaine answered. He didn’t want to resort to trying to force the liquid down Kurt’s throat. Then they would risk choking him instead of saving him. Thankfully as the liquid began to pour into Kurt’s mouth, he saw the muscles of his throat working weakly to keep up with the flow. “There...” He felt almost giddy with relief. The antidote would work almost as quickly as the poison had. “Give him a moment.” Both men held their breath as they waited for any sign of a change in Kurt. At first Blaine felt his heart sinking. They were too late, too much damage had been done. No punishment that the king or anyone else might inflict on him could ever match that moment of stunned realization.

All at once, Kurt drew in a shuddering breath, and his eyes flew wide as if surfacing from beneath the waves. He sputtered and coughed up some of the rust-colored potion and Finn sat him up further, clapping him a bit too hard on the back. “It worked! You’re okay!” Finn enfolded his brother in a fervent hug, unaware of the way Kurt stared at Blaine over his shoulder. Cold fury burned in those eyes. Things had most definitely changed.