Prince Blaine was getting desperate, and his parents even more so. He had searched the entire country, no, the entire world, it seemed, for a fitting spouse, but he had found none. His parents, while understanding of his sexuality, had been adamant about one thing: Blaine was to marry someone of royal offspring – so in his case, that meant a prince.

He had looked everywhere, but none of the boys he had come across seemed to have royal blood, no matter what they did in an attempt to prove to him that they were, in fact, princes. There was always something that wasn't right. Blaine would thank them and their families for their hospitality, and then, he would travel on, on a seemingly never ending journey to find a spouse.

His parents had been worried when he'd returned home without another prince, and had now sent out word to many other kingdoms around them. Perhaps there was still a prince for Blaine to marry somewhere, but Blaine had somehow not found him on his quest.

Back in the palace, Blaine's mother devised a plan to find out quickly whether the boys who would undoubtedly flock their home were princes, like they said. Again, they were out of luck. None of the boys claiming to be princes managed to make it through the test without giving themselves away.

They were about to give up when, one night, Kurt Hummel appeared at their gates, asking for a place to sleep.

Kurt Hummel. His name did not sound princely at all, but the boy himself claimed to be a prince. Blaine's parents wondered about his timing, though; most of the other boys had come by weeks before, and the king and queen hadn't been expecting anyone else to show up anymore.

The weather had been awful that whole week; it had rained non-stop. It was, therefore, no surprise that Kurt Hummel was drenched to the bone when they allowed him to enter the palace. He didn't look like a prince, mostly because he was so wet, though Blaine had to admit that he was more beautiful than any other boy he'd seen in his life. He had pale, fair skin, a thick mop of chestnut hair, and eyes to drown in.

They talked for a while, Kurt and Blaine. After Kurt had been given the opportunity to dry himself off and put on some dry clothes, Blaine told the boy about his adventures outside the palace. Kurt, in turn, talked to Blaine about his life in a faraway country that Blaine had never heard of.

When it was time for both boys to head to bed, Blaine sighed. He had actually enjoyed the company for once, and it saddened him that Kurt would be gone tomorrow, forced out of the door for lying about his background.

o-o-o-o-o

Kurt, in the meantime, was led to the most curious room he had ever seen. It only contained a bed – then again, he wasn't sure if there was actually a bed underneath all these mattresses. There were about twenty or thirty mattresses piled on top of each other, and Kurt eyed the monstrosity for a minute before carefully climbing the steps next to the bed. Perhaps this was simply a custom of this country, and who was Kurt to question it?

From just watching the pile, Kurt had deduced that he was in for a treat. He had walked around for months after the small kingdom he was born and raised in had been destroyed. Never one to take half measures, his father, the king, had placed him on the back of a horse and sent him away before anyone could capture or kill him. Kurt had lost the horse about a month in, and had been walking ever since.

Most of the time, he had managed to find a place to sleep in small inns, and while he had survived, he had by no means enjoyed sleeping in any of those places. He had hoped for to be placed in yet another simple bed here, but this pile of mattresses was much better than that.

Or so he'd thought. The moment he lay down, he felt something absolutely wrecking his back. He didn't know what was lying underneath these mattresses, but it wouldn't surprise him if it was used for torturing people. He shifted uncomfortably, but no matter how he lay there, he couldn't seem to find a position good enough to sleep in. He had hoped to be comfortable tonight, but apparently, that had been too much to ask.

The rest of the night was spent in a similar manner. He tossed and turned until morning, never catching a wink of sleep. More exhausted than he had ever felt, he got out of the bed and trudged down the steps again. He'd thank these people for giving him a dry place to sleep, even if he hadn't slept, and be on his way again.

"Good morning, Kurt," the queen greeted him kindly as he walked into the kitchen. "Did you sleep well?"

Kurt wanted to lie and say that he had, in fact, slept well. However, he was currently too tired to care whether or not his words were offensive. "Actually, no," he replied, barely managing to repress a yawn. "Something kept… poking me through the mattress, and no matter my sleeping position, I still felt it. I wouldn't be surprised if I was completely black and blue now."

To his surprise, the queen smiled at this, instead of looking horrified or apologetic. She stood up from the table – leaving her husband sitting there, intently watching Kurt – and called out, "Blaine! Come here, quickly."

Blaine, looking much more refreshed than Kurt felt at that moment, walked in, seeming surprised to see Kurt.

"Kurt here didn't sleep well," his mother informed him, and Blaine looked almost… happy about that. Seeing Kurt's confusion, the queen informed him, "We've been looking for a suitable husband for Blaine for months, but we found no one. To find out if any of the boys coming in here were princes like they claimed, we placed a pea underneath many mattresses. Princes should, after all, have a skin sensitive enough to feel its presence there. Up until now, we were out of luck. You, however… after such a restless night because of one single pea, you must be a prince."

"Yes," Kurt blurted out, not having been prepared to hear this. "I'm a prince." He took a deep breath. "My kingdom may not exist anymore, but that doesn't make me any less of a prince."

"We're glad to hear that," the queen responded. "Now, boys, why don't you get to know each other a little better? You will be married soon, after all."

Kurt and Blaine didn't need to be told twice.