The smoke in the distance showed the failure of his fathers forces. Another town burned down. The probability Blaine’s father was even alive was slim. The King of Boden had determined that this invasion force had gone too far, and had traveled with his army to face them. 

Blaine had been sitting at his window for nearly an hour, watching the tip of the blazing fire that raged far from the safety of the castle. He saw a rider gallop in the gates. Time seemed to stop. When his brother told him the news, he remained numb, unfeeling. Reminding himself that it was now King Cooper that was addressing him, not just Coop, the young prince rolled back his shoulders and gave his ruler his attention. 

“I’ve already made the necessary arraignments. Father had already planned for this, ever since the kingdom of Eridoka was destroyed by these savages,” his older brother looked much more aged than he was. Blaine bit his lip. He knew where this was going. An heir had to be preserved, and since Cooper had to take charge, it was Blaine who needed to run. “As much as I would prefer to fight alongside you, I have to follow his wishes. An escort will arrive shortly. I’ll meet you in the Great Hall when you’ve finished packing.”

Blaine had known what to do since he was young. These were days of war. He stood and stripped himself of his luxurious clothes. Pulling from the bottom drawer, he gathered his ‘commoner‘ clothes and then washed the gel out of his hair. He ran his fingers through the small curls that had been freed. He was ready.    

Before he could take two steps into the Great Hall, his mother had him wrapped in her arms. “You be brave, my son. Remember your mother loves you.”

He teared up as he hugged her back tightly. He begged his mouth to speak, to say that he loved her too and that she needed to stay safe and he would think of her all the time and that it wouldn’t be long until he could come home. No words came out. Swallowing hard he stepped away from his mother and pushed himself to leave her side and speak to his brother.  

Cooper saw him and grabbed him. “I need you to be strong. Your escort can only protect you so much. This army is brutal and this war isn’t looking like it will end well. If you see fire on the horizon, run.” Then, after a moment, he whispered, “Please, Blaine.”

Blaine nodded and blinked back the tears that were threatening to slip out. “It’s going to be fine, we’ll see each other tomorrow,” Blaine lied. Cooper pushed his hands over his face and shrank. “I’ll see you soon Coop,” Blaine’s voice gave out. 

Blaine stepped through the gates, his bag of supplies slung over one shoulder as he struggled to get his self in order. A pocket knife was tucked away in the front of his pants. His sword hung close to his hip, the blade itself being quite a bit shorter than an actual knight’s. He had just gotten the bag onto his back as he opened the door to the stables. He caught his breath. His escort was Kurt Hummel, and that name was legend. 

******

Kurt had been slicing an apple before the prince arrived. He stood at attention as the young man entered the barn. Kurt couldn’t help but smirk a little at the dumbfounded way Prince Blaine was blatantly staring at him. He got that a lot. 

Son of the town carriage driver and cart repairer, Kurt wasn’t on the fast track to any sort of success. His mother had died when he was young, leaving him in charge of training the horses. He had to stop his studies and help his father. When his father died of a heart attack when he was only sixteen, Kurt fell into a deep depression. To deal with the pain, he trained his stunning black horse, Serio, to do anything he asked. He could command the horse with a flick of the wrist. He beaconed to Kurt’s call, whether it be a whistle or a mock hoot of an owl. The pair became inseparable and Kurt could ride his mount bareback and bridle-less. Soon, it wasn’t enough to cover the pain of losing his family. 

He then went to the castle and trained to become a knight; completing the training in only six months. It was then that people started talking. Rumors spread about the orphan who could, and Kurt took it to heart. His life purpose became serving his kingdom. Within six more months, he became a registered assassin for the kingdom of Boden, trained by the elves of Uriki. Kurt Hummel was a name that made grown men flee in fear. 

His smirk grew to a friendly grin as the prince stammered a “You’re my?”

“Escort? Yes, that would be me,” he bowed his head slightly. “We’ve got a substantial amount of ground to cover in little time. Your horse is right over here.”