KURT

It was ironic how the most avoided room in the whole castle was the one with the better view. It was, also, intriguing that the cunning builders of the past gave such an strategic quality to the aviary and not one of the watch towers. Kurt Hummel always asked Master Beiste how could that happen, and one day she responded that, back in the day, that was also the room of the Master who served House Smythe and that he was the ever vigilant eye of the castle. "Perhaps that is why" she had answered with a shrug. However, now, it was the room where the noisy crows, the ever suspicious owls and the haughty falcons slept while Kurt Hummel, Sebastian Smythe´s personal servant watched the guest of honors to the Tourney arrive.

Leaned against the wall of the bigger window facing the Sea Road, south of the Castle, shivering from the cold of the morning wind coming from the North in his back, Kurt watched the crow he just sent, in a request from Master Beiste, circle the tower and fly over two big banners, and a slightly smaller one between them, rising from behind the hills, miles away from the castle.

"They will be here when the sun is at its peak" he said to the other birds and no one, sighing with the heaviness in his chest and the bittersweet taste in his mouth. The sweetness of everything was how much he wanted to meet Lord Dalton and his protegées, the group of talented noble boys, the Warblers. They were a choir that sang for Kings and Lords, that traveled one or twice through the Narrow Sea and were received with honors and blessings everywhere they went. They were the noble bards, the rich artists and everything Kurt ever dreamed of. They were also there to invite Sebastian to join them and to never know Kurt have ever existed. The same with the future Queen of the Kingdoms, Quinn Fabray and her scandalous bastard sister, Santana Sand. They were legend in the Seven Kingdoms, the daughters of the most powerful man of their realm, the Hand of the King, Logan Fabray, and the women who dictated what was good and what wasn't. All Houses wanted to be where they were, every woman would wear similar to what they wore, all men would want to present themselves the way that would please Lady Fabray and Lady Santana.

Sarah Smythe hated them because she was losing the title of fairest of the seven kingdoms and only her magical gowns kept her on the top list of feast and tourneys. The magic gowns his mother made. The magic gowns that cost her life.

Lady Fabray and Lady Santana wouldn´t talk to Kurt Hummel about fashion, art in the kingdoms and beyond the seas, or the gossip of High Court. But at least he would be there, arround them, listening to their voices and paying attention to everything so Sebastian wouldn´t look bad due to his lack of interest in anyone that is not him, the ones who fawn over him or the ones he wants to fuck. He would be watching the content of his dreams from outside while seeing Lady Smythe wearing all the best creations of his mother and Sebastian taking everything he ever wanted for granted.

An owl hooted furiously after Kurt grunted so loud he made the noisy crows caw and fly around him. He pressed his forehead to the cold wall and shut his eyes to make all that nonsense stop. But he didn´t want it to stop. Gods, he loved the feeling of being infatuated, even when it was so intangible and with an illusion, a life he would never have, a world he had no right to be in, except in the background as a servant. As Sebastian loved to remind him, he should be grateful he had any part in it.

Kurt opened his blue-green eyes to see the sun sparkling in armors, shields and jewelry while Lord Dalton and Lady Fabray reached the top of the hills and their colors were all around them. From that window all he could see were their parties. Banners of deep blue with a big red D in the center of a red fancy pentagon, the elegant sigil of House Dalton;  the same banner with a golden warbler instead of the D, representing The Warblers. These were coming from the west and probably just met the Fabrays while going up the hills. The red heart dripping blood in a sea of gold, the sigil of House Fabray were coming from the South, from King´s Landing, where she met her father and her future husband, King Finn who was near coming of age. Beside the biggest banner with the symbol of House Fabray was Lady Santana´s own banner, a black heart dripping black blood in a field of sand.

Only Lady Santana could get her father´s sigil, mix it with her mother´s colors and make her own banner. Representing her influence as the bastard of the Hand of the King and the richest man in the Seven Kingdons while keeping her identity as a Sand, a woman from Dorne, from the far South, their desert, their long river, powerful women and unusual manners. She was a rare beauty of dark cunning eyes and a tanned golden brown skin, dark long hair and a firey personality. Daughter of a dancer who was the youngest mistress of the last king and beloved niece of Lord Zizes, Warden of the South. Kurt envied her and her power to go beyond her bastard name, her far southern culture and to be able to say what she wants, be who she wants, sleep with who she wants, be a part of everything she wants to be a part of.

That is what happens when you are loved by Lord Fabray and grow up with the woman who was born and named to be queen.

Kurt, on the other hand, was the son of the Master at Arms and a wildling woman from the northern woods, the woods they say are the lost daughters of the dangerous, mysterious and magical Dark Forest on the True North. He came to the East, the slightly warmer and riper lands of The Vale, with his parents when Lord Smythe took as a gift from Lord of Smallhill his Master at Arms, Burt Hummel, and his interesting wife, the famous wildling woman who had dreams of the future, heard songs no one else could, knew of things that were happening far away and could transform things she collected in the woods into thread. Lord Smythe loved the legends of the Children of the Forest and people who were born with their magic in their blood. He loved it so much he wanted to give Lyanna Hummel to his lady wife, Lady Sarah, the most beautiful woman of the realm, the one who deserved dresses made of magical fabric. He was also such a selfish man he didn´t care he was taking a family from their home, a man from his trade and his pupils and not even that his wife loathed magic, wildlings and everything that came from the place that was once called "beyond the Wall". The beautiful gowns she wanted though, so she kept her.  Burt Hummel became the Master at Arms of StormHall and trained good boys (and bad, like the Smythe kids). Kurt grew up to be Sebastian´s servant and a kind of lucky charm to Simon´s favorite son (so alike his mother in appearance, personality and beliefs), he became his squire, his personal servant, his memory and his knowledge. Kurt had to be with Sebastian in every step of his education, every meeting that he was required to attend. If Sebastian didn´t know someone´s name, what said person did and enjoyed, if he didn´t know how to hold a sword properly or what was happening in the Seven Kingdons it was all Kurt´s fault.

If something happened, by chance, to Sebastian, it was Kurt´s fault as well, because he was his lucky charm and he should protect Sebastian with his magic. No one never listened when he said he couldn´t do magic. His eyes, just like his mother´s, so big, sparkling and magical was the proof magic ran in his blood and for that Sebastian would never forgive him and Simon would never let him go.

He lived in a trap and admiting it brought tears to his eyes. That is why he wanted to be there, in the highest tower, trying to ignore the smell of bird´s dirt and the perpetual fight between the restless crows and the sleepy serious owls, watching the many colors of the banners going up that hill and the whole courtyard wake up with tents and servants prepaing themselves to serve the families who came to the big tourney in honor of Sebastian´s seventeenth nameday. The day he would be a man, honor the future queen and daughter of his father´s biggest political enemy, be officially invited to join The Warblers and convince everyone that singing and performing was the noblest profession that had ever existed. There would be jousts and a tourney in his honor and in honor of his guests, Lady Fabray and Lord Dalton, presentations of bards and the Warblers and a big feast everyday for ten days.

He wanted to forget Sebastian, to forget his trap and just dream. Dream that Quinn Fabray and her fashion, education and taste was coming to discover him, his talents and intelligence; that Lady Sanatana would find an equal in his strong and yearning heart and quick wits; that Lord Dalton would hear him sing and invite him to join the Warblers, no matter the provenance of his name and quality of his blood. All that´d matter would be his talent, his willpower, his intelligence, his ambition, his heart. They would all see what he was truly made of and a nice handsome boy would see even beyond that, see his sadness, his longing, his dreams and would fall in love and want to live with him no matter what the world think of two men making a house and a family together. Theirs would be the love of songs and tale. Theirs would be the song of love and dreams.

"Love?" Came a soft but strong voice from behind him, whispering so tenderly the owls thought was part of their dreams.

Kurt turned around to see Mercedes Jones, his best friend and the only one besides his father and her mother who saw him for what he truly was, coming through the door and shutting it gently as to not to scare the birds. Her dark brown eyes were full of fondness and worry, she came near him and touched his chest exactly where his heart was being crushed by his angst and the heavyness of his dreams. That was when he realised he was crying and hugged her.

"Kurt, darling, are you longing for what you can´t have again?" she asked with sadness in her voice, he was clinging to her, folded over her shoulders and squashing her soft body.

"When am I not doing this?" he responded in a squished voice.

Mercedes laughed. "I can stay the whole day telling you that, but I can start with the basic." She used all her force to make him let her go and look her in the eyes. "There are the times we are in the kitchens making bread while Sebastian wants privacy for his exercises; when we go to my mother´s chambers and you make me dresses while she brags to everyone how her puppil outdone her; or when you both forget I exist and talk about colors that you both see in things that aren´t supposed to have colors, like the wind. My favorite ones are when we run from the castle, though, put on the clothes we make for ourselves and go to the market and buy exquisite fruits that are not that good but they come from places we want to visit; or when we go to the port or the brothels to break bread with whores and sailors and hear what they have to tell about the world and people. We then make bets, that we never win or lose, of wich stories are lies and wich are truths and write it in a little notebook because one day, one day we will know!"

At the end of her rambling they were both laughing, Kurt scrunching his nose to Mercedes, she sticking her tonge out. "You silly boy, did you forget all of that?"

"No, ´Cedes, I didn´t, but you know I want things, you know it because you want them too!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but you think you would only get them over there..." she pointed to the southern window where he was. "When actually..." and then she made him turn and face the northern window towards the sea, the port and the road to Gulltown. He could see ships dotting the sea, big ones arriving on the docks and small ones far in the horizon. They walked untill Kurt´s body was pressed on the ledge, the cold wind in their faces now, while being watched by conceited  falcons that thought they were boring and below them as much as the peasant crows and their stupid letters. Far in the road to Gulltown millions of people were arriving, merchants with ox carts full of exquisite products, hedge knights coming to seek name and glory, merchants on ship coming from beyond the Narrow Seas. "Those noble people are not free and happy, Kurt, they are" she said pointing to the people who could travel anywhere and do everything they want. Or that is what Mercedes thought. But Kurt could see even beyond the road and his smile grew.

"No, ´Cedes, they are free and happy" and he pointed to a colorful group traveling along a narrow track, just reaching the main road, making Mercedes gasp.

"The mummers!" they said in unison.

Mercedes and Kurt could not shut up about them the last time they saw a mummer group that came into Gulltown and presented in one of the nights they scaped the castle. They were so colourful and funny, they wore the type of costumes and clothes they wanted or was fit for the part (although must part were rags because they weren´t rich), knew how to speak the most exquisite of languages and they sang and made jokes about almost everything. But, Whitney Jones told her daughter and her secret apprentice that they had to wait and see when big things happened in the Castle and people from all over the world would gather here. There would be mummers from across the Narrow Sea and spetacles of beauty and wits they could not imagine.

 "Some of them are not appreciated by the nobility, you know" she had told them once.

"The nobility knows about them?" Kurt had asked in disbelief.

"Of course they do! The mummers come on tourneys and play and dance for the people to see and many times the knights are gathering nearby. A time of tourneys is a time where everyone mix and meet. And many of these mummers, through their songs and plays, they tell the people some things... Let me say, some things the Houses would prefer the peasants and their servants not to know. But, alas, you know the power of song and gossip. They go everywhere and were used by many great Lords of the past to warn their enemies and friends about what happens when they cross their path. It´s only natural that they can be used against them as well.'

After Kurt told Mercedes what Sebastian was boasting about, a Tourney on his name day, they couldn´t stop giggling and chatting about all the possibilities. Kurt would see the future Queen and the Warblers, the clothes they were wearing in Court and, of course, after the feasts and when the Lords would care less about them, they would escape and there, in the port, they would see the mummers from the lands of East, some from far Asshai and see what they could sing and play. They had been planning their outfits for months and that was all Mercedes was excited about.

"Oh, Kurt!" she said with a high soft voice, falling on his arms and making them both giggle. "Too bad we have the feast this night!"

"Hmmm" was Kurt´s only answer thinking about how gorgeous the feast would be, even if he had to be attending Sebastian all the time and pretending to be a furniture, like the little lord liked him to behave in front of guests. Mercedes knew what he was thinking and pinched his sides "Ouch, okay, but hey, tomorrow we will have time to flee this castle, we will make time. And our outfits are ready for us and the mummers."

"I haven´t seem them yet" Mercedes answered in an annoyed tone.

"That is because it is a surprise for you, my Lady"

"Ooooh! That ought to be good, my Lord!"

They laughed again and then fell into a confortable silence, Mercedes drapped into his arms and them both enjoying the view of the busy road and the numerous ships. Mercedes gave a long sigh.

"We need to go, love. That is why I came here. Sebastian already called for his morning services. You need to be there with his breakfast and to prepare him to be his annoying but elegant self when his guests arrive."

"His father´s guests, you mean"

"It´s the same, my love. Come. " And she pushed a sullen Kurt towards the heavy wooden door.

"Bye bye birds!" He waved back to the aviary and a ruckus of caws, hoots and indignant huhs answered him.