“That I do, Kurt,” Blaine murmured afraid to break the moment with a louder exclaim.

“I love you too.” Kurt said simply with a smile. Simple words, a simple claim, but Blaine could hear the earnestness in his voice. A pause. Blue eyes meeting hazel they drank each other in. Kurt cupped Blaine’s cheek with his hand, stroking lightly with his thumb. “I would have said something sooner, but I couldn’t have even dreamed you might feel the same.”

“How could I not?” Questioned Blaine, purely baffled at the thought of not loving Kurt.

“We should check out your head,” Kurt said pulling away to go just that.

“I don’t love you because of a head injury…” Blaine began sounding offened.

“No,” soothed Kurt, “I know it, I feel it is true. I was afraid I lost you, please, for my piece of mind, let me look at your head.” Concern was clearly written on Kurt’s features, so Blaine slowly moved facing away from Kurt.

Gingerly Kurt brought his fingers to the dark hair caked with blood at the back of Blaine’s head. A large knot sporting a superficial cut lay nestled in the curls. Kurt reached back, grabbing one of the water bladders. Carefully he washed the blood out of Blaine’s hair and off his neck.

Blaine marveled at the gentle touches the knight used. E expected to struggle maintain his composure, sure the process would hurt. However, Kurt worked with such delicateness it was soothing. Kurt placed one kiss on the knot, the action so loving Blaine could not spend another moment with his eyes anywhere but on Kurt.

“Come with me.” Blaine exclaimed taking Kurt’s hand in his.

A tinkling laugh echoed off the walls. “Well, I was not planning on sending you off to rescue the princess on your own. Especially now that I know your love is mine.”

“No, to Navarre.” Blaine said squeezing his hand. “Who I marry may not be my will, but I will not be parted from you. Come with me, you can be my advisor or knight or whatever you want. I need you by my side.”

“I cannot...” Kurt said, but before he could continue, Blaine cut him off.

“I know you have allegiance to Illyria and you love your kingdom. The stories you have told me make me wish I could join you there, but my father would never hear of it. I am to marry a royal and if not Rachel, he will force me to marry another. I will do anything to have you by my side, even if it means hiding my love for you.”

Kurt softly cupped Blaine’s cheek, “Blaine, you do not understand, I must return to my kingdom.”
“But why must you? You could swear your allegiance to me.” Blaine felt desperate. He could not lose Kurt, not now that he had his love.

“You do not understand,“ Kurt spoke before laying a finger against Blaine’s plump lips to silence him. “I cannot abandon MY kingdom. I am Prince Kurt, eldest son of King Burt and next in line for the Throne of Illyria. If your father demands a royal marriage, you can have one. But not with Princess Rachel… with me.”

Blaine’s eyes widened, he could feel the movement, but could not reign in his expression. Kurt was a Prince! The first words escaped before he could put thought to them, mumbled around Kurt’s soft finger, “ You lied to me.”

Kurt leaned forward kissing away the creases on Blaine’s brow. “I never said I was a knight. I just didn’t correct your assumptions. I am truly sorry that I did not correct you sooner. I was… I was scared I guess.”

“What of?” Blaine asked, the creases once again taking residence between his eyes.

One more kiss too smooth them out. “At first I think I was afraid the knowledge would end our journey together. After all, I was seeking your princess too. I entered these woods seeking love, and I found it, just not where I expected to.” Speaking these words brought back the riddles of the blonde beauty and he couldn’t help but smile. “After that I was afraid you would be angered by my dishonesty and still want to end out alliance. I wanted to see this through to the end, even if I knew you would wed Rachel. I wouldn’t, even if she chose me. If I can’t marry you, I will rule alone.” Kurt shrugged, trying to make light of the situation.

“Kurt,” Blaine whispered, bringing him into an embrace. “I do not know if my father will approve,” he said speaking into Kurt’s shoulder afraid the words would fail if he was gazing into those breathtaking blue eyes. “My father does not believe in love, only power, money and tradition.”

“Illyria is a might kingdom.” Kurt murmured.

“It is.” Blaine said pulling back. “But never before in known history have two princes wed. I don’t know if two men have been married before, royal or not. I do not see him approving of a union between us.” Kurt looked away blinking rapidly. Blaine gently turned his face back, locking their eyes. “But know this, my dear handsome prince; I will fight for the honor of your hand.”

Kurt felt like he was pulled forward, as if Blaine was a magnet set only for him. Their lips connected once more, passion filled, fierce with love. Panting he pulled back. “I will join you in this fight, side by side, comrades in arms, not just for our right to love, but for all to marry who their hears belong to, whether man or woman. OUR kingdom will be a safe haven, I promise this to you.”

They sat on that cold stone floor, embracing and sharing kisses for a few minutes, before the reality of the situation caught up with Kurt.

“We need to make haste from this place,” he said, standing finally, knowing he had to distance himself if they were to ever leave.

“Can we not camp for a while, move into the chamber to rest?” Blaine asked, “You have already slain the pair that attacked us.”

Kurt gently pulled him to his feet. “There was a third; in my initial attack I only wounded him. He asked for mercy… I was so worried about you; I didn’t even think to capture him for information. I do not know which way he went. He may have left us free to rescue the princess, or he may have gone to warn the others if there are more.”

Blaine ran his fingers through his hair, being mindful of the cut at the back of his head. “There is naught to be done about that now, but forge ahead.”

“There is still hope, although I may be expected, you may yet be a surprise.” Kurt said lifting his things back to his shoulder. “They may assume you are dead. The sight of you on that floor… I will lead the way with one of the torches. You follow in the shadows far enough back you cannot be seen. If I am set upon, only engage if it seems I am overwhelmed. We must keep your existence secret for as long as possible.”

“No, we will enter the fray together,” Blaine protested.

“Think with your head, love, not your heart. I know you seek to protect me, but we should still use the element of surprise. We need to rescue the princess and make haste back to Illyria.”

Blaine reluctantly agreed. Grabbing his bags, he followed Kurt into the large chamber. Another passageway snaked off into the darkness. Kurt grabbed a torch and led them ever upward, closer to the princess.

Silently they moved for hours. Kurt straining his ears to hear the fall of Blaine’s feet. Even knowing he was there, Kurt heard nothing. Still he trudged onward.

Blaine followed, trying to discern any menacing shape he could from the light of Kurt’s torch. Tension ran through his body ready to spring at the first sign of danger to Kurt.

Finally, Kurt saw light ahead. Extinguishing his torch, Kurt cautiously approached the door. The room appeared empty save a lone body, blonde hair now pink with blood. The man Kurt had spared lay dead in a pool of his own blood, his throat slit. Four bedrolls speckled the floor. Four, meaning one man remained. Two passages led off from the chamber. One of them had to lead to Rachel. Kurt looked back to the shadows behind him. He motioned for Blaine to stay out of sight while he entered the room. He placed his hand over his heart before turning back and stepping forward.

Cautiously he moved towards a table, papers littering it. Kurt had just picked up a map as a voice pierced the silence, spinning him around.

“You are not Prince Blaine.” The man said, sounding annoyed. Before Kurt could speak, the man spoke again lazily placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Yet you were his pin.”

“You are very good at stating the obvious.” Kurt retorted.

“Pity, I can only assume he is dead, only upon pain of death would he part with such a precious thing. He was so proud when his father presented it to him.” The man coldly eyes Kurt, stalking ever closer.

“Price Blaine was still alive when he entered the mountain. Your men are to blame for his current state, not I.” Kurt told him.

“The how came you in the possession of the pin?” The man asked.

“I gave it to him, Sebastian.” Blaine stated moving into the chamber at last. He had stood in the shadows long enough hearing that familiar voice speaking with such disdain to Kurt prompted him to move. But talk of the pin gave him pause. Now he needed answers and he was determined to get them.

“Prince Blaine, wont daddy dearest be pleased.” Sebastian smirked. “And here I was afraid I would have to leave Padua forever.”

Blaine narrowed his eyes at this man, who had grown up alongside him. “What do you mean Sebastian?” He asked hoping his fears would not be confirmed.

“You are a smart man, Blaine; I thought you would have already figured it out by now. Let’s dispatch with the spare and I will gladly explain it all to you.”

Before Sebastian could even glance at Kurt, two swords flew towards him. One stopped at the juncture on each side of his neck with just enough pressure to make their presence known.

“How about you tell us everything before we dispatch of you?” Blaine said coolly.

“I think I like your plan better Blaine.” Kurt couldn’t help but add with a quick smile to Blaine. He turned back to their prisoner, “Explain.”

Sebastian kept his eyes trained on Blaine as he spoke, his voice full of resignation. “Since your brother’s wedding last year, your father has been in talks with King Hiram trying to arrange a marriage between you and the Princess Rachel. Unfortunately, King Hiram was most insistent that his daughter be allowed to marry for love, as if that even exists.” A hard look from both princes told him his personal commentary would not be necessary. “After the last refusal, Sir Dalton and the King charged me with the mission to, shall we say, initiate a true love story between the two of you. I must say it took months to prepare, Sir Dalton told me about this place and it’s secret tunnels. I had to find and tame a dragon and hire henchmen to help eliminate any possible competition for her love. Of course, that part didn’t work out so well.” He mumbled shooting a disdainful look to Kurt.

“Once everything was in place, I stole into the Princess’s chambers, slipped her a powerful sleeping potion and stole away into the night. I had two men keeping watch. When a rider was sent in the direction of Illyria instead of Padua, your father was alerted at once and so was I. That pretty much brings us to where we are now, but not to why I currently have your swords to my throat.”

Sebastian moved to finally swat the swords away only to have Kurt apply a little more pressure. Red drops blossomed around the shiny metal where it dug slightly into his skin.

“My curiosity is not yet sated.” Kurt told him stepping closer but being mindful to keep a consistent pressure with his sword. “So the King of Padua had Princess Rachel kidnapped so she would marry Blaine.” Sebastian’s nod was slight as he was afraid to move and cause any more damage to his neck or worse. “And you hired men to kill any besides Blaine who would rescue her?” Another small head movement. “Then how am I here? Why did your men try and kill Blaine and not me?”

Sebastian seemed to find his courage as he spat. “I don’t even know who you are. Probably some page boy King Burt wanted to be rid of once and for all.”

Kurt laughed and stepped so close his nose nearly brushed that of the snide man. “I am Prince Kurt of Illyria, now answer my questions of prepare to die.”

“The pin.” Sebastian panted in a panic. “The men are thieves they have no memory for the looks of men. I told them the prince would be known by the ornate pin on his cloak. All others were to be killed.”

Kurt stepped back and exchanged a look with Blaine. He had unknowingly saved Kurt’s life and nearly sacrificed his own for want of giving his love a trinket. Blaine wouldn’t have changed it for anything.

“You have failed Sebastian. I will not marry Rachel. You are hereby banished from the kingdom of Padua. I also think it would be safe to say your presence will not be welcome in Illyria or Navarre either.”

“I was just following orders..”Sebastian tried to reason.

“There is no honor in following orders of this nature. There is no honor in trying to force people’s feelings. There would have been more honor in refusing an order of the king than this.” Blaine shook his head and slowly removed his sword from Sebastian’s neck. After a moment, Kurt did the same but kept his sword at the ready not trusting this man. “Go with the knowledge that if I ever see your face again, you will be lucky to see the light of day once more.”

“You can’t do that!” Sebastian shouted his hand hovering over the hilt of his sword. “Your father gave the orders; the king will not abide this!”

“And do you really think he will be king once this plot is found out?” Blaine yelled. “I am doing you a service because we were friends once.; we trained together, we took the oath together. Leave, find honor in another kingdom but go!”

Kurt placed a gentle hand over Blaine’s trembling hand. Blaine seemed to calm in an instant. Sebastian began to storm passed the princes to the tunnel from where they entered. Just as he was about to disappear Blaine called to him, “And Sebastian, if the king hears about the failure of his plan or that we have knowledge of this conspiracy, I will find you and let King Hiram decide what to do with you. That is a promise.”

Sebastian gave a disgruntled nod before he was lost to sight. Kurt reached out once more for Blaine and in an instant; his arms were filled with the young prince. Lightly stroking Blaine’s head, he whispered, “It’s alright Blaine.”

“My own father..” Blaine murmured against Kurt’s shoulder. “I always knew he was power hungry… but I never thought he would go to such lengths.”

Kurt pulled back, making Blaine face him. “What do you want to do?”

“We are going to go back to Illyria with the princess and tell your father about my owns’ deceit. However, as much as it pains me to do so, we must not let it be known that I have no intentions of marrying the Princess Rachel. I fear not only for our lives if he believes we know of his plot, but for yours if he knows of our love. Until we have safely returned the princess and brought my father to justice, we cannot make our love and intention of marrying known.”

Blaine’s face was a picture of agony as the words escaped his lips. Kurt couldn’t help but close the space and try to kiss the sorrow away. When he pulled back, he soothed, “It’s alright, I understand. It is not as if we are parting, only keeping this wonderful thing between the two of us. Two weeks, traveling with the princess it should take us two weeks to return to Illyria. Surely, we can keep this to ourselves for that long.” Kurt leaned in a kissed Blaine once more. “Although, not being able to do that whenever I want may prove to be torture.”

Blaine’s laugh echoed around the room, “Well, maybe we can steal a few kisses when we are sure we are absolutely alone.” A third kiss punctuated his sentence. “Come let us find the princess, the sooner we leave this place the sooner we can proclaim our love to the world.”