Prince Burt stood in front of the door to his son's bedroom, but his son didn't answer. Ever since he had been told that he was to marry some prince from some country – that was how Kurt had worded it – he had locked himself up in his room, refusing to talk to his dad, refusing to even eat.

"Really, Kurt! But you know that we need this alliance. And Prince Blaine is the only son of King Michael and Queen Virginia. So since he is gay, he needs a carrier."

He heard a loud wail coming out of the room.

Prince Burt sighed. He never wanted for his son to be forced into marriage, but ever since they learned that he was able to carry children and because he was also part of the Royal Family, they knew the day would come rather sooner than later.

He placed a hand on the door.

"Your carriage will leave tomorrow. Dame Susan will accompany you."

He took another deep breath before he left. After all, he had to arrange his son's departure.

xxxx

Kurt sat in front of his vanity, trying everything to conceal the fact that he had been crying. But every attempt was futile. His eyes were red and puffy, he had dark circles underneath his eyes and it looked like he had lost at least six pounds in the last four days.

He heard another knock on his door and all he wanted to do was groan, crawl back into bed and sleep until this nightmare was over.

"Kurt! Open the door this instant!"

Kurt knew that voice. He knew it since he was a small boy. Dame Susan – he called her Sue in private, but nobody was to know – still knocked on his door and there was no getting out. He sighed and got up to open his door.

"Kurt! Why-" She looked at him. "Oh heavens! What happened to you?"

"I... needed time for myself."

Sue scoffed. "Yes, of course." She shoved him back to his vanity and while blocking his mirror she worked some miracles. When he looked back at him, his eyes were less red, less puffy and his skin shone. "Well, that's better." She stepped back. "Definitely better. We can't let you get off to marry," she made air-quotes, "'some prince from some country'."

Kurt felt his mouth twitch slightly and Sue smiled back at him. "I know you don't want to marry some stranger, Kurt, but you have to." She patted him lightly on his shoulder. "Be in the entrance hall in fifteen minutes." And with that she left Kurt alone.

He looked into the mirror and just hoped and begged and preyed to a god he didn't believe in that he would look better when he finally would be face to face with his new husband.

xxxxx

They had been on the road for five days already and Kurt was tired of it. He liked traveling, but it always took so long to get from A to B. But Sue had managed to get some weight back on him and he looked healthier than before. Sue also managed to tell him about the country he would soon live in. That they were pretty big in agriculture and in mining. The current Royal Family had been reigning for the last two hundred and fifty-six years and the people were happy.

He only listened halfheartedly. He wasn't really interested, because it wasn't his country and it probably never would be. After all, who wanted a gay king?

"You know, you should get pregnant as soon as possible," Sue said.

"Excuse me?" Kurt looked at her startled.

"You heard me, Kurt. And if you are pregnant, your place at court will be secured. Well, of course not unless you give birth to a male heir." She snorted, very un-lady-like. "Remember Princess Adriana?"

Kurt nodded vaguely.

"Well, she failed to give birth to an heir, let alone to get pregnant at all."

She didn't need to speak any further, because Kurt knew what happened. Prince Noah had the marriage annulled, sent her to exile and married Princess Rachel. Now he had already two sons and rumor had it that Princess Rachel was pregnant again – with twins, in their fifth year of marriage. Kurt shuddered. Was that something they expected of him?

xxxxx

This, Kurt decided, was going to be the worst day of his life. Although he always had expected otherwise. Of course, his quarters were nice. He even had his own maid and his own butler. And Sue was still there, even if she would leave directly after the wedding.

The wedding. Only thinking about it made him sick and he had to do everything not to throw up. Instead he looked into the mirror before him. He was looking exceptionally good tonight. A charcoal suit with silver pinstripes with matching vest. His bow-tie and the pocket square were silver with charcoal pinstripes. It wouldn't have been his first choice when it came to his wedding dress, but it was okay.

He sighed, straightening his jacket although there was nothing to straighten.

If only his father had time to come, but as soon as Kurt had left for his new future Burt had left to god-knew-where on the bidding of King William, the husband of Kurt's late aunt Christina.

Laws were different in each kingdom, Kurt had learnt since he had been a toddler. So he knew that not everywhere the firstborn – whether male or female – was entitled to the crown. His father had been the firstborn son, but Christina had been the firstborn daughter, which made her crown princess according to their law. Apparently it was different in this kingdom.

"Prince Kurt?"

He heard Sue's voice coming from the closed door, formally today. Which meant she was accompanied by someone from his new … family. He shuddered. He couldn't think of them as family. He had seen King Michael and Queen Virginia once and he didn't like the King. Not a tiny bit. He couldn't say much about the Queen, though.

There was a knock on his door. "Prince Kurt? Are you ready?"

For a last time Kurt looked into the mirror. If this was going to be his downfall, he would walk down the isle with his head up high.

Apparently it was a tradition that the bride, or in his case the second groom, is preceded by a ridiculous amount of flower girls. So when the first flower girls parted in front of the altar, Kurt just left the door of the church behind him. The church was packed with people. Most of them he didn't know, but here and there he could see a familiar face. King William was there, as well as Prince Noah and very pregnant-looking Princess Rachel. Also Count Artie and Duke Michael with his fianc� Tina, a commoner. He was happy to see at least some familiar faces in a place where he didn't know anyone, least of all his own husband-to-be. Who happened to stand in front of the altar, waiting for him.

Time seemed to slow down while he made his way down the isle. Kurt asked himself if he could run, leave this damned place and maybe he even could make it to the border. But what would happen after that? He couldn't go home, after bringing shame upon his father, his uncle and even his whole kingdom. And surviving somewhere else, without knowing anyone, was out of question.

So instead of listening to his instincts and run – RUN! For heaven's sake RUN! - he held his head a bit higher and continued walking.

The ceremony rushed past him and suddenly he found himself repeating the words the priest spoke.

"I, Kurt Elizabeth, take you, Blaine Michael Andrew, to my wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forward. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. To love and to cherish, till death do us part."

And then a thin, platinum ring was slipped on his ring finger and he fumbled a bit to get the same ring on his husband's finger.

"I know declare you husband and husband!"

The church broke into applause as Blaine leaned over to kiss Kurt.

Maybe, just maybe, they loved Blaine. And although Kurt thought that that was nice for Blaine, it was almost like a death sentence for him. At least it felt like that in this moment, because it meant they would want to have a gay king after all.