Burt rubbed his thumb and forefinger over his forward, trying to dull the ache growing in his head to no avail. He had spent the entire morning listening to a group of nobles, who seemed to have no sense of personal volume control, talk about their opposition to Blaine taking charge, yet none of them were willing to step up either.

Many of the nobles expected the army to stay indefinitely, at least until Anderson and his family had been killed off and someone felt confident enough to take the lead among them. As it was, he had to put his foot down when it came to them demanding Blaine be executed as a sign of the fall of the Anderson house.

He had argued that if none of them were willing to put themselves at risk for the good of Dalton now, then none of them were cut out for leadership and at least Blaine was willing to learn.

He had been thankful for lunch that day, happy to have an excuse to leave behind that group and have some peace and quiet for at least a moment.

Now he was examining a map with Finn and Rachel trying to come up with some possible scenarios for the inevitable Anderson army retaliation.

Rachel pointed down to the south of the city where there was a small mountain range, "There have been multiple reports that he has recruited several independant bandit groups from this area." Her finger drew along the map until it reached a town, "The Queen of Forest Springs sent us a message saying that he was trying to negotiate with her for reinforcements and let us know, as a personal favor, that she was not going to respond to him."

Burt nodded. They had put that Queen in power and was thankful now for it.

Finn pointed at each of the red flagged markers on the map, "These are the best estimates we have of the brother's locations presently. Multiple reports show them continuing their march back towards Westerville."

"And what about Anderson himself?" Burt asked, leaning off the table and sitting into a chair that had been placed beside him by Kurt earlier in the day who insisted he take the time to relax when he could.

"No reports of him being spotted visually. Every communication report shows that he is sending letters and messengers. He doesn't seem to do anything in the flesh." Rachel responded.

Burt nodded and looked towards Rachel, then past her as he saw his son and the potential king approaching. "You're both dismissed for now. I need to speak with Kurt and Blaine privately. I will let you know when I need you back."

Finn and Rachel nodded and went off together towards the exit. Burt smiled to himself and hoped that for all their secretitism, that he might manage to get a grandchild out of their union.

Kurt stepped to the table across from Burt and Blaine stepped up beside him, giving a short nod to Burt respectfully, "Sir."

Burt waved off the formality, "Technically, we're all royals here whether or not I acknowledge it. Burt's fine."

Blaine nodded and sat immediately as Burt pointed to the chair beside him. Kurt stayed standing, hands clasped behind his back. Burt long ago had recognized that stance as Kurt's means of keeping himself detached, but anyone who looked at him would have no trouble seeing that he had a royal heritage.

Burt looked to Blaine. "I'm going to update you on what's going on and I want your honest feedback. I don't know how some of the information might affect you because I really don't know you that well kid, but if I'm going to put you in power, you need to know what's going on and be able to handle that information."

Blaine nodded towards Burt, "Of course sir - Burt. Apologies."

Burt swept a hand over the map, "This is what our intelligence has gathered regarding the position of Dalton brigades, up to date as of lunchtime. Those red flags are your brothers and they're moving back towards Westerville which probably means your father has had contact with them."

Blaine nodded, "Yes. I imagine he is motivated to retake Westerville."

Burt rapped his fingers over Westerville, "He's sent messengers to multiple empires and towns offering trades in exchange for reinforcements to support his efforts as well. The ones who have refused have all sent us the information and pledged they will not help him."

"What kind of trades sir? I don't know what he'd have to barter with in his position..."

Burt swallowed and slowly responded, each syllable being enunciated individually, "Your sisters mostly."

Burt watched as Blaine clenched his hands into fists on his lap and stared at the map but didn't actually look at it.

"You should already be well aware that has been one of his main strategies for forming alliances in the past. Taking your sisters with him when they fled was only so he could sell them off - otherwise they wouldn't have had much use to him - at least with his manner of thinking."

Blaine gritted his teeth and Burt heard the telltale grinding noise coming from the boy's mouth. "Can't you do anything to get them away from him?"

Burt sighed and shook his head, "We can't pinpoint where he is. He hasn't met with anyone in person and the one messenger we did capture had his tongue cut out and couldn't read at all. He was just used to deliver the message. He wouldn't have been able to tell us anything if he wanted to."

Blaine exhaled slowly and Burt looked up to Kurt who was watching Blaine's reaction. Kurt still stood in the same position as before, but his eyes had warmed and he was giving Blaine the same look that he gave to Burt when he was taking care of him after a battle. Worry and tenderness.

"I don't understand... how can I help? I'm certainly motivated to help, but damned if I know what to tell you or what to do." Blaine spat, teeth clenching back together as he finished speaking.

"I really need you to take your time and think of anything you might have heard. Any place he may have favoured or any person outside of Westerville he would trust. I'd rather put down his assault before it comes upon Westerville. The people here have already lost so much..."

Blaine nodded in agreement. "They have." He sighed and unclenched his fists, running both hands over his hair, "I can't think of anything right in this moment, but I will let you know if I come up with anything..."

Burt nodded, "There is one more thing we need to discuss."

Blaine looked away from the map and to Burt and now Burt was able to see why he hadn't been holding eye contact. Blaine's eyes were brimming with tears.

"You need to know that many of the nobility here have called for your execution as the lone member of the Anderson family still in the castle. They want you as their sacrificial lamb in this conflict."

Blaine tensed, holding a breath.

"That is absolute insanity!" Kurt suddenly chimed in as Burt was expecting him to. "He is nothing like his father. They don't want to lead but they won't give him the chance either? What are we supposed to do? Put a pig on the throne?"

Blaine shook his head and looked down at his hands, "You can't fault them Kurt. I'm a living representation of what the people here hate. No one knows me to really know me, and even if they did, my death would still send a message to my family."

Kurt shook his head and slammed a fist on the table, causing all the little flags and statues to bounce and lose their places, "No. That's not an acceptable reason. We fight to ultimately save lives."

Burt threw his hands up, "Stop. I've already told them it's not going to happen."

Kurt looked back at Burt for confirmation in his eyes and when he seemed to have it he stood back up and nodded.

Blaine looked back up at Burt, "But why? It would make things easier... It might even scare off my father and his army."

Burt inwardly sighed. This boy did have an unconscious death wish. He had been more upset at how his sisters were treated than by the threat of his own death. "That's not the way we do things. Life and death is not something we use to motivate. That's a tactic of your father's - threatening others with death if they don't comply with his demands, or using others as examples of what happens if people don't comply."

Blaine's pupils darted down and to the side, and it took a moment but he nodded, signifying his acceptance of what Burt had said.

"What I'm saying kid, is that you are going to need to spend some time gaining favour with the nobles here so they will support you when the time comes."

Kurt interjected, "I can help you with that."

Blaine looked between the father and son and just exhaled, "I don't know if I'm the right one for all of this, but I'll do my best to impress them and help you."

Burt nodded. "I know you will kid. Kurt's opinion of your candidacy so far is high and you're willing to work with us to help you out."

"Burt? Sir?"

"It's just Burt. Not Sir Burt, not Burt Sir. Both of those just sound ridiculous." Burt responded and waited for Blaine to continue.

"I wanted to apologise. It's come to my attention that my father was responsible for the death of your father and wife. I want you to know that until two days ago I never knew anything about that, much less the other atrocities he committed. I'm sorry for everything you've had to suffer because of him."

Burt took a moment to process the shock. He looked down and then back up at Blaine, "Thank you." He stood up and gave a bow to the boys, "If you'll excuse me though. I have some other matters to attend to and I'm sure you both have things to get done."

Burt walked slowly to the infirmary in the ballroom, needing to see Carole. He needed to see her before he broke down.