The bed sheets had been pushed to the floor, the pillows were scattered, and both boys were in fresh slacks. Burt stopped in his tracks as he surveyed the scene and Kurt turned bright red as soon as he saw the realization on his dad's face. "Dad!" His eyes grew wide like saucers, "We were just... ah... er..."

Burt, to his credit, shook his head at Kurt to silence him. "No. Sorry for inviting myself in. But we have had success in the passages. You need to get... redressed and come to the main hall." Burt turned his head to Blaine who was sitting up in the bed, "Both of you."

With that, Burt's father left quickly, and Kurt looked over at Blaine sitting so peacefully in the bed, looking so relaxed and at ease with it all. In that moment, Kurt despised him for his ability to keep calm. All today Kurt had been nerves - from proposing, to having to sit in on that wedding meeting which was effectively planned for them, to having his first real shared orgasm. Admittedly he was able to relax during that last event, but now he was on edge again, part of him wondering if what they had done was alright, and what Blaine thought of him for it.

He had been so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Blaine getting off the bed and walking towards him. "Hey..." Blaine's hands found their way to Kurt's waist and he exhaled sharply as the fingers caressed his sides. "The news has to be good or your dad wouldn't have burst in here like that."

Right. They needed to get dressed. His mind was admittedly focused on what Blaine and him had just been up to and he was having a difficult time turning his attentions over. Kurt nodded and turned to go to the wardrobe with Blaine on his heels. They both threw on tunics over their slacks and Kurt headed to the door when Blaine grabbed one of his hands and pulled him back.
"Kurt..."

Kurt stopped and turned to look into Blaine's eyes. Those honey syrup eyes that revealed everything. Kurt could tell so much about what Blaine was thinking about looking into those eyes. Right now, all they showed was love.

"I love you. You're wonderful." Blaine spoke and brought his face to Kurt's. Kurt closed the gap before Blaine could and they kissed for a moment. Kurt felt the tension draining from him in that instant and when he pulled back he felt much better. Apparently herbs weren't the only thing to ease an upset stomach.

"I love you too." He replied and tugged Blaine's hands to follow. "Now let's go."

It was late into the night. It had been an exhausting and exhilarating day, and it didn't seem to be ending anytime soon. Kurt was ready to fall into bed with Blaine, but he still had responsibilities.

As they reached the hall, they were joined by Finn who gave Kurt a little side glance and simply said, "Nice hair."

Kurt reached up to feel his hair. In his moment of passion with Blaine, it had gotten rather messed up and since it wasn't first thing in the morning and Finn had seen him not long ago, he paled, knowing full well that Finn was subtly indicating that he knew what had just happened.

Blaine reached over to smooth the hair at the back of Kurt's head. "I think he looks adorable."

Red took over his cheeks and Kurt groaned. "I'm doomed to a life without any bit of privacy..."

Finn and Blaine both chuckled and Blaine caught Kurt's hand in his as they made their way down the stairs. As they reached the bottom, Blaine stopped sharply and Kurt looked ahead to see what had him spooked.

A few yards away was Quinn, with a complement of girls around her. Quinn was checking them over and quietly talking to them. All of the girls shared the same mop of dark curls that Blaine had, most tied up into buns at the back of their head. It had to be Blaine's sisters.

"Come on Blaine... It looks like we've found your sisters." Kurt tugged Blaine's hand and it took a moment but Blaine seemed to overcome his shock and bolted from Kurt to go and embrace each of the girls lovingly and joyfully.

Kurt watched from where they had stopped. Blaine beamed as he held the littlest girl in his arms and brushed the stray hairs away from her face as he talked to her. Kurt leaned against the wall and found himself wondering about children in that moment. Blaine would be a wonderful father and while Kurt wasn't sure about how good he'd be as a parent, it was clear that he couldn't deny Blaine that joy when the time came.

Maybe the one noble at the meeting was right. They would have to think about having an heir, though the idea of how that would occur made Kurt feel sick. He didn't want to share Blaine with anyone, even for mechanical purposes.

He was snapped back to attention by Finn who had stayed at his side. "You zoned out there Kurt..." Finn looked from Kurt to Blaine and back again. "We should see what happened."

Kurt and Finn walked to the group. Aside from the youngest girl, who was maybe three, the girls were very jumpy and reserved. They were in full gowns, which were muddied at the bottom and had dirt scuffs all over.

Blaine turned to Kurt and continued to smile broadly, "Kurt. They found my sisters in the passages. They're alright. None of them gone which means my father didn't succeed in using any of them for trade." He bounced the youngest in his arms who giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Blaine introduced each of the girls to Kurt, and introduced Kurt to them as his fiance. The older the girl, the more shocked she looked at that announcement. The younger ones seemed fine with it. Homophobia was truly a learned behaviour if their reactions were any indication.

Once they had all been checked over by Quinn, she sent them away with Brittany and Rachel to have them fed and cleaned up. Blaine remained with Kurt, though Kurt could tell it tore him up to have to be separated from them again. Blaine however, also needed to be on top of situation.

They joined Burt at the war table where he was moving the markers that indicated Blaine's brother's armies. Each of them had fallen back in position. A map with the passage routes had also been updated with new markers and flags.

"That information you got us this afternoon was good Blaine. Very good. The girls were found in one of the rooms indicated on the map he had drawn up. They had been left there about a week ago with no guards and were almost out of food rations when we got there. The oldest... she gave us some more information about what has been occurring up until that point."

Blaine spoke up, "What about my stepmother? She wouldn't have left her daughters."

"Dead I'm afraid." Blaine looked down as Burt said it and Kurt gave Blaine a gentle pat on the back. "Apparently she was used as an example to the girls of what would happen if they defied his orders early on. Sorry Blaine."

Blaine shook his head and looked back up at the map, "Thank you. I will... mourn later. What do we know about his whereabouts?"

Burt indicated the backwards movements of Anderson troops. "When your father fled, originally your brothers moved to assist him, as we saw in tracking their progress. Then they stayed in position for a long time and now we have reports they're moving back."

Kurt furrowed his brow, "Why would they do that? There's no tactical advantage in that."

"Blaine's sisters told us that when Blaine dropped his note to Elias..." Kurt blinked and looked at Blaine and back to his father. He was missing something there. "That Elias and Cooper began to have different opinions on the next steps. Cooper wanted to negotiate and Elias wanted to fight. Eventually Cooper left and we now know he is in contact with your younger brothers and ordering them back."

Kurt felt himself unconsciously rubbing a spot on Blaine's back in a supportive gesture. Looking at Blaine, he saw the man was at a loss for words and could see in his eyes that thoughts were buzzing through his mind faster than he could deal with them.

"This is a good thing Blaine..." Kurt began, and Blaine looked to his side at him. "It means your brother knows what's best for him and the empire. He's stopping the fight before it can begin. It means he supports you."

Blaine slowly nodded as he took that information in, and Burt spoke up.

"As for Elias, we know he's alone. Somewhere in the passages, but no longer of any real threat."

"We can't count him out father." Kurt said. "He might try something yet."

Burt nodded in agreement. "He might. But now he's one man who has lost everything. Anything he tries will be in desperation and won't be thought out. That ultimately works for us."

Noah swept a hand above the table, "Rachel has sent out messengers to each of the armies. They will be inviting all of your brothers to a summit, and try to determine Cooper's location as well so he can be included."

"In the meantime. We wait." Blaine said and crossed his arms over his chest. "What about my sisters?"

Burt smiled to Blaine, "Well, since we don't have to worry about invasion any longer, I think that can be left up to you. Although I did ask that baths and beds be made up for them tonight. They are completely worn out and probably in shock."

"Probably. Most definitely." Kurt added, recalling their jumpiness and imagining how it had been for them, seeing their mother killed, Emily shipped off never to be seen, their older brother fighting with their father, and then abandoned with no idea of how to escape. Then to be rescued by the people they had been told were the enemy and finding your brother in league with them. Shock was going to be an understatement. "They're going to have to be reintegrated gently."

Blaine nodded slowly and Kurt saw in his face that he recognized that his little sisters had gone through horrible trauma.

"Alright. So I think between a wedding, a peace summit, and planning for our ultimate departure, we have lots to do and need the energy to do it. To bed everyone. That's an order!" Burt commanded, gesturing with both hands in dismissive waves.

Kurt took Blaine's hand in his own and they walked back to their room, finding the supper they had ordered when they had originally gone to their room after their meeting with the nobility earlier waiting for them. Kurt sat to eat while Blaine went to the window to look out.

"Blaine... " Kurt started, not wanting to eat without him, but not wanting to push him when his mind was clearly trying to sort through it all.

"Kurt. If Cooper is really on our side... he could take the throne. I don't have to. We could go wherever you want to. All of this that we've been preparing for... we don't have to worry about it anymore." Blaine turned to Kurt as he spoke, watching his reaction.

Kurt sighed and looked down at his lap. Despite how far he had become, Blaine was still obviously not confident about taking the throne. "Blaine. Cooper was in those passages with your father. He left. You didn't. Whether that was by your choice or not, you're the one who has to take power now. Look how hard it was for us to convince the nobility to back you as it was. Do you really think Cooper will be able to come in and suddenly convince everyone that he's somehow better suited to the role than you are?"

Blaine was quiet. He walked to the table and sat down, picking up a fork to poke at the meal in front of him. Kurt looked up to watch him and eventually picked up his own fork, taking small bites of whatever casserole they had been served. If Kurt was able to describe the food in one word, it would be beige. It even tasted like he imagined the colour beige would.

Eventually Blaine spoke after Kurt had given him the time. "If anything ever happened to you Kurt... I'd be lost. I can't do this without you."

Kurt set his fork down and reached across the table, "Hey. What makes you think anything is going to happen to me?"

Blaine took the hand that Kurt had extended and lifted it to his mouth, "I won't let anything happen to you. My mind is something of a mess right now and it went to a bad place is all. I guess what I was trying to say was that if I'm going to be king, I need you by my side." Blaine kissed Kurt's fingers, one at a time.

Kurt let out a small whimper at the touch. "I'm not going to ever say goodbye to you Blaine. You're stuck with me, for better or worse."