Blaine hid in his room. Not just inside his room, but ducked down behind his bed. He held Cat in his hands and stroked his fur unconsciously as he listened intently on what was going on outside his door.

It started in mid-afternoon and it was night now, well past when he usually went to bed. The whole castle was in an uproar. There had been yelling and running back and forth through the halls. He had earlier made the mistake of venturing out to see what was going on and when Hunter saw him he was brought back to his room by Trent and Nick, who stayed to tend to the new bruises and cuts.

"This isn't as bad as it usually is Blaine. You're lucky they have other things to worry about than you." Trent said as he checked the bruising on Blaine's back.

Blaine nodded and looked between his two friends, "What's going on? I went out there to check..."

"The Hummel Army is coming. Your dad is getting ready to defend Westerville." Trent supplied the answer so matter of factly that he might of well been listing off the ingredients to one of his famous pies.

Blaine furrowed up his brow, "The Hummel Army?" He hadn't heard of them before. Maybe a group of rebels from a small land that his father had taken over?

"Oh yes. They've liberated countless towns and empires from different rulers. Apparently they've been enlisted to liberate Westerville now. It's good Jeff got out when he did." Nick mused, trying not to frown as he thought of that beautiful blonde boy who he hadn't seen now in over a week.

"Jeff? What? He's gone?!" Blaine snapped his head up to look at Nick inquiringly. He felt at an absolute loss. When it came to knowledge of music, astronomy, mathematics, or literature - Blaine knew it all, but being trapped in Dalton and despised by his father meant he didn't know what was going on most of the time.

Nick nodded solemnly, his lips pursed together.

Trent cut in, so Nick wouldn't have to speak about it. "He got word his family had passed on. He was denied bereavement leave so he snuck out. He told Nick he would come back, but he hasn't."

Blaine winced as Trent took that moment to wipe over a small gash with the antiseptic. "No one told me..."

"I... we thought he'd come back and didn't want you to get included in his escape. You take enough heat. We were all going to be questioned after lunch about the matter when scouts came in and reported the army enroute." Nick stood up and put his sewing kit into a bag sitting on the bed. "No stitches needed today."

Blaine sighed and looked at his hands, feeling absolutely useless. "Thank you Nick. I'm sorry. I know you two were close." He flinched again as Trent cleaned over a new spot. "I'm sure he's alright."

Trent pulled Blaine's shirt down over his back. "I'm all done too. Please stay out of their way though. I don't know what's going to happen. I've heard they're a decent little militia, but you know your dad has never had a problem dealing with uprisings. No one has ever attacked Westerville directly before either."

Blaine stood with a small wince, nodding to Trent. "Thanks." He went then to sit on the edge of his bed. "Well if they make it through then I imagine they'll kill off all the Anderson's around, so I'd better write you guys some letters of reference."

Blaine's attempt at humor wasn't appreciated as Trent looked at him aghast and Nick made a small squeak of shock.

"Blaine, please. Just hide. We can... we can pretend you're a servant... or..." Trent stumbled over his own words before Blaine broke in.

"Don't. I'm surprised I'm not dead already. Besides... " he pulled down the corner of the collar of his shirt, showing the top of the tattoo all the Dalton royalty had - a cursive D in front of a shield "I'm pretty sure the only reason my father hasn't tossed me out to fend for myself is because no one would dare hire me with this, and it would look bad for his image if the world found out one of his sons was actually here instead of taking over the world."

Trent turned his head away and rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes to push away the tears forming. "I'm sorry Blaine. I just... we grew up in this castle together. I can't help but be worried." Once the tears were dealt with he turned back around and grabbed one of Blaine's hands, "Promise me you'll hide though. Your dad might take advantage take out his anger on you. I haven't been taking care of you this long just to see you drop now."

Blaine laughed. He had to. The precarious nature of his existence necessitated that he find joy wherever he could. If there was one thing that wouldn't be taken from him, it would be his joy. "I will Trent. Cat and I will stay in here and have ourselves some philosophical debates on the meaning of catnip."

And so Blaine stayed in his room. If someone opened the door, they wouldn't see him hidden between the bed and the far wall. He had been listening into the frantic yells of the elite guard within the castle, and troop leaders out in the courtyard below. He had been hoping to get a sense of what was going on, but because he could only hear fragments of conversations, he was more confused than ever.

At some point Blaine dozed off, leaning against his bed with Cat making a bed of his lap. The sunlight of a new day was just starting to make streaks in his room when he was awoken by screaming out in the courtyard and the smell of something burning.

He carefully put Cat down beside him who in turn gave him a look as if to say, "I don't care if the world is going up in flames. That was my spot. How dare you move me from it." and then Blaine crept to the window to peek outside.

The courtyard was eerily quiet as the sun was coming up. The sky was still glazed in orange waves which meant that there would usually be lots of activity below as servants prepared to feed, entertain, and take care of the royal family. But this morning, there was nothing to see below. Off in the distance he could hear the odd yell, but the wall blinded him from seeing anything more.

He looked back to his door. Had his family left? Had they been taken over in the night? Where the hell was everyone?

He stepped to the door and pressed his ear against it, just listening. Nothing.

The thought passed through his mind that maybe he died in his sleep and now he was eternally cursed to be locked in the castle, but with no one else there.

He looked over his shoulder at Cat who had found a spot on the bed to curl up on. "I'm just going to see what's going on Cat. You stay here and take care of my things."

Cat did not look impressed with the given assignment.

Blaine opened the door and peeked out into the corridor. No guards, no noise. Nothing.

He went out and started looking into his sisters rooms. They had all been left open and they were all empty. The library and the music room were also empty. He continued looking through all the rooms as he passed them, even the woman's wardrobe - a room bigger than his own that housed all of the finest styles for whomever his stepmother of the moment could wear.

When he got to the personal armoury of his father's, he found it in disarray. No armor had been left and as he searched through the room, all he found was a simple sword. He opted to take it along with him as he continued the search.

When he got to his father's private quarters he paused, the last time he had been permitted in was when he was five.

Blaine turned the knob and then felt a hand on his shoulder. The sudden shock of knowledge that he wasn't alone and he managed to let someone get behind him without noticing caused him to yelp and turn in place.

It was Cooper.

Blaine looked up at his older brother. Cooper's face was covered in what he assumed was a mix of sweat and blood. Blaine couldn't tell if the blood belonged to Cooper, but if it did, it didn't seem to bother him. His brother was in full armor and had his sword unsheathed in his right hand, the left hand pulling back from where he had placed it on Blaine's shoulder.

Cooper looked to Blaine and shook his head, "The family is in retreat little brother, those..." he turned and spat on the ground, "... fucking Hummels and company knew too much. They must have had moles everywhere."

Blaine blinked. How did this happen? How could he have not heard? Not noticed? His jaw dropped a little but nothing came out of his mouth. What could he say? What could he ask?

"I'm joining the family..." Cooper began

"How do we escape?" Blaine interrupted and grabbed the hilt of his sword tightly.

"We don't. I stayed behind to pass a message to you from father." Cooper studied his younger brother. He hadn't been permitted, and certainly didn't have the time to speak to Blaine with any regularity. Blaine had gone through all the same studies Cooper had, so why did he seem so ill-at-ease right now when they had grown up training for and living for battle?

Blaine started, "What?" then a dull calm passed over him, a realization. His door was never opened because his father meant for him to be left behind to die. No doubt the message from Cooper was going to be to the effect of 'Say hi to your mom for me!' or something equally diminishing.

"You're going to stay behind. Tell them you refused to fight and flee with us. With your reputation they might just buy it." Cooper moved his arm past Blaine to open the door to their father's quarters. "Listen to what they say, pay attention to their patrols, anything that seems important - you write it down."

Cooper went into the room, and Blaine followed, moving in a state of mixed shock and disbelief.

Cooper went to the fireplace and pushed in a brick at the side, exposing an opening. "Anything you think might help us retake the castle, you put in here. It drops to the passages under the castle."

"Cooper... " Blaine began but Cooper shook his head immediately.

"No. This isn't up for debate. It's father's orders. Look brother..." Cooper placed a hand on Blaine's shoulder then and looked into his eyes steadily, "I know you get the brunt of it... but it's because you're so much smarter than me... than any of us. If you can pull this off, you might be able to get into his good graces. Please try for me. I'm going to have to rule this kingdom one day and I want you to be able to be there to help me. Just... try."

Blaine pursed his lips together. His father had kept them apart so much, this was the most Cooper had said to him in years. The look in his brother's eyes was so needy, so earnest.

"I... I'll try."

Cooper grinned and then pulled Blaine into a hug with the hand that had been on his shoulder, "Just you wait and see little brother! You and me! We'll take back our kingdom and then one day... we'll be kings!" Then he pulled away and gave Blaine one last smile before turning and running out into the hall.

Blaine stood there for a minute... five minutes... ten. Once his stomach and his heart settled back into place he pulled back the brick exposing the drop to the passages back and walked back to his room.

Cat crawled into his lap as Blaine sat down on the edge of his bed. "Well Cat, it seems I finally have a purpose."