“This is serious Kurt, I want to know if Mr. Anderson is telling the truth. So now tell me, is it true that you’ve been out of the castle?”

“I… I’m so sorry dad; you know I can’t lie to you. I just needed to get out of here. With all the marriage stuff going on, I just wanted to get a break. I hope you understand.”

“So it’s true you left the castle?” Burt said with a tense voice.

“Uhm, yes, I’m sorry dad. That was all Mr. Anderson accused me of right?”

“Yes Kurt, would there be anything else he would accuse you of?”

“No of course not dad!” Kurt said, relieved Mr. Anderson hadn’t told his father about him and Blaine.

“Good. And Kurt, I’m serious when I say I don’t want you to ever sneak out of the castle again. You don’t know what goes on, on the other side of these walls. I’ll keep an eye on you, not because I don’t trust you, but because I only want the best for you. And tomorrow I want you to go with me to Adoerien and spend some quality time with Brittany.”

“Fine, I’ll come.”

“Great Kurt. Thanks for the talk. I know you won’t do it again. I trust you.”

Kurt went to his room. He could tell from the new vase of roses, that the maid had been there. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t visit Blaine anymore that was sure. He had to figure out a way to deal with this, but how?

“Can I come in?” Rachel called.

“Yeah sure, the door is open.” Kurt said. Rachel opened the door and entered the room. She sat on the bed and snuggled next to Kurt. She hugged him comforting.

“I’m so sorry your dad discovered this.” She said silent.

“Me too,” Kurt whispered, nearly crying. Rachel’s presence made him more vulnerable. She brought his feelings to the core.

“I just don’t know what to do now.” He sighed.

“Maybe I do.” Rachel said. Kurt looked at her with big eyes. From the look on her face, he could tell she definitely had thought about how she could help.

“Continue.” Kurt said, the hope showing in his voice.

“What if I accidently bumps into him at the market and accidently hands over a letter from you? You could explain your situation.”

“Rachel, would you do that for me?”

“Of course, you’re precious to me.”

“And you’re the best. I definitely don’t know what I would do without you.” Kurt said with a grateful voice.

“Oh, you’re sweet, but enough with the compliments, go write a letter to your lover boy. You can find me in the kitchen when you’re done.”

“Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome Kurt.” Rachel said, exiting the room. Kurt went to his desk, found his pencil and a piece of paper and started writing. Within fifteen minutes he had almost filled a page. He had been very careful in his choice of words. He didn’t want Blaine to think that Kurt gave up on them, because this wasn’t the end. It couldn’t be.

Kurt went down to the kitchen to find Rachel sitting at the table sowing something. The maid was cooking in the other end of the kitchen.

“Hi Kurt, did you bring poem you wanted me to read?” Rachel said, while she winked with one eye.

“Uhm, yes. Here you go.” Kurt handed over the neatly folded paper. Rachel put it in the little purse next to her.

“I’ll deliver it tomorrow.” She whispered. Kurt looked at the maid to see if she heard, but it seemed like she didn’t. He smiled at Rachel and went back to his room.

It was 9:00 pm when he decided to write everything down. He needed to remove it all from his brain, to a paper. So he sat down and wrote. He wrote for an hour until all his feelings and experiences with Blaine was on the paper. And then he put it in his drawer. His head felt light and empty. But it was a good feeling. Now he could concentrate on how to see Blaine again, and how to get the best out of the upcoming day, which he had to spend with Brittany. When he lay down on his bed, he fell to sleep with ease.

It felt like thousand needles were tearing his feet apart. The tears fell down his chin like a warm, salty river and they blocked his vision. Every time he fell, he got yet another bruise and it felt like everything was falling apart. The branches punched him in the face like fists and he couldn’t breathe. He had to find Blaine before his father did. He wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt him, even though that meant hurting his own father. When he’d seen the disappointed and angry look on his fathers face that day, he knew he had to protect Blaine.

He was in the fringe of the forest when he heard the cry of anger and sorrow.

“BLAINE!” Kurt cried, but no one answered. And that’s when he saw the wooden cart and Blaine torn face between the bars.

Kurt opened his eyes and heard his own scream. He was bathed in sweat and he tried to catch his breath. It was just a dream he calmed himself. His dad wouldn’t ever do anything like that. It was just his imagination. He looked at the clock. It was 6 am in the morning. He decided to take a shower because he would certainly not be able to fall asleep again.    

After a while Kurt’s dad told him to get ready because they’d have to leave soon. He felt sad. He wouldn’t get to see Blaine. He just had to trust Rachel to hand over the letter. But he just had a sad feeling about everything. What if he wouldn’t be able to see him again?

“You ready Kurt?” Burt said.

“Yes dad. We can go now.” He answered silently.

“Great. The cart is waiting.”

When they passed the market on their way to Adoerien, Kurt looked after the well-known curly hair, but there was no sight of it. But Kurt was sure Blaine would show up. After all it was trade-day where almost everyone in Larigon went to the market.

“Welcome to Adoerien.” The king, Claus, said as Kurt and Burt entered the castle. “This is my daughter Brittany, you to have met before right?”

“Yes, we have.” Kurt said. “But it’s a long time ago.”

“I remember you you’re the elf.” Brittany said innocently.

This was going to be a looooong day.

“You’re going with me to the market, right Blaine?”

“Of course dad, it’s trade-day, that’s our tradition.” Blaine answered.

“Great. Could you give me a hand with these grain bundles?”

“Yes dad.” Blaine carried seven bundles of grain into the cart and then they were headed to the market. Blaine still had a weird feeling about what happened to Kurt and he was worried he would never see him again. And there was still tenseness between him and his father.

The market was bigger than ever and the amount of people was huge. Finding each other would be as hard as finding a needle in a haystack so he kept close to his father. They set up their grain bundles in front of the big statue where they knew many people would pass. And it paid off, cause they sold all of their grain.

“Can I look around?” Blaine asked his dad.

“Yes. I’ll stay here, but we’ll go home in 20 minutes.

Blaine went to look at what the other people were offering when he overheard a conversation between two ladies.

“Did you know the prince is going to Adoerien today.”

“To meet princess Brittany?”

“Yes. Apparently they’re getting married this Christmas.”

Blaine had completely forgot about the princess dilemma. What if Kurt had got frightened after yesterdays happenings and decided to leave it all behind and marry Brittany? Was it what they were planning now? Blaine felt sad. But in fact he couldn’t expect Kurt to choose him. After all he was only an ordinary citizen and the fact that Kurt had chosen to get to know him initially was unbelievable.

“Sorry, you’re Blaine Anderson right?” A girls voice called from behind. Blaine turned around and saw a girl with long brown hair.

“Yes. Can I help you?”

“In fact, could we speak in private? It won’t take long.” The girl said. Private? What did she want from him?

“Uhm, yes. We can go over there.” Blaine said, pointing at a small bookstore to the right.

“Fine. Come on.” She said and started walking, expecting Blaine to follow. “I have a letter for you. It’s a letter from Kurt.” She said silently.

“From Kurt? He said surprised.”

“Yes. And he told me to tell you that if you want to respond, we can decide a place to meet and you can give it to me.”

“Great!” Blaine said, almost yelling. The sad feeling had disappeared.

“I’m rooting for you to, to get together, you know.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate what you’re doing.”

“You’re welcome. I’m Rachel by the way.”

“Hi Rachel. I’m Blaine. It’s nice to meet you.”

“And it’s nice to finally meet you too! I’ve heard a lot about you.” She said, smiling. Blaine felt his cheeks getting warm.

“I… I got to run, I’m sorry. But thanks again.”

“See you tomorrow?”

“Yes. We can meet right here.”

“Great. Bye Blaine.” She said, sounding happy.

“Bye.”

A feeling of happiness and courage rushed through him. Everything was going to be okay, he was sure of that because he had a plan. A plan that would make it possible for him to see Kurt again.