“Prince Anderson, it’s time to wake up.”

Blaine groaned and rolled away from William’s gentle voice.

“No, mmph-sff-imph,” Blaine replied with a mouthful of silken pillow.

“Your highness, the Prince and Princess Hummelberry will be arriving within the hour.”

Something soared inside Blaine’s chest and he sat up quickly, perhaps too quickly, for his head began to spin. Clutching his head in his hands, he squinted at his servant standing nearby. The early morning sunlight washed the room in a delicate pink glow and he sat tangled in a cloud of white sheets. Despite the sleepy hour, Blaine was suddenly overwhelmed with excitement.

It had been too long since he’d seen the Hummelberries

“Yes, I thought that would be your response,” William said, smiling slightly and looking upon the young Prince with fondness in his crinkled eyes. “The King and Queen are waiting for you in the Grand Hall.”

Blaine nodded as William left the large chamber and hurriedly began to battle his way out of the mess his bedsheets had become over the course of the night. Once free, he stumbled across the room to the looking glass that hung on the opposite wall and tried to force his unruly curls into submission with a tonic his cousins, the Dukes Jeff and Nick, had given him for his birthday.  He patted cold water onto his face and closed his eyes, trying to take calming breaths.

However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not make his heart rate slow down. The last time he had seen Kurt and Rachel Hummelberry, Prince and Princess of the neighboring country of McKinley, had been nearly a year ago. They had attempted to keep in touch through letters, but as the three of them each reached the ripe age of seventeen, life had gotten in the way of their correspondence. He hadn’t spoken properly to them in months.

Blaine smiled to himself as he pulled on a pair of fitted black pants and buttoned a clean white shirt over his toned chest. A green and gold jacket, the royal colors of the Anderson family, completed the ensemble.

As he bent to tie his shiny black shoes, his stomach suddenly began to squirm at the idea of seeing Kurt and Rachel. He was sure his childhood friends had matured handsomely. Kurt had probably become so stunning that he would take Blaine’s breath away the moment he saw him. Then again, Kurt always took Blaine’s breath away.

And Rachel. Rachel.

Blaine straightened and swallowed the lump in his throat when he was reminded of the reason the Hummelberries had come to his country of Dalton.

“Be a man,” he told himself. With a last glance in the looking glass to ensure he looked regal enough for a formal reception, he left his room and began to descend the winding staircase that led from his quarters in the South Tower to the Grand Hall.

“Ah, my son,” Blaine’s father greeted him when he entered the hall. His father looked handsome and well-dressed as always. The King of Dalton was aging gracefully, and though his face appeared kind, Blaine often captured a hardness in his dark eyes that assumed was due to years of ruling a government.

Blaine approached his mother, beautiful and tiny, like a little glass doll. The Queen wore a golden gown, and the sleeves shimmered as she lifted her arms to pat Blaine’s wide and muscular shoulders. Blaine reached forward to adjust her forest green sash and smiled kindly at his mother. He never saw hardness in those hazel eyes.

“They’ll be here soon,” she whispered and gave him a secret look that Blaine didn’t quite understand.

He stood by and waited, back straight and chin high, hands clasped in front, like he had been taught to do since he was a toddler. Dozens of other royals glittered in a semi-circle around the hall, waiting for the Prince and Princess Hummelberry to arrive. Blaine nodded to his several cousins, all dressed impeccably, but fidgeting very minutely, and then turned to give the front double doors of the castle his rapt attention.

In a matter of minutes, the sound of carriage wheels on cobblestone permeated Blaine’s ears and his heart began to pound loudly. His breathing sped as he imagined Prince Kurt and Princess Rachel being helped out of the carriage and led to the doors of his home like they had been hundreds of times before.

As the large oak doors creaked open, the King caught Blaine’s eye and gave him a look that was very clearly telling him to behave exactly as how he had been told.

As if he had eyes only for Princess Rachel.

And that Prince Kurt was nothing but his close companion.

Blaine bit his lip and clenched his hands tightly when a trumpet blared and a pair of silhouettes appeared at the edge of the doorway.

“Now presenting, their Royal Highnesses Prince Kurt and Princess Rachel Hummelberry of McKinley.”

Blaine’s parents stepped forward side by side and Blaine approached from behind them obediently, eyes downcast. Around him, the members of the court fell gracefully to one knee. With a thrumming heart and trembling knees, Blaine waited for the King and Queen to finish greeting the Prince and Princess.

When they finally stepped aside, Blaine lifted his head. He began to step forward, but he faltered at the sight of Prince Kurt Hummelberry, looking dashingly regal and unbearably handsome in a silver suit. His ocean blue eyes glittered with the playfulness and insight Blaine had known since they were young children. His body was lithe and slender, and Kurt appeared to have grown taller since the last time Blaine had seen him. Blaine found himself cursing internally at how handsome the young Prince looked. He was flawless, like an angel.

And then he remembered himself, and turned his head to the very pretty Princess Rachel standing in a flowing, dark blue gown. She smiled knowingly at Blaine when he finally forced his eyes away from Kurt. Just as his father had told him to do, Blaine stepped forward and reached for a velvet box within the pocket of his coat. He bowed and then opened the small box and took out a delicate diamond ring that had been in the Anderson family for almost a century.

Rachel gazed at him calmly, her shoulders back, a few curls dancing down to meet her collarbones. Slowly, Blaine slipped the glittering band of jewels onto Princess Rachel’s finger, and it was as if the entire room had ceased breathing.

Blaine kissed her hand and then straightened up to look into her lovely brown eyes.

“It’s very good to see you again, Princess Rachel,” Blaine said, speaking clearly so that everyone could hear his rehearsed words. “And you, Prince Kurt.”

There was a brief moment of silence, and then both Kurt and Rachel flung themselves into Blaine’s arms and the trio laughed merrily. The members of the court rose to their feet and began to clap in welcome of the two young royals.

Blaine and Rachel turned and stood next to one another in front of the delighted crowd, the King and Queen looking on from the side with matching proud expressions. Blaine risked a glance back at Kurt where he stood just slightly behind and to the side of his sister. Kurt’s eyes flashed in his direction and he winked very subtly at Blaine.

The trumpet blared again.

“Now presenting Prince Blaine Anderson of Dalton, his betrothed Princess Rachel Hummelberry of McKinley, and the young Prince Kurt of McKinley.”