Day and night, Kurt Hummelberry sat silently by Blaine’s bedside, barely ever letting go of his lover’s cold, motionless hand. Dozens of servants came and went, checking Blaine’s bandages and pulse and breathing. Sometimes they would give fresh water to the dozens of bouquets of flowers that were scattered around the bedchamber.

At this point, many of the servants had caught on to the situation. In fact, many had known that the two boys were in love before Kurt and Blaine even knew it. Despite Blaine’s former fears, they thought it was lovely. They were not disgusted by the idea of two boys loving each other. After all, many of them thought, they were emerging into a modern era. 

Blaine had many guests. Duke Finn, Nick and Jeff, Wes and David, the Queen, and Lord Mike and Lady Tina, came often. Whenever they entered the still and solemn bedchamber, Kurt would move to the opposite end of the room and perch atop the window sill to give the visitors privacy with Blaine. But, he would never leave the room.

It had been three days since Kurt had asked for the assistance of his beloved aunts. Blaine didn’t have much longer, this he knew. Kurt had begun to slowly come to terms with his own death, which many in the castle knew would follow their Prince’s. At least they would be together in the afterlife, if such a thing existed. And if it didn’t, maybe they would meet again in another lifetime and in another world. 

One day, Duke Jeff sat by Blaine’s bedside, speaking quietly to his best friend while Kurt stared blankly out the window. The end was coming soon, perhaps even today.

“Prince Blaine,” Kurt heard Jeff whisper to the Prince’s lifeless form. “Please, don’t die. I  don’t know how I’ll go on if Nick and I can’t bother you with our constant jokes and pranks anymore. Where else will we get disapproval if we won’t have you to roll your eyes at us?”

From his seat, Kurt felt a tear slide down his face at the sound of the boy’s anguish.

“And I’ve grown rather fond of Prince Kurt, you know,” Jeff continued to whisper. Kurt smiled softly to himself. “If you die, then he’s going to kill himself, you know. I can’t lose two friends, let alone one. Please wake up, Blaine. Wake up and love Kurt and let him love you in return and then you can get married and Nick and I can bother you again. It’ll be so great, Blaine. Just wake up.”

After Jeff left the room, Kurt let out a heavy sob and squeezed his eyes closed against the tears, but it did not stop them from coming. Blaine was going to die today; the servants had informed him he wouldn’t last longer than a few more hours. His chest had gone very still, his breaths almost too shallow to determine. He had lost a lot of blood from the wound and was growing dangerously thin because they had not been able to get food in him.

Blaine’s servant William approached and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“For never was a story of more woe than this of Kurt and his Blaine,” whispered William. Kurt thought vaguely that he had heard a similar line before, but it quickly disappeared from his mind.

Suddenly, a breathless Duke Finn burst through the door, clutching a stitch in his side and carrying a small package with his other hand. A servant followed in after him, also holding a hand to her side as she fought to regain her breath. She quickly closed the door behind them and Finn nearly fell over on top of Kurt as the Prince stood in surprise.

“It’s here!” Finn gasped. “Duchess Santana and Lady- Wow! It’s here! And I’ve lost the ability to breathe!”

Without thinking, Kurt snatched the package from Finn and he went to go sit down. William and the woman servant stood side by side, waiting for Kurt to give an order.

With shaking hands, Kurt tore the brown paper away from the package, quickly skimmed through the small set of instructions Brittany had scribbled, and jumped into action.

“Take off Blaine’s bandages and spread this across the wound. Wait ten minutes and then put on clean bandages,” Kurt told the woman servant, who immediately began to follow his instructions. Kurt turned to William. “You have to help me get this down his throat,” he said, holding up a tiny vial of clear liquid.

Finn stood a short distance away, knowing that it would do no good for him to get in the way. We could save the Prince, thought Finn. We could save both of them. 

Kurt climbed up onto the bed, trying not to jostle Blaine as the servant carefully undid the bandages and revealed an angry red gash right between Blaine’s bottom ribs. Kurt swallowed thickly and tore his eyes away from the puckered, shining skin. William stood on the other side of Blaine’s head, watching as Kurt tilted the Prince’s head back and then holding open his mouth when Kurt asked him to.

With a steady hand, so as not to spill any, Kurt poured the clear medicine into Blaine’s mouth, making sure that nothing was blocking his throat. William quickly passed him the glass of stale water that sat on a nearby table and Kurt trickled the liquid down Blaine’s throat. He closed his mouth, but kept his head tilted back to make sure that the medicine went down.

The entire thing was a blur as Kurt saw that the woman servant had finished placing new bandages on Blaine. Being careful of his broken ribs, Kurt began to perform chest compressions on Blaine, which was something he had learned from his aunts, the Healers. After thirty compressions, he bent his head and pinched Blaine’s nose closed and gave him two breaths of air.

The servants and Duke Finn watched while Kurt continued this cycle for five minutes and then leaned back, breathing heavily and wiping a bead of sweat from his temple.

“That’s all we can do right now,” Kurt told them. “But, we’ve done something. My aunts are very talented at what they do. I have faith now.”

Duke Finn and the woman servant nodded and left, Finn patting Kurt’s shoulder before ducking out the door and closing it quietly. The news would spread quickly now, and perhaps the mood of the castle might lift slightly.

Kurt knew it was dangerous, but he felt hopeful.

Before leaving, William lifted Blaine’s wrist and checked his pulse.

“It is stronger,” he said. “Slightly stronger.”