"Your majesty,” a familiar voice startled Blaine out of his thoughts, “the King has requested your presence in the dining hall immediately."

Blaine jumped away from his window, trying to appear as if he'd simply been admiring the afternoon sky. One of the servants, Tina, was standing in the doorway of his bedroom and looking at him with barely contained amusement.

“I'll be there in a moment,” Blaine told her before turning back to the window and searching for the silhouette of the man he'd been admiring just seconds before.

“Very good, sir,” Tina giggled and Blaine resisted the urge to throw something at her; it would likely do nothing to help his case. Befriending the help wasn't common, but the pair of them had a near instant connection. This meant that Tina knew more about him than most, especially when it came to his more… personal tastes.

“Oh, hush,” Blaine pouted. He gave up his search and, with a sigh, followed Tina out of the room to find out why his father needed him so urgently.

“Blaine!” the King crowed when he crossed the threshold; he was seated at one of their smaller tables, a feast laid out in front of him. “There you are. Have a seat, have a seat.”

His father gestured to the chair opposite his own and Blaine cautiously lowered himself onto it, his posture stiff.

“I'm not going to bite you, relax,” his father drawled. He reached forward to pile food onto his plate and looked at Blaine expectantly until he did the same. “So! You're of age now, correct?”

“Yes,” Blaine confirmed, already hating where the conversation was going. He poked around at the food on his plate, too uneasy to even consider eating it.

“Good, good,” the King paused to take a large bite of bread, washing it down with a mouthful of wine before continuing. “Your mother and I have been discussing it for some time now, and we agree that you need to marry sooner rather than later.”

Blaine had seen this coming, had expected it for months now, but hearing it aloud caused his rationality to all but vanish.

“I disagree,” he pushed his plate away, despite having only filled it a minute before. “I'm young, I have plenty of time to find someone.”

“Ah, but now you don't have to!”

“I'm- I'm sorry?” Blaine's heart sank to his toes.

“We have decided that you are to marry Santana Lopez of the Bushwick kingdom,” the King told him.

“Santana Lopez?” he echoed. He'd heard many a tale of the princess and her unconventional means of ruling. She was cruel, violent, and had a reputation of making even the most horrific of rulers fall to their knees before her. A marriage between them was almost guaranteed to fall apart within the year.

“I assume you've heard of her, then? Good,” his father perked up a bit and grinned, "because we've sent word that you'll be riding out to meet her within the week.”

“Why did no one consult me before setting this up?” Blaine demanded, suddenly feeling more nauseous than he'd ever been in his life. “I have no interest in marrying anyone, let alone a- her.”

“Watch what you say, boy,” the King warned. “You may be of age, but that doesn't give you the right to disobey orders.”

“I am of age- which is precisely why I'm refusing to do this! I should have the right to decide who I am to wed,” Blaine told him, rising to his feet to flee, should he feel the need to. “You allowed Cooper to find his own bride, why can't I?”

“Your brother has always been quite the debaucher, we didn't see the need to set him up,” his father tried to reason with him. “You, on the other hand…”

“What about me, father?” Blaine asked lowly, his eyes flashing dark. “Was I too polite and respectable? Too considerate? Too chaste?”

“That is enough, Blaine.”

“Why her? Of all the princesses in all the kingdoms, why did you have to choose her?”

“We didn't!” His father rose from his seat and slammed his fist onto the table; Blaine froze. “We didn't. Her majesty's parents approached us, Blaine. Your mother and I agreed that the offer was far too sweet to turn down.”

“She… she wants to marry me?” Blaine collapsed back into his chair. “But that's absurd! We've never met, let alone spoken. How can she want me when she doesn't even know me?”

“The heart is a peculiar thing, son,” the King sighed, moving around the table to rest his hand on Blaine's shoulder. “I'll send word that you'll meet her. Do not disappoint me.”

Without another word, his father exited the room and Blaine was left in silence.