How was this possible? How did he get here? Blaine Anderson was the prince of Daltopia, he was born and raised there. His father had showed him every corner of the kingdom, insisting  that one cannot rule a country without knowing it like the back of their hand. So how in the name of God was it possible that he now found himself standing in the middle of what he swore was a forest he had never seen before? 

One might think that the prince was simply a bit confused. That he was not fully awake yet and would soon remember that he had in fact seen this place before. But Blaine was convinced that was not the case. If he had ever been in this forest before, he would surely remember. No human being could ever forget a place as beautiful as this.

Taking another look around him, Blaine found it difficult to describe what exactly made this place so special. Yes, there were these exceptional flowers, the like of which he had not seen anywhere else in his kingdom. There was the sound of the river flowing between the trees, resembling the singing voice of a nymph. But there was something else too. The light here was different. It looked as if the whole forest was glowing, even though the sky and the sun looked exactly the same as in any other place. It looked like a place undisturbed by humans, Blaine realized.

However, as beautiful as this place might be, the prince still did not know where he could possibly be and consequently had no idea of how he could ever find his way back to the castle. Cursing himself for his inattention, Blaine sat down in the shadow of an old oak. He placed his head on his knees and took a deep breath. There had to be a way to get out of here. Maybe the peace and quiet here would help him to think clearly.

After a few moments of silence Blaine suddenly looked up. He had heard something moving, but as he looked around him, he could not see anything that could have caused the noise. There it was again! It sounded like the wind, but surely that could not be it, since he had not felt anything. The noise was coming closer and Blaine was starting to feel anxious. What was going on? Suddenly there was a very bright light that had the prince shielding his eyes. When he dared to let his arms drop, the light was gone and in its place, there stood a breathtakingly beautiful creature. At first sight, Blaine would have said it was just a man. As he stumbled to his feet and took a step closer to the stunning young man, however, he knew this could not be a human being. The stranger, who was dressed completely in white, had perfectly styled light brown hair, eyes that were the colour of the sky after a shower of rain in early spring, and he was surrounded by the same glow as the whole forest.

"Well well, prince Blaine of Daltopia. Are you lost," the man asked. The slight grin on his face betrayed his amusement at the situation. Blaine could do nothing but stare at the creature in front of him, whose voice sounded like that of an angel.
"Have you lost your tongue, prince Blaine? It must be difficult to sing in front of you mirror every night without a tongue."
At that remark, the prince's brains started working again. Indeed, prince Blaine loved singing within the safety of his chambers, but he never performed in front of an audience. That would not be deemed appropriate for a prince. His father especially would not approve of such actions. But how did this stranger know of Blaine's singing habits?
"How do you know that I sing," Blaine asked with curiosity.
"Oh, I know so much more about you than just that," the man responded, still smiling amusedly. "I am an Elf after all."

"An Elf?" Blaine repeated with wonder. "Do they really exist?"
Queen Rose, Blaine's mother, had loved telling her son stories about Elves, but Blaine had always assumed they were nothing more than fairytales.
"Of course we exist," the Elf scoffed. "There are more realities than the one you live in, Blaine Anderson. I thought you came to that realisation when you found yourself in the middle of our land."

Upon hearing that, Blaine felt his mouth fall open against his will. "Wait, do you mean we are in Elf Land? But how is that possible? I did not cross the borders of my kingdom, I did not go further than the places I have known all my life."
The soft smile on the Elf's face indicated that he found the prince's confusion rather endearing. "The borders between your land and ours cannot be seen," he explained patiently. "Maybe one could even say that there are no real borders. Our countries simply overlap. The Elf land and Daltopia exist in the same place, but not in the same reality. In your reality, you and your subjects only see your kingdom, just like we Elves only see ours. However, there are places where the separation between your reality and ours is weaker than in other places. You must have found one of those weak spots and entered our land through that spot."

Blaine felt himself getting more confused with every word the Elf spoke. "So does that mean other people can find this place too?"
"Yes it does. You are not the first human to set foot on our land. Nevertheless, not everyone has the open-mindedness to find us. To enter Elf land, one must believe that it can exist. One must be willing to believe that there is more to this world than only what they can see with their eyes. You, Blaine, have that kind of open spirit. That is why you were able to come here."

"So what happened to the people who came here before me then?"
"Some of them simply went back to where they came from. Others fell in love. In love with an Elf, or with the peace and serenity they found here. Those people stayed and built a new life here."

After that, Blaine fell silent for a few moments. He felt like his entire world had been turned upside down in the span of a couple of minutes. How much of what he had always thought of as silly stories was actually true? If Elves did exist, did that mean that nymphs and dwarfs and dragons were all real too? Blaine had so many questions, but could not bring himself to ask any of them out of fear that the answers would only leave him more confused than he already was. So he decided to ask the one question that would certainly have a straight, satisfying answer. "May I ask what your name is?"

"Of course. My name is Kurt," the Elf answered. The soft smile on his face was slowly giving way to a worried expression. "Are you alright," the Elf, Kurt, asked.
"Honestly, I do not know," Blaine sighed. "You have given me so much to think about. I do not know what is real and what is not anymore. I think I just need a little time to process everything you have told me."

At that, Kurt's expression turned to one of incredible warmth and sympathy. "You can take all the time you need to think, Blaine. I know it is a lot to take in, but I am sure you will find peace of mind again eventually. You are smart and kind. You have a good soul, Blaine. People like you are always welcome to stay here. Is that something you would like? Staying here?"

The question caused a jab of pain in Blaine's heart. Because yes, he most definitely wanted to stay here. Despite all the confusion and the questions that were the result of his conversation with Kurt, he felt oddly at peace here. At peace with himself. In this place there was no king telling him what to do, no etiquette telling him how to behave, no kingdom to rule, no responsibility, nothing. But at the same time, Blaine knew he could not stay, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Thank you for the offer, Kurt, you cannot imagine how much it means to me, but I cannot stay. I must go back to my kingdom. I am a prince, I cannot afford to be selfish. My people need me. I made a promise to one day be a better, more tolerant and more open-minded king than my father is now and I will keep that promise."

When Kurt heard that, the warmth in his eyes only intensified. "Very well then," he spoke softly. "You are a good prince, Blaine. You put your people's needs before your own desires, and therefore I know that one day, you will be the best king Daltopia could possibly wish for. I should show you the way back now."

Blaine could only nod, because he did not trust himself to speak after the Elf's kind words. He made to follow Kurt wherever he would lead him, but to his surprise, Kurt took Blaine's hand in his and they took off together. Neither of them spoke, but the silence was not uncomfortable. If anything, Kurt's silent presence was soothing to Blaine. After a short walk through the forest, Kurt let go of the prince's hand. Blaine immediately missed its warmth, but was determined not to show it.

Blaine was the one to break the silence. "This is where we must say goodbye then."
"No, it is not," Kurt said. "We do not need to say goodbye. You might have to go back to your world, but I'll be there with you. All you have to do is keep your eyes and ears open. If you do that, you'll feel my presence all around you. And if you really need me, you'll find your way back to the Elf land and I'll be right there waiting for you."  He leaned closer to Blaine and placed a very light kiss on his forehead, his lips only barely touching Blaine's skin. Blaine's eyes fluttered closed for a second. When he opened them again, he was standing in front of the castle gates and Kurt was gone. But as the wind rustled through the trees, prince Blaine swore he could hear the voice of an Elf with eyes the colour of the sky after a shower of rain in early spring.