A/N: This is a medieval AU, as you can read in the summary. You can find the prompt and fanart which served as my inspiration on my profile.

Just a small warning: Karofsky is going to be the antagonist in this fic. I have nothing against the character itself, he just fit the role (and every good story needs an antagonist :P). So, if you're a big Karofsky fan and can't stand that, close this tab right now.

I want to thank my good friend Ben who beta'd this for me. It would have sounded a lot less medieval-ish if it weren't for him.

I hope you will enjoy! Criticism is welcomed.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

Chapter 1 – Thank you

"The King is back from the neighboring Kingdom!" announced the castle's herald. Prince Kurt straightened in his throne, the smaller one next to his father's.

As the King of the Hummel Kingdom, his father would travel a lot to neighboring dominions in search of peace. The Hummel Kingdom's main aspiration was to reunite the whole McKinley land which was composed of several kingdoms. In order to transform the desirable vision into reality, the King had formed many treaties throughout the years. His wife, the Queen, had fallen sick and died years prior this particular journey, and he never remarried. Instead, he had his son to support the Kingdom in his absence, and particularly to take care of him.

As the Prince of the HummelKingdom, Kurt wanted nothing more than overall peace, just like his father. He found violence repulsive and unjustified towards the weak villagers who were spread all across the land. With the vision of peace in his mind and the obvious revulsion towards violence he had, he never learnt how to wield a sword. Instead, he studied politics and the history of the entire land. He made sure he would be an expert in the subject until his 18th birthday, the age in which he would turn into a man.

From the moment he reached eighteen years of age, Kurt had been able to leave for quests of his own, negotiating with several of the smaller Kingdom who were fond of the Hummel family, and helping in the cities and villages in their Kingdom's territory when problems rose. He hasn't traveled to a hostile Kingdom yet, though he knew the chance would arise soon.

A moment after the announcement, his father entered the grand hall through the immense entrance, still clad in his metal armor. He smiled at the sight of his son, who also wore a big grin at the sight of his father. He loved his father very much – they completed each other. His father knew how to use a sword, and he had worn far many times his shiny armor in preparation for a battle. Even though blood soiled his hands permanently, the King was a very good man, and nothing could make Kurt hate his own father.

Despite his calm and brave nature, his father wasn't very eloquent for a King. To help him, Kurt would spend days telling him about a certain Kingdom's history and making sure he knew everything he needed to say in order to endeavor creating a peace treaty with them. And when he came back from a long trip, Kurt would sit with him and listen to all his stories, relishing in the fact his knowledge helped the Kingdom advance towards their target.

Together, they were a strong team progressing slowly towards a brighter future.

"How were the peace talks with the Hudson royal family?" Kurt asked, barely able to hide his excitement. His father seemed to be elated, meaning he succeeded, but there was nothing Kurt liked hearing more about than a successful talk. The Hudson was slightly far from them, and it was known they wished for peace as much as the Hummel Kingdom. Besides that fact, the Hudson royal family consisted of a Prince in Kurt's age and a Queen known for her kindness towards the weak.

"We had a friendly talk, and not long afterwards they signed the peace treaty, just like you expected." Burt smiled even brighter when his son clapped in joy. It was clear how proud of himself Kurt was every time an expedition to another kingdom ended well. However, his son suddenly froze while staring at his father. Actually, he was staring directly at his left arm. The bandaged part of his left arm.

"Father, what happened?" he asked with a worried tone as he hurried to the King's side, gently touching the white fabric. His eyes widened in horror when a small, blood-red patch started forming underneath his finger. "You're bleeding!" he pushed his father towards the throne next to where he sat before, making him sit and relax. His father never took care of himself, and his health would have deteriorated years ago if it wasn't for Kurt's stern rules when it came to food and injuries; every decision related to the King's health had been decided by his son.

Burt sighed at his son's actions, immediately followed by an excited smile when he remembered the story behind his wound. "Kurt, I know you don't like stories from the battlefield, but you really need to hear this one!" he ignored his son's disgusted expression and usual eye roll; he expressed himself that way anytime a topic related to violence came up, especially boring fighting stories. He had never liked those. He gestured to one of the guards with his hand, and the guard left the room.

"You see, we were on our way back, and we just left the Hudson territory and entered the Karofsky territory." A chill went down the prince's spine. The Karofsky kingdom has been their biggest challenge yet. The Prince, David, was blood-thirsty and wouldn't accept their peace offering unless there was something in it for him. Furthermore, the territory was known for the high rates of bandits and outlaws roaming around, making the chances of getting in trouble more likely to happen than normal. Only from that sentence he knew it would turn into a story about how his father has shown amazing fighting moves against some thief. "Less than half an hour into their ground and we got attacked by some road thieves, one of the biggest gangs I have ever seen…"

Kurt pretended to listen and nodded his head slightly as his father talked about the fight they had, until something in his father's words caught his attention. "One of them got right behind me and attacked, a slash that would kill me in one instant if it wasn't for this young soldier. He was barely 20 I believe and had the fastest instincts I have ever seen. He was a corporal of the small squad I took with me, since this was ought to be an easy mission, but I was positively surprised by their performance in the battle. Oh look, here he is. I asked for him to be brought here so you could meet him." In the instance his father said that, the enormous doors opened and into the hall walked two soldiers. They stopped in front of the two royalties and bowed their head with respect. The first one was the guard who was sent by the King and the other was a soldier the Prince has never seen before.

The second soldier was still wearing his armor from the journey in which he guarded his father, although his helmet was off to reveal dark, short curls, sharp jaw bones and two beautiful, deep hazel eyes, all on one seemingly perfect face. His body was covered up by the armor, not giving anything away to the Prince's scrutinizing stare, but he could only imagine the toned and muscular body, which only soldiers had, hiding behind the cold metal.

Kurt barely managed to keep down the scarlet blush which made its way towards his face at the sight of the handsome male, remaining tense in his throne and just staring at him. Kurt knew from a few years back that men like himself were rare in the land of McKinley, men who were attracted to other men. Even though his father came to terms with his son's sexual identity, after that realization he had promised to never force him into marrying someone he didn't want, the Prince's preference remained their best kept secret.

He stood up and walked slowly towards the slightly baffled soldier, noting that he was slightly taller than the soldier yet slimmer from obvious reasons. Noticing the approach, the curly haired man kneeled before him, showing the respect the Prince was worthy of. "What's your name?" Kurt asked, moving some of his light brown locks into their respected place; a nervous habit and an act to make him look more representable and, hopefully, better looking in the same time. "Blaine Anderson, your majesty." He answered, not looking at the royalty before him. Fighting the urge to swoon to the velvet sound of the soldier's voice, the brunette continued talking.

"Are you the one who saved my father's life in the battle against thieves?" he asked again, stopping a few steps before the kneeling soldier. He wanted to tell him to stand up so he would be able to look at his beautiful hazel eyes once again, but kneeling was an act all soldiers had to do when facing the King or his son, a sign of deep high esteem. Blaine's voice cut again through Kurt's thoughts as he answered his question. "I managed to deflect the attack, yet not completely and the King still got hurt. I apologize for my uselessness."

Kurt scowled at his words and raised his brow in doubt. "I don't believe that's the important part in your actions," his disapproval of the answer was evident in his voice, which made the curly haired man bow his head lower, "the important part is whether you saved his life or not. If you weren't there, would have my father died or not?" his voice grew louder at the new question. Behind him, his father smiled at his tone. Whenever his son got annoyed, his attitude would change into a more demanding one, which reminded him of whenever his mother, the Queen, would have the same outbursts.

Blaine hesitated for a moment, his mouth opening and closing before he finally said "With all due respect, not to reduce the king's status—"

"Answer, please." The prince insisted.

"Yes, he would have died".

Getting the answer he wanted, the Prince let out a breath as he felt his body unwind for knowing the beautiful man before him was both a hero and a modest person. Moreover, he felt a smile grace his lips as he opened them to say a small yet meaningful "Thank you". The soldier's head snapped upwards, looking with pure shock at the other male. "A lot." He decided to add as his smile grew in reacting to the other's cute shocked expression. They locked eyes, Blaine's breath catching in his throat as he stared into Kurt's piercing glasz eyes, while Kurt almost fell into the two pools of hazel which were Blaine's eyes.

A clearing of a throat was heard and the two snapped out of their trance.

"You sure know how to use a sword," his father stated as he caught the two's attention, returning to the main subject of Blaine's presence. "How about moving to lead a bigger squad? I'm sure you would have no problem with that." He had a smile upon his face, but it was obvious the offer was nothing but serious. Blaine cleared his throat before answering.

"I'm flattered to hear that and as much as I appreciate the offer, my King, I would rather stay with my current squad. We work well together, and over time we became very close. I wouldn't like leaving them." He explained in an even voice, "but thank you very much for the honoring offer."

Burt made a voice of appreciation deep in his throat, clearly impressed by the young man's decision. "You may go now" he dismissed the soldier, who bowed in respect before leaving the room, giving one last fleeting look to the unmoving prince in front of the thrones. Kurt turned around, coming face to face with his father. "He's a good soldier, and a better man." The King stated, and Kurt could only nod, not trusting his voice to remain steady.

As an awkward silence set between the father and son, Burt stood up and started walking away. "I'm not staying for a lot of time" He said shortly, not aware of the pair of footsteps following behind him as he started the way to his quarters. "You're worried about the quantity of law-breakers in the Karofsky kingdom." Kurt stated as he walked a few steps behind.

"It's going to be a difficult journey, but peace talks must be held. Their kingdom is placed in the middle of the land; many people walk through their borders, putting their lives in immediate risk due to the lack of discipline and laws."

They started climbing one of the many cases of stairs one after the other, silence back in place as they both thought about the difficult situation. Suddenly, Kurt grabbed his father's arm and stilled his movements. "The situation is too fragile for making speeches beforehand, improvisation might become handy; let me go instead." Seeing the disapproval in the King's eyes the moment the words left his lips, he started explaining. "I know a lot about the royal family there, almost as much as the family members themselves! You know I can do this, I can make them sign the peace treaty and you know it. I'm sure I can handle the pressure and the danger, and it's for the sake of the land."

The battle of wills going down on that staircase took form as a staring contest, neither willing to accept the other's wishes. The determination in each was of a manifest level, and yielding was not an option for either, until a mouth opened once more.

"I'll take Blaine and his squad with me. You praised him yourself; you know I won't get hurt with him as my guard." They held up their stares for a while longer, until Burt sighed. "You always use my words against me to win arguments," he started, than chuckled at a faraway memory, "just like your mother."

They both smiled a sad smile at the mentioning of the Queen. Kurt didn't have a lot of memories of his mother, just the fleeting random one which caught him every time he went into her former room, where she lied until her death, in search for comfort. Before he knew what was happening, he was pulled into a bear hug and he cuddled into the familiar warmth of his father's embrace.

"Make sure you don't die on me, kid." And with that, the decision was made.