Hi! I'm back again, with another Glee fanfic. This one is quite a bit different from the last, though, the main reason being that this is an AU. The second one being that this is a Klaine story. Puckurt is so last year :D Anyway, I'm very proud of this. It's my baby and I'm trying so hard to keep the characters all within their bounds, while still making it an AU. You will notice that the characters I'm not very fond of will end up disappearing without much explaination. It's a bad habit I haven't yet broken myself of.

This AU was inspired by a picture on dA, by Jinshu. Link is here, just take out the spaces: http:/ www. jinshu. deviantart. com/ gallery/ 27110570#/ d33e0hs

This is the first chapter, and I have written seven so far. I expect the final count will be twelve, plus an epilogue. Don't expect an update too soon, however, because I'm using this chapter to gauge an interest, and I'm scared that if I update too quickly, I'll run out of chapters and leave you hanging for months. Sorry in advance if that happens anyway. Another apology should also be said now, because I am British, and thus there are probably far too many British words and phrases in here.

As this is my baby, I will take this oppotunity to beg for reviews. Please, I am so insecure about my ability to write fanfiction that just dropping me a note to say that you liked it makes my week, let alone my day. I am grateful for every hit and favourite, but a review is the best. So please, please, please, please, if you liked it: review. If you hated it: review. If you want to talk about cheese: review.

Bloated author's note is now over. On with the story. Oh, and I don't own Glee.

1.

Once there was a great kingdom, run by a good and honourable King. King Bertram, or just Burt to his family, had run the kingdom well from the main city of Lima, as well as marrying his true love and having a son and heir, Prince Kurt. But when the prince was eight, his mother the queen died. The entire kingdom mourned the loss, and some whispered that the king would never be the same again.

Years passed and the people watched their prince grow up into the image of his dead mother. When Prince Kurt was sixteen, his father remarried a widowed noblewoman named Carole, who became Queen. She had a son of her own, Finn, who was about Kurt's age. Burt adopted him, making Finn a prince of the kingdom as well, though not heir, as Kurt was a few months older. The boys were about as different as you could be, but got on rather well for step-brothers.

It probably helped that they didn't share actual blood.

This state of affairs continued quite happily until both princes turned eighteen and the subject turned to marriage…

Kurt woke up in the usual way, by the sound of his door being gently opened and the soft footsteps of one of the maids as she entered the room, She always tried to be quiet and not wake him, despite Kurt explaining that he was a light sleeper and short of her not making any noise at all, he was going to wake. He waited for her to draw back the drapes from around his four poster bed before greeting her pleasantly.

"Good morning, Quinn."

Quinn jumped, putting a hand to her heart and exclaiming "Oh! Don't make me jump like that, my Lord. You'll give me a heart attack one of these days!"

Kurt laughed and swung his legs out of bed, making his way over to his breakfast where it was all laid out. He began to eat, gesturing for Quinn to join him. The cook always gave him too much, she thought he had to be fattened up.

"What's my name, Quinn?"

"Kurt."

"Then use it, please? I tell you this nearly every week, it's incredibly weird to hear people my own age calling me 'my Lord' or 'Your Highness'."

Quinn smiled "You'll make a brilliant King, Kurt. Speaking of which, your father wants to see you this morning, so don't go to Mr Shuester straight away."

Kurt raised his eyebrows as he finished his meal "My father? I wonder what he might want. Thank you, Quinn."

Quinn curtseyed, and when Kurt glared, just gave him an impish grin before cleaning up and leaving. Kurt sighed and walked into his en-suite to start getting ready. It took him an average time of a hour to finish preparing to face the world, which, considering his standards, was quite quick.

He then left his room and headed for the throne room. This was where his father conducted his state affairs, so that was where he would be this morning. On the way there, Kurt ran into his step-brother, Finn, and the two of them walked the rest of the way together, discussing what could be going on.

"Do you think it's bad news?"

"Why would it be that, Finn?"

Finn shrugged "I dunno. He hardly ever asks to see the both of us at the same time."

Kurt frowned "I suppose. What was the last time?"

"They were getting married."

"Oh. Well, that was a good thing."

Finn shrugged again and stopped the conversation. It was in silence that they reached the throne room and were admitted by the two guards. Burt and Carole were sitting to one side of the room, with two empty chairs opposite them. The boys took their seats and Finn immediately burst out with "Is it bad news?"

Burt and Carole shared a look before Carole answered "That depends on your point of view, darling."

Kurt crossed his arms and stared at his dad "Come on, Dad. Just spill it."

Burt took a deep breath and, looking really uncomfortable, began "You know there's a law that states that a prince has to be married before he takes the throne. Now you're both eighteen, it's come into effect. You have to start looking for a marriage partner."

"Hang on, but I'm not going to be King." Finn protested. "Why do I have to do this as well?"

Burt opened his mouth, but Kurt got there first. Looking at the floor, he said quietly "Because I'm gay."

Burt nodded, relieved he hadn't been the one to say it "That's right. Finding a husband for Kurt will be much harder than finding a wife for you. The likelihood is, that when I decide to retire, Kurt may well be still unmarried."

Finn looked sick "So I'll inherit instead."

Carole smiled "That's right, sweetie."

Finn stood abruptly "I can't do that! It's not fair on Kurt. He's been born and bred to be a King. I'm barely even a prince!"

Kurt sighed, not moving from his seated position "Don't be silly Finn. I imagine most of the kingdom would prefer you to be King anyway. Is that all, Dad?"

Burt nodded "Yeah, get on to that tutor of yours."

Kurt stood and left, dragging a reluctant Finn by the arm. Once they were out of the door, Finn jerked his arm free and protested loudly "I was not being silly!"

Kurt rolled his eyes, a fond smile on his face "I know, Finn, but if I didn't treat it like it was, my dad would have been even more upset than he was."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Come on, we'll be late for Mr Shue."

Mr Shuester, or Shue as Kurt called him, had been Kurt's tutor since he was five years old, so he was an old and valued member of the household. He had taught Kurt to read and write, then as he got older, he was taught Philosophy, Economics, Politics and Literature, as well as elocution and the manners and poise needed from a member of the Royal Family. Finn had needed a lot of work on those last two.

The other thing Kurt was very grateful to Mr Shue for was, when Kurt's mother died, Mr Shue was the one that kept singing with Kurt, and turning him into an admittedly wonderful singer like his mother.

They arrived quite late, but clearly Mr Shue had been warned and just started his lesson. This one was on Economics, which neither Kurt or Finn were very good at, so the four hours dragged. Once the lesson was over, Mr Shue informed them that the athletics coach, Sue Sylvester, had decided not to coach them today, so they had the afternoon to themselves.

Finn decided to go and practice with the knights, as some of them were his friends. One in particular, Noah Puckerman or Puck, as he preferred, had known Finn since they were both children. Kurt tagged along, because, hey, sweaty muscular men doing a lot of thrusting and bending over. If there was going to be a show, Kurt might as well take advantage of it. So Kurt sat by the fence enclosing the practice field, under a tree so that he was carefully out of the way of the wind and any rough-housing that was bound to happen.

Most of the knights, and Finn were just in lightly padded gear rather than full armour, as it was simpler to get into for practice and the exercise would keep them warm, but two of them, not far from where Kurt was sitting, were in full armour and were fighting all out, not pulling any strikes. They both had helmets on, so Kurt couldn't see either of them. Nevertheless, his eyes remained on the sparring pair. It was a stunning display of swordsmanship, the likes of which Kurt hadn't seen on that field for a long time.

Eventually, the fight came to an end and both knights pulled off their helmets. Kurt recognised neither, which meant they weren't part of Finn's circle, but one of them absolutely took his breath away.

He was small, shorter than Kurt (who by his own admission was shorter than the average man), but that just had the effect of making this man's frame seem so much more muscular. His skin was an olive tone, hinting at an outdoorsy type of upbringing and his hair, though cut quite short, was clearly very curly and pitch black.

The man shook his opponent's hand, grinning, showing off white teeth, before turning and catching Kurt's eye. Kurt looked away immediately and pretended to be watching Finn, while all the time keeping the man in the corner of his eye…

Oh!

He had climbed over the fence, gone to the nearby water pump and started the water, splashing it all over his face in an attempt to cool down. Kurt swallowed, before getting up, taking a breath and casually (he hoped) walking over to him.

"That was a good match. Well done for winning."

Surprised eyes flashed up to meet his briefly, before dropping again and the response was both polite and short. "Thank you, Your Highness."

Kurt was still processing the shock of seeing the man's eyes (traditionally called hazel, but Kurt felt they were far too pretty to have such a plain label), so the addition of a deep calm voice was nearly the end of him and Kurt struggled not to blush like an eleven-year-old milkmaid.

It looked like the man was nearly finished, so Kurt quickly asked another question in an attempt to get him to stay. "Are you new? I haven't seen you before."

The reply was just as polite and as distant as the first. "I am not new to Knighthood, Your Highness, but I am new to this city, which is why Your Highness hasn't seen me before."

Okay, politeness was one thing, but the formality was starting to get on Kurt's nerves now "You can stop the 'Your Highness' business, okay?"

"Yes, my Prince."

Kurt opened his mouth to give this knight (whose name he still didn't know) a through dressing-down, but then caught another flash of those gorgeous eyes, dancing with mischief, and a small grin on his face.

Kurt glared "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

The reply came out choked "Just a bit."

"Well, stop it!"

There was a gasp of laughter, before the knight got himself back under control and said "I'm sorry, but you scared me and I reacted with humour."

"I scared you? How?"

"The heir to the throne, watching my sparring match and then coming over to talk to me. I had no idea what you were going to do."

This time, Kurt laughed "I've never been called scary before. I think I like it."

The man smiled, before bowing and introducing himself "My name's Blaine Anderson. It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Kurt."

"Likewise, Sir Blaine."

Blaine pulled his armour off, carefully setting it on the ground before flopping down next to it and asking "Are you fond of swordplay?

Kurt lowered himself to the ground beside Blaine more elegantly before replying "I'm not fond of engaging in it myself, but when it's well done, I like to watch. Your fight was well done."

"I'm flattered."

"You should be. I have very high standards."

"Does nobody else on the field match your standards?"

Kurt threw a cursory glance around before answering firmly "No."

Blaine smiled as he stood "That's very kind of you." He bowed smartly. "I have somewhere to be, if you'll release me?"

Kurt couldn't stop the disappointment crossing his face as he nodded and watched Blaine gather up his armour and head back to the armoury. While it did give him a nice opportunity to admire Blaine's figure, Kurt would still prefer his company. Kurt didn't see any point in continuing to hang around, so decided to go and practice the sport he liked: archery.

It wasn't until later, when Kurt was in bed, that he and Finn got a chance to properly discuss the news they had been given that morning. Finn had crept into Kurt's room and sat down on his bed, beginning with "So I've been thinking…"

"Oh, that's what the noise was."

Finn glared "You're bitchy when you're tired."

"Finn, I'm always like this. You just haven't noticed."

"Anyway, I was thinking: Do you think we get to choose?"

Kurt frowned "I think within reason, yeah. Why, who do you have your eye on?"

Finn smiled the goofiest smile Kurt had ever seen as he replied "Rachel Berry."

Kurt raised an eyebrow "Rachel Berry? That shrill little madam. How can you bear it?"

"What?"

"The constant noise. She doesn't shut up and it's always all about her. She'll be the type of wife that sends you deaf with nagging within the first year."

Finn shrugged, the goofy grin not shifting "I kind of tune it out. Besides, I don't care."

"Well, you can't say I didn't warn you. So, are you going to introduce her to my dad and Carole?"

"Maybe. I need to talk to her first."

Kurt shook his head "I thought you had better taste, Finn. I mean, she's about as different from Quinn as you can get."

"Quinn was just a crush!"

"Sure she was."

"She was! Is there anyone you like?"

Blinking at the sudden change in subject, Kurt responded defensively "No, of course not!"

Finn didn't believe him "Come on, there's got to be someone who's caught your eye."

"Well…" Kurt considered everything Finn could do or say and decided it was worth the risk.

"What do you know about a knight called Blaine Anderson?"

Finn stared a bit before shrugging "Not much."

"You must know something. How old is he?"

"Nineteen."

Kurt made a waving motion with his hand "And?"

"He's from somewhere west of here, I can't remember the name. He was knighted about a year ago."

"Anything else? Has he got family and friends?"

"Back where he comes from, yeah. None here in Lima."

"So why is he here?"

"No idea. He doesn't talk about himself."

Kurt laid back down as Finn got up to leave, mulling over the mysterious boy that was Blaine Anderson. He might not know anything about him, he might have only meet him a grand total of ten hours ago, but he still couldn't wait to see him tomorrow.

You made it to the end, congrats! I now take this oppotunity to shout out to a very good friend of mine, Lady Selia from dA, who promised me faithfully she would read this. Hi, sweetie!