A/N: So, I decided to do another fairy tale one-shot. This one will be quite a bit longer perhaps. Not sure. We'll see but this one, unlike the Cinderella one is complete fairy tale. Some of the elements in this story were taken from a version of Snow White called Snow White: Fairest of Them All, which is one of my all time favorite film versions of the story. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Not affiliated with Glee in anyway. Such a shocker, right? Yeah, I know.
Once upon a time in a land far far away, there lived a kindly king and loving queen. For years, they dreamed of having a child of their very own. A child with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair black as ebony. It was on the day that the queen pricked her finger on a rose thorn that their wish for a child was granted.
Nine months later, the queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy. His skin was indeed white as snow. But his lips were kissable pink rather than red as blood and his hair was chestnut brown instead of black as ebony but he was still the most beautiful boy ever and all the palace guards and servants said his most outstanding feature was his eyes. Bluer than any ocean, yet greener than any tree in spring and grayer than a storm cloud all at the same time, the young prince's eyes were the most beautiful things to ever captivate the hearts of the entire kingdom.
They named him Kurt and before long, he was come be known in loving affection as Prince Porcelain. It was a nickname applied for the delicate and fair pale condition of his skin.
But the kingdom's joy was short-lived. Barely eight years into the young prince's life and they lost their beloved queen when she suddenly and mysteriously fell ill. The death of the queen left the kingdom in heartbreaking sorrow.
But far on the outskirts of the kingdom, in an old rundown cottage just within the forest walls, lived a wicked old witch. With the death of the queen now having been taken care of, she could embark on her plan to become queen. She just had to perfect the spell that would make the king fall in love with her.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, at my command you will show me all," the wicked old witch spoke, staring into the glass of a large ornate mirror hanging on the cottage wall. The face of a man, looking rather solemn appeared in the mirror.
"What is it you require my lady?" he asked.
The witch smirked at her mirror. "I need to know all the elements to make the king fall for me," she replied.
So the mirror gave her what she needed to know but warned her it may be a matter of years before the spell was ready. This information did not please the witch but the mirror said it was the only way and so she consented.
The mirror had been correct indeed, fore it was another eight years before the spell was ready for use. And the timing couldn't be better fore King Burt had begun courting a noble woman by the name of Carole Hudson. Kurt had introduced them as her son Finn was among the nobles that Kurt often had lessons with. The king had no desire to shelter his son from the outside world and so the prince had been attending lessons with children of noble blood.
It was on a day when King Burt - after much insistence from his son as it was Kurt's sixteenth birthday - was setting off to meet with Lady Carole that the witch put her plan in motion.
First and foremost, she pulled the magic mirror from the wall. "Forgive me butt chin," she spoke to the man in the glass. In one swift motion, she threw the mirror to the floor, causing it to shatter into a million pieces. Picking up the largest remaining shard, the witch fashioned a hand mirror, which she sat down on a rickety old table.
Her hands went to hover over the remaining shards of glass and a low chant was spoken, causing the shards to glow.
Out on the road, leading from the castle to the village of Lima where his loyal subjects resided, King Burt was startled when his carriage came to a sudden halt.
"James," said the king, opening the door and letting himself out of the carriage, but his words were swallowed as he noticed the cause for the sudden halt. It seemed to have begun to snow, shimmering flakes of glass. Or rather the ice was so pure, it could almost appear to be glass. This would not be unusual if not for the fact that it was nearly summer. In late spring, winter was far lost on them.
"Your Majesty?" James questioned.
"What in the world?" Burt replied. He raised his eyes to the sky, which turned out to not be the smartest thing to do. Fore a second later, he felt one of the glass-like snowflakes land directly in his eye. "Ah!" the king cried, a hand flying to his eye to rub it, soothing the pain from the contact. The flake remained lodged in his eye but the king failed to notice.
"Are you all right Your Majesty?" James asked.
"Yes," Burt said finally. "But change of plans James. Take me to see Lady Sue. Please, I must see her."
James appeared quite surprised but resigned himself to do as the king requested. That was the day Prince Kurt's life went from good to bad. And it could only go downhill from there.
One year later and Kurt still had no answers to why his father had suddenly left a good woman like Lady Carole for someone as selfish and self-centered as Lady Sue. They had married and the king seemed to be in a daze. So much so, that he rarely paid his son any mind anymore. It was as though his new wife became his whole world and Kurt had ceased to exist. Something was not right.
But even with all the king's doting attention, Queen Sue was no longer satisfied. And this was due to a response she had gotten from her mirror just recently on the prince's seventeenth birthday, which so happened to be the anniversary of the day she had cast her spell on the king.
Fall was well underway and the new queen was becoming more and more anxious. The prince's birthday was at the end of May, the tail of the spring season. It was now mid-autumn and she had done everything she could to rectify the mirror's response on that day. Prince Kurt was now dressed in rags and meant to serve, whenever the king wasn't around and she addressed him by merely his nickname.
The queen paced her chambers, the hand mirror in her hand. She was growing increasingly frustrated.
"Mirror, mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?" she spit out for the millionth time that day. She hoped that the response would have changed but alas, it remained the same.
"You are very fair my queen, but Prince Kurt remains more fair than thee," the mirror replied.
The queen was outraged. She picked up a bottle and hurled it at the wall before shouting for James.
"Yes Your Highness?" James entered with a bow. Sue held her head high, trying to retain her haughty manner as she addressed the servant.
"Send for Noah, my huntsman. Then, clean this mess up." She indicated the broken bottle on the floor.
James bowed his head. "Right away Your Highness." He turned to make his way out of the room.
"And tell Porcelain double scrub on the stairs!" she shouted after him.
"Yes Your Highness," James replied, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice. He did not like how his queen was treating the prince. But still, Kurt took it all in stride and never once complained.
The huntsman, Noah, called Puck by those around the castle, including the prince, soon appeared in the doorway of the queen's chambers, James behind him with a broom and dustpan with which to sweep the broken glass up off the floor. He knew better than to eavesdrop on the conversation so tuned them out.
As it were, he needn't have worried as the queen immediately lead Puck into another room in her chambers and shut the door behind them.
"You wanted to see me Your Highness?" Puck asked.
Sue was retrieving a box and a dagger from a shelf. "Yes Noah," she replied, bringing the items over. "I want you to take the prince deep into the forest and cut out his heart with this dagger. Bring it back to me in this box."
Puck stared at the queen in utter surprise. She was requesting that he kill his beloved prince; he wasn't sure he could do that. "Your Highness?"
"Do as I say!" she spat coldly.
Puck bowed his head. "Yes Your Highness." He reluctantly took the box and the dagger from her and left her chambers. The queen watched him go with a triumphant smile on her face.
Meanwhile, the prince was at the foot of the castle stares leading to the courtyard, scrubbing away and singing beautifully to himself.
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise"
The sound galloping met his ears and Kurt stopped his singing to look up at the high path beyond the courtyard wall. There, sitting atop a beautiful black stallion was the most gorgeous boy the prince had ever laid eyes on. He was tan with a mop of dark curly hair. He had triangular eyebrows and the most amazing smile Kurt had ever seen. He couldn't tell what color his eyes were from the distance but saw that they were dark.
"Please don't stop on my account," the boy said. "You have a beautiful voice." Kurt blushed and looked down shyly.
"Thank you," he said softly. He darted his eyes to the ground, wanting to look anywhere but at this gorgeous boy.
"I'm Blaine, Prince of the Kingdom of Westerville," the boy said, bowing his head. Kurt looked up. So this was the prince of Westerville. Wait, what was he doing here?
"That's quite a journey by horse Your Majesty," he replied. Having been treated like a servant so long, Kurt almost no longer felt like he was a prince. And his father was still too distant to really see anymore. His stepmother was getting away with everything. "Whatever are you doing in the Kingdom of Lima?"
Prince Blaine slid off his horse gracefully, still smiling. "First, you can call me Blaine if you'd like. None of that formal mumbo jumbo. Secondly, the queen invited me. I was hoping to meet the prince. Do you know him?"
It took all of Kurt's willpower not to blush. This boy was hoping to meet him but he couldn't let him know that he was being treated like a servant by his own stepmother.
"I'm afraid His Majesty is away at the moment. My apologies but you likely won't be meeting him during your stay. Her Highness, the queen is always sending him away." Kurt hated lying to this beautiful boy but his stepmother had stopped allowing him to socialize with guests so she always said he was away to cover for his absence during feasts and such.
Blaine looked disappointed. "That's quite unfortunate," he said. "I have heard tell in the village of how beautiful the Prince of Lima is. I had hoped to maybe meet my further king."
Kurt's head perked up a bit. This prince wanted to look at him as his future king? A part of him wanted to confess right than that he was the prince. But he knew his stepmother would have his head if she found out. Her whole point was to keep him her slave. The king was oblivious to the fact that his wife was deliberately, keeping him from really having an heir to the throne. Kurt was under the impression that she intended to stay on her throne for all eternity. Though how, he had no idea.
"I really am terribly sorry," he finally replied with a bow of his head.
"Don't apologize. It's not your doing. Perhaps I shall meet him someday. He is the only prince for princes I know of."
Kurt gave him a long look. "Surely that's not the only reason you're interested in him Your Majesty," he said, unable to keep the bite out of his voice.
To his surprise, Blaine laughed. "No, of course not. There are many men for men in my kingdom but I'm expected to marry at the very least a noble and to be honest, I have courted a few, but I have always wanted to meet your prince. Everyone goes on and on about how amazing the Prince of Lima is. I wanted to see it for myself."
A look of relief crossed Kurt's face. "I'm sure the prince would have been happy to meet your acquaintance Your Majesty," he said. "I mean Blaine." And he knew that the prince most certainly was happy to meet his acquaintance.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kurt could see Puck heading straight for him and he inwardly panicked. He didn't want Blaine to know that he was the prince.
"My apologies, but I really must be getting on with my work. Her Majesty will have my head if these steps aren't double scrubbed by sundown," he said, subtly shaking his head in Puck's direction. The huntsmen got the message and stopped in his tracks.
"Of course," Blaine replied. "My apologies for keeping you. Good day," he said with another fleeting smile.
"Good day," Kurt responded. He watched Prince Blaine ride off toward the palace gates. Puck resumed his step until he stopped beside him, looking slightly put out.
"And who was that Your Majesty?" Puck asked as Kurt stared after Blaine.
The pale boy turned to face the huntsman. "Puck, you know by now you are welcome to just call me Kurt. And that was Prince Blaine of the Kingdom of Westerville. My stepmother invited him. I can't tell you how badly I wished I could tell him who I was."
Puck cringed slightly. "Speaking of the queen, she ordered me to take you on a walk in the forest." He tried not to let on that there was more to it than that.
"But the steps," Kurt protested.
"You'll be able to finish them later," Puck replied, knowing he very well would not be able to finish them later. If he managed to go through with it.
"If you're sure," the prince said with uncertainty.
"Very," Puck said, unable to bring himself to speak anymore.
So the prince agreed and Puck lead the way into the forest, breaking off the path and leading Kurt further and further into the trees. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest, protesting against what he was meant to do.
As they went deeper into the forest and strayed further off the path to the point where Kurt was afraid they were too far in to find their way back to the castle, the young prince couldn't but think that something was very wrong.
And then he found that Puck had dropped back behind him and Kurt turned around to see where he had got to. A gasp of fear left the prince's mouth as he came face to face with Puck who stood there with a dagger raised above his head. His hands were shaking like mad.
"Oh, I cannot do it!" he cried after a moment and Kurt watched the huntsman fall to his knees, dropping the dagger on the ground. "Forgive me Your Majesty," he went on. "Your stepmother ordered me to cut out your heart and bring it to her but I cannot bare to hurt you." He paused for a moment and Kurt just stared at him with wide eyes, unable to believe what he was hearing. His stepmother wanted him dead. "Run my prince," Puck finally went on. "Run and don't turn back. She'll kill you if she knows you're still alive." Kurt didn't need telling twice. He turned on his heel and ran, the shouts of Puck continuing to tell him to run slowly fading behind him as he progressed deeper into the forest.
After Kurt had disappeared, Puck found a wild boar. He killed the creature and cut out its heart to take back to the queen. God forbid what happened if she ever found out the truth. But there was just no way he could kill the prince.
Kurt felt like he had been running for hours. It was so dark in the forest that he couldn't tell if it was day or night. He was still incredibly tired and found himself relieved to find a small cottage in a clearing just ahead of him. Surely the residents wouldn't mind giving him a night's rest.
When Kurt reached the door, he gave it a knock. "Hello?" he called out but there was no reply. Kurt wondered if no one was home or maybe they were already asleep.
Glancing both ways, the prince tried the door to find that it was unlocked. He hoped they wouldn't mind him just barging in like this.
Closing the door softly behind him, Kurt took in what a mess the cottage was. There were clothes and dirty dishes everywhere. The seven chairs at the table were all askew and left unpushed in. It looked like the cottage was home to a bunch of rowdy boys.
Normally, Kurt would have gone right to work, tidying the place up but he was so incredibly tired all he wanted to do was sleep.
So he proceeded up the small flight of stairs into a room that was crowded with several beds. Not caring in the least who it belonged to, the prince flopped down on one of the beds and was asleep instantly.
And that was where he was when the Seven Warblers came home from their gig in the village.
"Wes, do we have to sing tomorrow too?" asked a tall meerkat faced boy as the seven teenagers entered their cottage. "I'm beat. It's hard work to continue being this sexy."
The boy called Wes frowned at the other boy.
"Singing in the village is our job Sebastian, you know that," he said. A dark skinned boy next to him nodded.
"Whatever," Sebastian replied. "Let's just go to bed."
The seven boys traipsed up the stairs and proceeded to go to their beds to get ready for sleep. But when a blonde boy approached his bed, he got a nice surprise.
"Guys, there's a boy in my bed," he said in a whisper, clearly not wanting to wake the sleeping boy up.
"Is he hot?" was Sebastian's reply. Wes smacked him in the arm. "Ow!"
"Shut up Sebastian!" he cried in a harsh whisper. Wes made his way over to the blonde boy to examine the unexpected guest. He carefully leaned forward to brush some of the hair out of the sleeping boy's face and jumped back in alarm. "Holy Warbler! I think it's the prince!"
"No effing way," remarked Sebastian.
"What would the prince be doing way out here?" the blonde boy asked.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow at him. "The Prince of Lima is in your bed and all you care about is what he's doing out here? You should see this as a blessing Jeff."
Jeff glared at him, a very un-Jeff thing to do. "No need to ask what you would be doing if you found him in your bed Sebastian."
"You know if!" the meerkat faced boy replied.
"Quiet! I think he's waking up," Wes said, effectively shushing both boys.
Sure enough, Kurt was starting to stir on the bed. A groan left his mouth as he blinked his eyes open to find seven pairs of eyes all watching him expectantly. Startled, Kurt sat up quickly and backed up against the headboard of the bed.
"Oh gosh! I'm so sorry!" he said hastily. "I didn't mean to intrude. It was just, I was so tired and I saw your cottage and I didn't think anyone would mind and—"
Wes cut him off. "Relax. It's fine. I'm Wes and these guys are David, Nick, Jeff, Trent, Sebastian, and Hunter. We're the Seven Warblers." Kurt looked at him in recognition.
"Oh! I've heard of you! You sing in the village all the time. I think I've seen you all perform before. You're really good."
"Why thank you," the boy called David replied.
Jeff cleared his throat. "So um, you're kind of in my bed but I can sleep on the floor. The bed will be much more comfortable for you anyway."
Kurt flushed. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to take your bed. Really, you can have it back." He paused for a moment. "I can just go downstairs and tidy up a bit for you guys."
"Why don't you just share the bed?" Sebastian smirked. Wes gave him a disapproving look and Kurt blushed.
"Here's an idea," Hunter piped up. "How about you just leave and go back to wherever it is you came from. I don't think I want you here."
"Hunter!" the other six all shouted at the same time.
Kurt paled and stared down at his lap.
"Please don't make me go back. She'll kill me if I do. She wants me dead." The seven boys all stared at him wide-eyed.
"Who wants you dead?" Nick asked.
kurt looked around at them all. "My stepmother, the queen."
"So you are the Prince of Lima," Sebastian confirmed. Kurt nodded his head.
"Yes. Prince Kurt Elizabeth Hummel at your service," he said, bowing his head. "Though my stepmother would obviously rather I didn't exist. She's practically taken control over everything. She turned me into a servant and makes me do things servants are meant to do."
"That's terrible Kurt," Trent piped up shyly. The others nodded.
Kurt took a breath. "That's not the worst part. Ever since the day my dad met her, he's been acting really weird and distant. It was like he suddenly only had eyes for her and we used to be really close." Tears were starting to form in his eyes and Jeff took a seat next to him on the bed, gently draping a comforting arm around his shoulders.
"So how did you end up here?" he asked quietly.
Kurt choked back a sob. "Today she told the huntsman to take me into the forest and cut out my heart. She wanted him to bring it back to her. He couldn't do it so he told me to run."
"So you ran and ended up here," Wes concluded. Kurt nodded his head. "Don't worry Kurt. We won't let her get you. You can stay here as long as you like." The rest of them all nodded, even Hunter, though he did so reluctantly.
"Thank you," Kurt whispered.
"You're welcome," Jeff said, sliding off the bed. "Now get some more sleep. A prince should have his beauty rest." Kurt giggled. "Got you to smile. Now sleep."
"I still think you should share the bed," Sebastian said.
"Sebastian!" they all shouted. He merely smirked as they all got ready for bed and for the first time since Queen Sue had come into his life, Kurt felt genuinely happy.
Back at the castle, the queen had received what she thought was the prince's heart. She held the box with the heart in her hands and gazed triumphantly into her hand mirror which was propped up on a stand in the center of the room.
Switching the box to one hand, Sue picked up the mirror in the other.
"Mirror, mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?" She couldn't help the glowing smile as she anticipated the answered she hadn't once heard since before the prince's seventeenth birthday.
"You are very fair my queen," the man in the mirror replied and the queen's smile only grew until he went on. "But Prince Kurt is still far more fair than thee."
Her eyes went wide as anger crossed her face. "You lie! Prince Kurt is dead! The huntsman brought me his heart! It's in this very box!" She held up the box for him to see.
"The huntsman did not properly do his chore. Inside that box is the heart of a boar," the mirror replied.
"No!" the queen replied, hardly able to believe she had been tricked.
"Prince Kurt is alive and well, safe in the cottage where the Seven Warblers dwell." He flashed her a vision of the cottage and the queen snickered to herself.
"Well than," she said. "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." This statement was followed by laughter.
Unknown to the queen, Prince Blaine had been passing by on the way to his chambers and heard the entire exchange. He immediately hurried to the stables and asked the stablehand to fetch his horse.
"Isn't this an odd hour to be going for a ride Your Majesty?" the stablehand asked.
"Your prince is in danger! Now bring me my horse please!" Blaine had snapped. The stablehand took that as a sign to not ask any more questions and do what he asked.
As soon as his horse was saddled and ready to go, Blaine jumped on and galloped away into the night. He had to reach the prince before the queen could do anything.
It seemed though that fate had other plans. Blaine had no idea how to get to the cottage of the Seven Warblers and by the next afternoon, he and his horse were hopelessly lost in the forest.
"Come on Courage," Blaine said in a tired voice. As tired as he was though, he refused to rest. He had no way of knowing when the queen would make her attack. "There's a stream over there. Let's take a breather." Blaine was aware he still didn't know what Prince Kurt looked like so even if he saw a trace of him in the forest, he wouldn't know. He didn't know what the cottage looked like either because he had only heard the conversation. He hadn't seen anything, though he was quite sure the queen was getting visual details from that mirror. Who knew mirrors could talk?
Blaine pulled the horse over to the stream and slid off. He cupped his hands in the water and drank as Courage bowed her head to the stream and started to drink her fill.
The Prince of Westerville decided he needed to freshen up as well and began stripping himself down, intending to wash off in the stream. Unfortunately for him, it was while he was doing this that the queen was making her first move.
Kurt had seen off the Seven Warblers that morning is they headed for the village and a day of gigs. He was happily humming under his breath as he cleaned the little cottage and started to prepare a meal for dinner when the Warblers returned later that night.
A little ways down the path leading to the front door, a plump woman with a brunette updo, bangles and large hoop earrings peered at the cottage from behind a tree. She was holding a basket full of scarves. She had very tan skin and a mole on her right cheek, something reminiscent of a gypsy though with a bit lighter hair.
The woman retracted her gaze from the cottage window through which she had been watching Kurt for quite sometime. She knew that the Warblers were long gone and Kirt was all alone. This was her chance.
Picking up a delicate read silk scarf with silver trim that sat neatly atop the rest in her basket, the woman allowed a slow smirk to cross her face.
"This should do the trick. Kurt has never been able to resist scarves and certainly none as tasteful as this," she said aloud to herself. "And with this disguise, he'll never suspect a thing," she added, snickering.
Though there was one thing that bothered her. She'd learned that morning that Prince Blaine had gone off riding late the night before shouting something about the prince being in danger and he hadn't returned since. But she figured that as long as she saw no sign of the prince she would have nothing to worry about. Shame if she ended up having to so something about him. She could have had him for her own. All she would have to do was cast another love spell and that would override his claim to be interested in men.
The queen had not forgotten what had gone down in conversation the previous night. Prince Blaine hadn't failed to express his utter disappointment that Prince Kurt could not be available because he had hoped to seek a future with him. Sue had not been amused when the statement had been strong enough to bring light to the king's eyes at the mention of something involving his son. She had been made aware at that moment, something as strong as the mere possibility that Kurt could find love may just be strong enough to break the love spell she had him under. She need to assure that piece of mirror never found its way out of the king's eye.
So yes, she was tense and that but of information made her want Kurt dead even more. With him gone and out of the way, there were no more threats to her possible claim to the throne. Than all she would need to do was make sure King Burt died a sudden and mysterious death just as his late wife had and she'd be home free.
Now though, she still had a stubborn little prince to get out of the way.
Collecting herself, Sue allowed the scarf in her hand to neatly fall back atop the rest and emerged from her hiding place. Putting on the most pleasant smile she could muster, she tracked the rest of the way to the door and knocked.
"Who is it?" she heard Kurt called nervously from inside. She had to put him at ease if she was going to get this to work.
"I'm just a little old Gypsy peddler dear, come to see if you would be interested in any of my lovely scarves," she called back.
Scarves was apparently the magic word as the door flew open a moment later and Kurt stood there glowing with excitement. "Did you say scarves?" he asked. She nodded, a sweet smile on her face, and held up the basket.
"Yes dear," she relied. Kurt looked down at the basket and his eyes lit on the scarf right at the top. but then he processed the rest of what she had said and took a step back. "Problem dear?"
"You said you were a Gypsy," he said. Sue could not fathom why this should be an issue. "Most Gypsy's aren't to be trusted. They're really only out for themselves," he said. Of course he was playing it safe. The queen fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"That may be true but only with those who travel in caravans. Do I look like I'm with a caravan dear?" she said instead. Kurt shook his head. "Precisely. Now, I saw you eyeing this one," she went on, picking up the delicate red silk scarf. Kurt's eyes lit up. "I thought so," she added with a chuckle.
"That one is absolutely beautiful," Kurt admitted. "But I'm afraid I don't have any money." He shook his head, frowning slightly.
"That's all right dear," Sue said. "I'm sure we can work out something. We Gypsies are in the trading business too you know." She laughed and he laughed too. "For now, how about you try it on, see how it looks on you?"
Kurt stared at the scarf for a long moment. The Warblers had really told him he shouldn't take anything from strangers because there was no way of knowing whether of not they were the queen in disguise. But theses were scarves and well, Kurt never said no to scarves.
"Yeah, okay," he said finally. She offered him another sweet smile and set the rest of the basket down.
"Allow me to help you." The queen leaned up and slid the scarf around the back of Kurt's neck as he leant forward to give her easier access. She brought the two ends round the front and started to tie them together loosely. But the moment she had confirmed the tie, the scarf tightened automatically on its own and Kurt suddenly found his airway restricted and he was have trouble breathing.
Pulling away from her, he grabbed at the scarf with both hands, trying to pull it loose as he struggled for air, gasping and sputtering. The queen picked up her basket and started to back away slowly, a smirk on her face.
"Never trust a Gypsy Your Majesty," she spat, letting out a cackle. Kurt's eyes barely had the strength to widen as he found them on the verge of fluttering shut and it felt like the more he tugged on the scarf, the tighter it became.
Finally, Kurt's battle seemed lost as his hands fell away from the scarf around his neck, his eyelids fluttered one last time, and he collapsed to the ground, coming to rest unconscious in front of the open door.
The queen's cackling only grew louder as she swept herself away with her hand mirror and it flew on back to the castle.
Later that night, the Seven Warblers came walking up the path to their home, still singing to themselves but they all stopped short when they entered the clearing.
Kurt!" Jeff cried, rushing over to him. He was quickly followed by six other concerned Warblers. Even Hunter looked worried. They dropped to the ground beside the unconscious prince and Wes picked up his hand, placing two fingers to his wrist, checking for a pulse.
"He's still alive but only just," he said after a moment.
"Someone go get scissors," Jeff said, looking at the scarf that was constricting the prince's throat. Nick scrambled up and ran into the cottage, returning quickly with a pair of shiny silver scissors. "I hate to ruin this beautiful scarf but it's for the best," Jeff said, taking the scissors from Nick.
They all held their breaths as he snipped away at the fabric of the scarf, cutting it free from Kurt's neck. He snipped it in two and pulled the pieces away and the moment he did, the boys all saw Kurt's body react by sucking in a deep and gasping breath. He sputtered and blinked his eyes open as he continued to wheeze. Jeff helped him up into a sitting position.
"Thank…you," Kurt choked out. The seven boys were all so relieved, they enwrapped the prince in a massive group hug and he felt warmth flood through him as he concentrated on stabling his breathing.
But even as they were happy, the Seven Warblers were very worried. David in Wes, the oldest of the seven glanced at each other. They weren't fooled for a minute. They knew the queen had been here and she likely had done something that Kurt wouldn't have recognized her. But the problem now was that she knew where the prince was and if she learned that he was still alive, she would be back for him.
As Kurt rested, babied by the other five, Wes and David formulated a plan. Despite the fact that they all needed to work, they thought that one of them should stay home with Kurt just to keep an eye out. They decided to leave Hunter home with him the next day and take turns staying behind. They discussed their plan with the rest of the Warblers after Kurt was sound asleep.
Meanwhile, Blaine was still pushing his way through the forest with still no sign of where he was meant to be going. He thought about returning to the village to see if anyone knew where he could find the Seven Warblers but decided that would take too much time out of his mission and he needed to find Kurt and damn quick.
At the castle, Queen Sue was dancing around her chambers, smiling to herself. She was sure now that the prince was dead. She'd taken care of him herself. The mirror was in her hand and when she spoke to it, she did so in a singsong voice.
"Mirror, mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?"
"You are very fair my queen," the mirror replied as usual. "But Prince Kurt is still far more fair than thee."
The outrage in her eyes was overwhelming. "Impossible! I killed the stupid prince this very afternoon! He's dead! I won!" she spat.
"Prince Kurt is alive and well, still at the cottage where the Seven Warblers dwell," the mirror said, flashing her the scene at the cottage, showing the Warblers rescuing Kurt. And was that a hint of glee in the mirror's voice.
"If you turn against me, I will break the rest of you!" she spat, roughly slamming him back into his stand as she went to hurry from the room.
"No you won't. You need me or you're powerless," the mirror replied, knowing full well she was bluffing. She scowled back at him, grabbing a heavily leather bound book from the same shelf on which she had kept the box and dagger.
Still scowling, the queen left her chambers and stormed down to the deepest dungeons of the castle, where she kept her witching things.
Propping the book open on a stand, she lit a flame beneath a cauldron in the center of the room. Then she turned pages in the book, searching for what she needed to do away with the prince once and for all.
"Aha!" she cried after a moment, jabbing her finger at the book. "A poisoned apple! One bite of this delectable fruit and the victim will be cast into sleeping death. The spell can only be broken by true love's first kiss." That part had her laughing. "Well, good luck finding true love Porcelain. It's not as easy when you like men!" She laughed again.
Reading the ingredients, Sue hurried up to the kitchen to snag a basketful of apples. Best to bring a whole bunch, less suspicious that way. Shannon, the cook, gave her a curious look as she sped back out of the kitchen with the apples and that gave the queen an idea. Surely now after the scarf incident, those Warblers would be looking out for Kurt. And the prince would be more cautious. Best to turn up as someone he recognized and trusted.
The queen returned to the dungeon and set to work bubbling the potion that would poison the apple. The smoke billowed out into the air in a sickening green color, filling the dungeon room with the scent of death.
And the queen was laughing moments later as she soaked a juicy red apple in the brew, filling the delicious fruit with the taste of sleeping death. The potion momentarily turned the apple black as it soaked into the core of the fruit. And the. It was shiny red once more.
To make where she gave him the right apple, the queen had the rest of the basket full of green and yellow apples. One red one among them all shouldn't make much difference. Contrary, it would make the poisoned apple more appealing because she knew the prince liked things that stood out.
The spell took her all night but she was not an ounce tired by the morning. She returned to her chambers and picked up the hand mirror. She swept it over her body once to disguise her appearance and then swept herself up into the mirror, basketful of apples and all and flew off from the castle once more.
Back at the cottage, the Seven Warblers were giving Kurt a few final instructions, leaving Hunter to watch over him and keep guard. They chose him first because he was the least likely to hesitate if a problem arose and with the queen's attempt on Kurt's life still so fresh, they weren't taking any chances.
"Now remember Hunter, don't let him open the door for anyone! There's no telling what the queen will do now if she knows that her attempt to kill him was unsuccessful," Wes said.
"I know Wes, relax," Hunter said. "I have it covered." He was standing in the doorway and the other Warblers were outside, ready to head to the village to sing.
"Be careful Kurt," Jeff piped up, looking past Hunter and into the cottage where Kurt was standing. The prince nodded. He and Hunter waved as the other Warblers headed off and Hunter shut the door, actually locking it. Kurt watched him cross the cottage and start shutting all the windows. If it appeared no one was home, perhaps the queen would think they'd taken him elsewhere.
But unknown to them, the queen had been watching the entire exchange from her hiding place behind the tree. She already knew exactly how she was going to handle the prince's new guard.
And so she waited, again to late afternoon, wanting the sudden visit to be unexpected. Had she shown up right after the Warblers had left, it would have been clearly suspicious.
"Mirror, Mirror in my hand, cover the Warbler's eyes in sleeping sand," she said to the hand mirror. The man in the mirror huffed a breath and as she turned him to face the cottage, he blew.
Magical sand particles drifted through the air and easily between the cracks of the shut doors and windows. They traipsed across the room, unnoticed by Kurt or Hunter and found their new home in the latter's eyes.
"Ah!" Hunter cried unexpectedly, blinking rapidly as the sand flew into his eyes. Kurt turned from his place at the stove where he had been stirring a stew he was preparing for dinner.
"Are you all right?" he asked. Hunter barely had time to nod before his eyes drifted shut and he fell into a deep but dreamless sleep and Kurt just stared. "Hunter?" he asked, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. He crossed the room and quickly shook his shoulder. "Hunter?" But there was no response. Kurt swallowed knowing that something was off.
The queen waited even longer. She didn't want her appearance to be connected with the sudden sleep of the Warbler.
When the sun showed signs of lowering in the sky, she finally made her way up the path to the door. She raised a hand to knock before she remembered something and instead she moved over to a window and knocked on it.
Kurt was startled by the knock on the window. He glanced at Hunter who was still out cold and hadn't stirred. He swallowed again. "W-who is it?"
"Your Majesty," called a voice from the other side that Kurt clearly recognized.
"Shannon?" he questioned. Against his better judgment, Kurt opened the window to be faced with the cook from the castle. "What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise. And though he knew her, he was still a little weary about the whole idea of her being there. Something in the back of his mind told him there was something up, but he was so elated to see a friendly face that he ignored it.
"I just thought I'd bring you some apples from the castle," she said and Kurt watched her pluck the shiny red apple from the top of the basket. "You know how delicious the apples grown on the castle grounds are," she went on, holding the bright red fruit out to him. "I know how much you like them."
A small voice in Kurt's mind reminded him that this couldn't be the cook because Shannon had no way of knowing where he was but Kurt was not registering that voice.
He reached out a delicate pale hand and gently took the apple from her hand. "It looks awfully delicious Shannon," he said.
She laughed. "Of course Your Majesty. You know we grow only the best at the palace. Go on, take a bite." She set the rest of the basket on the windowsill. Kurt examined the fruit, turning it around in his hand.
"It's so beautiful, I almost don't want to eat it." The queen held back her panic.
"Oh but it tastes as good as it is beautiful, I assure you. It's the perfect apple for a prince such as yourself Your Majesty," she replied, trying her best to keep up the persona of the cook.
"If you insist," he said.
"Don't I always?" she said with a smile. The queen knew that Shannon often encouraged the prince to taste what she was cooking when he spent many an hour in the kitchen, learning how to cook from her.
"Yes, I suppose you do," Kurt replied with a nod. The queen glanced past him into the cottage to check that the Warbler was still asleep, knowing that the sleeping spell would wear off soon. She had to get Kurt to take a bite of that apple before the sleeping boy woke up or else her plan would be ruined.
"Well, go on then," she insisted.
"All right," Kurt said, smiling. The apple really did seem too good to resist. And slowly, Kurt sank his teeth into the apple, taking in a small bite of the sweet fruit and the queen fought to keep the triumphant look off her face as she watched him start to chew. "This is—"
And suddenly the prince collapsed to the floor, the apple rolling out of his hand and a few feet away as he fell from consciousness.
The queen couldn't help it. She raged with laugher. A sound that woke the sleeping Warbler from his slumber and when he saw Kurt in the floor unconscious, he looked up in a terrified panic to window where the queen had relieved herself of her disguise and waved wickedly at him before sweeping herself up into her hand mirror and flying away.
Hunter leaped from his chair and rushed over to Kurt, shaking him. "Kurt! Your Majesty, please wake up! Kurt!" He was in a frantic panic, searching for something, anything that could be the cause of why the prince was in such a state of unconsciousness. And then he saw the apple.
Carefully, Hunter picked the offending piece of fruit up off the floor and examined it. The smell coming from the inside of the apple was daunting and rotten and Hunter wrinkled his nose. Noting the bite in the apple, he put two and two together.
"Oh Kurt…" And though he initially hadn't wanted anything to do with the prince, Hunter dropped the offending piece of fruit and buried his face in his eyes, tears wetting his eyes. She had done it. She had gotten what she wanted and he had failed to protect the prince.
When the rest of the Warblers returned home that evening, it was to find the prince unconscious on the floor And Hunter rocking back and forth, the poisoned apple at his feet. He was shaking his head frantically.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he moaned when he saw his fellows in the doorway. "She knew I was here. She put me to sleep. She put me to sleep so I couldn't stop him from opening anything for her. And now she's poisoned him to death!" He pointed at the apple on the floor.
Jeff carefully approached Kurt, tears stinging his eyes. "Kurt?" he asked tentatively. But the prince didn't move.
The Seven Warblers huddled together around the beautiful prince on the floor. Tears stung all their eyes. Their prince was so beautiful, they couldn't bury him away from the eyes of the world.
"We shall fashion him a coffin made of glass," Wes finally said through his tears. Sebastian nodded his head slowly.
"And lay him rest at the top of the flowered hill meadow just behind the cottage so the sun can shine down on his beauty every single day," he added.
There was a moment of silence before the seven of them all started wailing again. They had lost such a kind heart and they felt guilty that the couldn't keep the prince safer. They should have moved locales after the queen's first attack. But they had not.
And so it were, the Seven Warblers made a splendid coffin of glass with gold trim in which the laid the beautiful prince to rest upon a comfortable bed of red satin. They carried the coffin with the prince inside to the top of the flower meadow hill and placed it there, taking turns to sit day and night with the coffin, admiring their beautiful prince, who only seemed to grow lovelier with each passing day.
And at the castle, the queen celebrated her victory. "The prince is dead, the prince is dead!" she cried every single passing day. And grabbing the mirror, she gloated at the man who looked sorrowful. "Mirror, mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?"
"You are the fairest in the land my queen," was the mirror's fated reply. And the queen would laugh with glee and repeat the question over and over.
One day, the king happened to be passing by the queen's chambers as she once more shouted that the prince was dead and King Burt stopped in his tracks, turning to enter his wife's chambers.
"What do you mean the prince is dead?" he asked and the queen saw a glimmer of a fear in the very eye that held the glass of the mirror that had held him under that spell all this time.
"Oh don't cry you old fool," she spat, clearly not having the least bit of affection for the kindly king. "It's not like he made a good prince. Porcelain was a poor excuse for an heir. Besides, you'll be joining him shortly."
But her words stung him in the heart and Burt cried tears of sadness and slight guilt as he realized how very little attention he'd been giving his son lately. And just like that, the piece of mirror slid out of his eye with the tears. The king reached up and swiped at it with a finger.
"Is that a piece of mirror?" he asked, staring down at the small speck of glass on his fingertip.
The queen panicked and wrapped her arms around him quickly. "Oh, hold me my love," she cried frantically. But the king pushed himself away from her.
"I don't love you," he said. "Where's Lady Carole?"
The queen stared at him before she became outraged. She grabbed the hand mirror. "Mirror, mirror in my hand, trap this man!" she shouted.
The king barely had time to blink when he found himself suddenly looking out of a mirror on the wall. He pounded on it as she glared with loathing at him and laughed her head off. He could still hear her words as he watched helplessly.
"Now with you suddenly missing and the prince dead, the throne and kingdom are mine, all mine!" she shouted, cackling as she made her way out of her chambers. The king cried for the loss of his son and the potential loss of his kingdom.
Finally, after days of searching, Prince Blaine came upon the flower meadow where on this particularly day, all seven of the Warblers were gathered around the coffin, placing flowers atop it and looking sadly at the prince.
"What have we here?" Blaine asked as he pulled the reigns on his horse, encouraging her to stop.
The Seven Warblers looked up at him, sorrow and tears in their eyes.
"Here lies Prince Kurt of the Kingdom of Lima, good sir," Wes said, his voice choked with the tears he had cried. Blaine slid from the horse, a look of pure sadness crossing his features. Was he really too late to save Kurt from his stepmother's wrath?
Carefully, he approached the glass coffin and gazed down at the beautiful boy lying within it, eyes delicately closed, hiding the world from his view. Blaine gasped. He recognized the prince as the boy he had heard singing in the palace courtyard. He had no idea he had been the prince. All his wishes about meeting the Prince of Lima and he had been speaking to him all along. He was not mad that the prince had not told him the truth. Given what he now knew about the nature of Kurt's stepmother, it was all against his will.
But the villagers hadn't lied. He was indeed breathtakingly beautiful. And a single solitary tear of sorrow slid down Blaine's cheek.
"May I?" he asked the Warblers, gesturing to the lid of the coffin. They looked at each other before Wes gave a nod. Careful as could be, Blaine slid the lid off the glass coffin and knelt beside it. He placed a gentle hand on Kurt's pale cheek and was surprised to find that it was warm to the touch instead of the cold he expected it to be. "Oh sweet prince," he said sadly, stroking Kurt's cheek. "If only I had found you sooner or rescued you that very day in the courtyard. I wish I had know. It was you."
And Blaine knew then that he had already given his heart to this beautiful boy the day he had met him in the courtyard, even if he hadn't known that he was the prince. This was it. This was love and now that he was too late to show it, to embrace it, to hopefully have it returned, he knew he would never have a king for Blaine didn't want anyone but this beautiful boy lying here and looking so incredibly peaceful in his death.
So Blaine did the only thing he could do. He rose from his kneeled position and leaned over the coffin, his face just inched from Kurt's. "Oh, there you are, I've been looking for your forever," he whispered before closing the gap and gently pressing his lips to those of the dead boy's.
And then something miraculous took effect. For one moment, Blaine was kissing the still warm lips of the beautiful prince and the next, he could aware he felt them kissing back. Blaine pulled away and gazed down on the beautiful face as Kurt's eyes suddenly fluttered open and a small smile crossed the pale boy's face.
"Hi," Kurt whispered. Blaine felt his heart skip a beat.
"Hi," he replied and Kurt's small smile grew.
"I don't think I properly introduced myself. I'm Kurt, Prince of Lima," Kurt went on, voice cracking just a bit from lack of use.
"Pleasure to meet you Kurt. I'm Blaine, Prince of Westerville," Blaine replied, smiling wide at him. He stood back and offered Kurt his hand. The pale boy took it and Blaine pulled him up and into his embrace. And Kurt stared into his eyes, which he could now see were a brilliant mix of hazel and gold.
It took a moment for the Seven Warblers to realize what had just happened. And they all erupted into cheers. He was alive! The prince was alive! Kurt and Blaine turned and smiled at them all.
Blaine kissed Kurt softly before looking into his beautiful eyes with their swirls of color and speaking softly. "I would be honored Your Majesty, if you would accept my offer to become my king."
Kurt felt his heart swell and he placed another gentle kiss to the other boy's lips. The Seven Warblers continued to celebrate. "I would like nothing better than to call myself your king Your Majesty," he replied. The cheers got louder as the two princes kissed again. "And I want you all to sing at the wedding," he told them.
The Warblers all glanced at their leader. Wes bowed to the two princes. "We would be honored Your Majesties," he said. Kurt and Blaine grinned at them before they approached Blaine's horse.
"We will send word of details when we have them ready," Kurt said. Blaine helped him up onto the horse before climbing up himself and taking the reigns. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's waist and turned to the Warblers. "Good-bye. And thank you for everything. I hope we can remain lifelong friends."
It was Hunter surprisingly who replied. "We would like that very much Kurt," he said. The other six all nodded. Kurt beamed at them one last time before Blaine cracked the reigns and the horse galloped away.
And at the castle, things had gone from extremely good to extremely bad in a matter of moments. Or they would in a few short seconds.
"Mirror, mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?" the queen repeated for the billionth time that day. And this time, the mirror had a different answer.
"You are very fair my queen, but Prince Kurt is again more fair than thee."
Well, you could imagine the look of rage that overtook the queen's face. "Do not lie to me you little sham of a piece of glass! Not two minutes ago you were saying I was the fairest in the land! What is wrong with you?!"
"Prince Kurt is alive and in bliss, woken at last by true love's first kiss," the mirror replied and the queen did not miss how exceedingly happy the mirror sounded.
"Preposterous! He's gay! There's no way he could have received true love's first kiss!" She got up from her seat, gripping the mirror so tightly, her knuckles were stark white.
"Alas my queen, the answer is plain, true love's first kiss was given by Prince Blaine."
The queen screamed with rage. Blinded with anger, she raised her hand and chucked the hand mirror at the wall, completely forgetting that shattering the last of the mirror meant shattering her power.
The mirror smashed into the wall and shattered. The queen realized her mistake just a second too late. In her chambers, the mirror imprisoning the king broke and he fell out to the floor. Sue was screaming white hot fury. Her very being aged rapidly and she became a withered old woman, an inch away from death.
It was as this was happening that Kurt and Blaine returned to the palace and entered its doors hand and hand. Guards and servants were elated at the return of their prince who had been missing for so incredibly long. And Shannon claimed cause for celebration and went to cook up a storm.
"Your Majesties," came the voice of Puck and Kurt turned his eyes on the huntsman who was bowing obediently at their feet.
"Rise Puck," Kurt said. "You are forgiven." Puck rose with a smile on his face.
"Kurt?" said a voice and the prince turned to find his father the king standing in the hall.
"Dad," he whispered, releasing Blaine's hand. He ran to the king and threw himself into his arms. "Dad!"
"Oh Kurt!" Burt cried, hugging his son tightly. "I'm so sorry I haven't really seen you all this time. I'm sorry I haven't been there. I'm so sorry for not seeing how terrible Sue was. She told me your were dead Kurt."
Kurt buried his face in his dad's shoulder. "It's okay dad. You were surely not yourself. And I'm alive. I'm here now and I'm going to marry Prince Blaine and you can marry Lady Carole and everything will be okay."
Burt pulled away from his son to stare into his eyes. "You really want me to marry Lady Carole Kurt?"
"Yes dad, more than anything." Burt allowed himself to smile at his son and he hugged him tight before glancing over at Prince Blaine and holding out an arm in invitation. Blaine hesitated only a moment before he threw himself into Burt's arms.
"Thank you Blaine, for saving my son and for making him happy. I wouldn't know of anyone I'd be more proud to call my son-in-law." These words brought tears to Blaine's eyes as he had never received such affection from his own father.
"You're welcome Your Highness," he replied through choked sob.
"Please, call me Burt, or dad," the king replied and Blaine was taken aback at the sudden suggestion but he smiled warmly and snuggled into the three-way hug.
It was the sound of clapping that had them pulling apart. They turned to see the withered old woman that had been the queen standing there gloating at them.
"How pathetically sickening," she said in a creaky old voice. "You may have won Kurt but one of these days, I will be back with a vengeance! Perhaps to wreak havoc on your children."
With these words they watched her turn and hobble out of the castle. But Kurt wasn't worried. With no power, she probably wouldn't live much longer anyway.
And so it became that the king reunited with and rekindled his love for Lady Carole. And soon a double wedding was held at the castle with Burt marrying Carole and Kurt marrying Blaine. The Seven Warblers made fantastic entertainment and happy tears befell the kingdom as they watched their beloved prince ride off into the sunset with his new husband on the back of Blaine's horse, who became a symbol of their love and life together. And they all lived happily ever after.
Courage
A/N: Finally finished! This is the longest one-shot I have ever written in my life but I needed to let it play out naturally. I hope you all enjoyed! Reviews make me smile! Happy reading!