"Are you certain? Are you absolutely fucking certain?"
"Yes, milord. Prince Blaine has chosen a commoner as his intended. The official announcement will be made tomorrow at midday."
"And this commoner is the wagonmender's son?"
"Aye. He bears a fair resemblance to you, milord."
"He does, does he? Then there may be a way for me to claim the prince for my own," Lord Sebastian said, drumming his fingers against the tabletop. "Gather your finest men and meet me at the stables at midnight. We have a commoner to dispose of."
"Must I leave?" Kurt asked, pouting.
Blaine leaned in and pressed a kiss to Kurt's bottom lip. "I'm sorry, my love, but you must. Formality dictates that we spend the night before the announcement of our betrothal apart."
"I thought that the heir to the throne was above petty mandates," Kurt said facetiously.
"Tradition makes exceptions for no one," Blaine said, pulling Kurt in for one last embrace. "Especially princes. Be glad it's summer and I don't have to wear the old fur-trimmed cloak that belonged to the first Anderson king. The stench of hundreds of years of sweat would likely cause you to pass out before we could officially become fiances."
"Please tell me there isn't a matching cloak for the consort. I might be forced to reconsider my answer if that's the case," Kurt teased.
Blaine simply gave Kurt a horrified look.
"There is nothing on this earth that could make me reconsider my betrothal to you," Kurt said, pressing another kiss to Blaine's lips. "Never fret over that, darling."
"It just frightens me how easily we could have avoided meeting at the ball," Blaine said, letting out a gusty sigh. "If you hadn't been able to attend, or if I hadn't noticed you and Rachel dancing, or-"
"Blaine," Kurt interrupted, kissing Blaine's temple. "Try not to think about that, dearest. I'm here, and I love you, and soon nothing in the kingdom will be able to change that."
"That leaves you with twelve hours to escape, though," Blaine teased. "Maybe I should place a guard on you all night to be safe."
Kurt gave Blaine an unimpressed glare.
"All joking aside, will you please let me send a couple of guards home with you?" Blaine asked, squeezing Kurt's hand. "I realize nothing should happen, but there's always the possibility that bandits or highwaymen may come upon you."
"You're far too much of a worrywart, darling, but if it will appease you, yes, I'll take two guards with me," Kurt said, unable to keep from smiling at Blaine's relieved grin. "But only two! My father nearly went apoplectic with fear when you sent me home with an entire battalion last time."
"I just want you to be safe," Blaine said. "Two guards will be enough to assuage me. Thank you, Kurt."
"I suppose I need to leave before you convince me to take some gear from the armory, too," Kurt said, reluctantly stepping away from Blaine. "I need my beauty sleep before tomorrow's ceremony."
"If you were any more beautiful, I would probably perish on the spot," Blaine said. "Nevertheless, sweet dreams, my love. Tomorrow shall be one of the finest days of my life."
"As it will mine, sweetling." With one last fond look, Kurt turned and walked out of Blaine's chambers, waiting politely outside the door until Michael and Samuel joined him. "I'm sorry to keep you longer from your beds, sirs."
"Better to walk you home now than have to listen to Blaine's frantic mumblings of worry," Samuel said, unconcerned with formality. None of Blaine's men were - they had all seen him drunkenly dancing on the furniture far too often.
"He's probably going to bother Noah to the point of regicide with his pacing," Michael agreed, making Kurt laugh.
"Then I guess we had better walk quickly, so you can put Blaine's mind at ease," he said, pulling his sleeves down as the chilly night air made him shiver. "I would hate for him to be exhausted at our ceremony. Think of how bad the portraits would look."
They made friendly chit-chat as they crossed the palace drawbridge and ambled onto the deserted, tree-lined street between it and the town. When they were about halfway home, all hell broke loose.
"Seize him!" a voice cried out from the trees, and suddenly Kurt and his guards were being ambushed by no fewer than ten - maybe fifteen - attackers.
The next few minutes were a blur for Kurt. He thought he saw Samuel sprinting back toward the palace while Michael attempted to defend him with the shortsword and dagger he had brought with him. Kurt had no weaponry on him, but he started kicking and shouting at his attackers, hoping they were close enough to town that someone else would hear the alarm and come to help.
When Michael took a blow to the head and fell, so did Kurt's heart. Samuel hadn't returned yet, and he himself was not skilled enough to take on the remaining eight or so assailants.
"Oh, Lord Smythe will be so pleased," the ringleader - Kurt thought one of the men had called him Jesse - said. "Bind his hands and feet and get him in the carriage, boys."
Kurt struggled as best he could, landing an impressive blow to the stomach of one man, but he was quickly overpowered and bound. He was being dragged by knifepoint toward the carriage they had waiting off the road when he heard the pounding of hoofbeats coming nearer.
"Kurt!" Blaine shouted as he came into view, at least twenty-five men behind him. "Unhand him!"
A few of the men bolted into the woods at the sight of the rescue party, prompting some of Blaine's men to give chase as the others surrounded the remaining attackers.
"Careful now, Your Highness," Jesse said, drawing Kurt up in front of him and placing his knife to Kurt's neck. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to your beloved, would you?"
"Do you truly believe you can outfight me and all my men?" Blaine asked, astonished. "Or that you won't be punished for harming Kurt?"
"I believe that while Kurt is in my possession, you wouldn't do anything that might put him in danger," Jesse said, pressing the knife in even closer.
"I believe that means I'll have to get myself out of your hold, then," Kurt said, seeing his chance. "If I may suggest something? Bind your victim's hands behind them if you ever attempt another kidnapping."
At that, he quickly drew his arms forward and slammed his elbows into Jesse's stomach, shocking him so much that he dropped his knife and doubled over. Kurt, too, fell to the ground as Jesse let go of him, his center of balance lost due to the bindings on his legs.
"Capture them all!" Blaine cried, and his men leaped into action. Almost before Kurt could blink, the would-be kidnappers were disarmed and forced into their own carriage to be brought back to the palace and sentenced. The departing guards also gathered up Michael so his injuries could be treated.
"Love, are you hurt?" Blaine said once they were alone. "You're bleeding!"
"I'm all right, Blaine. Jesse's knife scratched me after I incapacitated him," Kurt said. "I would appreciate it if someone could cut these ropes off of me, though."
"Oh, right," Blaine said, quickly dropping to his knees and freeing Kurt. He pulled Kurt in for a fierce embrace once the bonds were off of him. "What was that about me not needing to worry?"
"Kidnappers are hardly an event I can anticipate, darling," Kurt said, holding Blaine possibly a little too tight for comfort.
"Why would anyone come after you, though? You're not yet officially my betrothed," Blaine said, not letting Kurt go.
"Jesse mentioned a Lord Smythe as he was forcing me toward the carriage," Kurt said. "Is that name familiar to you?"
"Sebastian," Blaine growled. "He was hinting before the ball that he was hoping I would choose him. He must have been more desperate than I'd thought."
"Clearly."
"You know, in the right light, you and he might look passably alike," Blaine said, pulling back enough to look at Kurt's face in the bright moonlight. "He wouldn't have been so dull to think..."
"Think what, dearest?" Kurt asked, interest piqued.
"He might have been hoping to take your place in the ceremony tomorrow," Blaine said. "Since it takes place with our masks from the ball on, he might have been hoping I wouldn't notice you weren't you until it was too late."
"That's insane," Kurt said, a shudder running down his spine.
"And impossible," Blaine said. "The mask would hide your face, yes, but I know how you walk and talk and carry yourself. I would have known he wasn't you instantly."
"I love you." Kurt leaned in for a kiss, feeling too full of passion to do or say anything else.
"As I love you," Blaine said when they broke apart. "And you're not going back to your house tonight, tradition be damned. I'm keeping you somewhere I know you'll be safe."
"We'll have to send someone to tell my father," Kurt said, staying in Blaine's arms. He wasn't going to complain about getting to stay with his love.
"Of course. I'll send a man as soon as we get back to the castle." Blaine extricated himself from Kurt's arms just long enough to stand up and help Kurt up as well. "And then I might handcuff you to myself so something like this can never occur again."
"Is that truly practical?" Kurt teased.
"I don't care," Blaine said firmly. "I nearly fainted when Samuel burst in and told me you were being attacked on the road. I need you to be safe, Kurt."
"With you around, how could I not be?" Kurt asked, kissing Blaine sweetly one last time before mounting up and riding back to the palace. The feeling of Blaine's warm torso pressed to his own was enough to sooth any remaining fears he may have had.