So this chapter doesn't have any interaction between Kurt and Blaine, and I'm sorry! But it was necessary because I had to introduce some other characters. Speaking of, the characters I have included are from Glee, but I had to change their appearances and personalities a little bit to fit in with the story. Sorry if this bothers anyone (it bothers me too) but I had to...
Ps. this is not my favorite chapter, and my writing is something to be desired. So yes, I am aware that it is garbage.
Anyway, on with the story!
Blaine's joy over his conversation with Kurt didn't last much longer. Soon after, he was swept away to get ready for the coming of the barons.
The barons were the people that were in charge of the many cities in Enialk. Their jobs involved keeping things regulated and reporting back to the queen at the end of the month about the wellbeing of their area.
If the things that Blaine had heard were true, the barons have clearly not been doing the job of reporting back on important events.
He had spoken to Sue after he left Kurt, and was informed that this sickness appeared in the city of Egaruoc months ago, and had been spreading rapidly since then.
Egaruoc was the furthest city away from the Capital of Enialk, which meant that the sickness is spreading fast. Kaofsky was the lord over Engaruoc. He was a tall, broad elfin man who adorned himself in the most luxurious and expensive robes and jewelry. He had plain brown hair cropped close to his head, and glowing orange eyes to match his fire element.
Karofsky was known to be a very friendly and flamboyant man, but he was also heard to turn in the blink of an eye. He was a congenial man until someone provoked him. Which happened to be a regular occurrence.
Blaine had met him only once before when he was a young elf. His first impression of him was one of amusement. He waltzed into the room with a wide friendly smile in place and greeted Blaine and his mother with exaggerated kisses on both cheeks. He would have never been able to see the anger brewing underneath. That is of course, until one day he had seen Karofsky snap at a serving girl, not much older than himself, for giving him a meal that was not cooked up to his standards.
It was only the first time Blaine had met him. He was there along with all of the other barons for the annual meeting held to discuss the needs of the kingdom. Blaine had just turned eight a few weeks earlier and was to sit in on the meeting to start his training. They were seated around the tree root table when the food was brought in.
Everyone had just arrived and were settling in and having a good time before the meeting started when a shout cut through the noise.
"What is this!" Karofsky hollered.
The serving girl, who was not allowed to directly address her superiors, could do nothing but stand there looking frightened.
"Do you see this, girl?" He demanded, pointing down to his plate. "This meat is not cooked all the way through. Are you trying to poison me? Is that what's happening?"
The girl was looking more nervous by the second. "No, no of course not-"
Karofsky cut her off with a slap.
The room went completely still as the girl stood there holding her cheek with a pained expression.
Andrew stood slowly and broke the quiet. "You may leave," he said with a wave toward the serving girl. "Lord Karofsky, I don't know how you treat your wait staff, but that is not how we do it here," he reprimanded sharply.
Karofsky immediately put on a guilty face and began apologizing. "Oh, of course, your grace. I don't know what came over me! I didn't mean to cause such a scene. I can assure you it won't happen again, Sir."
Andrew sighed and sat down slowly. "Good, now let's get started."
Blaine however, couldn't find it in himself to drop it too easily. He quietly stood and made his way out the door to check on the girl.
He found her just outside the door leaning on the wall still holding her face in her hands.
"Are you okay?" Blaine asked as she took a hesitant step forward.
The girl jumped at the sound of her voice. "Y-yes I'm fine," she stuttered.
"Here, let me see it."
The girl drew back, but gave in, knowing she couldn't deny the prince. She took her hands away from her face and Blaine gasped.
All around her eye, and around her cheek, there was an angry red and purple bruise. "That must have been a pretty hard slap," Blaine commented softly.
The girl let out an unflattering snort and nodded. "Yeah, I think he had at least six rings on one hand."
She still seemed to be in pain, but she didn't even shed one tear.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, I promise."
Blaine didn't look like he bought it, but the girl clearly didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"What's your name?"
"Mercedes," she said.
"Well Mercedes, I say that we get back at Karofsky. What do you say?"
Mercedes looked at the prince in shock, but there was no way she could resist any form of mischief. "What do you have in mind?" She asked with a glint in her eyes.
That night, Karofsky found his luxurious clothing scattered around his chambers in different piles. Some were soaked through, and tied to the ground with vines, while others were burned beyond recovery.
Mercedes had gotten a bit carried away.
Ever since Blaine had seen that violent display, any respect he had for Karofsky was replaced with wariness and trepidation.
He was not looking forward to this meeting.
Blaine didn't have much more time to dwell on this, as his guests were starting to arrive. Blaine was waiting to greet them on the landing strip at the top of the palace.
He could see three of the four barons on the backs of the ducks in the distance making their way over at a breakneck speed.
They landed one by one, too close to Blaine for comfort. Blaine had never trusted ducks.
Quin, Mike, and Rachel slid off the back of the ducks and made to greet Blaine.
Rachel made it to her first and pulled her into a firm handshake. "How are you, Your Majesty?" She asked politely.
"Just fine, thank you," Blaine smiled kindly.
Rachel was in charge of the city Frocse. She was a short woman with brown hair pulled into a tight bun at the top of her head. She had striking blue eyes and a beautiful smile. She wore an elegant silky blue dress to represent her element of water.
Next came Quin, the ruler over the city Eitob. Blaine was brought into a warm embrace by the woman. Quin was only slightly older than himself. She had always seemed like an older sister to him growing up. She had long blond hair threaded with green that tumbled down her back, reaching just past her shoulder blades. She was adorned in an emerald green dress that matched her eyes, and her element of earth.
Blaine was greeted next by Mike, the baron over the city of Redor. He had black messy hair that fell over his forehead in slight waves, and a slim figure that he covered in baggy grey clothing, and intelligent silver eyes. His element was wind.
All that was left to do was wait for Karofsky. He had the longest way to come, so it made sense that he was late for every event, but it was quite irritating to Blaine that he didn't even make an effort.
It was almost three hours when he finally arrived. At this point, everyone was just as put out as Blaine. Karofdsky didn't even acknowledge their annoyed expressions as he threw open the doors in a dramatic manner and announced his arrival.
"The fun has arrived my friends! What are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road, I've got things to do," he joked "Oh Blaine, my dear! How are you? It's been months darling, how are you holding up?"
Blaine accepted his hug with a tight smile. "All is well, Lord Karofsky. You are well too, I hope?
"Oh most definitely! I have been having the best of summers. I was actually in the middle of a massage when I got your message, and I couldn't just leave right in the middle, so I told the masseuse to hurry so I could be here as soon as possible."
The members of the council just looked at him in displeasure.
"Oh, I'm only joking!" He told the impatient elves. "I came as soon as I could. Now, what have we been talking about? Catch me up, will you?"
"Well," Blaine started. "We've been discussing the sickness that has been spreading throughout the entire kingdom-"
"Ah yes. That pesky illness. I've already lost a lot of great knights to it." Karofsky said, with the exaggerated motion wiping away a fake tear.
Blaine was almost on his last nerve. He didn't understand how Karofsky could be treating such a serious matter as if it were a game. "My question is, why haven't I been told about any of this?" He asked coldly.
Quin, Rachel, and Mike were stunned that Blaine hadn't heard anything. "My King, I can assure you that I sent word to the palace as soon as I realized what was going on. I don't know what you mean," Mike responded.
Quin and Rachel nodded in agreement.
Blaine looked to Karofsky for confirmation. He looked up from inspecting his nails. "Oh, of course, I sent word as well, my king. It seems to me it is not our problem, as much as it is yours."
"I see," He said stiffly. He noticed something was off about Karofsky. It certainly wasn't his clothes or attitude. Those were very much the same. It was his eyes. Instead of the glowing orange, they were a dark color. Almost black.
This was unusual. An elf's eye color never changes, and most certainly not the royals or barons eyes. Their eyes were a representation of the elements. They were almost always the only elves that had eyes matching their element. That was how the barons were picked. They must have enough power to be the spokesperson for the people of that element. Their eyes were a teller of such power. They were never supposed to change. But Yiskaforaks had.
It looked like no one else had noticed the change, and Blaine didn't want to draw attention away from the task at hand. So he made a note to speak to him before they left.
"I need you all to tell me everything you can about this sickness. How many have been lost to it, how fast it's spreading, the survival rate, and most importantly, if there is a cure."
They spent hours in the council room going through the statistics of every area of the kingdom. Eventually, there was not much else to say on the topic and Baine decided it was time for them to go back to their respective homes.
"It has gotten late, and I am sorry I have taken so much of your time, but this has become an issue bigger than I think any of us realized. We need to find a cure. All of you are to direct every medical expert that you know of to find a cure. This is our main focus as a kingdom now, and until we have successfully found a way to prevent it from spreading, or stopped it completely, we will not stop." Baine stated firmly.
The council nodded in understanding, finally feeling more at peace then they had since this plague had appeared.
As they left, Blaine said goodbye with the promise to be in contact with them.
Before Karofsky could leave, Blaine pulled him aside.
"May I speak with you for a minute?"
Karofsky sighed dramatically. "I suppose. What is so important that you would keep me later for? Couldn't it wait until I've had a chance to change into my evening clothes?"
Blaine blinked, taken aback by his petulance.
"I'm only joking!" Karofsky laughed. "Oh your face, it was priceless!"
"Oh, right. I'm sorry it's been a long day." Blaine apologized. But he couldn't help but feel that it wasn't completely a joke.
"What was it you said you need to talk about?" He smiled.
"Well, I noticed that there was something different about your eyes during the meeting, and I was wondering if you were feeling alright…" Blaine drifted off when he noticed the playfulness instantly disappear from his face.
"Of course I'm alright. Don't be daft, child." He snapped.
Blaine didn't know what to do about the abrupt change in his tone. "I… I'm sorry, I just assumed…"
"Well don't assume anything. It is none of your business."
"You're right, I'm sorry."
The anger slowly faded away at her words. "No, I'm sorry. As you said, it's been a long day. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. My apologies, my king."
"Apology accepted. I understand the stress of today, I should let you get home, you have a long journey ahead of you."
"You should get some rest as well Your Majesty. If I understand correctly you buried a friend today. That is never easy."
"Yes, yes I did."
"My condolences," he said without sincerity.
"Thank you."
Karofsky nodded and mounted his duck. "Goodnight, Blaine," he said before he took off.
Blaine watched him until he was no longer in sight. Something was off about him. Not just his eye color, it was something else, and Blaine was determined to find out what
