Kurt proves to be a fantastic companion on the road. The hours pass much more freely, now that Blaine has somebody to talk with. Conversation is light and varied, as Kurt is knowledgeable on a vast number of subjects and as eager to talk as Blaine. Kurt points out various foliage and wildlife, details that Blaine had overlooked travelling alone. His first few days on the road, Blaine's not sure that he had even seen a mouse, but now, rabbits, deer, and birds of all kinds come out from the greenery. Blackbird seems to want to be friends with all of them, and Blaine has to keep a tight rein to prevent her from sniffing them all out.
Even with stopping frequently to feed and rest their horses, and a brief respite near a small creek where Kurt pulls out a fishing rod from his packs and hands it to Blaine, the mountains creep steadily closer. By the time they stop to set up supper and camp under their looming shadows, the heat of the day has begun to dissipate.
"We should be safe for a fire tonight." Kurt surveys. "This isn't a place usually inhabited by bandits and it'll get cold tonight when the sun sets. Would you mind gathering some wood and I'll try to locate my flint? I know I stuck it in my pack. The question is where."
Blaine wanders off while Kurt is muttering to himself. It takes some time collecting branches and decaying wood, so he's a little short of breath when he comes back to camp. He's surprised to find a good blaze going and Kurt perched over the flames, stuffing potatoes into the burgeoning coals. "Found the flint!" Kurt announces proudly. "Hot potatoes tonight with our fish?"
"You've got a magic touch with the fire. I wasn't able to get more than a smolder when I tried."
Kurt preens at the praise. "My da would never have forgiven me if I didn't know how to make a fire and skin a chicken. Sit, the food won't take long."
Dusk descends as they eat and talk comfortably and transforms into deep darkness by the time Blaine stretches and goes off to corral the grazing horses for the evening. They've wandered slightly away from camp, but come easily to his voice. He gives Blackbird another pat, while Pavarotti nips at his pants in search for additional treats. "Oh, I see how it's going to be," he murmurs as he rubs down the other horse as well and slips them both another handful of grains. "Spoiled, the both of you." He secures both sets of reins to the branches to prevent them from wandering off and slings his packs off of Birdy's back on his shoulders.
Kurt's banked the fire to warm coals, and Blaine rolls his blankets out in front. He's enjoyed the last couple of nights of sleeping on soft mattresses, and his body already wants to protest at lying again on the ground.
A branch snaps as Kurt returns, his own belongings piled high in his arms. Blaine stares in surprise - how had Kurt managed to pack everything up so tightly?
"That's it? That's what you plan to sleep with tonight?" Kurt questions as he approaches the fire.
"Yes?" Blaine replies, slightly stung at the rebuke, "What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing, if you intend to be an icicle by morning. The mountains are cold and you'll never stay warm."
Blaine stares at his paltry, thin blankets a little more morosely, remembering the night spent shivering in the dripping cold. "I'll put on additional clothes."
"Nonsense." Kurt drops his piles on top of Blaine's makeshift bed. "My blankets and yours are enough for the both of us if we share. We'll put yours down first and I've got a thick wool one to go on top. Maybe we'll feel less of the rocks." Kurt states matter of factly as he straightens out the blankets. He pauses, looking away from Blaine. "Unless, of course, this makes you uncomfortable. We can keep our separate beds, I just presumed–."
"No, no. That would be fine. It's fine. Great, even." He doesn't know why his heart pounds so in his chest. He slept beside Cooper whenever he happened to be home and not gallivanting around. He and Wesbrook shared a bed for months at school, but this feels different. He peels off his pants, leaving on his shirt for sleep and crawls between the blankets, shivering a little in the cooling air. Kurt's right - the additional blankets provide much needed padding. He looks up to see that Kurt has changed into a long bedshirt, feet and neck bare in the dying light. His mouth goes dry and he looks away quickly, squeezing his eyes closed.
He feels Kurt slide in beside him and he holds himself taut. Kurt's body radiates warmth and comfort and in response, slowly, Blaine feels his body loosen, his muscles unclench, and he relaxes next to Kurt. "Goodnight, Blaine," Kurt murmurs. Kurt's breathing slows, regular and deep, helps relax him further and before he knows it, Blaine follows Kurt into slumber.
Kurt fidgets in his saddle, staring straight ahead, and Blaine sighs. He's adjusted to sleeping next to Kurt these last few days, too well, really, as this morning he had awoken cuddling next to Kurt - next to Kurt was an understatement, as he was nearly entirely draped over him. Kurt had been magnanimous about it, politely disentangling himself and asking Blaine how he slept. But it had obviously bothered him more than he had said, given his silence this morning on the trail. Blaine's heart sinks. He'll insist on separating their sleeping packs tonight, make sure that Kurt's not uncomfortable in his presence, do whatever he can to make this right.
Kurt clears his throat. "I have friends who live up ahead, that I would like to call on. It's not much of a detour from the main road, and we could sup with them. If you wouldn't mind."
"Of course," Blaine says, surprised and relieved. "I would be honored to meet your friends."
Kurt smiles and his shoulders relax. "I should probably warn you that they can be quite overwhelming. They are kind and well-meaning, but can come on strongly."
Blaine laughs. "Sounds like my brother. Consider me warned."
Kurt tells him more about his friends as they continue to plod their way through the mountain valley. "Rachel is nearest to my sister. She and Finn - at one time they were intended for each other, childhood sweethearts, and after he disappeared… well, it's been hard, but she is healing." Kurt smiles fondly. "She is still insufferable to be around for long periods of time, particularly if you have a fondness for music."
He laughs again at the warning. "I do, but I will make sure to avoid that conversation."
"Mercedes is probably my closest confidant, my dearest friend. I've known her since we were children. And Santana improves on closer association - she's more teeth than actual bite and she is loyal to her soul."
"They sound lovely."
"They're like family." Kurt says, "with all of the flaws that that entails."
Blaine looks around. "This is a long distance from your home."
Kurt twitches. "Yes, well, they are here for schooling. Madame Carmen Tibideaux is the headmistress here; she's well-renowned and respected around these parts."
"I see." Blaine has no time for additional questions, as they turn a corner and a large house, framed with blooming roses, appears.
"I sent word ahead that we were coming," Kurt explains as they dismount. Blaine only has a brief moment to wonder when and how as he had been riding next to Kurt all morning, when the door opens and three women, approximately their own age, tumble out.
"Kurt!" One of them calls out brightly before giving him a long embrace. "We weren't expecting you back until autumn."
"Carmen says you have news!"
"News? Kurt here has bought himself a toy." Another drawls and she deliberately drags her gaze across Blaine's body. He blushes and looks away.
Kurt's tone is just a little hauty. "I have not. Blaine, may I introduce you to my friends, Mercedes, Rachel, and Santana?"
"Ladies, my pleasure." He dips his head towards each of them in greeting. Mercedes gives a little giggle.
"Blaine?" The one named Rachel questions, looking at him closely, and then suddenly drops into a curtsy, dropping her eyes to the ground. "Oh, forgive me, your Highness, I didn't recognize you at first."
Blaine's stomach twists with the recognition and he feels paralyzed in place.
"What are you doing, Rachel?"
"Kurt," she hisses from deep in her curtsy, "why didn't you tell us that you were traveling with the Prince of Dalton?" Beside her, Mercedes and Santana also drop their knees, and Santana's smirk is replaced with one of fear.
"Because I'm not," Kurt argues back. He smiles and rolls his eyes goodnaturedly at Blaine, who is still frozen. He doesn't return Kurt's smile, just opens his mouth and closes it without saying anything.
"You are telling me that that man," she points without lifting her eyes from the dirt, "is not Prince Blaine Andreason?"
None of them have lifted from their bow, and Blaine's training sets in automatically. "You may rise." He commands, and cringes at the formality. He hasn't missed this part of his life.
Confusion and then realization settles on Kurt's brow. "It's true. You're- you're- It's true."
Blaine shrugs his shoulders helplessly. "Yes."
"You. You never- you never told me."
"It never came up."
"Never came up?" Kurt starts to say, then tightly closes his mouth. Blaine knows Kurt well enough by now to recognize the anger radiating from his expression. "Oh."
"Kurt-"
"No worries, your Highness. If you'll pardon me, your Highness, I need to meet with the Headmistress, Madame Tibideaux. My friends will show you to the parlor, but we weren't expecting royalty."
"Kurt, wait-" But Kurt bends in a bow and stocks off and Blaine is left there, staring after Kurt, wondering how it all went so wrong so quickly.
Mercedes touches his arm, her face warm and gentle. "Why don't you come inside, your Highness?"
"Blaine," he corrects hoarsely. "Please, please, call me Blaine."
"Blaine," she says, "come inside. Kurt will cool off eventually and then you can talk. In the meantime, Rachel made some cookies and they're actually edible."
"My cookies are always delicious!"
"They're really not," Mercedes whispers as she takes his arm and leads him inside.
Blaine can't keep his knee from shaking as he sits and drinks tea with Mercedes and Rachel. It's been over an hour and Kurt has not returned. Mercedes and Rachel are friendly although formal, engaging him in conversation, while his mind swirls in agony. He's only known Kurt for a few days, but it's felt longer, and he considers Kurt a friend and the thought of causing him pain, even unwittingly – if only he could explain, make him understand.
"The parties at Dalton must be quite impressive." Rachel remarks, "And the music! One always hears such things about the music! Would you agree, Prince Blaine?"
He's stirred from his thoughts. "Hmm?"
"What are the parties like?" Rachel asks, stirring her tea and leaning forward with interest. She lays her fingers against his arm. "They must be magnificent."
"Probably not as magnificent or as frequent since the Crown Prince disappeared." Mercedes hissed with a pointed look at Rachel.
"Oh. Right." Rachel looks abashed.
"No, not frequent, but my mother still hosts different dignitaries. I mean-" There's a clatter down the stairs and Kurt appears in the doorway. "Kurt!" He stands up, brushing off Rachel's lingering touch, barely paying her any mind.
"Prince Blaine." He bows stiffly.
"Blaine. It's just Blaine. Kurt, please, let me explain." He starts and then stops when another woman enters the room. Tall and older than the others, she possesses instant authority and grace. She serenely greets him. "Your Highness."
"Madame Tibideaux." He rises and smoothly kisses her hand. "Blaine, if you will."
She smiles in response, warmth in her dark eyes. "Blaine. Master Hummel has told me that you are on a quest to find the enchanted prince." She gestures for him to sit beside her at the table. Kurt stands in the doorway, his handsome face stiff and emotionless.
"My brother." Blaine nods, for the first time, the story spilling out, no longer needing to conceal the details. "Yes. Three years ago, a fairy by the name of Sue cast a spell on my brother and put him to sleep. I was young and unable to stop her. I haven't seen him since. Nobody has. We sent out soldiers to search for him and it's been fruitless."
"So you decided to go out on your own." Madame probes, as she pours herself a cup of tea.
Blaine glances up again at Kurt, who is still unmovable. "Yes, ma'am. I talked with some of the returning soldiers and pieced together some ideas of where he might be. Most of it rumors, but the rumors started to solidify."
"Why didn't your parents send a new group of scouts out?"
"My parents… were quite despondent with Cooper's disappearance and with each bit of news that didn't pan out, they became more so. I couldn't get their hopes again." Blaine explains. "I had hoped that I could locate her and gather some more information, and if I couldn't rescue him, well, at least I would be able to form a rescue party."
"Her name is Sue?"
"Mmm hmm."
"What do you know about her?"
"Not much. My brother was not her first enchantment, nor her last, according to what I've heard."
"Sue was always a collector." Madame Tibideaux muses, sipping thoughtfully on her tea.
Blaine looks at her, startled. "You know her?" This was the first inkling of first hand experience of Sue and hope blooms in his chest.
"I am… aware of her, yes. She grew up here and we were classmates, you could say, long ago." Madame stirs her tea. "I had heard rumors of a fairy causing troubles, but had not realized that it was her. I have not seen her for many years."
He deflates in disappointment.
"Cheer up, Prince, I may still have some information that will be beneficial to you. She was very predictable back then, she likely still is. Why don't we discuss this over some supper? You must be famished from your journey."
Kurt's quiet through the meal and avoids looking directly at Blaine. It gnaws on him, this need to make Kurt understand. Madame Tibideaux does have some helpful advice, including confirming the location of the northern castle on Blaine's map, and some tips ("Her temper is her weakest point. By all means, avoid offending her."), but with Kurt continuing to ignore him, he has difficulty concentrating on the advice. Kurt slips away prior to the clearing of the supper dishes from the table and Blaine relies on all of his years of decorum training to keep the frustration from bleeding into his conversation.
Blaine accepts Madame Tibideaux's invitation to stay the night - without Kurt, he will be relying only on his maps again, and there's part of him that hopes to find Kurt and get a chance to explain and everything will be alright again. Those hopes fade as Kurt stays away that evening. Mercedes is a charming conversationalist, feeding him tidbits about her friendship with Kurt. Rachel hangs on to every word that he says, peppering him with questions about court life. Santana, he can't make out - she alters between sarcastic quips and questions of his intentions and motives, but she seems to soften towards him by the end of the evening.
"Do you sing, your Highness?" Blaine has given up getting Rachel to call him by his name. "We are so bereft of entertainment these days and your speaking voice seems very fine."
"I do. I enjoy it but I never received any formal training."
Rachel claps her hands. "Then I insist that you duet with me! Are you familiar with "Fare Thee Well?"
"Yes, of course."
"Santana will accompany us - she is excellent on the piano. Her voice is quite good too; not as good as mine, of course, but you would enjoy dueting with her. And with Mercedes." She adds at Mercedes's protests.
Fare thee well my own true love
And farewell for a while.
I'm going away, but I'll come again
If I go ten thousand miles.
Ten thousand miles, my own true love,
Ten thousand miles or more,
And the rocks may melt and the seas may burn,
If I should not return.
Oh don't you see that lonesome dove,
Sitting on an ivy tree,
She's weeping for her own true love
Just as I shall weep for mine.
Oh come back my own true love
And stay a while with me
For if I had a friend all on this earth,
You've been a friend to me.
And fare thee well my own true love
And farewell for a while.
I'm going away, but I'll be back
If I go ten thousand miles.
Rachel's voice is flawless, smoothly harmonizing with his own. She slides her hand down his arm and gazes into his eyes intently. It's been a long time since he's allowed himself to do something so frivolous and freeing and Blaine enjoys himself, playing up the romance, leaning into the feel of the sound of their voices and the emotion of the song.
Rachel claps her hands when they finish. "That was incredible! Prince Blaine, you have a marvelous voice. Surely you must find it stifling to have such talent suppressed. It's an outrage! You must duet with Mercedes and Santana, and then I have another song that will mix our voices in perfection." She squeezes his arm and drags him over to the piano, barely letting him get a word in.
His eyes catch movement in the doorway. Blaine glances up to see the tall, stiff back of Kurt retreating into the shadows.
A/N: This story takes place vaguely in the past, in the time where you think most Fairy Tales take place. That didn't stop me from researching all about Regency and Victorian menswear to make it accurate. Men often would sleep naked or with their day clothes, but this era started to see more in terms of sleep clothes. Kurt, in particular, would be all about the latest fashion of a "bedshirt" (think Ebenezer Scrooge). He probably would have packed a "Banyan robe" as well. Around this time, they started to wear more underwear (very similar to our boxers these days, but often, they just wore long linen shirts that they would tuck into their pants.
"Fare Thee Well" is an 18th century English ballad which was a popular duet song. Mary Chapin Carpenter covered a gorgeous version that you should listen to: youtube watch?v=pQBpDkVUEco.
I adore your comments. Thanks so much for reading!