A/N: You guys and gals. The reviews and alerts are so sweet and welcomed, thank you! So, I'm nineteen today, wanna pass on a form of love and drop another review if you have time? They would be much appreciated.

Onwards!

3

A week passed by and Blaine still had not chosen a spouse. No one had stood out for him at the ball, and he grew more desperate and agitated. Only around Kurt could retain some semblance of calm. After discussing the matter with Kurt, he came to the conclusion that he must host another event, but of lesser magnitude. He asked Kurt to change the guest list. Those who had failed to impress him were removed from the list, while he allowed others to remain in the vain hope that they would improve on him with a second meeting. He did not hold much hope for this however, which he told Sam, noting the pained look Sam made as he said so. He guessed that Sam must be very adamant in his belief of love being able to disguise itself, although he could not fathom this.

The event itself took longer to plan than the actual guest list. Kurt persuaded the prince that another ball so soon after the last one was not desirable. A banquet would also be most inconvenient considering the sheet number of guests. Instead, with the current wave of good weather, Kurt suggested that they make use of the extensive grounds and the long hours of sunlight. Blaine readily agreed, thrilled with the prospect. Less organization was required for this event and it was to be held within three days. Although Kurt once more tried to excuse himself from attending, Blaine adamantly insisted that he stayed. Kurt obeyed reluctantly.

The day arrived and luckily the weather was most accommodating – not so warm or cold as to be uncomfortable, and thankfully dry. The multitude of guests seemed to be well pleased by the well-executed event, and everyone was content and happy to be there as soon as they arrived. Blaine busied himself in meeting his new guests and spent several happy hours in pleasant conversation. Although once more he was not immediately struck with anyone, he nonetheless enjoyed meeting new people and encountered several that he suspected he could be good friends with in time. After several hours spent in this manner, it grew dark, lanterns were put up and the guests began to slowly depart.

After another hour the grounds were quiet again except for the sounds of makeshift tables and tents being cleared away. After breathing in the night air which contained the fragrances from nearby flowerbeds, Blaine found himself wandering alone through the grounds. He eventually came across the rose garden he had seen Kurt in the other day. He peeked into it and saw Kurt lying on the ground, eyes watching the darkening sky and brightening stars.

"I hope you haven't been here all day," he scolded jokingly.

Kurt sat up in alarm and was about to stand when Blaine waved at him to lie down again. "Please don't get up. I was hoping to join you in fact."

He lay next to the slender man and watched the night's beautiful sky reflect in Kurt's eyes.

"Is this not somewhat unbecoming behaviour for a king?" asked Kurt with a sly grin.

"I think not. Do you think it so?"

"Not at all. I'm just surprised that you are so amenable to it."

"I am not incapable of reveling in the simpler joys of life," Blaine returned with a smile.

"Did you enjoy your day?" Kurt asked softly after a pause.

"Yes. I have made some new friends, though I have yet to find the one I am looking for. But I think the highlight of these events is that I get to spend more time with you in organizing them."

They were silent for a few minutes.

"I came here after my father's death," Kurt said suddenly. "I told you that I was an orphan when I first arrived although I didn't tell you the exact circumstances."

Blaine gently put a hand over Kurt's. "I do not mean to pry, and it was wrong of me to do so on the evening of the ball. You don't have to tell me if you do not wish it."

"I – I want to tell you. I am ready now. My mother died when I was still a child. My father remarried and I then had a stepmother and a new older brother. We were a good family; we were very close. But my father became ill a year before I traveled to this land. I took care of father and my stepmother, who had also become ill. They both succumbed to the illness and died. Lord Finn was away in battle when this happened and he was not given leave to return, though I never came to understand why that was."

Kurt wiped away some of the streaks of tears, which had started to fall down his face and took some stuttering breaths. Blaine didn't know what to do.

"Lord Karofsky lived in my town while this happened. I was alone and he started to – pursue me quite violently, even after I repulsed him. He asked for my hand in marriage. I refused. He was enraged. He - he tried to attack me. I fled immediately, packing all of my belongings and taking the first road that I encountered. The road led me here. To you."

"So when you saw Lord Karofsky at the ball?"

"He reminded me of some things that he last said when we parted. That I could never do better and that I was pretentious to think that I was better than anyone else because… because no one would ever be capable of loving someone like me."

Blaine clutched at Kurt's hand and squeezed tightly. "Do not belief such falsehoods; you are worth far more than fools like him."

"He made me feel so worthless throughout my life. To see him again after all this time thinking I had escaped… It was a shock. But then you came over and rescued me from him as it were. I've rarely been so grateful to someone in my life. And yet, I owe you thanks for not just that, but for allowing me to live and work here, for letting me confide in you and be close to you. You are one of the best men I've ever known. And I – I love you."

Blaine smiled softly and held Kurt's hand tighter. "And I you, dear Kurt. You are truly the best friend I have ever had, I will never let that change."

The hand and body next to his stiffened and Kurt's face turned away from his. Kurt removed his hand from his and stood quickly. Blaine sat up, confused as to why their poignant moment had been tossed aside so abruptly. "Surely you're not going just yet? The stars are beginning to come out in earnest."

"I must assist with clearing up the party. The servants will wish to leave soon and I don't wish them to remain away from their families any longer than they have to."

"What a kind heart you have! You never cease to amaze me!" Blaine exclaimed warmly.

As Kurt began to walk away, a question struck Blaine. "Kurt, wait a moment if you will. He stood up and faced Kurt from a few feet away. "I have been unable to remove that song you were singing here the other day from my mind. What did the words mean?"

"Nothing. Nothing of consequence," replied Kurt. Blaine heard the bitterness that was intricately laced into each word that Kurt spoke.

The next day Kurt mentioned that he needed to leave the castle for several hours on business in the nearby town, so Blaine met with Lord Sam again, who had been absent the previous night. They talked amicably for some time until Blaine brought up Kurt.

"Kurt really has outdone himself the last two weeks. I can scarcely conceive how someone could be as talented as he."

Sam smiled softly. "Indeed, he really doesn't understand quite how wonderful he is."

"I feel like we are closer friends now that we ever have been. He told me that he loved me last night."

Sam went deathly pale. "W-what?"

"Kurt told me that he loved me, and I replied in similar fashion. Are you quite alright Sam?"

"I – why didn't you tell me before? I don't understand. You're saying that you told Kurt of your feelings but you are still searching for a spouse? I cannot comprehend this!"

"Of course I am still searching for a spouse! I love Kurt dearly as a friend, and he feels similarly. I hardly think that the two of us will be wed anytime soon."

Sam stood abruptly and his face was pure white with anger. "I may be reprimanded later for speaking thus, but I must speak my mind. You, Sire, are a damned heartless fool and Kurt deserves a better man. I have known you to be clueless but this really oversteps the line. I have never known you to be so unfeeling, so idiotically blind."

Blaine stood, similar anger rising. "How dare you! What gives you the right to utter such things?"

"Because they are true!" exclaimed Sam.

"Oh? And prove it to me, Lord Samuel!"

"Proof!" Sam exploded with a wave of emotion, and Blaine was quite taken aback to see so much rage spewing from his typically gentle friend. "Proof! I have loved Kurt ever since he arrived in this palace and I have told him so on many occasions."

A shocked silence followed Sam's confession. Blaine gaped at him, previously unaware of the extent of Sam's feelings.

Sam composed himself and continued. 'But he could not feel the same because he has loved you ever since he arrived. I have spent months of torment knowing that I can't have him, but hearing his pain because you refuse to give him a second glance.'

Blaine was breathless and all anger drained out of him as he heard Sam continue.

"The day you said that you could only love someone at first sight near broke his heart, and I tried to persuade you otherwise, for his sake alone. And you had him organize all these events to find your future spouse, all the while loving you and wishing you would see that the most perfect man in all creation was right under your nose. And when you comforted him after meeting Lord Karofsky, he began to hope and think you might feel the same.

"And now you've told me that he told you his feelings, and you refused to consider their true meaning? Kurt truly is the most unfortunate of creatures. He has told me on many occasions that he wishes that he could love me. It would be easier and I have never hurt him the way you have. I recognized that he was an angel as soon as I set eyes on him. And yet you could never do so. You have led him on and devastated him when he finally tried to speak his mind. He truly is to be pitied for loving such a fool."

"Sam – This cannot be true. It cannot!"

Sam gave him a contemptuous glance. "It can and it is. Had you eyes and a brain you would have known and spared his feelings long ago. As of this moment, I can hardly speak to you for all the hurt you have caused. How can you not love a creature so perfect? And how could you have failed to see that you had his love all along? That he would have been your partner had you only thought to ask? But you did not."

Sam swept out of the room, leaving Blaine to collapse in the chair beneath him. Sam's speech had shocked him greatly. Kurt loved him? In a… romantic sense? How could this be true? Surely he would have noticed? He was not so blind as Sam said.

But then Blaine began to recall little things that made him groan with despair. Aside from Sam, he was the only person that Kurt was close to and had confided in about his past. Kurt always seemed to have a radiant smile that he only showed to Blaine. And after Blaine told him that he loved him and they would always be friends, Kurt had left bitterly. And Kurt had left the palace as soon as he could that morning on an errand that Blaine did not really understand, almost as if he couldn't stand to be in Blaine's presence.

Struck with an idea, Blaine ran to the palace's library, searching for songbooks. He eventually found what he was looking for and looked up what he could remember of the song Kurt sang in the rose garden. He eventually found the song in question, and the translation took the breath from his lungs.

'I've been watching your world from afar,

I've been trying to be where you are,

And I've been secretly falling apart,

I'll see.

To me, you're strange and you're beautiful,

You'd be so perfect with me but you just can't see,

You turn every head but you don't see me.

I'll put a spell on you,

You'll fall asleep and I'll put a spell on you.

And when I wake you,

I'll be the first thing you see,

And you'll realise that you love me.'

Blaine rested his head on the shelf in front of him with his eyes closed, the reality of how foolish he had been crashing upon him and threatening to take away his power to remain upright. Kurt had loved him all this time. While he had been off looking for a spouse Kurt had been here, watching and waiting for him. And he had forced him to come and watch him flirt with others! Blaine groaned. It was too late. Kurt probably never wished to speak to him again, and Blaine wanted nothing more than to run to him and tell him that he was a fool, a blind idiotic fool.

Because now Blaine knew that Kurt was right about loving being in plain sight. He had loved Kurt all this time; so much was obvious. And now he had lost the love he had been searching for all this time.

A/N: Hope this lived up to any expectations people might have had! I'm aware that I made Karofsky into the villain, and I do apologize for that because I actually love him as a character on the show. But taking him from a season one/early season two perspective, it's easy to make him the bad guy, and I didn't really want to insert my own character... And for anyone wondering, same sex marriage is fine in this kingdom, or at least, it's legally acceptable. Maybe I'll expand on this someday if I ever write another story in this AU...

As for the song, for those of you who don't know it's called 'Strange and Beautiful (I'll Put a Spell on You)' by Aqualung. If you fancy a listen, follow this link (but remove the spaces!) :http:/ www. youtube . com / watch ?v=5MVS5njkx6U

It's a really interesting song, pleasant and unusual to listen to and rather sad lyrics. So apt enough for Kurt to sing it, no?

Next update might take a bit longer because I have to rewrite quite a bit of, but it still shouldn't take more than a week. See you guys then!