Once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a kindly king who was helpful and loved by all his people. The pride and joy of the king's life were his wonderful wife and their baby son, Prince Kurt. The joy on the king's face at the birth of his beautiful baby boy was permanently lived and shared throughout the kingdom as the people erupted in cheers when the child was held for them all to see on the day of his birth. The young prince was the joy of the kingdom and villagers were always scrambling to get a good look at their new heir to the throne whenever ever the king and queen ventured out amongst their people. And that was how the glorious royal family lived, happily for the first eight years of Prince Kurt's young life. And then, tragedy struck.

A carriage a ride. That was all it was. A very simple carriage ride. King Burt had remained at home to rule over their kindly kingdom while Queen Elizabeth had taken their son and traveled to a distant kingdom in hopes of forming an alliance. Her idea, arrange a marriage between Prince Kurt and the princess of the kingdom. The young prince had spoken not a word during the meeting. He had barely cast a glance at the princess, who was but a year younger than he in number. However, the two of them were both on the same level when it came to lessons.

After a treaty had been made and an agreement for Prince Kurt to have the princess' hand in marriage come the day that she turned eighteen years of age, Queen Elizabeth and her son climbed aboard their carriage once more and began the long journey home. Silence settled over them with Kurt staring out the window, his cheek resting in his hand.

"So, what do you think of Prince Rachel? Pretty little thing, isn't she?" his mother finally said, breaking the silence. Kurt merely hummed in response, not bothering to turn his head from the window. The clip-clopping of the horses' hooves were the only thing that broke the silence for a few moments before the queen went on. "Kurt? My dear child, whatever is the matter?" It was at these words that Kurt forced his eyes away from the window and turned them on his mother. She looked at him with a mixture of worry and fear and her eyes.

"I'm sorry mom. That princess is…high maintenance," he said, for lack of a better word. He was determined to call her selfish and stuck up but Kurt was too polite to use such descriptions in front of his mother. She looked at him with slight worry. Kurt sighed and opened his mouth to explain further still when he was cut off but a sudden scraping sound.

The horses were scraping their hooves to a stop and the carriage trundled dangerously on the path, swerving first one way, than the other. Elizabeth screamed and wrapped her arms protectively around her son. The small boy looked out the window in fear. There was a man in a cloak standing just ahead of them. He looked positively terrifying.

Kurt, desperate to appear brave merely ran a hand through the bangs of his thick brunette hair, the crown atop his head slightly askew. The man came closer as the horses brought about their stop. Kurt stared in horror as he threw two balls of light and the guards holding the reins slumped off the top of the carriage and fell to the ground, unmoving. Fear gripped the young prince and he hugged his torso. What was going on?

In the next instant, the man had thrown up the door to the carriage and yanked the queen out by the wrist. She screamed and Kurt froze in fear as he watched this man pull a gleaming silver blade from his side belt. His scruffy face glared down at the pearly white neck of Elizabeth's throat. Kurt wanted desperately to cry out. He wanted to keep the man from hurting his mother but he found that he had no voice. He looked on in horror as the man brought up the blade and drew it swiftly and uncaringly across his mother's throat. Elizabeth choked on the blood that poured from the fresh cut, drips of red protruding from her mouth mere seconds later as she coughed. Within mere more seconds, her body had collapsed limp to the ground. Queen Elizabeth Hummel was dead.

The moment the man turned his rugged face on Kurt, was the moment the young prince found himself able to move once more. Being a child, he was able to lunge through the man's flailing arms, ducking out of the carriage and running full force into the woods. He could hear the heavy footsteps of the man running after him. He didn't once glance over his shoulder.

Tree branches and brush scraped at his arms and legs, tearing rips in his clothing. His crown perched still askew atop his head threatened to fall as he pressed on and when he stumbled over a tree branch on the ground that did it. The crown slid from his head and dropped into the dirt and brush. Kurt never realized it had fallen. Or if he did, he merely didn't care. His mind was set on getting away from the man who was probably still chasing after him. The man that had killed his mother and the man that Kurt was quite sure wanted to kill him too. A fear in his chest gripped him and tightened whole-heartedly as he thought about his father. Would the man go after him too?

Thoughts were cut short as Kurt's foot lodged itself beneath a large rock sending him flying through the air and tumbling down a hillside he hadn't even noticed was there. He landed in a thump, his head colliding with a log. The young prince had a brief flash of the night sky shining in breaks through the trees before he fell unconscious and lost his known way of the world around him.

Some distance away, back at the castle, King Burt sat in his throne room as he was approached with a messenger. A page who had been traveling the road when the royal carriage had been attacked. He felt it was his duty to deliver the news to the king. When Burt heard of the death of his wife and the disappearance of his on, he broke down. Tears fell freely from the king's eyes and he slid from his chair. The page expressed his condolences and deep sorrow for the king. He also said that since the young prince had run, there was still the chance that Kurt was still alive.

With this knowledge, Burt called for his advisor and had a royal word with him. Horns blew in the kingdom moments later as the man stepped out on the balcony. The villagers had all gathered below, wondering what the sudden emergency call had been. Burt stood behind his advisor, looking solemn and half-hearted. Few of the villagers noticed this as he could barely be seen on the balcony at all. The advisor cleared his throat, aware of the dark clouds above their heads and the rain that threatened to fall.

"Noble people of the Hummel kingdom, it is with great regret that I must inform you of the passing of the queen." Mutters broke out in the crowd, accompanying by unmistakable sobbing. The advisor did not feel it was his place to elaborate on the death of the queen. He cleared his throat a second time, trying to gain the attention of the crowd back. There was further proclamation to be said. The king had asked for this specifically. The villagers looked back up at him with fear and regret. "Also, Prince Kurt Elizabeth Hummel has disappeared. His highness King Burt Hummel, has offered the reward of being knighted to anyone in the village who may be able to find him and bring him home safely. That is all." And thus began the long search for the young prince, a search that would progress for some years yet.