Once
upon a time there was a boy named Ray. (His real name was Stanley,
but only his mum called him that.) Ray, unlike most heroes of these
sorts of stories, was not a prince. Normally, this would not have
caused him any trouble; after all, most people are not princes, and
live their lives in happiness. But Ray had fallen
in love
with
a princess named Stella.
Ray thought that
Stella was the most beautiful princess in the whole wide world. After
he saw her for the first time, he hadborrowed his
mum's library card and gotten on his bicycle and ridden to the library,
and looked up her name; he had learned that it meant "star," and
that seemed right and good, because in his eyes she shone, bright and
lovely. His own name, he knew, meant "mighty protector," and
he vowed that he would protect Stella until the day he drew his final
breath.
Time passed, and Ray grew into a man, and still he loved his star-princess.
And somehow, through what good fortune he knew not, she had grown to
love him, too. They married, in due time, with the pomp and circumstance
due to a princess, and he took her to live with him in his little house.
Now, in the normal
course of things, this would be the time to speak of how happy Ray
was with his princess-- for he was-- or of how they
lived happily ever after. But not even princesses always have happy
endings, let alone ordinary men; and after a time Stella grew unhappy.
She had hoped that marrying Ray would let her live a different life
than that usually granted to a princess; but he wanted always to protect
and shelter her, never thinking that perhaps she had grown tired of
being protected. Their problems grew and worsened until one morning
Ray awoke to discover that his star-princess had slipped away from
him, and he was alone in his little house, and his heart grew sore
within
him.
With no princess
to come home to, Ray found his only solace in his work, for he was
a protector of the kingdom, true-hearted and valiant.
Still, he ached; for every time he was able to rescue a woman or a
child, he saw the princess he'd been unable to keep, and the children
she had never borne him. And so, when it came to pass that
his commander was looking for a volunteer to do a difficult and lonely
job, he offered himself; for surely, he thought, anything was better
than endless days of helping other men's families, and nights of sitting
alone and sad in the little house he had bought for his Stella.
His task was to
take the place of another protector, one who was away on a
mission himself, to spy on the enemies of the king. Ray learned that
the man he was to replace was also named Ray, Ray Vecchio; it seemed
to him a good omen. Perhaps, he thought, he could find in his new life
the peace that had eluded him since his princess had gone.
Alas, this was not to be; for the dearest friend of the man whose
life he was to live was a prince, as fair and pure, it seemed, as the
unbroken snows of his homeland, far to the north. The prince was a
man noble and valiant, although at times foolhardy; and though at first
he was grieved to find his friend replaced with a stranger, he was
willing to find friendship with the new Ray as he had with the old.
Ray's heart was
glad for the friendship of the prince, and as time passed, he began
to wonder if, perhaps, he should have sought his mate
in the snow, rather than the stars. He did his best not to reveal his
secret thoughts, but within himself, he began to love the prince; he
longed to see an answering heat in his eyes, to kiss his mouth, to
be allowed to touch his skin, so pale and fair. But Ray was afraid
of losing the prince as he had lost his princess, and so spoke nothing
of what was in his heart, instead seeking to aid his prince on his
many quests for justice, and to protect him from evil men; and if he
was not fully happy, he was at least content.
And it came to pass that one day, the man whose life Ray was living
completed his mission, and returned home a hero to resume living as
he had been before. The prince was delighted to welcome his friend
home, and for a time the two Rays and the prince went questing together.
But in time, the prince's desire for the snows of his homeland grew
too great to be borne, and he returned to the north. It seemed to
Ray then that all the light was gone from the sky, and his heart
burned with pain both for the princess he had lost and the prince
he had never gained. But the commander of his post asked him to stay
and work with the Ray he had at one time replaced; and, seeing no
other option but returning to his empty little house, Ray agreed.
Ray and Ray were
not very much alike, it seemed at first. Ray had hair the color of
straw, that stuck up untidily on the top of his head;
his clothes were rough, and his speech unrefined. The Ray that
he had replaced, Ray Vecchio, was sleek and smooth, with dark hair
and golden skin, and his eyes were as green as the jade necklace Ray
had bought for his princess, long ago. They fought, at first, over
many things; but in time, they grew to become friends.
But Ray's heart
still ached within him, for he had an emptiness inside; he had filled
it, for a while, with his princess, and then had tried
to fill it with his dreams of the prince; but now they both had gone,
leaving only vacancy behind.
Now as they worked together, the heart of Ray Vecchio had turned toward
Ray, and he had come to wish that Ray might love him. But Ray Vecchio
knew that Ray had loved a princess, bright and lovely as a star, and
then a prince, pure and fair as northern snow; and he grew sad, for
he thought that surely Ray would never look upon him with favor, a
man of hot temper and little beauty, roughened and scarred by the dangers
of his life. So he continued without speaking to Ray of love, seeking
only to enjoy the solace of his friendship.
One day, as they were going about their duties as protectors of the
kingdom, an evil man, fleeing justice, pulled out his bow and arrow,
and made as if to shoot Ray; but Ray Vecchio, seeing the danger, threw
himself into the arrow's path, knocking Ray aside and taking the wound
in his own shoulder.
Ray seized his
own bow, and shot the evil man; and while other guards ran to capture
him, Ray turned to his partner, angry and afraid. Ray
Vecchio lay in the street, red blood staining the fine clothes he wore;
but the first words he spoke were to assure himself that Ray was unhurt.
Ray stopped, and stared at him in wonder; for in the green eyes of
his friend he saw love; and when he thought, he realized that it had
been there for a long time. And his heart, bruised and sore, began
to stir within him.
He bound his partner's wound, and took him to a surgeon, and while
they worked to remove the arrow he thought of Ray Vecchio: of his bravery,
and his kindness, and the love in his eyes. And he thought of Stella,
his star-princess, and of his northern prince, and of the way he had
always had to reach for them, only to have them slip out of his grasp;
and the way he had always tried to protect them, although they didn't
want protecting.
And he remembered the way his partner had taken into his body the
arrow meant to pierce Ray's own heart, and he thought that maybe it
would be better to be protected sometimes than to always be the protector.
And then the surgeon came to him, and told him that he had removed
the arrow, and that Ray Vecchio had asked to see him; and so he went
into the room where Ray Vecchio lay, pale and bandaged, but alive.
And when his partner saw him, he smiled, a smile of warmth and sweetness
that seemed to creep into the empty space in his heart and make a home
there.
And he took his
partner home, to his little house, and he spoke to him, fearfully,
of love, and his heart was filled with joy; for Ray
Vecchio held him close to his body with the arm that was not wounded,
and whispered tender words to him, soothing and healing as aloe to
a burn. And as, at night, they lay down to sleep together, close and
warm, Ray felt his partner's lips upon his skin; and he thought that
truly, he was happier in this man's embrace than he had ever been when
he was reaching for the stars.
~The
End~
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