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"Once upon a time there was a faraway kingdom. It was ruled by a king who was lonely, because his parents were murdered when he was a boy and he became king at a young age. For many years he was alone, until one day he took in young circus performer who lost his parents when the king was attending the show. After that, the king found that he wasn’t so lonely anymore. A few years later, he also took in another young boy, but this one lived on the streets and had been caught trying to steal the king’s horse.
The kingdom was a prosperous one and the two boys that the king took under his wing were never left wanting for anything material. They could ask for food or entertainment and it would be provided to them. If they wanted a horse, they only had to ask and one would be found for them. However, there was one thing that the king could never provide them, and that was the devotion of the people.
It was one thing to have the devotion of the people because they were princes, but it was different to have the devotion of the people based off their personalities.
They had not always been princes. They knew what it was like to live with nothing under their names. Nothing besides what they kept in their packs or wore on their person. But even then, it was hard for the boys to find someone who would view them as regular people rather than princes. Over the years, the devotion of the people had grown to a point that it was hard to ignore. They were no longer able to walk outside the palace walls without being noticed and immediately shined upon.
The eldest of the boys wanted to follow in their father's footsteps. Although he was not a blood son, he was well loved among the people - perhaps even more than the king himself - and there was little to no opposition to the prospect of him being the prince regent.
The other son was troubled by the attention that he was getting. While he was considered to be the second prince, there was always some prejudice against him, he felt. Perhaps it was because he'd started off as a child who lived on the streets. He wasn't sure exactly why, but he wasn't exactly bothered by it. He always made sure to stand back during official proceeds, but whenever he was pulled into the event, he would always act like was expected of him.
Even when the second son started training as a squire, showing prowess not only in the physical skills needed, but also the magical aptitude desired, he still remained as far away from the attention as he could.
One day, he was at an event and he ran into a young noble. He'd met the noble before, but never really taken much time to get to know him besides learning his name. But that night, things changed.
See, the king and his sons had a secret.
Even though they were the royal family, they did not have absolute power over the kingdom. They led with the assistance of a council and any decisions would have to be approved by the council before any action could be taken. Not only that, but even if they took measures to ensure that the people under their rule were protected, there was never certainty that they would be able to provide what every citizen needed.
When the king was young he used his stature to ensure that he was provided with the best training, even going out to other countries to learn the martial skills they offered there, and when he returned to his kingdom and felt ready, he would take off into the night, masked and in dark clothing, and ensure that, even if the kingdom's guard force couldn't, the citizens were kept safe.
He passed this legacy onto both of his boys and they continued it happily. It became something that they all did together. A secret within the royal family. The common folk dubbed them the 'dark knights' based off of their dark garb and their acts of chivalry.
This young noble that the second boy met that day had been hanging to the back and eating food, and they began talking. Something they'd never really done before. It was then that the young noble let some information slip. They had been talking about nightly hobbies and the noble nodded, saying that he knew what the squire’s nightly hobbies were.
The squire froze as he heard this. No one was supposed to know what he and the rest of his family did. It was not permitted for them to step into civilian affairs and if their identities were to be revealed, there would likely be a civil war.
Both the young men stared at each other before the noble ran off, showing much more prowess than was to be expected of someone of his stature. However, the squire alerted the prince regent and the king and they managed to corner the noble before he was able to get away.
They asked him questions and deduced that his knowledge of their nightly activities was true. He knew that they were the 'dark knights' and that was dangerous, but the young noble insisted that he would never reveal their true identities to anyone. In fact, he'd known their identities for many years at that point and he'd never told a single person before.
The royals decided to trust that he would not betray them and they took him into their circle. For others, it would appear that the young noble had fallen in favor with the royal family and was invited to the palace for studies, but the royal family and noble all knew better.
It was to keep an eye on the noble and make sure that he would remain true to his word.
The squire had been given the task of watching the noble. He was to get close to this young man and discover exactly how he came to know their most well-kept secret. Not only that, but the king hoped that by forming a camaraderie between the two young men, that the inclination for betrayal would become even less likely to occur.
The squire and the noble did become close, in fact, much closer than the king ever expected. Over time they got to know each other more intimately until they became enamored with each other. It was not unknown for two men to find relations with each other, but they decided to keep it a secret from the people.
After all, it was their relation and not anyone else's.
They grew so close and comfortable with each other that they were nigh inseparable. They always did activities together and learned the magical arts together. While the squire was a studious young man, the noble was one of great mind. Together they became a strong pair.
But time came when they were to be separated, for peace could only last so long.
There came a day that there was war at the borders of the kingdom and the squire was needed to fight alongside his family. The noble had to stay behind, but that did not mean that he was to be left behind.
He trained more in secret, honing in his magical abilities and focusing on the art of divination. The noble wanted to ascertain that his squire would remain safe, even in the times of war. With the assistance of the daughter of the general that led the king's army, they became a source of intelligence that would prove invaluable to the king and the others on the battlefield.
They would predict enemy maneuvers, use their divination to find favorable positions for battle, and aided in preventing unnecessary loss of their fighters.
Even though there were many missteps along the way, because even the most sophisticated of magics were never able to predict everything, the king and his sons reigned victorious. They returned to the kingdom with joyous exaltation.
The squire was the first who broke from the masses to seek for his noble, the young man that he had not seen since the war began.
As always, he found the noble in their shared bedroom. Their eyes locked and, even though they were both changed men after the war, they found each other once again and promised to never part.
The first part of this step was for them to make their love know to the populace and they were received with almost as much exhalation as had occurred only shortly before when the war ended. There would always be those that opposed them, but they had what mattered most, and that was each other.
They promised themselves and their lives to each other in front of the kingdom first, before retreating to a private ceremony that consisted of their closest family and friends. After that, they lived together for a few more years, even procuring a cottage outside in the forest for them to retreat to when they wanted the quiet.
However, there was something missing. Something the both of them found that they desired, and that was a child of their own.
Being two men, they were unable to have children of natural means, so instead, they followed the king's example and they took in two children who were in need of a family. These two children lost their parents when they were only babies and their story caught the attention of the squire - who was now a knight - and the noble - who became one of the king's most trusted advisors - and they decided to take these two children in as their own.
It was hard at the beginning. They decided to live in their cottage away from the luxuries of life in the palace. This was their family and they were going to give it a quiet start. There were many times when only one of them were present as their family grew up. The knight had to protect the kingdom and the advisor had to aid the kingdom politically. Their efforts helped the kingdom remain prosperous, but their family suffered for it.
Their children were old enough to start asking questions and object to not always being together as exactly what they were supposed to be - a family. In the end, the knight and the advisor decided to return to the palace where they had their own family and friends to support them. This way they would not have to be away from each other as long, because they rarely had to leave the palace to attend to their duties.
Now they were finally able to grow together as a family just as they wanted to. They got to watch their children grow up and become interested in the kingdom and the tales of the mysterious 'dark knights', the shadows of justice that were still being spotted within the kingdom even after so many years.
The knight and the advisor felt that they were blessed. Their family was as close as they wished it to be when they first considered having a family and it was only getting larger as time went on.
After so many years, even they still had growing to do together, but that was the ideal scenario for them. As long as they had each other, nothing else mattered. No obstacle could keep them apart and there would be nothing in all the lands that would keep them down.
That was how much they loved each other and how much they will continue loving each other until the very end."
"You're going to give them fantastical dreams if you keep going on like that."
"What can I say? I'm a romantic at heart." Jason looked over at the doorway, where Tim was leaning against the casing with his arms crossed over his chest.
Tim ducked his head, but not before Jason caught the smile on his lips. "Too much of a romantic. Fantasy kingdoms, magic, and true love?"
Jason carefully extracted himself from the bed, tucking Asher and Zoe into bed. Like a well-oiled machine, he and Tim slipped out of the bedroom without waking the children up. "Are you telling me that my stories aren't good, Tim?"
"I'm telling you that you're hopeless." Tim smoothed down the collar of Jason's shirt, pressing up close against him.
"Is that right?" Jason wrapped an arm around Tim's waist. "You're acting like you weren't listening along the entire time. You could've intervened, you sap."
Tim scoffed under his breath, looking up at Jason from under his eyelashes. "I didn't want to interrupt. The kids would've complained."
"Yeah, sure." Jason smiled as he leaned down to kiss Tim. Their lips brushed together and they fell into an easy rhythm, one that had been perfected over the years that they'd been together. A rhythm that still made Jason's breath hitch every single time, not matter how fleeting a kiss may be.
They parted as Tim pulled away, but Jason could still feel the phantom caress of Tim’s lips. "The advisor would like to spend time with the knight. It's been a very long day and they were apart for most of it," Tim said with a gentle smile.
"All he has to do is ask." Tim didn't even have to do that. Any moment that they could get together was an opportunity to be taken in Jason's mind. He grabbed one of Tim's hands and kissed his knuckles. "The knight will never turn his advisor down."