Work Text:
Once upon a time there was a faerie prince of the forests who loved a mortal knight of Albion. The prince was good-hearted and gentle, and once his heart was given, he would never waver. He longed to whisk the knight away to the lands of Faerie, but captive love is not true love, so he wooed the knight with clever gifts and help in his quests.
The magic dagger could only be wielded by the knight, for no others could touch it without great pain. The armor protected the knight from all harm. In the summer it was cool as an autumn breeze, and in winter it kept the knight warm as spring sunshine. The horse was the finest steed in the prince’s stable, white as moonlight, surefooted as a goat. It became a loyal companion throughout the knight’s adventures.
The devotion was not one-sided. As the faerie prince gifted the knight, so too did the knight gift the prince. Knowing the prince’s delight in flowers and natural things, the knight brought beautiful plants for the prince to keep in remembrance of him while he was away. (And also, the knight was a bit awful at talking about feelings, so the flowers spoke for him.)
The bellflowers represented the faerie world, as well as humility and reverence, for the knight was honored by the depth of the faerie prince’s regard. The morning glories were bittersweet. They celebrated love, the kind that could withstand eternity, but also represented love in vain, for the knight was painfully aware of his own mortality. Finally, he brought the prince a blue rose--a powerful wish-granting flower so rare that knights could spend their entire lives searching for it and never glimpsing even one. Wars were fought and lives were lost over the possession of even a single bloom, and yet the knight freely gifted it to his prince.
After many years and wars and gifts, the knight decided that his long service was done. He was weary in body and soul from his battles. The world was moving on, the old Queen he had served so faithfully died and was replaced. The prince, who had waited for him all this time, received the knight into his court joyfully. The knight was mournful about the lost time, for he was aging and the faerie prince was eternally young and beautiful.
But this is not where the story ends. The prince had safeguarded the blue rose with hope all that time, and now he returned such a powerful gift to the knight, freely and without greed, saying that if knight stayed with the prince in the land of faerie, he could wish for youth and life as eternal as the prince’s and they could be together.
The knight pricked his finger on a sharp thorn and made his wish. The two of them lived happily ever after in the land of the faerie, and were good rulers to their people. It is said that sometimes, when the world is grim and dark, a mysterious knight riding a white horse and bearing a shield with a blue rose appears to sort out trouble.