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I
“Kill me now, King of Night, but my people will never stop fighting!”
“On the contrary, Prince Robert of Day, you have been a worthy opponent and I detest waste. I propose an alliance. Sealed by marriage.”
“I have no unmarried sisters.”
“I would marry you.”
Oh, shit, Hob thought, looking up at the gorgeous King of Night and Dreams.
“I accept.”
II
The boat was decked with flowers for victory, but the crowd was scarce and silent as they neared the dock.
“I want you to know I have my eye on you,” the Nightmare General warned Hob. “You may have agreed to this, but the war is not over and I have no reason to trust you.”
Hob fixed his eyes on the King, who was standing majestically in the prow of the boat. “The real war is against the Morningstar, who stole Dawn from all of us when she Fell. I disagreed with my father when he refused to let you cross our land to take the war to her, and I will gladly fight by your side until she is finished.”
The General grunted sceptically in response.
”You can trust me,” Hob replied blithely, and the General saw that his heart already belonged to the King.
*
“I crown you, Robert Gadling of Day, Prince-Consort of the Realm of Night and Dreams.”
III
“I take you, Robert Gadling of Day, as my consort, and swear to remain true to you for the rest of my nights.”
“I swear to defend this Realm with my sword and my life, and to remain true to you, Dream Endless, King of Night and Dreams, for the rest of my days.”
IV
“Do not worry, Robert. I will not touch you unless you want me to,” Dream whispered in his ear that night as he left for his adjoining chamber.
Well, this is awkward, thought Hob. How do I tell him that I’m nervous because I’m attracted to him and he seems so unattainable, not because I’m only here for the politics of it all?
V
“Lucifer Morningstar is moving again. Our new allies, the Kingdom of Day, are requesting our aid in repelling her advances,” the Nightmare General briefed the council.
“I will go,” Dream pronounced.
“No,” chorused the General, Hob and several advisors.
“In this case, your skills with magic are better put to use here, where you can weaken the Morningstar’s influence over her followers using all your arcane paraphernalia,” the General argued.
“I will go with the army,” Hob volunteered. “You can give me a talisman connecting us, to carry the magic to her.”
“I have an additional idea, then, if you must go,” Dream conceded.
The next morning, Hob departed under Night’s banner, the Nightmare General by his side, an iron circlet binding his forehead and an ancient sword at his side.
VI
“Dawn cedes to Day, Morningstar!”
Lucifer laughed mockingly at him. “I’ve broken your silly magical talisman. All you have left is your Day Sword. Surely you don’t think you can harm me with that!” She swiped at his side, her claws piercing his armor and scoring a deep wound.
Hob used the last of his strength to plunge his sword through her neck.
“This is the Sword of Evening, my true love’s gift!”
Fear entered her eyes as Evening, bane of Dawn, drank down her immortality.
I sure hope that’s done it, Hob thought as he collapsed on top of her.
VII
What am I going to do without him? Dream wondered as the Day Sword shattered in the magical glass he’d suspended it in. Robert’s blood dripped from the glass, and the horns and candles bound to his circlet smoked red.
How will I go on, even if the Morningstar is defeated, without my love? When…when did I start to love him, and why did I not realize this sooner? There are so many things I wish I had said to him.
VIII
“Robert! Robert, don’t leave me…I love you,” Dream sobbed over his consort’s wounded form.
“Ooooohhhh,” groaned Hob, briefly regaining consciousness. “Hob, it’s Hob. I love you too, you know.” His head fell back on the pillow again and Dream clutched desperately at him.
“Let it happen,” Hob whispered. ”I’ll come back to you anyway. Kiss me, my lord.”
“I love you, Hob,” Dream moaned, and took his hand, and bent his head, and pressed their lips together at long last.
IX
Dream sat vigil beside Hob’s body as it lay beneath the sheet.
“We won, you know. My magic weakened the Morningstar enough that your blow with the Sword of Evening was enough to destroy not only her current body but her immortality as well. Haha. It just occurred to me that that Sword is significantly more powerful when gifted in the service of true love. I guess we didn’t even know we were doing that. But anyway. You killed her.” Dream worried the bloodied bandage still in his hand, then took Hob’s pale hand in his own.
“I hope you are correct that this is not an immortally fatal wound. I hope it heals overnight, now that I’ve neutralized Morningstar’s magic. Oh, Hob, I hope we have many more nights and days together, so that I can tell you how much I love you.”
X
“Aaarrrrgggghhh!” Hob screamed and arched from the bed. Dream pulled the sheet from him and cradled him in his arms.
“Hob…Hob, are you okay?”
“Argh, Dream! Oh … Ah! … Yes… yes. Yes, I think I’m going to be okay now. Phew, that last bit was rough!”
Dream clasped him in his arms. “I’m never going to let you go again.”
XI
Hob rejoiced as Dawn began to break over the now-joined Kingdoms. “Last Night was the first dark Night the people of Day have had in some time.”
“It has been months since the people of Night have seen a clear Day.” Dream lifted Hob’s hand and bowed his head to kiss it.
XII
The people of Night and Day cheered wildly as Day broke more fully in the sky. Dream, King of Night and Dreams, and Robert, Prince of Day and Prince-Consort of Night and Dreams, smiled out at them.
“This is your doing, my love,” Dream whispered into Hob’s ear as he leaned against him.
“No, my heart, we did it together.”