When Day and Night Met
Jan. 2nd, 2020 05:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yami0204Title: When Day and Night Met
Genre: Fairy tale
Rating: G
Until one day when the Eagle Lord became greedy, hungry for more power than he already had. He desired to have total control of the sky and its celestial bodies. Against the wishes of his people and the gods, he began a war with the owl clan in hopes of decimation.
The eagle clan’s forces attacked the owl clan as they slept during the day. It was a massacre that ended in the deaths of many. In response to this destruction, the Owl King sought to make peace with the Eagle Lord, but the Eagle Lord did not want peace.
Taking up arms, the owl clan gave the Eagle Lord what he wanted, fighting tirelessly for many months. As the war waged, the other animal clans watched as it played out, none taking sides in this fight. Whichever of the sky clans won would determine who would supremely command the seasons and the celestial bodies. Knowing they had little power to intervene, the other animal clans waited as the sky clans struggled against each other.
The two factions fought and fought until the Eagle Lord arranged for a cruel peace treaty. In exchange for a period of peace, the Owl King would give the Eagle Lord his youngest son. So long as the Owl Prince lived, peace would be maintained among the two clans. The seasons would shift as they had before, and the celestial bodies would rise and fall as they had before.
The Eagle Lord made no promises against harming the Owl Prince once the treaty had been signed.
With the agreement made, the Owl King sent his youngest son to the lands of the eagle clan, knowing that he would never return to his home alive. As the Owl Prince set into his carriage to ride towards his fate, he wept and wept as he mourned the loss of his family, his home, his people, and his freedom.
Upon his arrival to the capitol of the eagle clan, the Owl Prince was escorted through town on foot by armed guards. The villagers watched him grimly as he stepped towards clan leader’s house. The Eagle Lord’s house was smaller than the Owl King’s palace, which surprised the Owl Prince. He wondered why such a powerful clan would have such a small home for their leader to live in.
As they entered the house, the guards paraded the Owl Prince through the hallways and corridors as though showing the prince what he would never see again.
“Where is my cell to be?” asked the Owl Prince as the guards led him deeper into the house.
The guards said nothing as they marched him to the back of the house, stopping in front of a door. The door had no bars and seemed to be an ordinary door, and when the door was opened, it revealed a room that looked nothing like a prison cell at all. The room was beautifully decorated with plush bedding and fine furniture. A large window with rich curtains allowed for the room to be well lit, and everything in the room sparkled from how clean it was. The Owl Prince stood stunned at the sight.
“The Eagle Lord’s room is next to this one,” said one of the guards. The guard gestured to a door on the wall that likely led to the Eagle Lord’s bed chamber. “He wishes to keep you near him.”
This knowledge diminished the Owl Prince’s spirit completely. He was to be a toy for the Eagle Lord. Knowing his fate, the Owl Prince collapsed onto his new bed and wept as the guards locked him away in his beautiful cage.
The Owl Prince had met the Eagle Lord only once in his life, long ago when he was much younger and far more innocent. He remembered the Eagle Lord to be as ugly as his ambition, and the Owl Prince was disgusted at the idea of being anywhere near the man. The Eagle Lord had made the prince uncomfortable when he was a child, and even now as a young man he continued to be uncomfortable with the thought of being so close to him. The Owl Prince cried himself to sleep, nightmares eating his dreams as he waited for his vile captor to unlock the door.
As the mid-afternoon sun began to dip towards the horizon, the Owl Prince was awakened by the clicking of the lock on the door. He started awake and look to the door in terror as it slowly lurched open. A dark shadow loomed in the doorway and the prince knew his fate had arrived. The Eagle Lord had come to claim him.
“You’re awake,” said the shadow. The voice sounded nothing like the Eagle Lord that the Owl Prince remembered. This voice sounded younger. Curiously, the Owl Prince assessed the figure as he cautiously entered the room, finding the silhouette to be wrong. It was a young man who entered. He wore the Eagle Lord’s mask and finery, just as the prince wore his owl mask, but this young man was entirely different from the Eagle Lord that the prince had met in his youth.
“You are not the Eagle Lord,” said the Owl Prince now that the young man was fully in the light. “Who are you?”
The young man stopped halfway between the door and the bed before he replied, “You think of my father, but he is dead. I am the Eagle Lord from this day until my death.” Aware of the Owl Prince’s confusion, the young Eagle Lord stepped carefully to the prince, offering him a key. The prince looked at the key in his hand as the Eagle Lord explained, “This key will give you access to any door in my home. Use it well. I will see you for dinner.”
With the key now given to the Owl Prince, the Eagle Lord exited the room, leaving the prince’s door unlocked as he shut the door quietly.
When dinnertime approached, the Owl Prince joined the Eagle Lord in the small dining hall. A simple meal of rabbit stew had been prepared. While they ate their stew quietly, the Owl Prince again worried of his fate. With the old lord dead, what would become of the agreement that brought him here?
Sensing his worry, the Eagle Lord said, “Negotiations will be made for a proper peace. You should not be here because of my father’s cruelty. I do not hate your people as he did.”
Though his words should have been a relief, the Owl Prince took no solace in them. The prince did not trust this new Eagle Lord. He was saying the correct words, but words alone would not bring trust.
They quietly ate their rabbit stew and parted to their rooms to rest.
While the eagles slept, the Owl Prince stayed awake. Nighttime was his daytime and he was growing restless. He thought to the Eagle Lord’s words and remembered the key he had been given. Quietly, the prince left his room to explore the Eagle Lord’s home. Through silent halls he roamed until he found a room of interest to him: a library. Using the key the Eagle Lord had given him, the Owl Prince opened the door to the library and found within a trove of books he had never seen before. All that night he read the epics of the eagle clan, learning their history and lore as the moon lit their pages, and as the first rays of sunlight peered into the library windows, the prince left for his bedroom while his mind was filled of the lovely tales of the eagle clan.
As the Owl Prince approached his room, he found the door to be open and a figure was seated on his bed. To his surprise, it was the Eagle Lord seated there, his face in his hands and looking mournful.
“What troubles you, my lord?” asked the Owl Prince as he entered his bedroom.
The Eagle Lord looked up at the Owl Prince in shock, as though seeing a ghost appear before him.
“You’re still here,” said the Eagle Lord with great relief. “I worried that you fled while I slept. I’m glad to see you stayed.”
“I merely explored your home,” said the Owl Prince. “You gave me a key and I used it. I found your library and read all night. Your books are lovely.”
The Eagle Lord wore a smile, but it was wiped from his face quickly as he asked, “Why did you not use the key to escape? Why stay when you could have easily fled?”
The Owl Prince thought on this a moment then replied, “I saw no reason to leave. You have treated me well. The least I can do to repay your kindness is to stay until a new treaty is drawn. Your home is lovely and this is my first time beyond owl lands. I should like to stay for a while and see more of your homeland.”
The Eagle Lord was glad of this and left the Owl Prince’s bed. He knew that the prince needed his rest, and made his way towards the door.
“Sleep well,” he told the prince as he left.
The Owl Prince nodded as the door was shut and again kept unlocked for him. As the prince prepared himself for sleep, shutting the curtains and undressing, he smiled at the kindness being treated to him by the young Eagle Lord. It was an odd circumstance that he found himself in, yet the young lord was doing his best in this situation. The Owl Prince relaxed in his bed that morning and his nightmares did not return.
As mid-afternoon sun leaked through the window curtains, the Owl Prince arose to his belly rumbling. Remembering his adventures through the house the night before, he knew where the kitchen was and hoped to find something light to eat before the Eagle Lord had dinner prepared for them. While moving through the halls that now bustled with activity, he chanced upon a room where he heard the young Eagle Lord’s voice coming from. Curious, he stopped near the closed door and listened to what was being said.
“I am not my father,” said the Eagle Lord. “I refuse to harm the Owl Prince. My father’s plans are not my own. He shall stay safe while in my care.”
“But the preparations have already been made,” said the lord’s advisor. The Owl Prince remembered the man’s voice from when he was small. He disliked the advisor as much as he had disliked the former lord. “This was your father’s last request before he bravely died in battle.”
“He was not brave and I am not him!” the Eagle Lord roared.
From the other side of the door, the Owl Prince shuddered. Whatever plans had been made for him, he had no desire to know them. If the young Eagle Lord could not follow through with his father’s wishes, then whatever was planned must have been terrible indeed.
The Owl Prince decided to listen no longer, stealing away to the kitchen to eat porridge for his mid-afternoon meal. When he saw the Eagle Lord for supper, he did not mention the conversation he overheard. Instead, they talked of lighter topics before the Eagle Lord went to bed and the Owl Prince hid himself in the library again. This began a ritual between the two. In the morning, they would quietly eat breakfast together, the Owl Prince would sleep the day away while the Eagle Lord ruled his lands, and when the evening came, they lightly spoke as they ate dinner together before the Eagle Lord slept the night away and the Owl Prince read in the library or the garden.
Days turned to weeks until one evening the Owl Prince was joined in the garden as he read by moonlight. The Eagle Lord walked under the starlight, past the sleeping flowers, and greeted the Owl Prince where he sat reading a book in the darkness.
“My lord,” said the Owl Prince in surprise, “what brings you here this late at night?”
“I wanted to see you,” replied the Eagle Lord as he sat down next to the prince.
“You see me every day,” said the prince. “Why is this different?”
“This is informal,” said the lord. He pulled off his mask and set it aside, letting the prince see his face behind it for the first time. The Owl Prince knew that the Eagle Lord was young, but he had no idea that he would also be handsome. He appeared similar in age to the prince, his eyes a piercing shade of blue and his hair a warm chestnut hue. “May I see your face, too?” asked the lord.
The Owl Prince nodded, setting down his book and removing his owl mask to reveal his face to the young lord. Beneath it were bright blue eyes that shined in the darkness and short, pale hair like silver moonlight. He smiled at the lord, and the lord smiled back at him.
“You’re handsome,” said the lord, glancing away to look at the moon. “I feared that you would be.”
“Why would you fear that, my lord?” asked the prince.
The Eagle Lord shook his head, continuing it to gaze at the night sky. “Do you really command the moon and the stars? Do you truly command the tides?”
“In a way, we do,” said the Owl Prince, following the lord’s gaze. “The owl clan is filled of scholars and priests and prophets. We do not so much command the night sky as predict its comings and goings. I assume that you eagles do not command the sun to rise and set. I doubt that you have such control over the weather, either.”
“Children’s tales,” said the young lord. “Only the gods control such things, but the other clans assume it is our job instead. It’s foolishness.”
“It is, but it’s quite poetic,” said the prince.
Quiet fell between them, as it always did. They knew little about each other and knew not what to speak of. For a time, they enjoyed the moonlight as the wind blew through the trees and the crickets played their songs.
“I came for another reason,” said the Eagle Lord. “There is a festival soon, and I would like you to come as a gesture of goodwill. Our clans have fought for so long. It might do you well to experience our clan without the weight of war.”
“I would like that,” said the Owl Prince. “Will it be during the day?”
“Yes,” replied the lord.
The Owl Prince frowned, “Then I will need to change when I sleep if I am to stay here.”
“You said that you wished to see my homeland, but you must be awake to see it,” said the young lord.
“I can do this,” said the prince with a sigh. “As beautiful as the night is here, it would be livelier with others to experience it with.”
“I am here now,” said the lord. “We can enjoy some of this evening together before I sleep. You must be lonely without anyone to talk to.”
“That is true,” said the prince. “I love to read your books, but to hold a conversation is a dream.”
“Then your dream is real now that I’m here,” said the young lord, grinning as he spoke. “Let us talk and enjoy the evening until I grow too tired to enjoy it any further.”
And so they did. They talked and laughed and enjoyed the evening until the Eagle Lord yawned and rubbed his eyes, growing too tired to enjoy it any further. The Owl Prince walked the Eagle Lord back to his room and followed the lord’s lead. The prince decided to go to bed then, hoping to slowly learn to sleep at night and be awake in the day.
A week left them before the day of the festival arrived. The Owl Prince was becoming used to being awake in the sunlight, though the sun bothered his eyes. His owl mask helped, but it would take time for him to completely adjust. In the meantime, the Owl Prince and the Eagle Lord were growing closer and closer. The Owl Prince was allowed to accompany the Eagle Lord to other towns and villages in eagle territory, and each new place the prince visited was surprising and interesting. He feared that the eagles would treat him poorly, but he was only met with kindness and sympathy. They knew his situation and they knew the young Eagle Lord was trying to fix the damage his father had done.
On the day of the festival, the Owl Prince met with the Eagle Lord and they strode out together to join the merriment. Songs were sung and dances were danced, and though the Owl Prince did not know any of the songs or the dances, he enjoyed it all nonetheless. He ate local food and tasted local drink and took in all of the art and culture on display. The Eagle Lord stayed at his side as a regal guardian to the curious Owl Prince. And as the day came to an end, a large bonfire was lit and everyone danced merrily around it. As the royal pair watched, the Eagle Lord took the Owl Prince’s hand in his own and smiled. Even with his face obscured by his mask, the Owl Prince could sense the joy behind the Eagle Lord’s eyes. Quietly, they held hands and watched as the commoners enjoyed their celebration.
The next morning, the Owl Prince awoke to find the Eagle Lord in his room. Without his mask or his fine clothes, he looked so ordinary yet beautiful to the prince. The Owl Prince apologized for not waking earlier, but the Eagle Lord shook his head.
“I am here for a reason,” said the Eagle Lord as he sat on the Owl Prince’s bed.
The Owl Prince sat up in his bed and asked, “What troubles you, my lord?”
“May we talk as people and not royalty?” asked the young lord.
“Certainly,” replied the prince.
“Do you know how my father died?” asked the lord and the prince shook his head. “He died on the battlefield at the hands of your finest warriors. While his cruel peace treaty was being signed and you were being prepared for him, he was still waging a fruitless war against your people. Peace never mattered to him. He wanted your lands. It was never about ownership of the sky and the celestial bodies. When I was a child, he visited your homeland and witnessed its bounty and schemed of how to claim your riches as his own. He was a terrible leader, a terrible husband, and a terrible father, neglecting my mother and me to fight his petty wars to obtain his petty prizes. He refused to be at my mother’s deathbed and didn’t come to my mother’s funeral when she died.”
The young lord’s bitterness was clear in his tone and the Owl Prince looked at him with sympathy. “You are already better than him,” said the Owl Prince gently. “You are warm and kind and sincere. You’ve treated me so well since my arrival and I’m glad that we’re so close that you can tell me such things.”
“My father had plans to take you for his pleasure,” the lord grimaced. “He’d been fond of you since you were small and it made me sick to know that he thought more of you than he did of me. When you arrived here, I thought to execute you so I could never think of how fond of you he was, but I chose kindness instead. It’s not your fault that he was such a disgusting man. Seeing how you’ve grown to be an adult, I doubt he would have wanted you. He still thought of you as an innocent boy without thought to the passage of time.”
The Owl Prince felt sick at this knowledge. What he had suspected was true. He was meant to be a toy for the previous Eagle Lord and the wrongness of it settled deep in his stomach.
“His plans are not my plans,” the young lord continued. “He was to torture you in the day and take you to his bed at night. This room was once my bedroom, but he sent me to live elsewhere in the house as he prepared this room for you. He added that door so it could only be opened from the Eagle Lord’s chamber. I have only used it twice since your arrival. The first was when I heard that you were not in your room that first night you were here. The second is this morning. I hate that door. I hate my father.”
“Your father was a cruel and wretched man,” said the Owl Prince as he set a hand atop the Eagle Lord’s. “Though this place was meant to be a prison, you have made it a fine home for me while I stay here. The generosity and comfort you give me has made me think of you not as a captor, but as a friend. You are not your father, my lord.”
“I’m glad you think this,” replied the lord. “I will leave you to dress and you can join me for a meal when you’re ready. The Owl King’s advisor arrived earlier this morning and negotiations for your return to the owl clan are being made today.”
“My father did not come?” asked the prince.
The Eagle Lord shook his head, “My father’s treaty forbade him to enter our lands without being immediately executed. Until a new treaty is drawn, my father’s old treaty still stands.”
The Owl Prince was dismayed at this news, having never learned the full details of the treaty beyond his part as a pawn for the Eagle Lord. Seeing the sadness on the prince’s face, the young lord took his leave through the door that connected their rooms. On either side of the door, both men dressed in their finest clothing then ate their morning meal together before greeting the Owl King’s advisor.
The Owl King’s advisor was stunned to find the Owl Prince doing well and in great mood and health. It had been assumed by all in the owl lands that the prince was being tortured and abused, but the Owl Prince said nothing but praise of his treatment by the Eagle Lord. He showed the advisor his beautiful bedroom and took the lead when giving a tour of the Eagle Lord’s home and clan house. The advisor could find no words to say as they entered the great hall for the negotiations to begin.
The terms that the owl clan brought before the eagle clan were unreasonable. They had anticipated the young Eagle Lord to be as much of a tyrant as his father, which made the Owl King’s terms appear to be tyrannical instead. The owl clan expected to fight for the return of their prince, but such a fight was unnecessary.
Without a treaty drawn that day, the Owl King’s advisor returned to owl lands, leaving the Owl Prince in the care of the Eagle Lord once more.
The Owl Prince had arrived in the spring of that year and summer had arrived. The sun shined strongly through the Owl Prince’s windows each day, but now he could face it without wincing or cursing its brightness. He arose in the morning like an eagle, and slept in the evening like an eagle. As his days melded together, meshing cleanly as he grew closer and closer to the Eagle Lord, he felt himself becoming a part of the eagle clan. He looked like an owl and felt like an owl, but the eagles had accepted him as their own and made him feel welcome.
Negotiations lagged between the two clans, neither clan wanting an absolute return to how things were before the war. They had all changed, for better or worse, and this change stalled the peace process.
After a frustrating day of negotiations stagnating yet again, the Eagle Lord left for bed without supper in his belly. This worried the Owl Prince, as he had never seen the young lord so agitated before. When he had finished hi s evening meal, the prince took a bowl of soup and a glass of wine with him for the Eagle Lord to eat. He knew that sleeping while both angry and hungry was a terrible combination.
“May I enter?” asked the Owl Prince as he knocked on the Eagle Lord’s door.
A mumbled sound was the response and the prince took the noise to be a yes. Using the key the young lord had given him, the prince unlocked the Eagle Lord’s door and entered.
The Eagle Lord was huddled beneath his blankets, a hump in the center of his bed. The Owl Prince set the tray of food he’d brought on a table and sat at the edge of the Eagle Lord’s bed. He reached a hand out to lightly touch the hump on the bed, hoping to soothe the lord underneath.
“My lord,” said the Owl Prince gently, “I know the negotiations have been going poorly, but your rage will not make them easier.”
“Am I too selfish? Am I too stubborn?” asked the lord as he pulled his blankets away. The Owl Prince removed his hand as this happened, giving the lord ample room to move. “I fear that I’m becoming like my father. He was selfish and stubborn, too.”
The Owl Prince shook his head, pulling his mask from his face to show the Eagle Lord his gentle smile. “You only want what is best for both of our peoples and for me. That isn’t selfishness. If anything, it is my father who is being selfish and stubborn. He thinks that I’m in danger by being here, despite how his advisor tells him that I’m well.”
“You don’t realize it, do you?” said the Eagle Lord quietly, pulling his own mask from his face. His expression was pained and this worried the prince greatly.
“Have I missed an important detail of the negotiations?” asked the prince, a panic filling his mind. He thought certainly that he had been paying clear attention during every meeting, but now he feared that he was mistaken.
The Eagle Lord laughed and moved closer to the prince, reaching out a hand to touch the other man’s chin. “I’m in love with you. That is what you missed.”
The Owl Prince looked at the Eagle Lord in stunned silence. He had no words to say. His mind had grown quiet.
The young lord pulled his hand away from the prince’s chin, sadness seeping into his vision. “I don’t want you to leave, but I know that you must. I have allowed for these negotiations to last far too long, I fear. It’s because I’m selfish; I want you near me forever. It’s because I’m stubborn; I can’t think of letting you go.”
The Owl Prince drew himself up from the bed, shaking his head as he spoke, “You are just like your father.”
Those words pierced cleanly through the Eagle Lord’s heart, sadness stinging his eyes.
Swiftly the Owl Prince retrieved his mask and exited the Eagle Lord’s room, leaving the young lord to weep under his blankets, his dinner left untouched through the night.
The Eagle Lord’s advisor visited the Owl Prince in the morning, instructing the prince to pack his things and prepare himself to return to owl lands. The Owl Prince did not struggle with the decision at all, clearing away everything he brought with him and leaving the bedroom as he had found it upon his arrival. The Eagle Lord did not see the Owl Prince off, and no one questioned if this was a violation of the treaty. It was within the Eagle Lord’s right to do as he pleased, and this was his command.
When the Owl Prince returned to his people, his home, and his family, all rejoiced at his arrival. A celebration was prepared, but the Owl Prince did not attend. He was tired and unaccustomed to being awake at night anymore. No one questioned his absence. They accepted that he must have been exhausted from his journey and his captivity, and left him alone to recover.
Summer was drawing to its end without a treaty negotiated between the two clans. Negotiations had stopped as the Eagle Lord fell into despair. All in the eagle clan knew how fond of the Owl Prince the young lord had been, and they felt sympathy for him now that the prince was back with his family and his people.
It was decided that negotiations be moved to owl territory to expedite the proceedings. The Eagle Lord packed a small bag for the trip and boarded a carriage with only his advisor and the carriage driver. The lord refused to speak during the journey, wallowing in his melancholy. He wanted to be excited at the thought of seeing the Owl Prince again, but instead he was miserable. The Owl King would likely keep them away from each other.
On arrival at the large and forbidding castle home of the owl clan’s leader, the Eagle Lord was met by the angry and wrathful citizens of the owl clan. They hated the eagle clan for the needless war they had waged and the needless loss of life they suffered. The Eagle Lord hid his sadness and shame behind his eagle mask as he was presented before the court of the owl clan leader.
Seated upon a dais was the royal family of the owl clan. The Owl King and his queen were seated at the center of the dais, to the king’s right was the eldest of the owl princes, and on the queen’s left was the youngest of the owl princes. The Eagle Lord looked at the young Owl Prince next to his mother and could not tell if he was happier or not to be home again.
The king greeted the Eagle Lord and his entourage before declaring that negotiations would begin the next evening, allowing for the Eagle Lord and his advisor to rest and prepare themselves for the negotiations. They were taken to their bedrooms for the evening by the Owl King’s finest guards and left alone to sleep. In his unfamiliar room, the Eagle Lord thought to the Owl Prince seated next to his mother and smiled. He was glad to see the prince one last time.
In the middle of the night, the Eagle Lord was awakened by a knock at his door. He allowed the visitor to enter, and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes to properly see who was there. To his surprise, the silhouette was familiar and he knew it to be that of the young Owl Prince. The lord scurried to sit up in bed, patting his hair down as the prince walked to the bed and sat down upon it.
“I’m sorry to wake you,” said the Owl Prince as he pulled his mask from his face. “It’s lunchtime for the owl clan at this time of night, but I wanted to visit you instead.”
The Eagle Lord moved to sit next to the Owl Prince and said, “I thought they would keep us apart.”
“They wanted to, but I told them no,” said the Owl Prince. “All these weeks that passed me by now that I’m home, and all that time I thought only of how much I missed you. Even if they had forced me to stay away from you, I would have tried my hardest to see you if only for a moment.”
“You missed me?” asked the lord.
“I did,” replied the prince. “It was wrong of me to say that you’re like your father. You’re not like your father at all. I was simply afraid of admitting to myself that I’m in love with you, too.”
The Eagle Lord had no words to say beyond looking at the prince in surprise. He had thought certainly that the Owl Prince did not love him, yet the words had escaped the young man’s mouth just as they had freed themselves from the Eagle Lord’s mouth weeks prior.
The Owl Prince offered the lord a delicate smile and took the young lord’s hand in his own. They each gazed into the other’s eyes, enraptured by their beauty in the dim light of the room. Cautiously, the Owl Prince left a kiss at the Eagle Lord’s lips, smiling sweetly to the man he loved.
“You are so kind and caring,” said the prince, “and I missed you dearly.”
“I missed you, too,” said the lord, pulling the prince into a gentle embrace.
The young royals held each other close, whispering their love for each other for many long moments. They kissed again when their embrace ended, and when their kissing finished they held each other’s gazes and laughed at how foolish they had been to ignore their feelings for one another.
“Will you marry me?” asked the Eagle Lord.
“I would love to,” said the Owl Prince sadly, “but I’m betrothed to another. A lesser tribe leader wishes to gain favor with my father and has arranged for his daughter to wed me.”
The lord laughed at this, “At the negotiations, I will ask your father for your hand. For our two clans to be joined by marriage seems far more favorable than an arranged marriage with a lesser tribe.”
Smiling, the prince said brightly, “He will be terribly surprised at this turn, but I hope that he’ll grant us this desire of ours. To be your husband would be my greatest wish. I love you so much. I want to stay with you and love you forever.”
They kissed and were overjoyed at the hope of being tied together in marriage. Neither knew for how long they had loved each other so dearly, but they each knew that their separation had been agonizing. The Owl Prince rested beside the Eagle Lord until he was asleep again, then silently left the room and went about the rest of his evening in bliss at the thought of how much he loved the Eagle Lord.
When the next evening came, negotiations began between the eagle clan and the owl clan. Many nobles and advisors from lesser tribes were at present, ready to push their desires into the treaty in hope of favorable outcomes for them all. Both owl princes were in attendance at the negotiating table, as was the queen.
“Before we begin,” said the Eagle Lord as papers and outlines were laid out on the large table of the owl clan leader’s grand hall, “I should like to ask the king something. Your answer may change how negotiations continue tonight.”
“You may ask it,” said the Owl King.
The Eagle Lord walked to the youngest of the princes and knelt before him, offering a hand to the prince. The Owl Prince smiled and took up the Eagle Lord’s hand, rising from his seat as the lord rose from the floor.
“My king, I wish to ask for your son’s hand in marriage,” said the young lord to the king and those in attendance. A gasp was let from the queen’s mouth while the others in the room remained silent. “I asked him this last night, and he has already expressed his desire to be my husband. If you will allow this union, it may bring about true peace between our people. The Owl Prince loves me dearly and I love him just the same.”
“Your kind has brought nothing but pain to my people,” the Owl King roared, “and now you wish to wed my son who is already betrothed?”
“I love him, Father,” said the prince as he held the Eagle Lord’s hand tightly. “I do not love the one you wish me to marry. If you allow me to marry the Eagle Lord, then we can have a proper peace. At least consider it, my king!”
The king shook his head in dismay. “He has deceived you into thinking you love him, my son. I cannot allow you to be taken away by this eagle scum and forced into a marriage of convenience.”
“Father, think rationally,” said the prince in desperation. “The Eagle Lord hasn’t harmed me at all. He’s only treated me with kindness and never been cruel. I love him so much that my heart hurts when I’m away from him.”
“What lies and deceits,” said the king. “I’ll hear no more of this. You will marry the lady of our fellow clansman and say no more of your misplaced affection for the Eagle Lord.”
The young royals stood defiantly, their hands locked together firmly.
The Eagle Lord spoke strongly, “Is your son’s happiness worthless to you?”
“It is the happiness of my clan that is worth more,” said the king.
“Then you’re no better than my father was,” said the Eagle Lord. He turned to the Owl Prince and smiled sadly, “I’m sorry that we can’t be together. I had no thought to your father being so cruel.”
The Owl Prince nodded, his sadness cutting his mouth downward. “I will love you even when we are apart. The time we spent together was beautiful. If it must end, then at least we met again one last time.”
Reluctantly, the two young royals let go of each other and they each returned to their seats at the negotiating table. The Owl Prince’s mother sensed her child’s sadness and hugged him close to her. He did not weep, but his heart was broken. The Eagle Lord had no comfort as that, and bravely put on a regal expression to get through the evening.
When a break was called for food and drink, the Owl Prince and the Eagle Lord stole away privately. The Owl Prince wept into the Eagle Lord’s shoulder and the Eagle Lord held the Owl Prince tightly. The Owl King’s cruelty to his son was too great for the young lord to condone. He had spent his entire life with a cruel and tyrannical father and thought surely the Owl King was wise and learned and tolerant. The Eagle Lord had been mistaken.
The young royals returned to the grand hall without their masks to hide their faces. Their sadness was exposed to all in attendance, and the Owl Queen rushed to her child and held him close to her.
“Husband, how dare you be so unkind to these young men,” said the queen as she chastised the king. “It is clear that they are in love, yet you play this game due to your prejudice against the eagle clan. This young lord has done nothing to you. He took care of our son and allowed him freedom to come home, ignoring his father’s laws entirely. Are you really so foolish to think that alliance by marriage is wrong for our clans?”
“I, too, find you are being foolish, Father,” said the eldest prince. “Even if they were not so in love, a marriage between a prince of the owl clan and the lord of the eagle clan would be advantageous to us all. For months the Eagle Lord has brought to us drafts that would be ideal for both our clans, but just as the previous Eagle Lord, you have tried to make a deal that is favorable only to one of our clans. Do you not see that you are transforming into the man you once despised?”
The Owl King looked to his family in horror as though they were all stabbing him at once. From the gallery of advisors and visiting nobles, others raised their voices in favor of the union between the Owl Prince and the Eagle Lord. Each argued how it would help morale among both clans and usher in goodwill as the clans rebuilt after the destruction of the previous Eagle Lord’s war. As everyone in attendance said their piece before the Owl King, the Eagle Lord and the Owl Prince were stunned at the support they were being given. They sat at the table together, their hands locked together, feeling empowered by the sincerity echoing through the chamber.
When all had said their words to the king, he sat in his chair and looked to his youngest son and the young lord. He was shattered as he slumped into his seat. The Owl King had been defeated by words alone.
“Please, Father,” said the Owl Prince quietly now that silence had befallen the grand hall, “let me be wedded to the Eagle Lord. Let me be the Eagle Lord's husband.”
“It seems to be the best course of action,” said the king with resign. “I was wrong to be so blind to your affection for one another and to be deaf to the previous drafts that I ignored. If your union can truly benefit both of our peoples, then it would be folly for me to deny it. I will send notice that your betrothal is dismissed and announce promptly your betrothal to the Eagle Lord, my son.”
The Eagle Lord and the Owl Prince became so happy to hear the king’s words that they kissed and embraced and wept tears of joy as all around the table was applause for the young couple. Their happiness filled the room and soon negotiations continued again, this time with the king being far more open to the ideas that the young lord presented to everyone.
Over the course of a few evenings of work, a formal treaty for peace between the eagle clan and the owl clan was finalized and signed. The Owl Prince’s previous marriage was called off, and a date was planned for the marriage between the Owl Prince and the Eagle Lord. Their wedding was planned for sunset on the day of the equinox at the border of their lands to symbolize the equality between the two sky clans. As the last ray of sunlight glowed to darkness behind the horizon on their wedding day, the lovers kissed under dazzling starlight while celebration and merriment was had around them. It is said that they never stopped looking at each other the entire night, as though seeing each other anew under the gaze of the gods above. And with their marriage, an incredible era of peace began between the eagle clan and the owl clan that the world had never witnessed before. The day and the night had met, fallen in love, and lived happily ever after.
