Drafted into battle by a wicked Queen
Two intrepid Knights gaze into the night
Each clutching a heart to their breast.
Both begin their quest
Riding into the sunrise
Toward a future unknown.
The Queen, in her hatred of those pure of heart
Visited a curse upon the Knights on the eve of their birth
Through dark magic she removed their hearts
Stealing their purity
Turning one to glass, The other steel
Before switching one for the other
It was in this way
The heroes lived through countless quests
Puppets of a Queen who sought only
To use them for her own ends.
The Knights could know nothing
Of joy, or confidence, or love
So emptied were they by the Queen's curse
Yet raised as Champions of the Kingdom
Each knew their worth
Fighting valiantly in the name of duty and honor
Reveling in the adoration and tributes that were offered
They faced many trials alone
Fighting for the same Kingdom
Never side by side.
Until the Queen, blinded by avarice
Dispatched her two champions
The quest doomed to fail.
Before a lake of fire
The first to arrive dismounts his steed
A steel heart dropping from his breastplate
His face betrays no emotion as
He draws sword from scabbard
Determinedly entering the lake of flame.
Unseen, the second arrival dismounts,
Sword in hand, charging the flames
No concern for safety in his countenance.
What should he see,
But another valiant Knight
Tangled in the flames
Armor red from the heat
Face dripping blood
As the licking flames flay his skin
Crackling like a whip
Halting in admiration of his compatriot to the fight
He grasps a glass heart worn around his chest.
"I'll not see you die today." says he, charging the flames
Beating back flames with his own armor and sword
The two Knights now stand
Backs together amidst tumultuous flames
Holding back immolation
Each has the help of the other until,
Moving as one, they leap to safety
Leaving the lake of fire to separate them from their home
"Are you hurt?" says the first
No response comes.
Crawling to his comrade in arms
Strong hands force apart armor
Only to cry out in agony at
An empty hole in his chest
Through tears of anger
He tears away his own, useless armor
Revealing a matching hole in his own, empty chest.
Gently, almost tenderly,
He removes the heart of glass from his neck
These many years, saying only
"Take back that which was taken from you."
With a start, the Knight gasps
Sitting upright, Eyes immediately fixed
Upon his saviors chest.
He clutches the heart around his neck,
The steel ever cold in his hands.
"You saved me." says he.
Only a nod in response.
"You've returned something I'd lost."
Another nod.
Holding up the heart of steel, he says
"Then I shall return this to you."
Placing the heart where it once belonged
And belonged again
The curse is lifted
And each now sees in the other
What had been missing before
"I don't recognize this feeling." says Glass
"Nor do I," answers Steel
"Though I've oft heard of a feeling that creates the elation this must be."
"What?" asks Glass
"Love." comes the answer.
The two Knights set out hand in hand
Moving forward
Into a world of infinite possibility
Leaving behind evil Queens, curses and battles
One a Poet
The other a Prince
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