Frustrated, the Prince hopped up on the slab and pulled his love to his side.

Both armies grew silent; for the first time, they could see love. It radiated out, spreading across both armadas.

“You know not why you fight,” the Prince said. “But both kingdoms waste resources and time hating the other. To what end? Isn’t it better to love than punish those who love?” He brought the Knight’s hand to his lips and kissed it.

Just then, the Prince’s father, the King, stepped up and into the temple. “He’s right,” he said. “This fighting is senseless.”

The Queen from the Knight’s kingdom did the same. “I agree, though I suspect it will take some time to get used to new ideas.”

The King looked at the two men then to his army. “What I see here is True Love.”

With his words, the heavens opened, and a bolt of lightning shot up from the Prince and the Knight into the clouds, illuminating the dark night sky. They watched with awe as a figure made of electricity formed above them, Lightning. A rumbling roared across the skies as Thunder emerged to greet his long-lost love.

“Only when the hearts of both Kingdoms Below the Skies are ready to accept those they deem outcasts, and welcome the true love sparked from twin male souls, will the spell be broken,” the Witch repeated. “It doesn’t mean all hearts have changed or will change, but change starts small.”

She swirled into the sky. Her haggard appearance melted away, revealing a brilliant sorceress dripping in diamonds and gemstones of many colors. With a wave of her wand, the night sky disappeared like a drawn curtain that revealed the sun. The two armies ceased their fighting, and a year-long celebration reigned across both kingdoms, who welcomed the Sky Titans back with open arms. Though there were many who opposed those once considered outcasts, the kingdoms were, for the first time in centuries, peaceful and prosperous, reveling the rains and seasons the Titans brought back to the lands.

The Prince and the Knight were married at the temple, with Thunder and Lightning presiding over the ceremony.

Somewhere between the two kingdoms, they continued their adventures, together, and weathered the inevitable storms.

And they lived.

Chapter 27

27

“Where are they?” My hands shake as I crane my neck looking out into the crowd. Taughannock Gallery, the lecture hall on the second floor of the campus center, is filling quickly. Five hundred seats plus standing room. That’s at least one thousand eyeballs on “The Prince Who Captured Lightning.” At once.