Gay Erotic Stories

The Young Prince by-the-Sea ...for what may ever be The small kingdom had never known such a young prince. Taller than all the of the inhabitants of this yet undiscovered city-state, the young prince would often stand at the Last Western Gate and and scan each of the swells for white caps foaming in the wind, picking out each one as he gazed all the way to the horizon. Though he kept his hair long, it was straight and golden, the longest and brightest in the kingdom. But the gold mantle was not still: it was always moving, in the shore break when he swam, on the rampart when he took his turn at guard, and in the wind when he looked out over his city's sea-border. This was in direct contrast with his countenance, which rarely moved. No matter how fast his feet and arms would take him, the prince's profile was rarely disturbed, for he spoke seldom, and only as much as was his wont. Yet, the prince was well-loved in a discrete fashion, for he would smile and bow slightly when he passed what were to be his subjects; the young prince, though, would have used the term 'fellow citizens of the realm' if he were the one describing his compatriots. And he was also admired: not the strongest of the King's guard, he had strength enough, and he was surely the most skillful, and thus became the Captain without dispute. Admiration, however, was matched with a concern by many in the kingdom. The prince was often alone, and despite the fact that he carried out his duties regularly and with no complaint, there was a certain resolute melancholy attached to his personage. Now when time had passed, and the Prince was not quite so young, but his hair even longer and more golden, his parents spoke to him after dinner and bade him to give up his duties with the guard and to find a bride with which to settle and sojourn. 'For the Kingdom has many who aspire to be Captain, but none who may be the Young Prince, save our youngest son.' But the Prince would hear none of it, his feeling of duty being too strong. He declared that he would not meet a match for a bride until he was ready, and after that he came often to dinner with his parents, but stayed no more, spending the evening relieving one of his men or women early, and searching the windy horizon and moonlight for any intruders. Knowing the Queen's and King's intent, the Young Prince would eschew the ceremonies at Court of the late afternoon, such as when the visiting merchants from the inland cove were feted and samples of their ware's displayed, for he knew that part of the reason for this ritual was for the Prince to meet the merchant-daughters. Never mind that he enjoyed their company, and was mildly flattered by the attention; he did not think it fair to appear to be interested when his interest lay far westward, and though they would have sworn otherwise, he did not think he was fit company for the festivities. So his afternoons, before evening guard duty and after the morning's ministerial affairs, were spent on the sandy hills beyond the ramparts, scouring the environs for any items of interest, whether they be shells, shipwrecked planks, or other finds. And always the Prince was looking, unafraid of the spray or the solitude. He would sometimes meet a wayward compatriot, more than often a young person or two enjoying the sunshine. They were not surprised to see him, his whereabouts being well-known, but they were more than gratified to find that the Prince would accompany them on their explorations. It was such a young person that the Prince thought he saw one day, walking slowly down a dune, not paying him any mind. But the Prince noticed this was a man, almost as tall as himself. And the man failed to answer when he called out to him. 'Hail Fellow Citizen,' he called warmly, but, at the same time, placing his hand on his hilt. But the man continued walking, and so the Young Prince followed, his second greeting louder but just as hale. The man finally turned around when the Young Prince was merely a half dozen paces back, and he too had his hand on his hilt. He was heavier than the Young Prince, and a couple of years the wiser, but nevertheless there was something familiar about his look. 'Well-met, and who might you be, he that follows me down the sand?' The familiarity was in the eyes, and the searching there, but not the voice, thought the Young Prince: this man speaks with strange tones and wears clothes roughly made and well-worn. The Young Prince had the idea of issuing the formal challenge reserved for those that visited the tiny kingdom without the knowledge of his father or mother, but instead asked a question of less formality and even familiarity: 'A Young Prince who also treads the paths to the sea and around its ebbs.' The man stopped and extended his hand: 'Well-met, indeed! I too enjoy these paths, when I am able to reach these shores. I did not, however, think they were still inhabited. We had word some time ago that a tiny kingdom had perished in a rising and terrible tide.' 'Then you have not heard about our caves and channels which protect us,' the Young Prince replied, but, remembering himself the host, added, 'yet you are right that a terrible tide did almost overtake us. 'But,' the Young Prince went on, accompanying the man in his walk, 'such a tide did not prevent you from reaching our shores. Your ship and its fleet surely survived.' It was the man's turn to become indignant, if only for a moment. 'Survived? Yes, and prospered. We have flags planted and exchanged with every harbor from here to the final sea. And. . . " The Young Prince stopped. 'Have you seen it? The final sea?' The man smiled and stopped as well. He gave the Young Prince long consideration and said slowly, 'Yes, I must pass the straits to meet these shores. But it is worth it. Here it is so lonely and beautiful at the same time.' There was silence, and then the Young Prince spoke: 'Thank you for your kind words, but I must warn you that to call our shores 'lonely' might offend the King and Queen, as we have prospered and multiplied as well, and as well as might be after the terrible tide. Still, I understand that no offense was intended,' he said kindly, 'and mean only that the King and Queen have their sensibilities.' The man appeared unable to comprehend. 'And you would recommend that I do nothing to offend these sensibilities, in the presence of royalty, the King and Queen, who are...' the man paused but continued dryly, 'your parents?' The Young Prince was becoming uncomfortable, not yet daring to ask the man his origins, but wondering all the time. The man continued: 'Well, then, I must pay you heed. And please be so kind as to explain what the 'Prince' of even a small realm is doing unlooked-for by the sea, meeting strangers and walking otherwise unaccompanied.' The Young Prince was beginning to understand, and said in a tone more brave than hostile, 'The Young Prince is as he says he is, and thus it is his duty to ask, as Captain of the Guard, what leisure of the King and Queen your presence here demands? Ask now and permission may be granted. Ask now and choose your words quickly but none too wisely!" The man smiled broadly. 'Wisely? A wiser man would not use the formal but pointed greeting reserved in greater part to an unwelcome beggar. Wisely? Wisely I answer that I am the son of King Alwe, and that I am also the Captain of His Majesty's fleet.' The Young Prince misunderstood this to mean a challenge. This lack of understanding was, at least in part, purposeful, in the interest of caution, for there was always the chance that others would find that the tiny kingdom would make a proper addition to their realm. The Young Prince drew his sword from its hilt quickly, so much so that it surprised the other Prince. 'Well met, you say?' the other man said, reaching for his sword and using it to block the Young Prince. The two swords strove for a moment, and the Young Prince felt the weight of the other Prince against his grip. They were well-matched, but the Young Prince did not doubt his resolve to meet this challenge, and so he said courageously and with force, 'You have abused our welcome, and misconstrued our intent, for our welcome does not belie our defense. State your business and state it now, or you will discover what meeting the Captain of the Guard means!' The other Prince continued to check his sword, but smiled again, this time even more broadly. 'The business I am on is not that of my father, but of my own. I search for what I do not know, beside the sea, whenever my duties permit. And that is all I have to say for now to one that has his sword against mine, in what I take to be the manner of his kingdom's hospitality.' With that remark the Young Prince grew angry, but he could only prove the other Prince wrong by dropping his sword and admitting that he too was searching beside the sea. The other Prince shook his hand again and, when the other Prince suggested that this need not be considered an official visit, 'and need not involve our fathers,' they both sat and talked of what they had seen along their varying shores. For a short hour, then, their swords stayed hilt-bound, and they learned much from each other. After a long talk they thus returned together to the Young Prince's vessel. The ship had a carved swan on the front, black and sleek, and it had both oars and sails. The Young Prince admired the quarters below, which were small but comfortable, with a library and chart room. The other Prince, in fact, presented him a map of the final sea for his to keep, showing the Young Prince where his own far and away kingdom began, at the furthermost edge of the final sea. The Young Prince bid farewell for the night, as it was the appointed time for guard duty, but promised to meet his new friend the next dawn. The goodbye, however, was not to be long, for the other Prince met him at the highest rampart after midnight. The Young Prince was concerned that the other Prince had passed his other sentries unnoticed, but the other Prince resolved the mystery by showing the Young Prince his coat, which was magenta and gray on the outside but black on the inside. The other Prince explained that a fabric was woven amongst the others that deflected all light. And so the other Prince would come to the high walls at night, eager to learn about the small kingdom and enjoying his time with the Young Prince. After a fortnight, however, the other Prince came to the city no more, and the next day the Young Prince sought him out. They walked through a fierce wind from the south, and the other Prince explained that he must sail away after sundown, to meet the stars that veered towards his home, and had been busy with all matter of preparations. The other Prince had a proposal, made in earnest and the highest regard: that the Young Prince accompany him past the final sea, sailing with the stars and the swan-boat back to his kingdom. But the Young Prince was Captain of the Guard, and there were no younger Princes as yet to take his place. The other Prince held the Young Prince in an embrace and promised to return. The Young Prince gave the other Prince a small bottle, with a miniature replica of the castle and its walls made of sandstone and held forever inside, a traditional souvenir for those taking leave of the court. They talked more until long past sundown, but by the hour before midnight they parted, and the black prow of the ship passed into a clear mirror of the empty sky. The Young Prince was late to duty for the first time, for he walked the sands for hours, gazing not at the sea but rather at nothing but the sand itself. Only after several weeks had passed would he look above and notice the stars and constellations above the sea. Years passed but the price would not end his sojourns by the sea, not even when the torrents out of the sky and the rumble of the surf made even his father fear for his safety. The terrible tide returned, but the preparations of the crown were largely successful, due, in part, to the watchful eye of the Young Prince, who first spotted the approaching storm on the horizon and gave ample warning. After that, no one dared question the Young Prince and his attention to the sea. His mother, despite his confirmed heroism, was nonetheless concerned about his melancholy, which had grown more resolute. She offered him all she could, but he remained in his considerable isolation much of the time. Yet, when she died unexpectedly, he did in fact stay by his father's side as much as possible, in the palace, but this was short-lived: his father died a short six months later. The whisper in the Kingdom was that if the Young Prince would take a bride, he would have the crown, but the Young Prince would have none of it. So it was that his brother, the Elder Prince, removed his household from the island fortress in the channel, the small but high residence of the Crown Prince, and took up his proper abode in the palace facing down to the walls that broke the path of the sea. The brother knew it was the prerogative of many in the kingdom that his younger sibling should ascend the throne, but he did not begrudge this. For the new King had three sons and three daughters himself, and he knew not merely that his reticence to be King would set the example of harmony for his own succession, but also that the duties of a Young Prince or Princess were such that he did not willingly bestow them upon his own happy and relatively carefree children. But with the Young Prince refusing to acknowledge the will of his subjects, the Elder Prince took the throne, reluctantly and out of restrained obligation. The King retained the the Young Prince as Captain of the Guard, however, counting him as his most crucial advisor. This was due in part to the counsel of the King's wife, who as Queen counseled that the King should accept, even if he did not fully understand, his brother's disposition and make good use of the younger brother's unique talents, and considerable loyalty. When the eldest of the young prince's Nephews grew and thereafter showed extraordinary promise in the Young Prince's regiment, the Young Prince returned his brother's favor by resigning to make way for him, appointing a regent in his place whilst his nephew completed training. For many months thereafter the Young Prince assisted his brother in Court, and, in particular, in traveling and assessing the state of the kingdom. But the Young Prince was growing older and more restless, and his travels led him often to the outskirts of the King's dominion, and sometimes beyond. For the Young Prince volunteered himself as emissary, always remembering to take his well-worn map with him. If he should, perchance, meet someone of the foreign delegations that stopped along the north-south road and whose experiences included ambitious travel, especially, sea-faring, so much the better. He would then unfurl his treasure and request a recounting of these journeys, plotting the story-teller's exploits upon his map. And when the Young Prince returned after such a meeting, the elder brother would ask if there were any luck to be had in discovering what lay beyond the kingdom, but the Young Prince was silent, saying only that it was wise to learn what was further than one's own histories. For many more years the Young Prince still spent time by the sea, stealing time away from court whenever he could, and so it was one day that he noticed several planks drenched with sea-water and newly arrived. Following their trail, he noticed they indicated a strange method of construction, and noted the odd smell of the wood. He saw a large congruence of planks ahead, perhaps ten yards away, and wondered if there was something familiar about the shape at the tip. Running with all speed, the Young Prince climbed atop what was left of the wreck and tore apart the wood, eventually revealing what must have been the furthermost of the prow of the ship. It was obvious from the state of what he saw that all had been lost and whatever journey was undertaken had ended in unknown distress. He hesitated for a moment, but then looked; to his relief, it was not a black swan but a carving of a young woman of foreign complexion that had graced the vessel. Still, the Young Prince considered, this might be of the very same fleet that had sent one of its own to visit his shores so long ago. If only he could remember the smell of the wood from so many years ago, then he would be certain whether this was a ship of the same pedigree. No one saw the young prince from the next-day onward. It is told that his only goodbye was to the Elder Prince, now the King, but his brother would say nothing of this, even to the assembled counsel, only that his brother had served the realm with trust and zeal. Others, however, told that the Young Prince vanished quietly, and his absence was not immediately accounted-for, considering his habit of frequenting the shore and beyond. These stories were mixed with the speculation that perhaps he met some untoward fate on the north-south road, or worse, namely, that the sea that held his interest for so long had finally swallowed him whole in an act of desperate agitation and pointed irony. These tales, however, were later appended with the whispered admonition that what was to follow was not to be repeated, but had been confirmed by the Young Prince's nephew: that the only items missing from the palace were the map belonging to the Young Prince, and the other charts he had accumulated over the intervening years. These items, the whispers continued as they were repeated again and again, were to guide the Young Prince as he sailed through the final sea. Some even embellished this story by way of explanation, stating, upon the best of authority, that the Young Prince had secretly built a ship from materials he found by the sea, and based upon plans found in the Royal Library, and that his departure voyage was not his first. For, they said, the Young Prince had frequently compared the star-charts with the stars themselves on beautiful and spectacular night-time voyages when the moon was at its widest, to prepare for a longer, more troubling journey. No one could say yea or nea concerning any of this talk, however, for the Young Prince was never seen again, nor, in point of fact, was he expected to return. And so the first star of twilight, the one that appeared in the summer months above the end of the horizon, towards what was assumed to be the final sea, was named for him, beckoning those that would remember both his gaze and his story.