by T. J. Klune
But they all faded away before the last.
Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart.
He stood before me, looking uncharacteristically nervous and extraordinarily handsome in his best suit of armor, the one shot with red rock that he’d worn the night he’d been promoted to Knight Commander. His wavy hair was endearing, his beard neatly trimmed (as I refused to let him get rid of it after I’d been able to sit on his face). He was biting his bottom lip, his eyes wide. As my parents kissed my cheek and let me go, he flushed brightly when my father reached forward, hugging him and whispering words I couldn’t quite make out. Ryan just nodded to whatever my father was saying, glancing over at me. Dad let him go, kissed his forehead, then went to stand next to my mother.
It was just the two of us.
(Surrounded by a thousand people and all our loved ones, but whatever.)
“Hi,” he said quietly.
“Hi.”
“Okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, just this whole… thing. Gary wanted to have a three-way with a centaur named Jeffrey, and he kidnapped us and—”
Randall cleared his throat.
“Right, right,” I said hastily. “Not the time. I’ll tell you later.”
Ryan nodded rather maniacally. “Yeah, okay. Sure. Fine. Whatever.”
I frowned. “Are you all right?”
“Fine, fine. Just. You know. Getting married!”
“That was… shrieky. Do you not want to?”
His eyes bulged. “Are you out of your damn mind?”
“Watch your mouth! There are children present!”
He grabbed my hands and held them tightly. “Sam, there is nothing I want more.”
I blinked rapidly. “Okay. Yeah. Me too.”
He nodded, and that was that.
The King stood. He smiled at Ryan and me before looking out at his subjects. “Much has happened since we last gathered here for such an event. We have seen the bravery of men and women of Verania as they rise to face adversity. We have seen the good in all of us, and the evil of those who would attempt to bring us to our knees. We have lived. And we have lost. But I know those who cannot be here today are smiling down upon us, their grace soothing whatever hurt remains. We have taken back our country, thanks in no small part to the men we have gathered here today for.”
He smiled at each of us in turn. “You have an oath to the Crown. To the country. To me and my son. And to each other. Though no legality is needed to see the bond between the two of you, I am honored to be present for your union. My son said once that hope is a weapon. And it is. But sometimes we must lay down our weapons to accept our rewards. And today, I believe the love between these two men is a reward to us all.
“And so, as your King, I give you my blessing. May you know only happiness for the rest of your days.”
He nodded at us, then took his seat upon his throne.
Randall stepped forward.
Shit. This was happening.
It was really happening.
Fuck yes.
Randall said, “Now, I must ask before we proceed. And I’m going to start with Knight Commander Foxheart, because last time he didn’t seem so sure.”
The crowed snickered.
Ryan blushed harder.
Gods, I was going to destroy him later.
“Knight Commander, are you here of your own volition and peace of mind?”
“Yes,” Ryan said immediately.
The crowd sighed in relief, the fucking drama queens.
(I sighed inwardly, so.)
“Sam of Dragons, are you here of your own volition and peace of mind?”
“Hell yeah,” I blurted out.
Morgan put his face in his hands.
Ryan grinned brightly.
Randall rolled his eyes. “We are gathered here today to join Knight Commander Foxheart and Sam of Dragons, who will one day stand as the King’s Wizard. They have both spoken and have agreed they are here of their own volition and peace of mind. Before we begin the ceremony, joining these men in a bond not easily broken, there is a question I must ask.”
“Oh, this is gonna be gooood,” I heard Gary whisper.
And since I couldn’t turn around and tell him to die horribly, I clenched my jaw instead.
Then Randall asked his question, and I swore once again that all the world held its breath.
“Should anyone here present know of any reason why this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
No one spoke.
Someone coughed, but that was it.
I made sure to see who it was so I could ask the King to have them beheaded later.
It was Lady Tina.
Perfect.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
And then, “Are you sure. Anyone at all.”
I turned slowly to gape at Randall.
“Anybody who doesn’t want to see these two married.”
Silence.
“For any reason. Doesn’t even need to be a good reason. Just… anything.”
Silence.
“What are you doing?” I hissed at him.
He looked at me blandly and shrugged. “Just had to give everyone a fair shake. Did it last time. Figured it was only right to do it here too.”
“Oh my gods, I hate you so fucking much! A dick! A dick on all your appendages!”
He grinned at me. “I’m old. I’m allowed to do whatever I want.”
“He has a point, Sam,” Morgan said.
“Vile betrayer!”
“I love love,” Tiggy said loudly.
“Me too, kitten. It truly is a magical thing between two people.”
“Or three people,” Kevin pointed out. “If one was so inclined and did what they were supposed to do instead of choosing someone crazy and getting captured by them.”
“Excuse me?” Gary growled. “It’s not my fault I—”
“My gods,” Terry said with a sniff. “Have you ever thought of not being a whore?”
“Whaaaaat is happening,” Ryan said.
“Randall!” I bellowed. “You get us dude-hitched right this second, or I will never forgive you!”
“Oh no,” Randall said flatly. “Please, anything but that.”
Morgan elbowed him.
“Fine, fine. Dearly beloved—oh, I already said that part. Of all the—where was I? Right, right. The act of marriage is a sacred union between two—”
“And I now pronounce you husband and husband!” I cried. “I may kiss said husband!”
And so I did.
The crowd gasped dramatically.
But Ryan?
Gods, how he smiled against me. His strong arms wrapped around me, and he lifted me up as I kissed him with all I had. Every ounce of love and hope and wishes upon the stars for the future we could have, I gave to him.
He gave me the same in return.
And you know what?
We lived happily ever after.
UNTIL THE next day, when I woke up after giving Ryan the dicking of his life and realized that the Prince was still single, and I couldn’t have that. I vowed then and there to make it my mission to find my best friend 5eva the love of his life, if it was the last thing I did.
Little did I know then that it almost would be. Because apparently there was a generations-old decree of an arranged marriage between the prince of a faraway land and the firstborn of the King of Verania.
But that… well.
That’s a story for another day.
Author’s Note
THE END is always hard to write for an author. Depending on the length of the story, one could have spent weeks or months or even years with a set of characters. I started the adventures of Sam of Wilds in what was a very dark time for me personally. I needed to laugh and forget about the real world for a time, and Sam and Ryan and Tiggy and Gary and Kevin helped me to do that. They gave me more than I’d hoped for.
But even then, I had no idea wh
en I started The Lightning-Struck Heart that the story would go as far as it has. I thought I would be telling an overtly immature take on a common fairy tale trope. And now, four volumes later, I’ve wrapped a much bigger story of love and friendship, of pain and sacrifice. I’m proud of how this has ended, the story line readers know I lovingly refer to as the Destiny Fuck Yeah! arc. And while Sam and his band of merry misfits are more mature (ish) than when they started out in a cave with Lartin the Dark Leaf, they’re still the characters who made me smile when I needed it more than anything.
This is their happy ending.
But I don’t think I can let them go quite yet.
After all, Justin’s still single, isn’t he?
Can’t have that.
I’ll return to Verania one day. For now, I have other stories I want to tell. But when I do, it’ll be from Justin’s point of view. I already have some funky ideas about what’s going to happen with that prince from a faraway land.
I can’t wait.
Thanks, as always, for reading!
TJ
More from TJ Klune
Once upon a time, in an alleyway in the slums of the City Of Lockes, a young and somewhat lonely boy named Sam Haversford turns a group of teenage douchebags into stone completely by accident.
Of course, this catches the attention of a higher power, and Sam’s pulled from the only world he knows to become an apprentice to the King’s Wizard, Morgan of Shadows.
When Sam’s fourteen, he enters the Dark Woods and returns with Gary, the hornless gay unicorn, and a half-giant named Tiggy, earning the moniker Sam of Wilds.
At fifteen, Sam learns what love truly is when a new knight arrives at the castle—Knight Ryan Foxheart, the dreamiest dream to have ever been dreamed.
Naturally, it all goes to hell when Ryan dates the reprehensible Prince Justin, Sam can’t control his magic, a sexually aggressive dragon kidnaps the prince, and the King sends them on an epic quest to save Ryan’s boyfriend, all while Sam falls more in love with someone he can never have.
Or so he thinks.
Sequel to The Lightning-Struck Heart
Once upon a time, the wizard’s apprentice Sam of Wilds got his happily ever after in the arms of his cornerstone, Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart. A year has passed, and while Sam’s been captured five or six more times since then, things are pretty great. His parents are happy, Gary and Tiggy still eat sass for breakfast, Randall is somehow alive despite being older than the gods, the King rules with a gentle hand, Kevin the dragon is as gross as ever, Morgan sighs a lot, Ryan continues to be dashing and immaculate, and Sam is close to convincing Prince Justin they will be best friends forever.
Life is good.
Until it’s not.
Because Vadoma, the leader of the gypsy clan and Sam’s grandmother, has come to the City of Lockes with a dire prophecy written in the stars: a man of shadows is rising and will consume the world unless Sam faces his destiny and gathers the five dragons of Verania at his side.
And she brings along her second-in-command, a man named Ruv.
Ruv, who Vadoma says is Sam’s true cornerstone.
Sequel to A Destiny of Dragons
Sam of Wilds faced the Dark wizard Myrin and lived to tell the tale. Granted, the battle left him scarred, but things could be a hell of a lot worse.
It’s not until he reunites with Morgan of Shadows and Randall that he realizes just how much worse things could be.
Because the scars have meaning and hint at Myrin’s true plans for Sam and the Kingdom of Verania.
With time running out, Sam and his band of merry misfits—the unicorn Gary, the half-giant Tiggy, Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart, and the dragon known as Kevin—must travel to the snowy mountains in the North and the heart of the Dark Woods to convince the remaining dragons to stand against Myrin. Along the way, Sam learns secrets of the past that will forever change the course of the future.
A reckoning is coming for Sam of Wilds, and there is nothing he can do to stop it.
In the small mountain town of Amorea, it’s stretching toward autumn of 1954. The memories of a world at war are fading in the face of a prosperous future. Doors are left unlocked at night, and neighbors are always there to give each other a helping hand.
The people here know certain things as fact:
Amorea is the best little town there is.
The only good Commie is a dead Commie.
The Women’s Club of Amorea runs the town with an immaculately gloved fist.
And bookstore owner Mike Frazier loves that boy down at the diner, Sean Mellgard. Why they haven’t gotten their acts together is anybody’s guess. It may be the world’s longest courtship, but no one can deny the way they look at each other.
Slow and steady wins the race, or so they say.
But something’s wrong with Mike. He hears voices in his house late at night. There are shadows crawling along the walls and great clouds of birds overhead that only he can see.
Something’s happening in Amorea. And Mike will do whatever he can to keep the man he loves.
It begins with a message that David cannot ignore:
I want to see you.
He agrees, and on a cold winter’s night, David and Phillip will come together to sift through the wreckage of the memory of a life no longer lived.
David is burdened, carrying with him the heavy guilt of the past six years upon his shoulders.
Phillip offers redemption.
Readers love the Tales from Verania by TJ Klune
The Lightning-Struck Heart
“In The Lightning-Struck Heart, TJ has once more hit all of the marks and even surpassed them.”
—Sensual Reads
“…this book was just the confirmation of the great talent TJ has, a terrific gift he absolutely needs to continue to share with us.”
—Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
A Destiny of Dragons
“This is pure unadulterated pleasure, a fabulous fantasy read. I loved it.”
—Sinfully: Gay Romance Book Reviews
“All told, A Destiny of Dragons is the perfect summer read. It’s got action! Adventure! Romance! Danger! Hilarity! Snark!”
—The Novel Approach
The Consumption of Magic
“This book is, at the core, about family, and love, and loss. It is wonderful, it is beautiful, it is emotionally devastating.”
—Writing Bookish Notes
“I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I cannot laud this author’s work fully enough. I can only say that you must read this novel—it is simply outstanding.”
—Joyfully Jay
When TJ KLUNE was eight, he picked up a pen and paper and began to write his first story (which turned out to be his own sweeping epic version of the video game Super Metroid—he didn’t think the game ended very well and wanted to offer his own take on it. He never heard back from the video-game company, much to his chagrin). Now, over two decades later, the cast of characters in his head has only gotten louder. But that’s okay, because he’s recently become a full-time writer and can give them the time they deserve.
Since being published, TJ has won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Romance, fought off three lions that threatened to attack him and his village, and was chosen by Amazon as having written one of the best GLBT books of 2011.
And one of those things isn’t true.
(It’s the lion thing. The lion thing isn’t true.)
Facebook: TJ Klune
Blog: tjklunebooks.com
Email: [email protected]
By TJ Klune
Burn
How to Be a Normal Person
Into This River I Drown
John & Jackie
Murmuration
Olive Juice
Wolfsong
AT FIRST SIGHT
Tell Me It’s Real
The Queen & the Homo Jock King
Until You
BEAR, OTTER, A
ND THE KID CHRONICLES
Bear, Otter, and the Kid
Who We Are
The Art of Breathing
The Long and Winding Road
TALES FROM VERANIA
The Lightning-Struck Heart
A Destiny of Dragons
The Consumption of Magic
A Wish Upon the Stars
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
A Wish Upon the Stars
© 2018 TJ Klune.
Cover Art
© 2018 Paul Richmond.
http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.