Acceptance

Prince Terrance was a prince indeed but he was not a prince Indeed. Sure the man had been born into riches and the heir to the throne a spot many would fight for. He had the tactics for battle drilled into his head and he was healthier than half of his kingdom. He ate and he talked much better than his kingdom too. He had everything a prince would want in the 1600’s everything except acceptance.

Terrance could indeed, in theory, do whatever he wanted when he ascended to the throne. He could of course fight the spains or the french and take their land or he could simply keep the peace. He could pass laws to better the kingdom or become the worst king in history. The options were limitless. Terrance could do anything except marrying the person he loved. 

You see Terrance could of course suck it up and marry his arranged wife, Mary, and ascend to the throne and make babies. He could of course or he could fake his own death and run away and become a peasant farmer. He has seen the edges of his kingdom and he did not wish to be poor. He didn’t want to marry Mary either. 

You may ask why? Why did Terrance not want to ascend to the throne? It was because he was in love with a man. A thing that was not allowed to do. Especially what a future king should never do. To quote Terrance’s father, “The one thing you should worry about for a wife is if she can make babies! Strong healthy one who lives to take on the throne once you die.” Of course, once his father said this Terrance looked out the window and looked at the guard standing on the castle grounds. 

Terrance hated the times he was in. He wishes people would be more accepting but that was too much to ask for. He could make it legal to marry the same gender but he imagined the outrage that would ensue. The things that would happen if people did get married he could not imagine what would happen to those poor souls. So Terrance sits and listens to the wedding plans.

Mary was right next to his side. She was blonde and had a heart-shaped face, skinny and pale. She was dressed in the most elaborate of fabrics that Terrance knew a peasant took hours making. Mary was of course a pretty fellow but Terrance was just not attracted to her. Terrance had no idea if Mary actually wanted to marry him or she loathed this arranged marriage just as much as he did. Terrance wondered if Mary had a secret lover, that she could fall back on to and create a bastard child to the throne. Terrace of course would keep that a secret since that was what he needed to do but he wouldn’t mind if someone had filled in the gaps. 

He quietly “listened” to the wedding planner drone on and on. He could tell that even Mary was getting tired of it but as a polite lady, she at least pretended that she was paying attention. Finally, after what seems forever, the “couple” agreed to everything that was planned, and in a few weeks, the two would be married. 

“I’ll see you soon, prince Terrance.” Crooned Mary as she went back into her carriage. Terrance could tell she was trying to make it seem like she was in love with him. He supposed that if the girl actually loved him this arranged marriage would not seem so bad but in the end, it would just make him feel more guilty. He started to wish for a way out. 

Today was the wedding and Terrance had decided to just suck it up and marry the girl. He also found out the man he loved had married a girl. Although Terrance never professed his love for him, it still stung. With a heavy heart, he went on to marry Mary. 

Prince Terrance sat quietly at the altar waiting for his bride to be. He saw the crowd that had gathered stand up as music began to play. The doors to the cathedral open and out came Mary and her father. Mary was wearing a blue wedding dress. Her blonde hair was tied into a bun with lots of curls cascading out from it. She truly was beautiful and any man would have fallen in love with her right there, Terrance knew that so it made him feel more guilty. 

Marry and He said their vows, kissed each other and headed back down the aisle. Terrance looked at his wedding ring that hung on his finger. He didn’t know how to feel about it. Mary and he were back in their room and Mary was putting on her nightgown, something she claims will slip right off her. Terrance just nodded and smiled, terrified because he knew wedding traditions. 

Terrance got out of the bed he was sitting in and went down the hall. He didn’t know how long he could stall and at this point, he was considering becoming a peasant farmer. Terrance noticed how fast he got to the end of the hallway and wished he had taken the other turn. 

Terrance turned his head wondering if he should turn around and pray Mary did not notice him. He turned his head back and saw a man standing against the wall. Terrance marked his presence but what startled him was the guard in the castle grounds had frozen mid-step. He turned back to the man. He was wearing a bright blue wizard’s robe. A tall bright blue wizard hat. He had a staff with a green orb and a long white beard. He looked like your classic wizard from your childhood fairytale.

“Hello, young man.” The old wizard squeaked. Terrance took note of his voice because it sounded like he was faking an old man’s voice. 

“Hello..you look ridiculous,” Terrance said. 

“Oh, that’s the first thing you say how rude! You know I put on this get-up for you.”The man said, dropping his “old man” voice.

“For me?”

“Yes for you. It was not to alarm you. Which I see just confused you. You know since you don’t like it I’ll change back.” Then the man in a blink of an eye changed into a black suit with gray stripes. You could now see his face. He had ice blue eyes, gray, strong eyebrows; he had a gray stubble beard and a gray short hair cut. A man-ready business Terrance thought.

“What are you wearing?” Asked Terrance.

“It’s called a suit more on that later, I'm here to offer you a deal, Terrance.”

“A deal?” 

“Yes, a deal I know you want, Terrance, away from the girl waiting in the bedroom and a chance to marry the person you love. I know how to make that happen.”

“You think that I can just marry James? Not have any problems and oh not to mention cause a war if I don’t marry, Mary. I didn’t even profess my love to him.” Terrance said bitterly.

“Well I can’t make you marry James, but I can take you to a place where you can marry a man and have so many opitunitys.” The Man said.

“You can’t possibly do that.” 

“Yes, I can. I already know you saw that guard out there frozen in mid-air for a few minutes. I can stop time, who says I can not travel in time as well? I can take you to a place and period where everything you want is possible.”

“I don’t believe such a place exists,” Terrance said.

“Now I know you don’t believe me. Trust I can take you there but there's just one thing you would need to give.”

“What would that be?” Terrance asked.

“The heir to the throne. I take your place after I show you the way to the new place, I just need you to agree.” 

“Why would you need a throne in this kingdom?”

“I'm an immortal that can travel in time, at one point you get bored and start doing the most random of things. I wanted to be a king and you are my easiest way to get to that. Plus Marry is Hot.”

“And how would I know you won’t do anything terrible to the Kingdom?”

“That's the thing about time you can look up what happened. I can assure you I'm not going to do anything bad, I'm just bored.” The man said.

Terrance thought. Taking this he would not need to marry Mary and he didn’t need to become the king. Most importantly Terrance could finally marry whoever he wanted. 

“I agree,” Terrance said.

“Great! Fantastic.” The Man snapped his fingers and a blue portal came. White sparks flew out of it and it was hot. “Follow me.” The Man then went into the portal. Terrance quickly followed. 

Once out, Terrance saw things he did not see before. Big shiny moving things were moving down so fast on a gray thing. Buildings were so tall and everywhere had all of these strange lights. People looked so weird and he saw a person wearing their hair so high up. He was bewildered by all the things he saw.

“Where are we?” asked Terrance.

“In the future. A place called Ottawa, Canada. In the year 2021. Here same-sex marriage is legal. They hold parades for people like you. It’s still not perfect or course you still might face discrimination but it’s way better than where you were.”

“You said you will help learn this world.” 

“Yes, I did. I'm not a complete dick. The culture has also changed drastically since your time, I don’t think you would be able to learn it all on your own.” The man said.

“Thank you.” Said Terrance and he hugged the man. The Man not used to hugs was surprised and awkwardly patted him on the back. Terrance shed a few tears and the man looked at him sympathetically

“Everything will be alright Kid. Now come one let's go.” The man said and with that, the man and he began to walk down the street.