Limit number of nodes able to have custom field selected
A view can be used with a limit on the number of items to two with a filter that requires that story to be featured, then sorted by publish date (descending to show the latest). Otherwise, if you want an administrator to have total control over exactly which two stories are featured, use Nodequeue or use the node sticky bit and make sure only admins have access to set the sticky bit.

You can reuse the same view to create a page view that shows all stories that have the featured flag set.