Chapter 4

"Calla Meets Hamlet"

The encounter with the armored ghost of King Hamlet caused everyone who witnessed it to have a sense of fear of what was to be expected. King Gregor was baffled, confused over how the ghost had approached him, trying to gain an understanding of the situation. In fact, the more he tried to get an understanding, the more confused he had gotten. However, both Sunni and Calla had far more important matters to think.

"Calla, what about this ghost?" Sunni asked as Calla wrapping a black cloak around her neck that was meant to protect her body from the cold. "He must have been trying to warn you to turn back."

"It wasn't just any ghost, Sunni," replied Calla. "It was the ghost of the Danish king trying to warn us about what was happening, something about the king's brother taking his crown."

"Sounds like something Igthorn would do," remarked Sunni, only to be met with a stern glare from Calla. "Sorry about that. It was in poor taste. But, we both know this very well, Calla. I mean, you were a target of Igthorn's many times, you know."

"But, Igthorn wouldn't want me and my father dead," said Calla. "All he wanted was my father's crown and kingdom. He would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, Sunni. But, what has happened here is something that even put Duke Igthorn to shame."

Sunni nodded in response to her human friends' statement. Soon, the royal sailing vessel arrived at the docks of Elsinore castle and the delegation from Dunwyn got off the boat. However, almost immediately, King Gregor noticed something was off.

"That's odd," he wondered, looking out at the docks that were lacking a royal figure of Danish authority. "Why don't we have a delegation to welcome us? Where is Prince Hamlet or Queen Gertrude for that matter? Something very strange is going on here and I don't know what it is."

"It's probably too cold and late for anyone to be out," answered Calla, walking up to her father's side. "Maybe we should go forward and find someone to lead us to our quarters."

"Perhaps you may be right, Calla," said Gregor before turning over towards their servants. "To the castle!"

Heeding their king's call, the Dunwynian delegation made their way towards the castle as the fog and cold winds continued to bear down on them.

Meanwhile, inside Elsinore Castle, a celebration was nearing its end and the only ones remaining were Gertrude the Queen of Denmark, Claudius, the newly crowned King of Denmark who was the previous king's brother, and the young prince of Demark himself, Prince Hamlet, whose heart was eaten up with grief for his dead father.

"My dear Hamlet, stop wearing these black clothes and be friendly to the king," chuckled Gertrude causing Hamlet to back away from the window he had been standing at bowing down at his mother and uncle. "You can't spend your whole life with your eyes to the ground remembering your noble father. It happens all the time, what lives must die eventually, passing to eternity."

"Ay, mother, it is common," replied Hamlet.

"If it be, why does it seem so particular to you?" asked Gertrude, letting out a smile that was to Hamlet, a sign that she was in denial about her current situation.

""Seem," mother? No, it is. I don't know what you mean by 'seem,' answered Hamlet. "Neither my black clothes, my dear mother, nor my heavy sighs, nor my weeping, nor my downcast eyes, nor any other display of grief can show what I really feel. It's true that all these things 'seem' like grief, since a person could use them to fake grief if he wanted to. But I've got more real grief inside me that you could ever see on the surface. These clothes are just a hint of it."

Gertrude merely chuckled at her son's remark and turned her attention over to the new king, who merely let out a small chuckle.

"Hamlet, you are so sweet and such a good son to mourn your father like this," he said with a very uncaring smile on his face. "But you have to remember, that your father lost his father, who lost his father before him, and every time, each son has had to mourn his father for a certain period. But overdoing it is just stubborn. It's not manly. It's not what God wants, and it betrays a vulnerable heart and an ignorant and weak mind. Since we know that everyone must die sooner or later, why should we take it to heart? You're committing a crime against heaven, against the dead, and against nature. And it's irrational, since the truth is that all fathers must die. Please give up this useless mourning of yours and start thinking of me as your new father."

This to the young Danish prince was just nothing than a total sign of disrespect that was shown to him by this newly minted and uncaring king.

"Because everyone knows that you are the man closest to this throne," continued Claudius, kissing Gertrude's hand. And I love you just as much as any father loves his son. I'm asking you now to stay here in my company as the number-one member of my court, my nephew and now my son too."

Hamlet silently gave into his uncle's commands. Yes, he was the prince, but was not wearing the crown, his uncle was.

"That's the right answer, it shows your love," chuckled Claudius. "My dear wife, come away with me, for our drinking will be echoed in the heavens."

Hamlet watched in disbelief as his uncle carried his newly married wife away from the banquet table. Before she left, Gertrude turned to her son and gave him a smile, a smile that was trying to force him to happy.

"Oh God, must I have to remember this night?" he moaned, as he watched them walk away from view. "She would hang on to him, and the more she was with him the more she wanted to be with him; she couldn't get enough of him. Yet even so, within a fortnight of my father's death, even before she had broken in the shoes she wore to his funeral, crying like crazy—even an animal would have mourned its mate longer than she did! Less than a month after my father's death, even before the tears on her cheeks had dried, she remarried. Oh, so quick to jump into a bed of incest! Of all things, married with my uncle!"

Just then, Hamlet turned around and perked up quickly when he saw the Dunwynian delegation standing right behind him, having just come in from the bitter cold.

"Princess Calla! King Gregor!" he said, walking over to them to welcome them. "Or do I forget myself? But, what is your affair in Elsinore?"

"We came to see your father's funeral, Prince Hamlet," said Calla. "My father was friends with your father."

"I think it was to see my mother's wedding to my uncle," remarked Hamlet, showing off to them the food that remained on the table. "The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables."

Without anyone watching, Sunni went over to the table and not caring if she had been spotted, took a keen inspection on the food itself, having been amazed by what was in front of her.

"Tummi would have had a field day with all of this," she gasped.

"Who is that?" asked Hamlet.

"That is a Gummi Bear and my best friend, Sunni Gummi," chuckled Calla. "She has accompanied us to Elsinore. They aren't fairy tales like you had always been told about."

Astounded by what he was seeing, Hamlet walked over and looked down at Sunni. Sunni didn't know whether to run or remain where she was. But, they had been exposed to other humans before, so this wasn't out of the ordinary.

"Indeed," remarked Hamlet, bending down to Sunni's level. "So, we finally meet at last, fair Gummi. I've heard many stories about you."

"So, you have," chuckled Sunni, nervously. "There are seven of us, but there is also a Gummi warren here in Elsinore."

"Is there now?" remarked Hamlet again. "Where is it?"

"I don't know, but they are planning something, something that involves revenge," replied Sunni, only to be met with a small laugh from the young Danish prince. To him, this was probably nothing more than another of the many fairy tales that he had heard so much about.

Then, he suddenly stopped being merry and went over to the window where he had been during the funeral celebration.

"My father," he cried, looking out the window. "I think I see my father."

"We saw him tonight," said Calla, hastily going over towards the Danish Prince. "The king, your father!"

"The king my father?!" cried Hamlet in excitement, then contemplated what was in front of him while turning away from the Dunwynian delegation briefly. "I will watch tonight."

"Prince Hamlet, wait!" called Calla as she and Sunni quickly left, leaving Gregor and the rest of the delegation alone in the banquet hall, wondering what to do next.