Chapter 14

I want to apologize for letting you wait for this one. Heaven knows how I have really slowed down on this story, despite knowing exactly where it's going. At least I got this one done before Christmas, and that pleases me.

Although I must confess I have needed the time to really improve on the small details around the story itself. Like the proper introduction of certain OC's and some more tricky natural details. This chapter itself contains some details I hadn't planned to bring up, but I thought it would be a natural turn. So I should put up a WARNING: Drinking/alcoholism!

The morning had been rather slow to many of the Glen Gummies. But as usual, Grammi had been the first one up and going to prepare breakfast and start the day. She was a bit later than usual, but after last night, no one could be blamed for a late start. Truth be told, Grammi had barely slept, and her eyes were red from more than lack of sleep. She had just been longing to get up and going for a new day to leave the last night behind and begin for a better start.

Gruffi was the usual one next to Grammi. Not at all in the mood for any sort of conversation, when Grammi asked him to prepare the fireplace in the living room to get the place warmed up, he gave a short gruff and left to prepare the deed.

The next to appear was Gusto, Zummi and Cubbi, all of them yawning as they entered the kitchen.

"Morning, Grammi." Cubbi said sleepy.

Grammi turned around to face them. "Oh, good morning, dear. Have you slept well?" She said it only out of habit instead of actually meaning it. But she wasn't able to be as commonly cheery as she would have been.

"Nah..." the young grown cub shook his head as he chocked another yawn.

Zummi yawned too and rubbed his eyes before putting his spectacles on again. "I think we're all a little tired from... it got a bit... nate nast light... Eh-late night... last late night..."

"Aw, let's just face it, folks. It's no point faking it." Gusto said as he dumped down a chair by the table. "Last night was a total flop, and none of us wanted to go to sleep, or wake up today. And... it's all our fault!"

"I suppose that is true." Zummi said, sitting down himself. "I just feel so sorry for Cavin. Yesterday was suppose to be a grand event, and..." he sighed heavily while he let his head rest in his paws. "You're right, Gusto. It's our own fault. We should have told him from the start. What must he think of us?"

"You can ask him yourself if you wanna know."

All four gummies turned around to face Gruffi in the door. The brown gummi looked like he had seen a ghost.

"What do you mean, Gruffi?" Zummi asked confused.

"Come and see for yourself!" Gruffi waved and headed out the door.

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Moments later, all of them we gathered in the living room, and they all got a grand shock when they saw what Gruffi meant. The heath was lit, and crackling nicely, slowly filling the room with warmth. But it wasn't the fireplace that caught their attention.

They found Cavin, lying all with his upper body leaning on the couch, resting his head on both his hands. His boots and gloves lied nicely at the end of the couch. He looked like he was sleeping peacefully. And rather heavy. He was in fact so quiet and still that Grammi had to put a hand in front of his nose to see if he was breathing. That was when she noticed the dried fragments of salt on his cheeks. "He's been crying himself to sleep." she said softly and stroke her furry fingers across his face.

"I bon't delieve it... Eh, I don't believe it!" Zummi said with large eyes.

"Well, it's no surprise, after what happened last night." Cubbi said with a sad expression on his face as he recalled last night's events.

"No, what I mean is; Has he really been spending the whole night here?"

"I didn't even notice him until I was finished lightening up the hearth. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack!" Gruffi replied, the frustration making him raise his voice.

"Poor darling, he's gonna be hungry when he awakes. I'll see if the breads are finished." Grammi said, leaving the room.

"Have you tried to wake him up?" Cubbi asked.

"Yes, but he solid as a rock." Gruffi replied.

"I guess the war days has made him somehow..." Gusto scratched his head. "Solid?"

"But he has to wake up." Zummi said. "The King expects him to his court now that he is a knight. He can't be late now!"

While the others were growing concerned, Gusto suddenly got a sneaky smile on his face. "Hey, what if we..."

"Hey!" Cubbi said as Gusto plucked the red feather pf Cubbi's hat. Then he knelt down and led the feather to Cavin's face and started tickling it all around his mouth and nose. He gave a sneaky smile as he looked up to the others.

"If this doesn't do the trick then I don't kn-AWGH!"

Gusto learned a very interesting lesson that morning. Never try to make a grown up strong male human sneeze to wake him up, as it would most likely result in a strong, heavy arm right in your face, pushing you five feet through the air.

As Gusto tumbled on the floor, not really understanding what hit him, Gruffi couldn't help but break into a loud laugh. Gusto managed to somehow rise his head up, give it a good shake and look at him with questioning eyes. "Whaat?"

"You should have seen yourself!" Gruffi said, pointing at him with one paw while he embraced himself with the other, unable to stop laughing.

Cubbi too couldn't help to be smitten by Gruffi's unexpected laughter, and Zummi followed.

Hearing them laugh so loudly, Cavin slowly rose his head as he rubbed his nose and mouth hard with his hand to get the tickling feeling away. He looked dreadfully sleepy, and not all happy to be woken up. "Hmgh... Whah..."

The gummies stopped laughing and looked in his direction. "Morning, sleepy head." Gruffi said sarcastic, although still in a cheerful mood as he leaned on the arm of the couch.

Cavin didn't seem to respond properly yet. He rubbed his eyes and blinked hard a couple of times before squinting his eyes at him. "Eh... Huh?"

"Cavin, I don't mean to alarm you, but weren't you supposed to be somewhere by now? Zummi asked concerned.

"Huh? Zummi, what ar you doing... here...?" Cavin blinked several times towards him. "Wait... Where's here?" Then it seemed like he suddenly realized where he was and shut his eyes up so wide they threatened to pop out of his head as he let out a cry of shock. His flung his head back and forth several times, eyeing them and panicking. "Oh gosh! What am I doing here? I'm supposed to meet the King! What am I gonna..." He rose and was running towards the hallway when he heard Cubbi call after him.

"Cavin, you forgot your boots!"

"What?" He looked down and discovered to his annoyance that he was running in his socks. "Rats!" he cursed to himself and ran back to the living room where Zummi had lifted up his gloves in one hand and tried to hold both his boots on one paw. Cavin was quick to grab what he believed was his glove, but discovered too his own frustration that it was his left boot he was pulling on his arm and let out a frustrated moan. "Ah, blasted! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" he complained while he shook he boot of his arm.

From the spot he had landed, it was now Gusto's turn to laugh out loud. "What'cha think we were doing?"

"Well first of all, you didn't respond." Gruffi said. "You just turned around and kept on snoring."

"I'm not snoring!" Cavin replied as he got the left boot on his foot, jumping up and down in circles in the process, and stretched out after the other. "At least not of what I've heard..."

"Uhu?" Gruffi replied sarcastically as he watched their human friend's comical appearance as he grabbed the other boot and tried the same ridiculous dance with that one.

"And second..." Cubbi said. "We didn't find you in your room, so we assumed you had already gone back to the Castle."

"But seriously guys, I... Ah-ah-AAAAHH..."

"Watch out!" Gusto cried out. They all tried to get away, but Gruffi was just a little too late, and before he could tell, Cavin had stumbled backwards into him and seconds later there was a big bang as Cavin fell backwards on the floor, above Gruffi.

At first, Cavin got a bit disturbed by the sudden fall, and then got concerned if he had hurt Gruffi. But he found Gruffi buried underneath his knees. As this wasn't enough, his right boot were only halfway on his foot, and when he lifted his foot up, to release Gruffi, it hung loosely and dangled from his foot, looking rather comical. The Glen Gummi leader did looked just as knocked off, but as soon as he realized he could move his upper body, he turned his head towards Cavin, and the look he sent him was the one you would see right before getting a lecture.

But he never got the time to give any, because to everyone's surprise, Cavin was the one who broke into laughter. Gusto, who had been in a laughing mode already, and without doubt found the ridiculous look quite amusing, broke into laughing again himself.

Even though it didn't look like either Zummi or Cubbi found the situation amusing, they couldn't help but get a little smitten by the situation, and chuckled.

Even Gruffi got confused and forgot what he was about to say. But then after Cavin had laughed for almost a minute, the brown gummi bear asked with his normal grumpy tune. "And whatever is so funny?"

"I don't know..." Gusto gasped and managed to rise up at last. "But we don't have to stop for my sake."

Cavin tried to get control of his breath before he gasped. "Some... some knight I turn out to be..." He wiped his eyes. "I oversleep on my first day, and I can't even manage to put on my boots right."

"Sure. You're quite a sight!" Gusto giggled as he headed over to them.

Cubbi and Zummi stopped laughing, realizing it was time to get a little serious. "Come now, let's get you up and going." Zummi said as he and Gusto came over and helped him on with the right boot while Cubbi helped Gruffi get up from the floor.

"Whatever is going on in here...?" Grammi said as she entered the living room with a basket of small breads in her paws. "What? Cavin? What is..."

"Nothing, Grammi..." Cavin giggled as he were pulled up by his hands by Zummi and Gusto, and managed himself from there, grabbing his gloves as he headed for the entrance. "Thanks. Now, gotta go."

"But you haven't eaten...?" Grammi said as he passed her.

"There's no time!" he said, but then he turned back, recalling how he had once done the mistake of not eating enough before leaving for the Castle and feared his belly would start rumbling during something important. "Okay, one then!" he said as he grabbed one, then changed his mind, put the bread in his mouth and grabbed a second, before storming out.

"Oh dear... I hope he won't get trouble." Zummi said concerned.

"I just hope he doesn't get sick from staying on the floor all night." Grammi said looking after him.

"Well, if he's been to war, I guess he's used to worse." Gusto smirked.

"He's gotta if he's begun eating Grammi's food voluntarily!" Gruffi said, making Gusto laugh out loud again. This actually made Gruffi chuckle as well, and it didn't take long before Gruffi too was laughing with his mouth open.

"Oh, don't you fool with things like that!" Grammi said with a frown and grabbed a bread that she pushed into Gusto's mouth before repeating the process with Gruffi. "Now come to breakfast; we have much to do today!" she scowled before leaving the room, leaving the male gummies a little disturbed.

Gruffi looked at Gusto, making a little growl by what just happened, and Gusto just looked back at him, giving a nonchalant sound as she shrugged back. Then both of them decided to get moving, each till with a bread in their mouth.

Cubbi didn't feel ready to go to breakfast just yet and instead ran after Cavin to see if he got well off.

Zummi sighed and sat down a moment at the spot where they had found Cavin. Sighing heavily, he let his head rest on the armlet on the couch. But as he let his feet dangle, he his right foot hit something underneath the couch. Just a second later he heard something roll and then the sound of glass hitting something.

He immediately shut his eyes up and jumped off the couch before kneeling down on the floor, reaching his right paw out for whatever was underneath there. When he pulled it out, he made a loud gasp.

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Ranni was sleepy when he was walking toward the kitchen, but as he spotted Cavin suddenly run past him, he woke up. He watched as he ran away, and got curious of what the hurry was. So he followed him towards the entrance and got in time to see Cavin as he jumped on a quick car. As he was too big for it, he knelt in a seat row, with a bread in his mouth and putting a second one inside his shirt before he pulled the liver on the car. Then he grabbed hard on the frames as the quick car started moving, holding fast as he disappeared.

Ranni stood and blinked, getting more and more confused over the human he had gotten to know within few days. This was not at all what he had expected humans to be like, but somehow, this clumsiness Cavin showed made Ranni even less afraid of him.

Cubbi arrived just in time to see him go. He panted slightly as he stood there with Ranni a moment. The young gummi looked up at him.

"Maybe we should ask Gruffi and Gusto to make a quick car with a bigger seat?" Ranni suggested. "He didn't take the quick cars last night."

"No. But he's never really liked the quick cars." Cubbi said, recalling the first times he had taken Cavin on a ride, and how he had screamed of fear.

"Why was he in such hurry?" the Cub asked.

Cubbi woke up from his thoughts and looked down at him. "You see, Ranni. He is a knight now, and therefore he had to be there for the King."

"Aww." Ranni said disappointed. "Does that mean he won't be around anymore?"

"Well, probably not as much as before, but he won't forget about us." Cubbi said. "He'll find some way to sneak in here. He always does."

"Good, cause he promised to take me to the Castle!" the cubling proclaimed.

Cubbi sighed and grabbed his shoulder. "Ranni, I... I don't think he can do that now."

"But he promised!" Ranni said, getting frustrated and wrestled himself out of his grip and stumped his foot on the floor.

"Ranni, that was before he knew about Calla." Cubbi said, getting frustrated himself.

"Then why didn't you tell him before he promised me?" Ranni shouted at him.

"Ranni, you're too young to understand these things." Cubbi said, not really having an answer.

"And you're just stupid!" Ranni spat back.

This made Cubbi furious, and he turned on his heel and frowned at him. "Why you little..."

"That's enough!"

The sound of Gruffi's loud, sharp voice made him twitch, and at sudden he didn't feel so certain anymore. Especially not when he felt Gruffi's paw on his shoulder, rather hard, as he pushed him aside to reach for Ranni, who yelped at his sudden harsh touch on his shoulder too.

"Okay, you two! It's breakfast, so stop it! Ranni, go wash your hands and sit by the table!"

"I don't want to!" the cub complained.

"Now, young bear!" Gruffi barked.

Ranni looked down and sulked, but when Gruffi didn't let go of his shirt, he gave a moan. "Aw... Fine."

Gruffi rewarded him by letting go of him, and pointed behind him to indicate for him to hurry up. So Ranni obeyed and started running inside, giving Cubbi a short pout before he disappeared.

"That little-Owtch!" he helped as Gruffi tightened the grip of him. "What's the matter with you? Stop treating me like a cub!"

"If you want to act like a role model to him, you have to stop acting like a cub."

"Hey, he started!" Cubbi wrestled himself free.

"And you had to go on, did you?" Gruffi said.

Cubbi was about to leave, but stopped himself at his words, as they stung inside.

"Look, Cubbi. Sir Thornberry let you have his sword when he was too old to carry it himself, so you may have received the title of a knight before Cavin. But only in the name! You have yet to earn the right to use it like Cavin did on the battlefield. And remember this; a knight is all grown up, and quarreling with children is the last thing a grown up does, least of all a knight!"

Cubbi felt tears well up in his eyes by these words, along with the anger inside him. But he refused to give into his emotions in front of Gruffi of all people. So he tied his fists and clenched his teeth before he swirled around, facing him with daggers shooting from his eyes. "Well, maybe you're the one who should think of growing up, cause you're always quarreling with everyone!"

The slap came so unexpected that Cubbi didn't realize it at first. But as Gruffi spoke, he begun to feel the warmth spread on his left cheek.

"I've had just enough of your recklessness! If you keep going on like this you'll be a cub forever in everyone's eyes."

Cubbi wasn't aware of the tears that came streaming down his cheeks before they reached his chin. But before he could allow any sob to escape, he turned around and started running away through the corridor, lowering his gaze, and therefore almost ran into Zummi, who managed to step aside just in time and watched him disappear before he walked on.

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As Gruffi saw Cubbi run away, he felt a sting inside, realizing he had gone too far. He had in fact regretted his words almost before they left his mouth and like many times before he wished he wished he could take them back.

He looked down and had a look at his paw, which was quivering from the hit. Why had he even done that? Was it because he wanted Cubbi to get himself a lesson, or could it have been that he really just got angry for what he had said?

It was true. He really was quarreling with everyone. It had become so easy for him over the years, and just part of his daily routine to have at least one quarrel with Grammi, and he had always found something to criticize. He knew that it wasn't right of him. He felt his eyes sting as well, and blinked rapidly to clear his suddenly blurred vision.

"Gruffi, ere you thare... Eh-there you are! I have to speak with you!"

"Zummi, eh eh..." Hearing the elder gummi bear speak as he approached, Gruffi gave a short sniff and cleared his throat behind a fist. "C-can it wait?"

"No! It cannot wait, Gruffi Gummi! Not now!"

The sudden determination of his voice made Gruffi look up and face him. The normally either calm or nervous elder gummi bear looked at him with a determination that he had never seen on him before.

"We need to talk about Cavin." he said and held up an object. "I found this underneath the couch where we found Cavin. And it's no wonder why you weren't able to wake him up at first!"

It took a moment for Gruffi to realize what he held up. A small, green bottle with a net of leather strings around it and a leather casket on the bottom. He paled as he reached out his paws to have a look at it, and he bit his bottom lip when he realized that the bottle was empty, turning it upside-down to watc small drop of gummiberry wine escaped and landed on the floor in front of his feet.

"No... That's no wonder at all."

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At the Castle, King Gregor and Sir Tuxford were approaching the meeting room when they heard some heavy footsteps and heavy panting behind them, and turned to watch Cavin approach around the corner. Cavin stopped in front of them, leaning towards the wall to catch his breath.

"Y... Your Majest..." he gasped for air and panted heavily, "I am so... sorry, I..." He rose up, couching in the process, trying in vain to swallow to moisturize his throat. "I hope... I'm not late."

The King and the knight looked at eachother a moment, and Cavin feared he would get a lecture, feeling how all color faded from his face. But the next moment both of them broke up in laughter.

"Well, as a matter of fact, you're just in time, lad." Kimg Gregor said.

"But we were getting a bit worried." Sir Tuxford said, sounding concerned and suspicious. "Leroy couldn't find you in your room and you never approached at breakfast, so tell me, where have you been all night?"

"Eh,.. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure." Cavin laughed nervously. He couldn't use the explanation that he had simply overslept over at the Gummi Glen because the gummie bears hadn't noticed where he had been all night. So in a hurry, he came up with something else. "I... I woke up and found myself... in the forest." He stood up straight and held up his hand. "Sire, I swear... No more wine. Ever!"

Both the King and the old knight looked at eachother, and for a moment Cavin feared that they didn't believe him. But then all of a sudden they both broke into another fit of laughter.

"Oh, Cavin, dear boy... Oh, I mean SIR Cavin!" the King corrected himself.

Cavin was knocked over by the sudden realization and it took him a moment to swallow the fact. "Oh... Wow... Imagine I have to get used to that."

King Gregor placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you're forgiven. You came in time for the planned meeting. Approaching breakfast was not a criterion. Although you're known for being loyal, and I suppose in the future you'll fit into the routines a little easier."

The guards opened the doors for the three of them and they entered the meeting room, where the servants had already prepared a table with refreshments. The King allowed Cavin to take a drink to moister his dry throat, and Cavin were careful not to pick wine, but fruit juice instead. This was warmly welcomed as he not only still had the taste of Grammi's bread on his tongue, but also finally got to swallow the darn stuff properly.

As just a boy, he never thought over how the nobles always had wine available, even early in the morning, but when he had once told the gummies about this, Gruffi had snorted and commented that there was no wonder humans always messed up. And as Cavin had gotten older, he had started to see what he meant. Humans, not just the nobles, would tend to drink wine or beer or whatever they had available whenever it suited them, and this had more than once led to problems for themselves and for others. How many times hadn't the knights been forced to interfere at the taverns or even at the Castle when there was a fight involving drinking?

Both Cavin and his Grandfather had more or less been very careful with drinking too much, not just for the intention of not giving the gummies away, but to not be one of those humans that Gruffi referred to. Sir Gawain had always had a strong moral sense, and believed that too much drinking interfered with the ability to fight.

But Cavin lowered his gaze as he recalled his own move from last night. He shouldn't be the one to judge really, when he realized that last night he had been no better. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel he had the right to judge these poor humans that Gruffi referred to. He suddenly panicked as he realized first now that there was only a matter of time before one of them found the bottle lying around. How could he have been so weak?

Suddenly he felt heavy in his head. He had been so disturbed and concerned about reaching the meeting in time that he hadn't noticed how much of a hangover he had. It was only a miracle he hadn't thrown up in the quick car. Normally he would have felt sick from just driving in one of those.

But now that he thought of it, he realized that he wasn't nearly as bad as he would have expected. Could it had been Grammi's breads? Had the odd dough-like substance he had forced himself to eat somehow neutralized the effect of the wine and lowered his possible nausea? Was he just being nervous about the meeting? Or was it... Couldn it be that the gummiberry wine didn't have the same effect on humans like the juice had?

The sound of a loud burp made him wake from his thoughts, and when he looked up, he spotted a huge, fat lord wipe his mouth after finishing of a cup of wine.

As more people entered, it struck Cavin how odd things were for him now. He was no longer the boy who served people drinks or fetched maps and documents for His Majesty. Now he was among those who were served and listened, and even spoke up.

As normal, the King himself would sit by the end of the table, with Sir Tuxford as usual on his right, and his old mentor placed him at his right again. And as he sat down, he found people suddenly staring as people found their places. To have such a young, fresh knight so close to the King himself was a bit unusual, but those who know him would have known him to be one of the King's favorite to have near through many years.

But all of a sudden it hit him that maybe that wasn't the only reason why they stared. Perhaps they thought about last night. Him and Calla in the dance. Surely her husband had suggested this himself, but what if... He knew how people were talking when people turned their backs.

Cavin shook his head and forced the picture of her angry face out of his head. He needed time to think of how to deal with her later. It would be impossible to avoid her completely, as close to her father as he would be now. But she would most likely not enter the council, her father had never let her. But what about...

He felt all stiff when he let his eyes glance around the room, spotting one face after the other, wondering if he would see... No, he didn't see Prince Daron anywhere in the room, and everyone had gotten a seat by now. He let a silent sigh escape his lips when he suddenly got startled by a hand on his right shoulder.

"So you got up in the morning after all, young man?"

Cavin turned around to find Lord Humpernick by his right. The lord was smiling at him with a slight chuckle. All Cavin managed was to give a short, nervous laughter back.

"Oh! Good morning, Sir. Sure, I... I couldn't miss this."

"Ah... What a night. It was quite a celebration." He leaned closer. "My wife and daughter are still sleeping, you know!"

Cavin couldn't help but chuckle. "To be honest, I... had some trouble getting up myself."

He got no further before the door flung open again and one of Prince Daron's dark men appeared. He walked towards the King, gave him a note, and turned around to leave, without making any efford of either bowing or nodding towards the King as he headed for the door.

This made Cavin forget his own issues and suddenly feeling how the blood boiled inside him. Suddenly furious of this lack of respect, he quickly up rose from his seat. "Hey, stop there this instant!"

The dark man stopped, turned around and scowled at him, remaining silent, giving him a cold look.

"What is the matter with you? You are to show your King your respect!" Cavin said without blinking or hesitating, not taking his eyes off him.

The room fell quiet, but the tension grew faster than grass in a sunlight field after a rainy night. The man looked like he was mortally insulted; his dark eyes grew small and he prepared a frown, obviously shooting daggers towards him with his eyes. Just then Cavin noticed the man's eyes. Was it just him, or was his eyes getting blacker by the seconds?

But the moment was gone as suddenly as it appeared, and the man seemed to become aware that he got all eyes on him. It seemed to notice the growing tension and after what seemed like forever he turned towards the King and made a half bow.

King Gregor seemed more uncomfortable than satisfied with it, and gave him a short nod as a sign that he could leave. Then the man turned and walked though it, slamming it in the process.

King Gregor cleared his throat loudly and spoke up. "Very well, let's begin then!"

Cavin had trouble hiding his sudden frustration. How could the King react so lightly to this man's obvious insult? "But Sire..."

He wasn't able to finish off his sentence as he felt Sir Tuxford pull him down by his left arm, giving him a sharp look in his eyes as he whispered. "Enough, lad. Leave it!"

Cavin remained quiet, not because his old mentor told him to, but because he was stunned. Tyhat both the King and his old mentor would let such a lack of respect be ignored was just out if his imagination. The King himself would never have been so cruel to point it out directly, but he recalled that Sir Tuxford had always been very strict when it came to showing His Majesty his respect.

And now he had remained silent.

He felt someone pull his shirt, and turned around to find Lord Humpernick to his right, leaning closer to him as he whispered.

"Well done, lad. It was about time someone spoke up to them."

Cavin wanted to ask him what he meant when the discussion begun around the table, but the look he got from the Lord gave him the impression that this was far from the time for explanations.

As the discussion of the day went on, Cavin had a look at the others around the table. He noticed that several of them gave him short looks that he had trouble reading, and when he tried to meet their eyes, they looked away. What was this? Didn't they want to face him out of pride, or was it because...

Cavin had only two years of battle experience, but he had been out in the war long enough to know when there were fear to be seen in a man's eyes.

And that's what he was certain he saw now. In many of them.