Chapter 3- King Stephen Finds Out
The next day, King Stephen approached his son, his captain of the guard, and his daughter's lady-in-waiting, and said to them, "Where on earth is Princess Mabel? I have searched everywhere in the castle and have failed to find her."
Wendy, the lady-in-waiting, then nonchalantly said to the king, "Oh, yeah, it's like a big deal. Everybody's talking about Prince Gideon and Princess Mabel's big date tonight."
King Stephen was shocked and furious! "That little troll dare defile my daughter!?" he growled.
And then Soos, the captain of the guard, remarked, "I wonder what the new name will be for the power couple. Mabideon? Gideabel? *Gasps* Magidbeleon!"
The old king then stormed to the castle door with rage in his heart. His son, Alexander, called out, "I didn't know! I didn't hear about it and plus, I told her not to."
Stephen then exclaimed, "Yeah, well it ends tonight. I'm going right down to my enemy's castle; this is going to stop RIGHT now!" And he slammed the door.
Presently, Soos found the time to make a joke: "Wouldn't it be funny if that was a closet, and he had to come back out again and go out the real door?" He then opened the door to check if it was the real door or not. "Nope. Real door," he said.
Later, King Stephen raced Rainbow Dash and pulled her to a halt in front of King Robert's castle. He then dismounted his pony and stormed to the front door.
"Gideon, you scurvy brat!" he yelled. "Open up!" He then noticed a sign on the door that said, Pardon this Garden. Disgusted, Stephen slammed the sign to the ground and growled, "I will pardon nothing!"
Just then, King Robert opened the door, and upon seeing his old rival, declared, "Why, King Stephen of Pines! What a delight!"
"Out of the way, Bob!" snarled Stephen. "I'm looking for Gideon!"
King Robert then said, "Well, I haven't seen the boy around, but since you're here, you simply must come in for dinner, flavored with Oriental spices that have been sold by Moslem merchants!"
"Wow!" King Stephen thought. "I fought the Moslems in the Crusades."
After both kings sat down in the royal couch, King Robert said to Stephen, "Now I hear that your daughter and my son are, well, they're singing in harmony lately so to speak!"
"Yes, and I'm against it!" shouted Stephen rather bluntly.
"No no no," said King Robert. "I see it as a fantastic business opportunity. Yes, your kingdom and mine. We've been at each other's throats for far too long. This is our big chance to set aside our rivalry and pool our collective profit, so to speak. Just marry your daughter off to my son, and we will both be happy."
But King Stephen wouldn't listen, and remarked, "I would rather see my daughter die by the sword than marry her off to your son."
Little did either king know that listening in on this conversation was Prince Gideon.
As Gideon went up to his bedroom, he overheard Princess Mabel talking to herself, "…I mean, he's so nice, but…I can't keep doing this. But I can't break his heart. Ahh! I have no way out!"
This gave Gideon a nasty idea. "Hey, Mabel," he shouted to her, calling her attention. "Don't you want this evenin' to last, my sweet?"
"No!" she exclaimed. "I mean yes. I mean I'm always happy to hang out with a friend, buddy, pal, chum, other word for friend…uh, mate?"
"How about soulmate?" sighed Gideon.
Mabel was dumbfounded. "I knew you'd say that," said Gideon. "Now, here's the deal. Everyone knows that love comes at a price. So here's what I want you to do…"
He then whispered something into Mabel's ear. After hearing it, Mabel was shocked! "You want me to kill my father?!" she asked in disbelief.
"If you wanna marry me," Gideon replied.
"What happens if I don't?" asked Mabel.
Suddenly, Gideon's nice façade gave way to fury, and he barked, "If you don't, then my father will declare war on your kingdom!"
Princess Mabel was horrified! She didn't like war, but at the same time, she loved her father very much. But Gideon said to her, "And to prove that you killed your father, mail me this dagger stained with your father's blood."
Poor Mabel, feeling like she had no choice, took the dagger and trudged out of the Gleeful castle to go home.