Chapter 17
"Return to Dunwyn"
The quick car bearing Sunni, Cubbi, Cavin and Calla sped faster and faster through the quick tunnels. It had only been almost one day since Duke Igthorn and Lady Bane had been killed when they invaded Ursalia. Now, Cavin and Calla were left with the task of announcing his death and defeat to King Gregor, who was not aware of the events that took place in Ursalia. In fact, they were all wondering how the King of Dunwyn was going to react when he would see them in tattered formal clothes. Approaching the station underneath Dunwyn Castle, the two humans and Gummi Bears cubs got out and ran over towards the secret door leading into the castle courtyard. By the time they had arrived, it was already just about nightfall and everyone in the castle was asleep. The four friends crept quietly through the streets of Dunwyn with only the sounds of Calla's white high heels and Sunni's dark green slippers being heard.
"I wonder if anyone has seen us," whispered Calla. "As long as we are quiet and not attracting any attention, we should be in the clear sooner than we think."
"I don't think so, Calla," replied Cavin. "But, there's the door to the throne room. I don't know how King Gregor is going to react to this."
"All we can do now is hope for the best," said Sunni. "Ready?"
Everyone nodded and approached the throne room, unaware of what King Gregor was going to react to what had happened in Ursalia. King Gregor was sitting on his throne with Sir Victor Igthorn standing next to him and was just about to retire to his quarters, when the door suddenly opened.
"Who disturbs his majesty at this very hour?" cried Sir Victor. "Show yourself now you cowards."
But the door soon opened and Princess Calla and her friends entered the throne room. A loud gasp was heard from both Sir Victor and King Gregor over the shock of what they were both seeing. An even louder gasp was heard from Sir Victor when he saw Sunni and Cubbi for the first time.
"Calla! Cavin!" cried King Gregor, seeing the condition his daughter, her boyfriend and friends were in. "What in the world has happened to the both of you?"
"We were under attack, father," said Calla, hugging her father. "It was Igthorn and Lady Bane."
"Igthorn?!" gasped King Gregor. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have come and protected you."
"Not every Gummi Bear knows who you are, your majesty," replied Cubbi. "Igthorn was planning to attack Dunwyn again."
"How was that treacherous brother of mine going to attack Dunwyn?" asked Sir Victor. "Was he going to use his blasted ogres?"
"No, Sir Victor," replied Cavin. "All of his ogres had run away and he was going to use mostly enemies of the Gummi Bears and their secret of the Gummiberry Juice."
"He already knew about that, Cavin," said Cubbi. "Remember?"
Then, Cavin presented Igthorn's sword to King Gregor. The king was amazed at what he saw considering that a true enemy of Dunwyn was already dead.
"Your majesty," said Cavin. "I present to you the sword of Duke Igthorn, who was killed in the invasion of Ursalia."
King Gregor took the sword from Cavin's hands and handed it over to Sir Victor. Duke Igthorn was his brother after all, so Sir Victor couldn't help but feel a touch of sadness since it was his brother who died.
"It had to be done, Sir Victor," said Calla. "Your brother was planning to launch a full scale attack on Dunwyn all over again. I am sorry."
"No, princess," he sighed sadly. "You did what you all had to do to protect the Gummi Bears and Castle Dunwyn. My brother would have been impossible to defeat had he gotten through the gates of the Dunwyn with all those weapons and powers."
But, King Gregor had to take notice of his daughter's ruined blue and white gown. The dress she had worn to her first grand ball was ruined yet again and King Gregor demanded to know why.
"My dress is not that important right now, father," said Calla. "What is important right now is helping the Gummi Bears recover from an attack as big as what had happened in Ursalia. I need you to help us achieve this task."
"Calla," replied her father. "I wish I could help you, I really could. But, aside from you and Cavin, I do not know where Ursalia is nor do I know about the Gummi Bears aside from Sunni and Cubbi."
"There must be something you could do," said Cavin. "Maybe if we show you the way to Ursalia, you could maybe help us and the Gummies."
"It's not me you have to convince," said King Gregor. "It's the citizens of Dunwyn you have to convince. They are still trying to recover from Igthorn's attack after so many days. Perhaps, if you convince them to accompany you to Ursalia, then maybe they will see that Gummi Bears are not just fairy tales."
"Well," said Sunni. "We have helped defend Dunwyn many times against Igthorn and his ogres, so maybe its time your citizens have a better understanding of who we are and what we do."
This made King Gregor ponder Sunni's suggestion, wondering if several of his people would be willing to help a group of bears that were mostly considered fairy tales to them. He was also beginning to wonder if he should go as well, considering it as a way of expressing gratitude towards the Glens for secretly protecting Dunwyn from Igthorn and his ogres.
"Perhaps, young lady," he said. "I may consider your offer to bring several of my highest ranking subjects to your capitol and assist you in any way I can as a way of saying thank you for everything you have secretly done for my kingdom."
"Father," said Calla excitedly. "You would be willing to allow yourself to come to Ursalia with us?"
"Yes, I would Calla," replied King Gregor. "We will leave in the morning and your friends are welcome to stay here for the night."
"Thank you so much, father," replied Calla. "You will not be disappointed by what you are about to see, we promise you."
So, the four friends returned to their quarters for the first time in as many days. Sunni went to Calla's room while Cubbi stayed with Cavin. It felt good for them to get out of their tattered formal clothes and into more comfortable night clothes. Sunni kept a spare green dress and aqua nightgown in Calla's room for whenever she stayed over at Dunwyn castle. So, she changed out of her tattered dark green dress and into one of her Aqua Nightgowns. Calla had stripped off her ruined formal blue and white gown and into her sleeveless pink nightgown.
"It sure feels good to get out of those clothes, Calla," said Sunni. "I like dressing up, but after everything that has happened, it sure feels good to be in comfortable clothes."
"I know how you feel Sunni," replied Calla as she placed her gold tiara back on her dressing table. "But, what's more important is that father is willing to go to Ursalia with us."
"I just hope the others are doing fine," added Sunni. "But, I can't help but wonder, why Igthorn would target you to be killed in such a desperate moment."
"Maybe, it's because I am a princess, Sunni," said Calla lying down on her nice comfortable bed. "Sometimes, there is more to being a princess than standing around and looking pretty. That makes you and me very vulnerable. Part of the reason why I snuck into the squires tournament a while back was to one day be able to defend myself in the face of danger instead of having others defend me."
"Perhaps I can learn a lot from you Calla as much as you learn from us," said Sunni. "We have been on many adventures together and may be once everything has calmed down in Ursalia and now that your father has known about us, perhaps we can have more adventures together."
"Who knows what the future holds, Sunni?" sighed Calla. "I must tell you something that may affect us getting together on a frequent basis."
"What is that, Calla?" asked Sunni, worriedly. "Are we still going to be friends?"
"Sunni, of course we are still going to be friends no matter what," replied Calla. "But, after the events of Igthorn's invasion, father has been considering having me become a queen-in-training. Father is not going to be king forever and after what had happened here, he began thinking about his future and may abdicate his position in a year or two. But, just because I am going to be queen one day, it doesn't mean the end of our friendship and one of the first things I am going to do as queen is allow the Gummi Bears into Duwyn on their own free will. The time has come for humans and Gummi Bears to coexist together once again. Perhaps if father meets the rest of the Gummies in Ursalia, things can only up from here."
"I hope so, too, Calla," sighed Sunni as she went to sleep. "I hope so, too."
So, the girls turned out the light and fell asleep as they had a big day ahead of them tomorrow and hopefully, the start of a bright and glorious future for both humans and Gummi Bears.
