Chapter 4
"Calla and Prince Herbert"
While Calla and Sunni searched for any sign of Prince Herbert's room, in a forest not too far away from Swamp Castle, a brave and influential knight named Sir Lancelot of the neighboring kingdom of Camelot was wandering through the forest as he was searching high and low for an object known as the Holy Grail. For the past few days, he and his horse, Concorde, had traveled far and wide in search of the object in question. Lancelot was also known to hold honor to the code that most knights held to protect and serve those who were under their care. As he and his horse rested by a stream, their time of seclusion was interrupted by a sudden arrow that flung through the air and hit Concorde in the chest.
"Message for you, sir," gasped the horse as he fell over on his side. Lancelot ran over and pulled the arrow out of Concorde's chest and read the note that was attached to it.
"'Please help me," read Sir Lancelot. "I am being held captive in a tower and being forced to marry against my will by order of my father.' At last, a quest, a mission to prove my valor by the grace of God. Oh, brave Concorde, you shall have not died in vain."
"I'm not quite dead, sir," remarked Concorde, much to Sir Lancelot's relief that his horse was still alive. "Really, I'm not."
"Oh, well then," said Sir Lancelot. "Then rest here, brave Concorde, while I go and rescue the one who sent me this note."
Of course, Sir Lancelot at that moment was not thinking at all about the Holy Grail. He had far more important matters to attend to, such as rescuing whoever wrote the note.
At that moment, Prince Herbert continued to sit by the window and wait for the moment to pass when he would have his free life come to an end for the sake of expanding the land of his father's kingdom. His moment of thinking was interrupted when a knock at the door was heard, alerting the two guards guarding him.
"Who goes there?" one of them asked. "His highness is not to be disturbed until his father, the king, returns to collect him for the wedding."
"I've come to see the prince," replied a female voice on the other side. "Me and a friend of his."
"Should we let her in?" asked the other guard. "It might be a trick of some sorts."
The guards thought about it for a moment, but eventually relented and opened the doors, revealing Princess Calla on the other side, much to the shock and surprise of the guards.
"Princess Calla!" cried one of the guards, getting down on their knees. "We were not expecting you to visit the prince! Does your father know that you are here?"
"Calla! Is that you?" remarked Prince Herbert. "After all these years, you've come back at last in my time of need!"
Knowing that Prince Herbert needed to be consoled in private, Calla decided that she and Herbert would need to be left alone without the guards watching over them.
"Please leave me and the prince alone," said Calla as she and the cloaked Sunni walked into the room. "If anyone attempts to enter, they are to not enter unless if I say otherwise, is that clear?"
The guards were surprised that the princess of Dunwyn castle would be giving them orders, but they nevertheless obliged to Calla's commands and left her and Sunni alone with Herbert. Herbert was delighted at the fact that he was able to talk to someone whom he knew and trusted with all his heart.
"Calla," he cried as he hugged her tightly. "I am so glad to see you at this time of need! I don't want to go through with this! You have to help me!"
"Herbert, I understand why I don't think you should be married," said Calla. "Nobody should force others to do anything that they don't want to do. I recently proved that to my father in the squires' tournament that was held in my kingdom."
"He won't listen to me, Calla," sighed Herbert, showing Calla the ridiculous outfit that King Herbert wanted him to wear. "You see what he wants me to wear? These clothes represent the life that I don't want to have. What am I going to do? I'm young and I want to lead my own life!"
Herbert took the wedding suit and threw it across the room in a fit of rage. The yell he made had made Sunni jump with surprise and this alerted Herbert.
"Who…who is that?" asked Herbert and Calla realized that she had no other choice. "If that is your friend, she looks rather small. Is she a child?"
Calla nodded and Sunni removed the dark green cloak, revealing herself to Prince Herbert, nervously gulping at how he was going to react.
"A Gummi Bear!" gasped Prince Herbert, getting down to Sunni's level and taking her paw in his hand. "I've always thought they were fairy tales, not real creatures."
"We are real," said Sunni, meekly. "But, we just hide a lot. Calla and I are friends, Prince Herbert."
Seeing Sunni made Prince Herbert realize that he had a childhood to live through. He didn't need to be pushed into doing something that he didn't want to do.
"Do you see why I've brought her here, Herbert?" said Calla. "I've brought her here to show you that you deserve to have a life to live by. If I had gotten a squire to be my protector, then our relationship would have been over. Don't let certain laws dictate your life and let your father know of that."
But Herbert was entranced by Sunni's presence so much that he didn't even pay attention to what Calla was saying. However, Calla was right, he needed to stand up to his father right here and right now. But then, he realized that his note was probably found by someone right now and that the individual in question would come and rescue him. It was only the sudden sounds of screams and yells did Herbert break out of his trance.
"What was that?" yelped Calla, who almost fell on the ground.
"I don't know, Calla!" cried Sunni, knowing that being revealed to an encroaching human was almost inevitable. "But, I'd better hide!"
So, Sunni ran and took cover behind a secluded corner of the room as the sounds of screams and cries continued to grow and grow as footsteps were heard coming up the stairs. Calla noticed a scepter and picked it up, preparing to defend herself against whoever was coming up to them.
"Herbert, take cover!" she ordered. "That's a royal command!"
"But, Calla…" cried Herbert, thinking that the footfalls were coming from the one who answered his note.
"Now!" she ordered and Herbert did as he was told, jumping behind a chest while Calla got into a battle position. Unfortunately, Sunni had gotten so scared that she had discovered a small hole in the stone wall and crawled through it, trying to hide herself from view.
To make matters worse, she didn't even notice the wall had a hole on the other side that led right outside and soon, Sunni dashed out of the hole and fell screaming to the ground below.
"Time for some Gummiberry juice!" she cried and lifted up her dress to reveal the bottle that was attached to her left leg. Taking it out, she drank the bottle, but before Sunni could finish it, she ended up in large field of grass, which kept her from view of other humans. But the force of the impact knocked her out cold as Calla, not knowing about Sunni's fall, heard the sounds of the guards guarding outside the room being killed and the door swinging open to reveal the intruder on the other side…
