Chapter 6
"Confronting Sir Lancelot"
Acting quickly, Sunni immediately took the remains of her gummiberry juice and drank it to give her the ability to bounce and save Prince Herbert from certain death. The prince of Swamp Castle was a few mere inches from the ground when Sunni jumped up and grabbed him. But, the weight the prince was had caused Sunni to drop quickly to the ground, landing with a very hard thud with Prince Herbert sitting on top of her.
"Am I dead yet?" he asked as he heard Sunni groan beneath him. "Oh, who is…the Gummi Bear?! You rescued me?"
"Of course I did," coughed Sunni as she rose to her feet, dusting the dirt off of her long green dress. "I wasn't going to let you become a pancake, was I? Are you all right?"
"Then, you've saved me!" cried Prince Herbert as the music started back up again. "I can't wait to tell the world that I…"
"Hold it! Hold it!" interrupted Sunni, raising and waving her paws to stop the music. "You cannot tell anyone else that I saved you. Humans and Gummi Bears really don't get along very well and we haven't had contact with most humans in over 500 years. Will you promise me that?"
After a moment, Herbert bent down and kissed Sunni's paw gently, making the yellow Gummi Bear blush slightly for a minute. Of course, Herbert knew that his father was probably worried sick about him, not knowing of course, that King Herbert intentionally cut the rope that almost sent Prince Herbert to his death.
"I'll take that as a yes then," giggled Sunni as the sounds of hoof beats came onto the scene and she quickly jumped back into the tall grass.
Peeking through the tall grass, Sunni saw a rider-less horse arrive on the scene and bent down to allow Prince Herbert to ride on top of him. Once Herbert was mounted on the horse's back, the horse took him away and left Sunni alone to hide in the grass, now thinking about the wellbeing of her best human friend.
"I sure hope Calla's all right," thought Sunni.
Meanwhile, King Herbert led Sir Lancelot, King Gregor and Princess Calla back into the now bloodied main hall where those who were killed by Sir Lancelot were being mourned by their loved ones. As they walked into the hall, King Herbert tried to diffuse the situation by speaking of his "remodeling" plans for his kingdom after the wedding.
"Now, this is the main hall," he said to Sir Lancelot. "We'll have this all knocked through and then we'll…"
Then, suddenly, one of the victims' relative pointed at Sir Lancelot with a fit of rage and anger in his voice.
"THERE HE IS!" cried the victim's relation, the tone in his voice scaring Calla for a brief second.
"Oh, bloody hell," whispered King Herbert as the angry guests charged at Sir Lancelot, causing the knight of Camelot to leap into action, swinging his sword at them in defense as King Herbert intervened and broke up the escalating confrontation before it could get completely out of hand.
Calla wanted to get in on the action, but Gregor pulled her back, not wanting to see her in any more danger than she already had been.
"Please, hold it! Hold it!" cried King Herbert, pulling Sir Lancelot away from the angry wedding guests.
"Sorry, sorry," replied Sir Lancelot. "You see what I mean? I just get carried away. Sorry, sorry everyone."
"He's killed the best man!" shouted a wedding guest, covered in blood.
King Herbert waved his arms and called out for silence, briefly calming down the angry guests and allowing him to speak.
"This is Sir Lancelot from the court of Camelot," announced King Herbert. "A brave and influential knight and my special guest here today."
"Hello," Sir Lancelot said, trying to put on his best smile despite all that was happening around him.
"He killed the Maid of Honor!" cried another wedding guest as the cries of anger once again dominated the main hall. "And he killed my auntie!"
"Please! Please!" called King Herbert, once again calling for silence from the wedding guests. "This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who. We are here today to witness the union of two young people in the joyful bond of holy wedlock."
This brief remark by the king was only met by the sounds of confusion and dismay over the situation. On one hand, there were dozens of people dead or nearly dead and on the other hand, there was still a wedding to take place.
"Unfortunately," said King Herbert. "One of them, my son Herbert, Prince of Swamp Castle, has just fallen to his death."
Calla could only just stand there and raise an eyebrow at this for she couldn't believe that Herbert would have simply fallen to his death or unless….he was saved by her best friend at the very last minute. Furthermore, one of the people in attendance had a very distraught look on her face, giving a clear indication that she was Princess Lucky, the woman that Herbert was supposed to have married.
"But, I don't want to think I've lost a son," interjected King Herbert. "As so much as… gained a daughter."
This caused the tension to drop for a moment as a light round of applause came throughout the main hall. Of course, there was the sense of sadness as well for the Princess as her father had been killed in Lancelot's rampage.
"For since the tragic death of her father," continued King Herbert. "I want his only daughter to look upon me as her own dad in a real and legally binding sense."
Another light round of applause once again broke up the tension and dread of the situation. However, no one could believe for what the king of Swamp Castle would say next.
"Furthermore," continued King Herbert. "I feel sure that the merger and the union between the Princess and the brave, but dangerous Sir Lancelot of Camelot…"
Sir Lancelot couldn't believe this and turned back to the King in surprise, trying to see what he was thinking. Even Calla and Gregor couldn't believe what they were seeing and hearing. A crazed knight storming into a wedding, killing or mortally wounding dozens of people, being offered a chance to marry. Now, Calla was beginning to think that something was amiss, until an excited voice filled the hall.
"Look!" cried a wedding guest. "The dead prince!"
At that moment, Lancelot's horse, Concorde, stepped into the hall with Prince Herbert on his back much to the shock and awe of Calla, Gregor and the wedding guests, but of the disgust and dislike of King Herbert.
"He's not quite dead," said Concorde looking up at the king and his master.
"No," added Prince Herbert. "I feel much better."
"You fell out of the tall tower, you creep!" remarked King Herbert.
"No, I was saved at the last minute," replied Prince Herbert as Concorde let him off on an upside down tub barrel.
"How?" demanded King Herbert.
At that moment, the random sound of music began to play again and King Herbert began to feel very uncomfortable about what was happening around him.
"Well, I'll tell you," answered Prince Herbert.
"No, not like that!" cried King Herbert, attempting to flee the scene. "Not like that! Stop it! SHUT UP!"
And King Herbert ran out of the hall, rudely running past Gregor and Calla in an attempt to flee the thing he dreaded most as the main hall broke into a chorus of "He's going to tell," over and over again.
"Quickly, sir! Come this way!" called Concorde.
"No, it's not right for my idiom," replied Sir Lancelot, hastily grabbing a rope and knowing that he needed to get out of Swamp Castle. "I must escape more…"
Sir Lancelot rolled his eyes at the thought he couldn't finish his sentence, however Concorde was quick to finish it for him
"Dramatically, sir?" asked Concorde.
"Dramatically!" called Sir Lancelot and the knight jumped off the stairs and swung out the window, breaking a stained glass window while Concorde also fled the scene, attempting to follow his master out.
However, rather than staying behind to hear how Prince Herbert was rescued, Calla knew that Sunni was missing and she needed to find her before someone else would.
"Father, I need to leave for a moment," said Calla, however Gregor was too enraptured to even notice Calla's remark. However, Calla understood that he was too focused and went out to find Sunni herself…
