Prince of Penance

Chapter Sixteen: Strangers In The Night

Sunni couldn't help the chattering of her teeth as she made her way into the royal gallery. She had agreed to Bryton's suggestion that they meet after the council session, but she hadn't known the council session would end so late in the evening. The gallery was dark, and the candle she had brought cast ominous shadows over the framed portraits of Bryton's ancestors which made their eyes seem even more creepier in the darkness then they did during the day.

Seriously, Bryton had some strange and ugly looking ancestors. He and his uncle must have gotten their good looks from their mothers. The portrait of Bryton's father had been such a shock to her; he looked nothing like his sire, who was ugly, skinny and mean looking, with dark red fur and one eye missing. No, Bryton took after his mother in looks, and as she came along the different family members Sunni noted with a soft sigh that Gusto also looked like his own Mother.

I wonder where Bryton is...

Maybe he had forgotten their agreement. Sunni certainly hoped he hadn't. She could feel the creepy shadows around her like ogres in the darkness waiting to pounce.

Her candle flickered across an image that was so familiar that she stopped and had to look at it in shock. It was Gusto of course, but a young Gusto, once a small cub with a mischievous streak in his eyes that the artist had managed to capture so well. But for a moment, in the darkness, it looked almost like Cubbi and that is what had caught her off guard.

This baby portrait was the only childhood portrait of Gusto she had ever seen, and for a moment she couldn't tear her eyes from it. She swallowed hard though, and forced herself to leave the portrait and move on. Along the wall were other paintings, and many of the portraits of people were followed by portraits of their great deeds and daring exploits.

A miniature painting next to the baby picture of Gusto portrayed him in the midst of some complicated spell, his robes flying around his body like wings, surrounded by the frothy foaming waves of the ocean.

Sunni shivered in the darkness, caught as if by a spell in the power of the portrait's eyes. Gusto in this picture seemed like another creature, a being carved out of some primal, unyielding granite material, hard and cold. There was nothing of the soft bouncy bear she knew in this image.

Had Gusto really been this...extreme? This impassioned? She couldn't imagine him ever being this severe looking over anything that wasn't some artistic accident on a painted canvas. She could see him making such a fuss over a ruined portrait, or concentrating so hard upon getting the colours just so. But such a look over something like magic, it would have never crossed her mind.

Its not Gusto...It can't be...

"It's an artist's impression only...And artists, I find, are greatly influenced by their own opinion on their subject matter."

Sunni jumped and shrieked at the sound of Bryton's voice nearby and she whirled to look at him, feeling her heart pounding in her chest.

"D-don't sneak up on me like that!" she said, choking.

"I'm sorry, Sunni, I didn't mean to startle you," said Bryton. "I heard you talking in here and thought perhaps somebody else had gotten to you before me."

"No," Sunni said, recovering herself quickly. "I hadn't realized I was talking to myself."

"Do this often?" Bryton said, voice slightly amused.

"Not really," Sunni admitted, gratefully letting him take her candle holder and place it on a nearby book stand. "Only when I'm alone, and sort of...nervous, scared."

"I see," Bryton nodded, and put his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to be afraid here, Sunni. My palace is safe and there are servants everywhere. Nothing bad can happen to you here."

Sunni nodded, and was very aware that her heart had come up into her throat. Bryton's hands on her shoulders were warm and firm, but gentle, and his eyes were apologetic.

"I am sorry I kept you waiting..." he said bashfully. "The council session was quite late."

"I know," said Sunni. "So...how did Gusto make out?"

Bryton quickly told her everything, and took her by the hand.

"I am starting to see things now that I've never seen before," Bryton said, shaking his head. "That you were first of all, right to be angry with me for using you as a message carrier. I should have spoken to my Uncle myself. I was a coward."

"I...its all right Bryton, we all make mistakes," Sunni said, eagre to get passed that and onto something more positive.

"I have also seen how I've been controlled by the Court and Council for far too long. I shall not let the wool be pulled over my eyes again. For fifteen years I've been told horror stories about my Uncle, only to find not a single one of them is true. I should have stood up for him sooner."

Sunni smiled and squeezed Bryton's hand comfortingly.

"You couldn't have known," she said. "And now you can both make things right."

"I really...don't know how. I don't actually plan for Gusto to fight the monster," the Prince admitted, adjusting his collar. "It is my hope that I can draw out the real magician responsible for the Kraken attacks and capture him. What a great temptation it would be; the two Princes on one ship! Of course the magician must make an appearance! And after I talk to the wizards in the college I can come up with some plan for combating him."

"Thats a great idea!" Sunni said, feeling relief under her breast bone where a painful pressure had previously been. "You should ask Zummi, he's very good at coming up with solutions to magical problems. He may not have training but he knows a lot of useful stuff, like locking spells and levitation."

Bryton nodded, and then Sunni was totally taken off guard when he swooped down like a hawk and kissed her.

Oh, so this is what kissing is like.

It lasted for a few seconds, then the Prince took a step back, looking a little sheepish.

"I've...never been so fond of anyone before," he admitted. "I have all these rules I'm supposed to follow for finding a wife, and all that, but really I just want a girlfriend, like normal guys my age. I'm not supposed to choose a peasant girl or a girl with a disability. I'm not supposed to touch any girl, or hold hands, or even hug, unless she's met my Mother's approval and gone through all that nonsense. I'm supposed to do this and that, this and that, but it's all fuddy duddy human nonsense. The Great Book of Gummi doesn't say anything about how a Prince chooses a girl. I don't see why Monteray has to be different than the rest of the Gummi world."

"Well," Sunni said, voice shaking nervously. "I'm a peasant girl, so you've already broken one rule. And you've touched me and all that..."

"My Mother would highly approve of you though," said Bryton smirking. "She gave you her coronation dress."

"Her...what?" Sunni choked.

"The dress she wore when she was named the Queen of Monteray," Bryton said wryly. "She was sixteen I believe. She must have forgotten that though. For all the lovely dresses she owns, I think she longs to just take them off and wear nice comfortable cotton clothes like the rest of the Gummi world."

Sunni giggled at the thought of Queen Thistle Rose in an old maid's dress like Grammi. Bryton took advantage of her momentary distraction to kiss her again.

"Scandal," Bryton whispered. "Shocking. Prince Bryton, sneaking off to the royal gallery to court a peasant."

"A very lucky peasant," Sunni giggled, very much aware that she was blushing.

"Will you be my girlfriend Sunni Gummi?"

Bryton didn't need to ask twice.

"Definitely. Though I warn you, I'm not some frilly Court girl, you won't get away with just giving me candy and taking me for walks. You'll have to work hard for me, I promise you."

"Candy?" Bryton said, grinning. "Oh, I suppose I may have a toffee on my person somewhere for you, now where did I put it...Ah, darn, just the wrapper."

Sunni fully burst out into laughter at this, and rewarded Bryton by kissing him this time.

"So shall I escort you to your rooms, Lady Sunni?" Bryton said, taking the candle holder and offering her his arm.

"Yes, but you'd better keep an eye out for Gruffi or the others, you know its way passed my bed time."

"Pish posh," said the Prince. "Night is for us young people. Let the fuddy duddies sleep."

Sunni giggled even more, and took his arm. The Royal Gallery and its shadows melted away. Bryton's warm spirit and calmly amused commentary was enough to banish away the dark shadows that had been lingering in the back of her vision like ghosts; twin hovering figures that vanished with the flickering of the candle light.