Chapter 11

Lancelot attempts to fix his relation to Guinevere after his impromptu love with Odette a few days ago. She thought she knew it all from what she saw so, she left him alone for her to "think about it". She did but nevertheless she always thought of him.

In the meantime, Lancelot knew the only thing to do to talk to her is to approach her personally. So, for the first time, he went to Guinevere's house. When he knocked the door, her father opened it.

"Good day, sir." He said to him, "May I, Lancelot, speak to your good daughter?"

"My 'good' daughter," he replied, "is sick. She cried like her tears will flood her room. We tried to comfort her but it wasn't enough. Now, she just stay. Good day, good young sir."

He began to close the door but Lancelot stopped him and said.

"Can I comfort her?"

He closed the door but he stayed on his position for a while and began to left. Just then, Guinevere's father opened it and said to him.

"Okay, you can try."

Lancelot was relieved and went inside.

"We," Guinevere's father spoke to him, "are a family of travelers. But, we are also a family of magicians." Lancelot looked at the painted portraits of the family. When he looked at Guinevere's portrait, he saw her beauty before he broke her up.

When they reached the door to Guinevere's room, her father spoke to him.

"Look, if you convinced her about the way you feel, you are accepted in this family. Will you promise me for it?"

"I'll try my best, sir."

He left. Lancelot is now on his beloved friend's doorsteps. He knew what he's doing and what she'll think of him once he stepped, or even knocked on her door. After breathing and thinking for few minutes, he knocked it and he heard click sounds behind it. Once he knew it, he entered the room.

Inside, he saw the person he meant to see. Guinevere was facing towards a window, specifically the gray-blue sky covered in clouds. He can't see her emotions but the messiness of the room told him. It's like a messy painting she made for him.

"If you just told me..." she spoke, "this room would not be messy, our love would be reconsidered by now, and we can just...talk."

"I know. I hid, I lied, and I hurt you. I'm now here right beside you to talk."

"After the damage you've done to us, or even to me only? How can you talk about it now?"

"That's why I'm...here."

"You hurt me, Lancelot. You know how painful it is?" He fell silent and she continues, "Very hard. Like a spear that was pierced through me. Can you imagine how awful it is?"

"Exceedingly awful."

"Exactly."

"But please, let me talk. I can explain. I have..."

Even if he's talking, she said to him.

"You have nothing to explain. We're done."

"...mercy on her." She faced him and he continues, "When I found her on the beach, I felt mercy on her. Of course, I can't leave her that way on the beach. I have to help her, and I did. For several days, we built our new relationship. But, it was something I've never felt before. It was the strangest connection I ever had: between me and Odette. Yesterday, she told me that she was a mermaid and it makes our relationship even more stranger. It wasn't love but it's beyond friendship. Then, you saw it. Do you think I would easily forgot about our romantic relationship? No." He hold her hands and continued, "I wouldn't. We love each other. I love you, whatever happens to us."

For the first time, she was touched by his words.

"Lancelot," she hugged him and said, "I'm sorry, for underestimating you."

He hugged her too and said.

"I'm deeply sorry for what happened."

"I guess we should start again, to our new paths."

That ended pretty well for both Lancelot and Guinevere.

Two days later, he again went to her house and her father welcome him as he promised to him before. When they reached her room, he left him alone. Lancelot opened the door to her room but she wasn't there. Instead, he found a note on her desk. It read.

"I'm sorry that I left off. I told you before that we should go on our paths. I figured that I cannot love the same person when fate brought him to his true love. I know it hurts but I realized that I can live the way I wanted, to love the person I desired to meet, and to refresh my mind. Our connection to each other will not be broken as you said. We just need to look towards the right path to keep it between ourselves. Love, Guinevere."

Meanwhile, outside the Castle, Kadita, Odette, and the two eels began to scout from a nearby underwater cliff that overlooks the kingdom.

"You two agreed to help us infiltrate the castle. How can we able to pass through many guards?" Kadita asked.

"We are struggling to find one." The female eel said to her.

"Don't worry," the male eel said, "we'll do the talking."

The four swam to the town area and when they entered the nearest house to the gate, the female eel said to the sisters.

"Once they are away, you two must quickly enter. We eels can easily change our minds."

"We understand." Kadita said to her and the eels swam outside to interrogate the eel guards. The sisters look on to see their progress. A minute later, they successfully lure the guards away from their posts and the sisters quickly entered the gate, just in time as the guards changed their minds and went back to their posts.

They swam to the back of the palace, behind the kitchen area.

"Okay," Odette spoke to Kadita, "I'll go find Father and our sisters and you'll confront her."

"Right."

They split up. Kadita entered the kitchen but was stopped at the door at the other side because she heard someone approaching and quickly hid on the dressing room. The kitchen personnel entered the kitchen as they talk something.

"Queen Aqualia," a mermaid personnel spoke to her fellow workers, "wants us to make dinner for her."

"You think we can handle that?" a merman personnel asked her. Kadita peeks through a door opening.

"I don't know, we just keep trying."

By that time, Kadita was dressed up in her uniform but didn't went out of the room until they began to work. When she reached the door and opened it, the female personnel recognized her.

"Kadita? Is that you?"

The workers took their attention to her. Kadita faced them.

"You're alive!"

"Shhh. Keep quiet." Kadita said to her.

She heard someone approaching and blends in with the rest of the workers.

"No noise! Keep working!" The male eel guard spoke through the door. When everything is clear, they pause from their work.

"We thought you were dead." The mermaid waitress spoke to her.

"I was but I'm here, alive." They seemed happy.

"We'll going to help you overthrow Aqualia." The merman waiter spoke to her, "What's the plan?"

"We're blending in." Kadita replied.

"She'll be eating dinner at the dining room tonight."

"We're on great timing then, let's make the foods."

They resume their work with Kadita.

Meanwhile, Odette was swimming inside the the castle to find King Aqueus and her two younger sisters. When she was about to swim in a corner, she hid in cover as a group of eel guards pass through the right corner.

"Where are the King and her daughters?" One of them asked.

"In the basement, I guess."

"Copy that."

Once they're gone, she silently followed them. When they reached the door to the basement and the eels opened it, Odette silently followed them.

At the basement, she heard of one of them saying to the King.

"The Queen wants you to summon for dinner."

When they began to leave, she quickly hid behind the barrels at the downward end of the stairs. After the eels passed her and exit the basement, she appeared before the King and her sisters.

"Odette!" The former said and the two sisters woke up from sleep.

"Odette!" They said

"It's nice to see you all." She spoke to them. To her father, she said, "Father, I'm sorry I left the kingdom."

"Don't be." He said, "I watched you all the time and I was sorry for the things I thought."

"Thank you, Father."

"Come on, we must leave before the eels came back."

"Right." Odette blasted the lock with her magic wand and they began to escape.

At dinner, the waiters began to enter the dining room with the food. Kadita, disguised as one of them, also came with a plate of marinated shrimp as a side dish. They put their dish on the table and went near the door, waiting for Aqualia's orders. Suddenly, the eel guards came in.

"They are escaping, my Queen!" One of them said to her.

"What?! Then, chase them!"

"Yes, my Queen."

They quickly swam out. Then, she said to the waiters.

"You all, get out."

They bow to her and left the dining room. While swimming their way out, Kadita thought.

"Odette, Father, Alga and Coralia, please be careful."