At Long Last - Part 3

    Marshall Lee rubbed his eyes. It was nearly two in the morning, and Prince Gumball was scribbling on a white board at the far end of the room. They were in one of the royal meeting halls, a large room with a vaulted ceiling, a long table, and plenty of whiteboards. Gumball had written the words from Marshall’s dream on the largest, and was muttering to himself as he made small notes to himself, occasionally crossing something out.

    “For as long as light shines. Forget not, the light-stone and torch. The beast comes, when the light shines no more,” Gumball read the words out loud. “Obviously ‘the beast’ refers to the Draugur, and ‘the light’ is that red glow you described. So when the red glow goes out, the Draugur will come. That must mean that your father will die when the light… oh.” Gumball paused, realizing that Marshall could hear him. “Let’s see… The light-stone. Does that mean anything to you, Marshall Lee?”

    Marshall Lee shook his head, trying to remember any mention of a “light-stone”. “Oh, there was one more thing, the word ‘Beltane’ was on the weird clock.”

    Prince Gumball paused, thinking. Beltane… it sounded familiar. He raced out of the room, and returned a moment later, arms laden with books. “I’ve heard that word before. I think it’s a time… a date.” He flipped through some of the books as Marshall Lee stood, feeling useless. “Aha!”

    “That’s it!” he shouted, slamming the book shut. Marshall Lee jumped in his seat, he had been on the verge of dozing off. “It’s midway between the solstice and the equinox, which is…” Prince Gumball did some math on the white board. “May the second. Which is next Thursday. Six days. We have time,” Gumball said, relaxing slightly. Lord Monochromicorn could get to anywhere in Ooo from the Candy Kingdom in three days or less.

    “Sorry, so… where are we?” Marshall Lee asked, a little confused.

    “Beltane. It’s an ancient holiday, from before the Mushroom War. This year it falls on May 2nd, according to this book. That must be the day that your father will die, the day that the Draugur will emerge.”

    “And the light-stone?”

    “I haven’t figured that one out yet. There’s still plenty of questions yet to be answered. Like how your father was able to send you a message in your sleep, or how…”

    “My mother gave him an amulet that can…” Prince Gumball pulled Marshall Lee from the meeting chamber, shushing him.

    “Hush. We’re safe for tonight. We can figure out more in the morning. It’s far too late, you can spend the night in one of our guest bedrooms.”

    Marshall Lee nodded, yawning. It had been a long evening, and he was very tired. Gumball showed him to the guest bedchambers, a plush room with gingerbread walls and a large, pink bed by a set of stained sugar-glass bay windows. Any other day, Marshall would have teased Gumball about the amount of pink in the room, but not today. He kicked his shoes off, unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it by the foot of the bed, and crawled in before realizing Gumball hadn’t left yet.

    “Umm… Goodnight, Marshall Lee. If you need anything, just call.” With that, the pink candy prince turned off the light and pulled the door shut.

    In the hallway, Prince Gumball sighed. Marshall Lee was a very hard man to understand. Six hours ago, he probably would have turned Marshall Lee away at the door had he come unannounced. Now, he was sleeping in the royal guest chambers, scared and helpless looking.

Gumball walked down the hall to his room, and made ready for bed. A thousand questions swirled in his head, but he knew that the answers would not come until morning. He slipped out of his royal dress and into his favorite pajamas, a pair of red and white striped bottoms and a black t-shirt from Marshall Lee’s old band. He rolled into bed, turned out the lights, and tried to clear his mind. The image of Marshall Lee, with tears in his eyes as he remembered his father, drifted through Gumball’s half-awake mind.

    It’s really not fair, he thought to himself. No wonder Marshall Lee is so… grouchy. No, that’s not the right word. Distant. Distant and lonely. Yes, that’s it, he thought, as he fell asleep.

    A shrill scream woke Prince Gumball. What could that be? he thought to himself, trying to clear the sleep from his mind. It sounded as if it had come from the guest bedchambers, but those hadn’t been used… Marshall Lee!