Saving Summer

Chapter Thirteen: The Reason

They reached the entrance to the throne room. On either side of the door stood a guard dressed in a coral uniform. Both guards were holding massive spears that blocked the entrance and wearing blank expressions. It kind of reminded her of the guards that stood outside of Buckingham Palace in Britain. The only difference was that these guards were not wearing the tall, fluffy hats. Penelope had always dreamed of visiting Britain. When she was in college, Penelope had even tried to apply to spend a semester abroad in England. She had even worked two part time jobs to save up enough money to go but ended up backing out. Her boyfriend of two years at the time, a guy named Oscar Villanova, had threatened to break up with her if she left for England. He was under the impression that she was going to use the semester abroad to cheat on him with random guys that she met over there. Penelope tried to reassure him that would not be the case but he did not believe her. After a major argument one night, Penelope finally agreed to cancel her semester abroad and stay at college with Oscar. Not even a month after this happened, Penelope found out that he had been cheating on her for the past six months with someone that he met at a fraternity party. 

Penelope was devastated and ashamed of herself. She could hardly believe that she had allowed herself to be swayed by Oscar’s words. He declared that he loved her so much and just could not picture spending a semester without her. He seemed so sincere when he said those words to her that she could not help but fall for it. She felt guilty for even thinking about leaving him and that was when she told the college advisor that she was not going on the trip. The college advisor tried to talk her out of not going to England but Penelope would not listen. She wanted to be with Oscar and if she had to give up on visiting England, then so be it.

After Oscar, Penelope had not dated much. She threw herself into her studies and worked hard to get top grades. She never wanted to be held back by a man again. Oscar had taught her a valuable lesson and Penelope was determined not to repeat her mistake.

Sometimes though, she did get a little lonely. The few friends that she did have were either happily married or in long term relationships. On occasion, one of her friends would set her up on a blind date with someone they knew but those never went anywhere. The guys ended up being too arrogant, too shallow, or just too much in general. Penelope just could not see herself going on another date with them past the initial one. 

“Ah, Sir Domnahl,” said one of the guards as they approached. “The king and queen have been expecting you.” The guard’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as he glared at Penelope and added, “Who are you?”

“A friend of mine,” Sir Domnahl replied before Penelope could open her mouth. Penelope’s jaw dropped. She could hardly believe that Sir Domnahl lied so easily to these guards. Even harder to fathom was that they actually believed him. 

“Very well, you may both proceed,” growled the guard.

The guards simultaneously lifted their spears so that they were no longer blocking the way. Sir Domnahl strode right through the entrance with Penelope on his heels. She still did not understand what had happened but as she stepped into the throne room, Sir Domnahl’s lie slipped her mind. She gasped as she glanced up at the vaulted ceiling. A beautiful mural painted in various colors that depicted some sort of gold chalice with rays of what looked like rays of dazzling sunlight emanating from the top of the chalice was painted there. Surrounding the chalice was a gorgeous sunset and a bounty of assorted fruits and vegetables. The mural covered the entire ceiling of the throne room from one end to the other. As she looked around, Penelope saw the thrones at the very end of the room. Seated in the high backed chairs were the king and queen. Both were dressed in robes of turquoise and wearing crowns on top of their heads. Penelope thought that the king and queen looked quite young. They could not have been much older than her but they both looked intimidating and impressive. Even from a distance, Penelope could feel them radiating power. As they stopped in front of the king and queen, Sir Domnahl bowed. Following his lead, Penelope curtsied to them. 

“Sir Domnahl, who is this woman that you have with you?” The king questioned in his deep, resonating voice.

“This is Penelope, Your Majesty. She does not know how she got here only that she appeared here suddenly out of nowhere,” explained Sir Domnahl, glancing up at the king.

The king and queen’s eyes went wide. They both looked at Penelope as though embodied all of their hopes and dreams. The queen let out a squeal of delight.

“I told you that it would work, Agostino!” The queen declared, triumphantly.

King Agostino placed a hand on the queen’s arm and said, “I had every bit of faith that it would Yesenia. And this woman is the proof.”

“Excuse me, Your Highnesses,” Sir Domnahl interrupted, hesitantly. “But what are you talking about?”

King Agostino cleared his throat as Queen Yesenia regained her composure. There was still a massive grin on her face as she looked from Sir Domnahl to Penelope.

“We used the Summoning Shell to call for help,” Queen Yesenia told them. “And it looks like Penelope was the one to answer the call.”

Penelope and Sir Domnahl shared a confused look. 

“Only thing that I remember is being shoved through a television set and landing here,” Penelope responded.

It was the king and queen’s turn to appear bewildered. 

“What is a television set?” the queen asked, curiously.

“Nevermind,” Penelope said, quickly. She could not think of a proper way to describe it. Not one that she thought would make sense to them. She was certain that they already thought that she was insane. She knew that she needed to deter them before they asked too many more questions, “You said that I was summoned here? For what purpose...uh...Your Majesties?”

Sir Domnahl let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head, strands of his red hair touching the tip of his brow. He must think that I am being disrespectful, thought Penelope. She did not mean to be this way. Penelope just wanted answers and did not like all of the beating around the bush to get to them. She wanted to know why she was here and she felt as though the sooner she found out, the sooner that she could go home.

“We have a bit of a problem,” King Agostino started slowly. “One that must be dealt with immediately. The golden chalice that holds the power of the Summer Kingdom has been stolen. We do not know for sure by whom but we suspect a witch by the name of Larissa Silvershade. The reason that she stole it is unknown and irrelevant due to the nature of the chalice. If it is not returned soon, the kingdom will lose its power forever and fade into oblivion.”

“That is where the two of you come in,” chimed in Queen Yesenia. “Sir Domnahl and Penelope, you two must work together to bring the chalice back here. You must also deal with the ones responsible for this mess as well.”

“Preferably, we would like for you to deal with this as silently as possible,” added King Agostino. “We do not want to cause a panic amongst the citizens of our kingdom. They must not know what is going on.”