Amber and the Magic Thread

Chapter 4

It was now the day of Princess Amber's wedding, and she was quite content. Her dress was beautiful, of course, and everything had been arranged just to her liking. The prince she had agreed to marry had even proved to be quite attractive, much to Amber's relief. The ceremony ended quickly enough, with the prince and Amber being crowned the new King and Queen of the country. Amber beamed at how lucky she had turned out to be. She was able to marry a handsome prince and become Queen in the same day!

After the ceremony, Amber walked over to her friends who had come to the wedding. Many people she half-recognized from Royal Prep came up to congratulate her and wish her luck with her new life, and she shook hands with each of them in thanks. Finally, she made her way to Clio and Hildegard, who had been standing with their dates.

"Ladies! Oh, I'm so happy to see you!" Amber announced, giving a big hug to both of them.

"We are so happy for you Amber!" Clio congratulated. "You are finally a queen!"

Hildegard nodded, "You'll do great, I'm sure."

"Thank you so much!" Amber beamed. "Why don't you guys stay for a little while and we can chat over some tea?"

"I wish I could…" Clio began, "but Frederick and I are supposed to meet with his parents today to talk about our engagement."

"Oh…" Amber's shoulders drooped slightly and she turned to Hildegard. "What about you Hildy?"

Hildegard shook her head. "Sorry Amber, but I can't stay either. We'll get together some other day, alright?"

"Alright…then I guess I'll see you girls later. Tootle-loo!"

Amber waved goodbye as she watched her best friends walk away, arm in arm with princes of their own. Her parents came over soon after to congratulate her on the wedding and…let's just say a lot of tears were shed by all involved. Just then Amber felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned around she saw none other than her twin brother and step-sister.

"James, Sofia!" Amber greeted them happily.

"Wow, Amber, I can't believe the day has finally come for you to leave us all behind," James confessed, patting her affectionately on the back. "Now I won't have to deal with your whining all the time!"

"James, be nice." Sofia chided him.

"Aw, you know I'm just kidding Sof!" James assured her, then turned back to Amber with an uncharacteristically sad face and pulled her a big bear hug. "I really will miss you sis. But we'll always be twins, right!"

Amber faked a frown as James ruffled her hair, "James, if you sing that twin's song here I will slap you in the face."

"Aw, c'mon!" James pouted. "Fine, fine, clearly I'm not wanted here! I'll go see how mom and dad are doing."

"Ok, I'll be there in a bit," Sofia told him and he gave her a quick peck on the cheek before going towards his blubbering father.

Amber just stared at them in disbelief, not really sure what just happened. Instead of trying to figure it out and hurt her head in the process, she figured she must have just missed something important when she had last pulled the golden thread.

Maybe I shouldn't use it so often…I can barely understand anything that is going on lately, she told herself.

"Well, I guess this is it," Sofia said, interrupting Amber's thoughts.

"I guess it is..." Amber agreed sadly. She had forgotten that when she became queen she would have to move away from her family too. "But we will still get together, I promise!"

Sofia smiled. "That's good. Let's try to have a day to hang out at least once a month!"

"Agreed," Amber smiled back before soon noticing her husband motioning for her to come over. "I better go, it looks like I'm needed elsewhere. My husband sure is handsome, isn't he?" she bragged waving over to him.

"Yeah, I guess…" Sofia answered half-heartedly.

Amber furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know…I guess I just always thought you would end up marrying Hugo, that's all," Sofia confessed quietly.

"Hugo?!" Amber exclaimed, "Why on earth would I marry him?"

"Well, you were dating him," Sofia answered matter-of-factly, "and you seemed so happy. I was really surprised when dad told me you accepted another prince's proposal."

"Oh…" Amber nearly whispered in realization. "I had no idea."

Sofia shook her head. "I'm sure you had a good reason, whatever it was."

"Right…" Amber answered back awkwardly.

"I should get going," Sofia told her, "Good luck with everything, Amber. I wish you every happiness."

"Thank you, Sofia," Amber said, accepting Sofia's heartfelt hug.

She waved goodbye and Sofia headed back to join her family. Amber felt a twinge of sadness hit her in her heart, but she quickly shook the feeling off. She was Queen now! She was finally going to get everything she hoped for. A smile of determination crossed her face as she walked towards her new husband.