AN: Hello everybody! Sorry for da long wait. I got really tied up at College. But never fear, da next update is finally here. Enjoy!
=Chapter Six=
A few weeks went by uneventfully. There wasn't much news coming from the mainland that really meant anything or important. Amy had deduced this from the fact that she was seeing much more of Shadow recently, and the mood of the palace was more upbeat. The weather outdoors was beginning to get colder and colder by the day. All the greenery was now replaced by with various hues of orange, yellows, reds, and some browns here and there. The mischievous twins went into the garden when the workers were raking up the fallen leaves and jumped into the piles with great laughter. Only to be hiding later on from their mother in order to evade being reprimanded. Amy couldn't help but giggle after hearing that from Tikal.
The sakura hedgehog meanwhile, continued her studies alongside Damien. The young prince was starting to grow more acceptive of her presence. Lately however, Amy had been seeing less and less of Damien. He probably was going through some extra studies or something. Being the heir to the throne of an Empire must be hard.
XXXXXX
As the month of November drew near, the Imperial City was preparing for the Autumn Equinox Festival. The chattering buzz all revolved around it and it had everyone in a twitter. Blaze's twins were already bugging both Amy and Tikal for Festival kimonos. Amy was also excited about it, but it made her a little nervous too. This would be the first time in her life that she would be participating in a Festival, since everyone in the Royal Family would be attending.
The cherry-pink female was now busy in her room and at her loom. She had finally given into May's pleas for a Festival kimono. Tikal would make Cynder's and Satoshi's. May went down the hall in such a hurry to get to Amy's room that she nearly knocked over a passing retainer while in her way. When the kitten got to her destination-after apologizing to the unfortunate retainer-she stopped and politely knocked on the door.
"Lady Amy?" May softly called out. "May I come in?"
"Yes, of course." the young flower called back.
May then slid open the door and closed it behind her. She approached Amy who was still quite busy on her loom.
"Is it done yet, Lady Amy?" May asked in a persistent tone, but also trying not to sound rude and impatient.
"Almost." Amy told the young princess. "Just a little longer."
"Ohhh, I can't wait!"
The sakura hedgehog snickered at May's excitement. She sounded like she had a lot of sweets while Blaze wasn't keeping a hawkeye on her.
"Where is your sister, May?" Amy asked curiously.
After all, she never once saw the kitten without her twin sister alongside her, so that struck Amy as a little odd.
"Oh, she's with Lady Tikal and Satoshi!" May sighed.
"I see."
The light lavender kitten curiously peered over Amy's shoulder as the cherry-pink female continued weaving. May watched her sew all sorts of material into the fabric and silk, making the young princess' heart beat a little more faster with excitement.
"Lady Amy?" May called out softly.
"Hai?" Amy responded.
"Have you been to an Autumn Equinox Festival before?"
The young flower paused.
"No..not really." she said.
May then put on a shocked expression.
"Why not?!" she asked.
"Well...I don't know." Amy said honestly. "My family never went to any of them."
"Well, you're going to love it! There's all sort of stuff! Fireworks, funny masks, and...and..."
Amy smiled at May's excited ranting and then pausing to think of more things to says. Then the sakura hedgehog put in the final stitches on the kitten's kimono.
"There, all finished." Amy announced.
The kimono was a bright orange with a pattern of full leaves that were red, orange, and brown.
"Oh, Lady Amy, it's beautiful!" May squealed. "Arigato, arigato!"
"Domo." Amy giggled.
"I have got to show Cynder and okāsan!"
With that, May gave a quick bow to Amy as another gesture of thanks, and darted out of the room. Damien, who happened to be in the hall with a scroll in his hands, stopped abruptly as his little rushed past him. He stared after her in confused as Amy joined him.
"What was that all about?" Damien asked.
"I made your sister a new kimono for the Autumn Festival." Amy explained.
"I see. She didn't bother you too much with that, did she?"
"Oh, not at all."
"Last year, she and Cynder nearly nagged poor Lady Tikal to death about such things."
Amy let out a snicker as the prince left the hall.
XXXXXXX
Hours later, both Amy and Tikal were alone together in a room, having green tea.
"So, what's this festival like?" Amy asked.
"Oh, it's wonderful." Tikal said with a sigh. "The civilians come with their harvest tributes, and we have really spectacular fireworks at nighttime."
"What do we do, specifically?"
"We dress up in Court attire and greet the populace on Shadow's barge."
The cherry-pink female blinked confusingly.
"Barge?" she asked.
"Oh yes. It's a really big boat that we take down the river and back again through an aqueduct that leads to the palace." Tikal explained.
"Oh."
"Is it true that you've never been to an Autumn Equinox Festival?"
Amy made an embarrassed expression.
"Well...yes, I didn't." she admitted meekly.
The terra-cotta echidna's widened her Safire eyes in shock.
"Hontōni?!" she cried. "Why not?!"
"I don't know." Amy replied honestly. "I suppose my family assumed that my father's presense in the Imperial City was enough. But my mother did take us out to watch the fireworks."
Tikal shook her head.
"Oh Amy, I never imagined that you were that depraved." she sighed.
"Well...not entirely..." the young flower murmured.
"In that case, I'll make sure your first time will be one of the best times you ever had!"
Then Tikal took Amy's hand and started to drag her into the hall.
"Where are we going?" Amy asked.
"My room." Tikal told her.
As they went down the hall and up a staircase, they passed by Shadow who just happened to be on that same floor. Both Tikal and Amy promptly stopped and gave the ebony hedgehog a bow.
"My Lord." the two females said in unison.
"Ladies." Shadow acknowledged in a hushed tone.
He gave them both a quick peck on the cheek, to which Amy furiously blushed at. Tikal started giggling at her as soon as Shadow was out of sight.
"You're red as a cherry, Amy." the female echidna snickered.
"...damare." Amy muttered.
They continued down the hall and into Tikal's room. Only a few minutes after entering, a nursemaid came to the room to return Satoshi to his mother's care.
"Hello, my little Ōji." Tikal sang to her pup. "I hope you behaved."
"He behaved very well, milady." the nursemaid told her.
She then bowed to both Amy and Tikal and left.
"So why am I here?" Amy asked curiously.
"I want to show you something." Tikal replied.
She went to a chest and began searching through it. Meanwhile, the sakura hedgehog let Satoshi play around with her kimono sash belt while she waited.
"Where is it?!" Tikal fumed. "I know it's here somewhere..."
"What are you looking for?" Amy asked again.
"Aha! Found it!"
The terra-cotta echidna pulled out a small scroll from the chest and promptly opened it.
"Look here, Amy." she said.
Tikal showed her a water colored painting of an Autumn Equinox Festival in action. Amy was a little dazzled by it.
"Sugoi..." she murmured.
"That's just to show you what'll be like tomorrow night." Tikal said. "You're gonna have a wonderful time."
A smile appeared on Amy's muzzle. Then a thought occurred to her.
"Wait...are we supposed to be doing anything special?" she asked. "You know, as part of the Imperial Family?"
"Oh, nothing you really need to stress about, Amy-chan." Tikal assured her. "On the barge all we do is wave to the populace. And then after that, we return to the palace where we watch a play, and then converse with the nobility and everyone else in Royal Court. At midnight, we watch the fireworks."
"We're in for a long night aren't we?"
"Yup!"
"I suppose the thing I really need to worry about is falling asleep."
"Oh you won't. Trust me. All the excitement will keep you awake."
'I hope so.' Amy thought.
XXXXXX
When Amy was back in her own room, she continued work on the decorative kimono she was to hang up once completed. After finishing the hen house, a really dreadful thought suddenly popped into her mind. Tikal had said that they would be meeting with members of the nobility and the royal court. Would that mean that Amy would see her father there too? The very idea made her feel a bit ill, though there was going to be a selective group of people allowed into the palace.
Since there been attempts on Black Doom's life a few times when he was Emperor, the palace guard and generals were very picky as to who to allow into through the palace gates. And not because they didn't think some people weren't good enough to be there, it was more of a security thing.
Amy's thoughts were interrupted by a polite knocking at her door.
"Amy-chan? It's supper time."
It was Tikal again. Amy couldn't believe how time flew so fast. She quickly got to her feet.
"Coming!" she called out.
The cherry-pink female hastily went out to the hall where Tikal was waiting for her.
"Are you alright?" she asked. "You seem a little pale."
"I'm fine." Amy replied.
They proceeded to the dining hall, where to Amy's surprise, the whole family minus Shadow was there. She wondered if the midnight clad male was too busy with tomorrow's preparations to be with Blaze that night. But one the other hand, it was sort of great having everyone there despite a lack of Shadow. The twins were quite the chatter boxes, talking about 'funny masks' and fireworks. Damien was trying very hard not to look annoyed while in the presence of his mother. Amy thought it was kinda funny.
Finally, it was time for everyone to retire to bed. Rouge was already ordering Damien to his room since he had to be up by dawn along with his father. Amy was curious if he would be at his father's side throughout the festivities as he was the heir to the throne. The twins protested to Blaze that they were too excited to sleep despite the fact that they were yawning every few seconds. Since Tikal already left to put Satoshi to bed, Amy took her leave as Blaze and little ones exited the dining hall. Then, Rouge suddenly stopped the young flower.
"Amy, wait a moment kudasai." the ivory bat called out.
"Hai?" Amy replied, blinking. "What is it?"
"Before you retire, I'd like to give you a little of a fair warning for tomorrow."
Amy blinked again in surprise.
"About what?" she asked curiously.
Then Rouge put on a teasing smile.
"Just that you ought to know that Lord Shadow will be paying some attention on you during the festivities." she told the sakura hedgehog.
Amy's face became even paler.
"Ummm...I don't quite follow..." she stammered.
"You'll figure it out." Rogue teased, almost laughing at Amy's reaction.
With that the Empress went off to her quarters. Amy continued to stand there with a shocked look on her face. Great. Just wonderful. Now on earth was she supposed to get any sleep that night?