Chapter 7: A Royal Homecoming
Knuckles groaned in annoyance as he trudged down the halls to Prince Sonic's room.
It was early in the morning and he wanted to get the youngest prince ready for the busy day ahead of him. Today King Campion and Queen Sapphire would returning from their trip and that night was the ball.
He entered and saw Sonic tangled in his bed sheets.
His back was facing the door and he was snoring very loudly. The red echidna held in a growl as he walked across the room and opened the large curtains, filling the bedroom with sunlight.
Sonic groaned and buried his head under one of his giant pillows.
Knuckles just rolled his eyes before pulling the covers off him. Sonic just groaned again and made no move to move. He cried out when his guardian suddenly grabbed his ankle and pulled him off the bed, causing him to fall on his tail.
"What is it now?" The prince snarled as he stood up.
"It's morning and it's time for you to get ready, your parents will be back in an hour." He replied as he went over to Sonic's closet. "Oh, and don't forget that the ball is tonight!"
Sonic sighed as he waited for Knuckles to return with some of those uncomfortable clothes.
He let his mind wander to the ball tonight and how he couldn't waltz. He knew Sally was good at this stuff but he wasn't and he didn't want to embarrass her or his family.
But he was surprised to see him return with his casual clothes.
Before he could question it, Knuckles quickly dressed him up and was almost dragging him down the hall to the banquet hall for breakfast. Sonic just followed the guardian, too shocked to speak.
After breakfast Sonic was just wandering the halls as he waited for his parents to return.
He much more confident walking these halls now, starting to remember where everything was. He was looking for Sally. He turned the corner and suddenly stopped walking when he almost walked right into someone's chest.
Sonic looked and recognised him as Duke Egruocs of Quintonia.
The duke was a hedgehog like him. He looked to be in his early twenties. He was emerald green with light blue eyes, peach muzzle and a large black, bushy moustache.
He wore an expensive black suit, a large monocle and a small, black top hat.
"Wow, like your badge." Sonic smiled when he saw a large, gold badge on his chest. It had the Quintonia crest on it with small, beautiful red rubies around the edge of it.
The Duke just huffed.
"This is a handmade Quintonia crest made from the finest gold and rubies. It designates high social status in Quintonia. You'd think you'd know that." He replied in a snobby tone of voice.
"Uh, still, nice to meet you." He said nervously.
"Sadly not nice enough to wear formal attire, I'm afraid." He scoffed with a cruel, empty laugh before he pushed passed the royal teen and disappeared down the hallway.
Sonic just stood there is shock, trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Hey Sonic!" Sally suddenly said as she walked up to him. But he didn't seem to notice and kept staring down the hall. She glared before grabbing his shoulders and started shaking him.
"Sally?! What's wrong?!" He cried, pulling himself out of her hold.
"You zoned out for a minuet, what's wrong?" She asked.
"Oh, n-nothing, what did you want?" He smiled nervously.
"Your parents are here."
That's all he needed to hear before he grabbed her and dashed through the halls...
Sonic and Sally arrived outside the palace just in time to see his parents' carriage riding through the gates.
Shadow and Silver were already there, waiting for the king and queen. As soon as their parents exited the carriage they embraced their children as the servants emptied their luggage.
"Your little brother looks like he's doing a lot better." Campion smiled to Shadow as he hugged his oldest son.
Shadow looked over and indeed saw that Sonic seemed a lot happier. He was smiling a lot more and he seemed much more physically relaxed. It made Shadow give a small smile.
"So what have you boys been up too?" Sapphire asked with a loving smile.
"Shadow and Silver took me out of the palace to the woods for the day, it was awesome." Sonic replied as they entered the palace. All the servants were rushing around, trying to get the castle ready for the coronation and the ball.
But just as the blue hedgehog looked up he saw the Duke Egruocs of Quintonia.
The duke glared down at him from the small balcony before he disappeared around the corner once again. Sonic's smile faulted a bit as he quickly caught up to his family...
