Chapter 11
James paced his room waiting for Sofia to come back, he wanted to give her some space after what his mother had put her through but she had been gone a long time.
He decided if she wasn't back in five minuets he was going to send a search party to find her
"James?" he heard the familiar voice he had been waiting for
"SOFIA!" he exclaimed rushing up to hug her
"I was so worried" his voice was muffled by her neck
"I'm sorry, I tried to find the room but I got lost" she admitted embarrassed as her stomach began to growl loudly
"you never got to eat" James smacked his palm against his head and pulled on the cord by his bed
"It's ok" Sofia reassured him
"No, it's not. My mother is being childish about this whole thing. She isn't even trying to be civil and now your starving" he complained wishing she would go ahead and leave
for the estate early
"She just doesn't like the idea of me, I don't take it personally because we've never talked" Sofia hugged him again and he sighed. Sofia was too nice sometimes, a slap in the
face like she gave Thomas would be more effective than giving Anne the benefit of the doubt
There was a knock on the door
"Enter" James called pulling Sofia back over to the bed
"Your Majesty, what can I get for you?" a red headed boy asked
"A plate of food for Miss Sofia and a bottle of our finest wine" he said smiling
"Yes, your majesty" he left and Sofia looked at James skeptically
"Wine? what's that?" she asked confused
"It's made from grapes and fermented until it gains alcoholic qualities, you'll love it" James had forgotten that the villagers weren't allowed alcoholic beverages and he was
excited that she was going to try it for the first time with him.
The boy brought a plate of smoked salmon and asparagus back with him as well as a bottle of red wine with two glasses and left.
Sofia sat on the bed and ate her food slowly watching James pour the wine into the glasses
"here you go" he handed a half full glass to her "here's to us" he said and clinked his glass to hers
"What was that for?" she asked swallowing a bite of fish
"It's called a toast, it brings good luck" James laughed taking a sip of the red liquid.
Sofia sat her plate down on the table next to the bed and smelled the wine, crinkling her nose and looking at James with a conflicted look on her face
"Try it" he urged still laughing at her
"Ok.." she hesitated but brought the glass to her lips and took a long drink.
Sofia's eyes lit up and she smiled brightly
"That's delicious" she said and finished off her glass
"Hey now, slow down love" he said filling up their glasses with more of the red liquid.
James had been served wine since he was thirteen and wasn't affected by it as much as he used to be but he could tell Sofia was feeling lightheaded.
They were on their third glass of wine and she was hanging upside down off the bed with her hands on the floor
"You know what's weird?" she asked slightly slurring her words
"What?" James asked lying on the bed beside her
"Upside down things, there just like normal things but upside down" she started laughing hysterically at her own words
"Well we know someone can't hold their alcohol, come back up here" he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up but instead of sitting up she slumped over into his lap
"You, my dear, are drunk" he laughed
"I need to go to bed" she decided pointing towards the door with her head still in his lap
"I'll carry you ok?" he told her and she nodded her head which he pulled up to his and kissed her.
The kiss lasted longer than any other they had shared, James deepening it as much as he could. Their tongues danced as Sofia struggled to focus but soon lost the battle to
sleep. She was lightly snoring when James realized she had fallen asleep
"Well, that's for the best" he told his sleeping beauty as he picked her up and carried her to her room.
James tucked Sofia in and mentally scolded himself for letting her get drunk, he was just glad he didn't do anything stupid.
The next two weeks went by fast, Sofia and James were practically inseparable and his mother was growing more and more determined to break them up.
Anne had taken Sofia on a walk in the gardens which James tried to talk Sofia out but she insisted that his mother was finally making an effort to be friends. About an hour
after the ladies had began their walk Sofia came to him in tears questioning their entire relationship because his mother had lied and told her that his father left Emily for her
because, as all princes do eventually, he came to his senses and married a princess and that Emily had killed herself. James had to explain the truth to Sofia about Emily
drowning in a pond while they were swimming and that his mother wasn't even a princess.
After that incident Sofia was more timid when it came to Anne being nice to her.
The day of James and Sofia's ball she spent the afternoon in the seamstress's room getting a new dress fitted.
James remembered the way she had looked in her simple green dress and his curiosity of how this dress would look got him through setting up the ball.
He got dressed early so he wouldn't have to rush later. He was wearing a Maroon overcoat over a black shirt with a black tie, tan pants and black boots. He made his way to
the ball room and found his mother buzzing around calling out orders. When she saw him she beckoned for him to join her
"Now you and Sofia will walk down together and join us at our thrones" his mother instructed
"You aren't going to see her until tonight so you will have to guide her" she added distantly
"When do we announce our engagement?" James asked casually
"Hopefully never" Anne whispered hoping James didn't hear but he did
"Mother. I am already engaged to Sofia and I would like the other kingdoms to know how happy I am" he reminded her and she sighed
"You announce the monstrosity after your father welcomes everyone and before the first dance, that belongs to the two of you" she held her head like she was in pain and
walked away.
James was tired of the way his mother was treating the situation and he hoped that she wouldn't interfere tonight.
He made his way to the kitchen searching for the chocolate truffles he had asked for and when he found them he noticed that each of them had a little red heart drawn on
with icing. James smiled and popped one in his mouth
"Those are for tonight, you know" he heard Sofia giggle.
James whipped around and saw her dressed in a maroon dress that matched his coat with black ribbon outlining the top and white lace down the front, her hair was piled up
on her head and she had a black choker that spread down her neck to her chest.
She looked like a queen
"I thought you were going to be in there all day" he beamed walking over and kissing her briefly
"So did I, but the dress was almost done when I met with her and she had Courtney fix my hair and makeup while she finished it"
"Remind me to thank them later, I missed you" he admitted taking her hand and leading her into the ball room.
Guests began showing up and James and Sofia were instructed to wait in the hallway until Bailywick fetched them
"I'm nervous" Sofia told James as she squeezed his hand until it began to go numb
"Don't be. these are my closest friends and allies. We are going to be spending a lot of time with all of them in the future and they will be glad we
are happy" James comforted her
"I hope your right" she said taking his arm.
"Your majesty, Miss Sofia, your up" Bailywick told them holding the door open. The ballroom was full of people and James felt Sofia hesitate a little bit
"Everything will be fine" he whispered in her ear and smiled at their guests.
They made it down the stairs and over to their thrones with everyone's eyes on them, James was confident but he knew Sofia was having issues.
Sofia's throne had been made the day before and this was the first time either of them were seeing it, it was gold with blue velvet on the back and
the seat, pearls outlined the back of the seat and diamonds outlined them. It definitely suited her and he was thrilled.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, This is the last ball I will be attending as the king of Enchancia and I want to thank each and every one of you for joining us. The last twenty two
years have been great but I couldn't ask for a better heir to take my throne than my son, James. I hope you all treat him with the respect and love you've shown me" Roland
praised and James was filled with pride "now, speaking of James, he has an announcement for you all" Roland turned to James and Sofia and nodded.
They both stood, James took Sofia's hand, and they walked forward
"Thank you all again for joining us tonight for such a special occasion" James started smiling
"As you all know, next week I will be crowned king of Enchancia and I would like to introduce to you my queen. Sofia!" James was excited as everyone cheered. He led Sofia
on the floor and they shared the first dance
"See, everyone is happy for us" James reassured Sofia as they twirled around the room like they had at the first ball