Chapter 2! I'm on a roll today!

Enjoy!

XOXOXO

"Are you hungry, Sofia?" the Queen asked, releasing me from the embrace slowly.

I should have been starving, but my body was too numb to accept that food was a good idea.

I shook my head "no, thank you, your majesty" I mumbled, attempting, unsuccessfully, to stand up on my own.

The king picked me up, gracefully putting me on my feet, and took in my fragile form.

"Elder Bryson allowed you to walk all this way wearing THAT?" the king roared, referring to my nightgown, "Amber, please help Sofia find something warm to wear" he demanded.

"Okay, come along Sofia," The blonde teen princess took my hand and led me out of the dining hall "My name is princess Amber! I'm sorry about your family, but I've always wanted a sister!" she giggled

I yanked my hand away from her "I have a sister. Her name is Lilly," my voice was rough and tears streamed down my already tear-stained face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude, it's just that I have the most annoying twin brother. It will be nice to have another girl around the palace," Amber apologized, hugging me as tightly as her mother had.

I took her hand once again and attempted to smile as she continued leading me to her room.

I inhaled sharply, amazed at the view before me.

"This room is bigger than my house" I whispered taking in my surroundings.

The red canopy bed was placed on a platform in the middle of the room, a vanity framed by a large lit mirror took up the left corner, and rows of tiaras took up the right wall in between two large oak doors.

Amber opened the door on the right, revealing rows of clothes from evening gowns, ball gowns, and casual wear.

"I'm thinking blue" amber purred looking me up and down "mhm, this, and this, oh and this!" she hung a short, blue, chunk knit sweater dress, a pair of black tights, and a black coat with white fur lining the hood and wrists on a display and rang a bell, "you are going to look so cute in these!"

Moments later, a woman in a black dress entered the room.

"Brenda, can you please clean Sofia up and get her changed. You can use my bathing room. I'll be back soon" Amber beamed

After a very uncomfortable bath, having my long auburn hair pulled up, getting shoved into Amber's clothes, and being sprayed with floral water, I finally emerged from the room to be mauled by the princess.

"I knew it would look good on you!" she squealed happily squeezing my shoulders "They are a bit big, but I can have the tailor make one in your size for next time, Brenda, make Sofia an appointment please,"

"Yes, your majesty, will that be all?" Brenda bowed

"For now, once we get Sofia settled I will be calling on you again"

Brenda nodded and left.

"Oh Lilly, that was so embarrassing," I thought, glad the ordeal was over

"Stop being so cynical, Sofia! That was fantastic and you know it!" Lilly's voice rang in my head "You're going to have so many cute clothes, I'm jealous!"

The sound of her laughter shook me, surely this wasn't normal.

"Now, all you need is a tiara! take your pick!" Amber jumped, clasping her hands together

"Oh, no, I couldn't" I refused, waving my hands in front of me

"yes, you can! Princess Sofia has a nice ring to it, little sister. Don't be rude," Lilly's voice chimed

Amber sighed and turned towards her collection, picking a silver tiara studded with sapphires and diamonds "wear this willingly, or I'm going to call Brenda back to restrain you"

"Okay, okay, fine" I was not looking forward to seeing Brenda again so soon.

I took the precious accessory from her and looked in the mirror, making sure it was straight.

"You could for sure pass as a princess!" Amber smiled

delightedly

Amber was so similar to Lilly it was almost unnerving.

"Amber, mom, and dad are looking for you and So-" The prince intruded but stopped, staring at me with his amazing green eyes "You look fantastic" he whispered, his voice slightly cracking.

"James, have you ever heard of knocking? I've been helping Sofia get dressed" Amber sighed, rolling her eyes

"S-sorry, Sofia. I'm James-Prince James of Enchancia" he stuttered, obviously trying to get ahold of himself.

"She knows where we live, James. Stop being weird, you're going to scare her away," Amber shooed him out of the room "I finally have a sister, I don't need you anymore,"

I laughed at their antics, but I couldn't stop thinking about how he was looking at me.

"Sorry about that. I'm pretty sure he's broken" Amber shook her head

"Don't worry about it, Lilly" I giggled, stopping when I realized my mistake.

"Do you want to talk about it?" amber asked softly.

She sat on her bed and patted the spot next to her. I slumped over to her and sat down.

"Sorry" I mumbled "you just remind me of her"

"Don't apologize, Sofia, I consider it a compliment" she squeezed my hand comfortingly.

"I can't talk about her, not yet" I cried, burying my face in Amber's shoulder

"You poor thing, I'm not going to say I understand, because I don't. I can't imagine what you've been through in the past few hours. But I am glad you're here," she rubbed my arm softly as she spoke "Let's go eat. I know you must be hungry. I won't push you to talk."

I nodded and she helped me up.

When I entered the dining hall the King and Queen were sitting at their places looking over papers.

"Ah, Sofia, you look much warmer now" the king nodded approvingly.

"You did well, Amber. Are you girls getting along?" the queen asked, not taking her accusing eyes off of her daughter

"Yes, mother" Amber scoffed "Sofia and I are going to be fast friends, right?" she looked at me expectantly and I nodded enthusiastically

"Thank you for letting me stay here, I will do my best to repay your kindness," I bowed

"You will live here as our ward, you will have your own room, and start school by the end of the week. However, you will work when the staff needs extra hands; mostly at large events, like the villagers ball coming up." the King explained, signing one of the documents.

"Yes, yes, technicalities. Now, Sofia would like to eat something before she blips out of existence. This girl is too skinny," Amber exaggerated dramatically

I sat at the table next to Amber and waited for my meal. James joined us, sitting across from me and I smiled at him, making him blush.

"So, Sofia, tell us about yourself," Amber said, causing everyone to look at me.

"W-well, I'm eleven, I'll be twelve next month, and, before this morning, I lived in the village with my parents, and my sister Lilly" I trembled, staring at the table "my mother was an artist, and my father was a hunter. Lilly and I were always getting in trouble...we liked to climb trees and swim...my mother hated it" I smiled to myself, although I had already started crying again.

"What kind of art did your mother make?" James asked sweetly, taking my hand from across the table.

"She was a sketch artist. She was always drawing, when she wasn't yelling at us girls anyway," I took a shaky breath "Could I go back to the cottage to get her sketchbooks?"

I didn't want to go back inside the house, but I couldn't let my mother's work get destroyed because of my frail constitution.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Do you want us to send someone for them?" the king asked "We can have a guardsman retrieve them for you while you get settled in. Maybe even get some of them framed for your room,"

James rubbed his thumb over mine gently, nodding his head "That's a good idea, I can go too. Is there anything else you want?"

I shook my head "just the sketchbooks, we didn't have much, but can you make sure that their graves are marked?"

"Of course"

A woman in a brown dress brought me my tray of food, and I did my best not to eat it quickly.

"I wonder if they have been buried yet," I thought sadly

"Not yet, sister. We are still waiting for you in the house, you'd better come back soon," Lilly's callous voice made me choke on my soup

'Sofia, are you okay? Is it too hot?" Amber asked, patting my back soothingly

"N-no. It's fine," I frowned into my bowl.

Just fine.