Chapter Three

It had only been a few days but the sisters were trying to process everything.

Meals were silent, lacking conversations and the sound of laughter. Amber almost missed the way her brother would sometimes talk with his mouth full even if the mush of chewed up food flying out of his mouth was absolutely putrid and immature.

She and Sofia still played together after school but hearing the dinner bell chime only brought them dread for sitting in silence only reminded them of their current plight.

Sometimes they'd forget about their plight altogether, calling for Miranda or Roland to tell them about something before their face would fall and the smiles on their faces would disappear.

Baileywick seemed to notice one afternoon as Sofia waved around her sorcery test that were always scored with perfect marks.

Despite their current situation, the sisters kept up with their academics which he adored before knelt down to Sofia's level.

"I wanted to show Mom and Dad my sorcery test but remembered that they aren't here anymore," Sofia frowned. She fiddled with her amulet as her eyes glistened with tears. "James isn't either and I can't get used to staring at his empty desk while at Royal Prep. I can't get used to any of this."

"Nether can I," Baileywick admitted, squeezing her hand. "Where's your sister?"

"James' room. She wanted some alone time after falling out with Hildegard today."

"Oh? What happened?"

Sofia sighed, twirling a lock of hair as she looked up at the steward. "Hildegard said some things about our situation that Amber didn't like. Things lead to another and now they're never speaking to each other again."

"I see," Baileywick frowned. He brightened, patting her head. "Why don't you show Princess Amber your sorcery test? Surely that'll cheer her up."

Sofia smiled a little and nodded as she ventured towards James' room. Giving her sister some good news wouldn't.

Even if it was for just a moment.

…

"Querido Dios…"

Elena stared at the letter she was reading in shock.

Sofia's previous letters never sounded this urgent or smudged with tear stains.

Except for most of the letter.

Enchancia was under attack this morning. I don't know who it was but it was a gentleman. I heard of assassins before but I always thought they didn't exist.

Elena shook her head sadly. Such innocence in a mature child.

Baileywick got Amber, James, and I out to safety but I tripped and James got killed because of me.

Elena felt her heart breaking reading the smudges. She couldn't imagine the guilt the poor girl was going through.

Amber and I are alone now. We don't know what to do. Elena, if we're not bothering you, could you please help us…

The end was unreadable but it didn't matter as Elena already knew what Sofia wanted.

Holding an emergency meeting of the Grand Council, everyone sympathized with the plight of the young girls and allowed the decision to let her stay in Enchancia for a while.

Except for a certain chancellor.

"While you may go to the funeral, you can't just abandon your duties as crown princess by helping Princess Amber and Princess Sofia with their problems!" Esteban yelled.

"It won't be forever Primo!" Elena argued. "Besides you, Abuela, and Abuelo can handle whatever happens while I'm gone."

The chancellor sighed in defeat for his cousin did have a point. "This is true." He gave her a small encouraging smile. "You get un mes. Nothing more."

"Gracias primo. I just hope Isa takes the news well."

"We'll be sure to tell her before you leave in a few days. You have nothing to worry about," Luisa smiled.

Elena smiled back before biting her lip in worry.

Please be okay girls. That's all I ask.

…

Sofia laid near James' toy chest while Amber laid on his bed as they took in the quiet atmosphere.

The room still had his scent. While it wasn't pleasant to the nostrils like the lavender or vanilla scents in their rooms nor the mix of roses and cologne in Miranda and Roland's room, in a way they were going to miss it once it faded off in the coming months.

"I've been thinking. Maybe we should give James a postmortem honor for sacrificing himself to save you," Amber said after a few moments.

Sofia looked up, her eyes widening in surprise. "I agree but if it wasn't for my clumsiness, he'd still be here."

"Would you rather have him suffer from agonizing pain had he lived?"

"No. I wouldn't wish for that even on my worst enemies. Sometimes I wish it could've been me instead."

Amber climbed off the bed and stood up near her sister, taking her hands as fresh tears went down her cheeks. "Sofia, you've been through much worse. This wasn't your fault. How were you supposed to know that you and James were near that awful, awful man?"

"I don't know. I….I just want things to go back to normal!" Sofia hiccuped.

She buried her face in her sister's chest as Amber stroked her hair and shushed her gently, humming into her ear until she calmed down.

In a few days, they would be preparing for the funeral and while Sofia wasn't a normally sensitive girl, just by the emotions she was displaying currently alone, Amber knew she wouldn't be able to handle it.

But as her big sister and crown princess, she would help her through it one day at a time as they shared similar feelings about a loss they hadn't expected to happen until they were much older.

Those feelings being on the lines of not being fair, anger, and sadness they couldn't explain.

Amber knew they would go away eventually as Sofia finally calmed down and apologized for her actions before Amber stopped her by holding up her hand.

The two of them stayed in James' room until dinner, taking in as much of each other's comfort as they possibly could.