An. Eles is in This Chapter but she Kill Anna by Accident just Imagery and Eles is 11 year old
Onto the story
When Jack finally came too, he was quickly aware of 2 things one he was gagged and tied up, and two he was in a brightly lit cave, as he sat up a bit and look around and saw that the light was coming from crystals that gave off an almost magical glow, much to Jack's relief as he took in his surroundings and spotted the two thieves a little further away from him, as they were talking in loud and heated whispers, until the woman, Heidi turns quickly to stare back at Jack and the smile she gave him, made him shudder and nearly wet himself in fear as she starts to walk over to where he was laying on the floor.
She stands over him and brandishes a knife which had Jack looking fearful at her as the smile turned even more sinister as she waves the knife near his face, causing him to flinch, which made her laugh coldly at him until the man, Gabe shouted something and she frowns, but backs off and goes back to over to another side of the cave, much to Jack's relief, but that relief was short-lived as Gabe came over to him took out the gag and fed him some water, assuring the wary boy that it wasn't poisoned as Jack drink his fill before he started to feel the effects of the whatever was put in his water as he soon was out like a light once more.
Meanwhile back at the castle, the children were still shocked by what their parents just told them about Sofia and where she was staying for the next 3 months. After having dinner and dessert they went back to the living room.
Michael was the first one to break the heavy silence, "Can we visit her?" Miranda nods, "Yes you can, but not for the first 2 weeks, she will need time to settle in first, and then when we do visit just treat her like you would normally, but be patient if she's not up for talking okay, she might be embarrassed for you to see her like that."
All the children nodded in understanding as Ryan leaned into Michael for comfort, while Amber and James did the same as well, feeling a little lost and sad now that Sofia was gone, they wondered how Cedric would take the news.
Ryan then looked up and asked, "Does Cedric know about this yet?"
Seeing Roland and Miranda go pale as sheets pretty much answered that question but before anyone else could ask or say anything else Baileywick came in and carted the children off to get ready for bed.
Once the children were out of earshot, Roland let out a shaky sigh and turned to his wife.
"Tomorrow the 5 of us are getting together for a meeting and then we need to talk with Dr. Kevin about allowing the children to come into the Facility to visit Sofia, and we have to make sure that Amber leaves her tiaras and fans home and she has to wear simpler clothes and shoes, but I think the only real problem we face is the fact that Amber and James are barely old enough to enter the visiting area and we will have to limit how many of us come in as to not overwhelm the other patients and while I know that it is tempting we can't bring anything in like food or gifts into the building because they might pose a risk for the patients and staff."
Miranda nodded with understanding as she said, "I will call Rudy's mother tonight and see if she will take the children out for the afternoon into the village."
Roland sighs as he leans his head back tiredly saying, "How do you think Sofia will be tonight?"
Miranda leans into his side and snuggle into him for warmth and comfort, "Scared and lonely, but she will be fine, my dear King, just make sure to keep an ear out for any phone calls in case something happens, but for now, let's get to bed, I am beaten."
Roland gets up and follows Miranda down to their bedroom, where Roland goes to take a quick shower, while Miranda puts Sofia's Amulet safely in her jewelry box until Sofia comes home.
After she dresses in her nightgown she slips under the covers waiting for Roland to come out, which he does, dressed in just pajama pants and no shirt as he quickly slips behind Miranda holding her close as they fall asleep.
Meanwhile back at the hospital, Sofia was having a fit, after she woke up she discovered that her Amulet was gone, and then when she realized that her being put in a mental hospital wasn't a dream or a nightmare she freaked out.
Tess tried to calm the distraught child down but Sofia wasn't having it as she kicked, slapped, bit, and screamed whenever the nurse tried to touch her, now Tess had no choice but to alert the Doctor and orderlies to come to her.
Soon two nurses and Dr. Kevin came running in and saw what was happening. He ordered the two nurses to help restrain Sofia while he got the mild sedative ready to be given.
With years of training and dealing with reluctant patients without causing any harm to them, one nurse soon Sofia's arms in a basket hold, while the other one pinned her legs with her own while holding Sofia's head still while Dr. Kevin came over with the shot in the hand, while Tess tried to speak calmly to the distressed child, as the doctor administered the medicine as quick and as painlessly as he could despite Sofia's crying and pleading, but soon the crying lessens and the nurses let her go and she was soon laying limp and sleeping on the bed.
Dr. Kevin looks at the girl sadly, knowing that her parents weren't going to be happy to hear this, but once he explains why he did it, hopefully then they will understand.
Tess puts a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder saying, "You did the right thing doctor, I know that you don't like drugging your patients unless you have no choice in the matter."
The doctor just gave the nurse a sad smile before leaving the room and Sofia in Tess's hands as he made the trip back to his office, he dialed the number he had memorized and he didn't have to wait long.
"Hello?" came the sleepy voice of King Roland as he answered the phone.
"King Roland, this is Dr. Kevin, I am calling about Sofia." He states not wanting to beat around the bush.
"Is she alright? Did something happen?" Roland asked now to be more awake and alert.
"To put it simply King Roland, Sofia had a fit when she realized that the whole being put in the hospital wasn't a dream, she started to scream, and tried to kick, slap, and bite one of my nurses and she wasn't showing any signs of calming down, so I had to give her a mild dose of sedative, she is asleep now, but I just wanted you to be aware of what I did and why I did it, normally I try to avoid drugging my patients unless it is unavoidable."
The line was silent for a moment, that Dr. Kevin almost thought that he had hung up, but then Roland sighs heavily.
"I understand doctor, I don't like it, but I understand I do, thank you for letting me know and while I have you on the line I want to ask you if it would be alright to bring my twins to visit Sofia when the 2 weeks are up?"
"How old are they?"
"13."
Dr. Kevin thought about it for a moment, normally siblings or cousins of patients had to be 13 or older to enter the lower levels of the wards, the higher level only allowed 18 or up.
"Yes that is fine, so long as they behave themselves and aren't bothering the other patients unnecessarily and follow the rules of the facility as well." Dr. Kevin was firm on this always.
"They will, I promise and if they cause any problems they will not be allowed to visit until Sofia comes home." Roland states.
"Good, I will let you get back to bed now, King Roland sleep well." He hangs up the phone and slumps down on his couch relieved that it went so smoothly as he lays back on his couch and closed his eyes for a second dozing off lightly but was soon asleep, when Tess came in to check on him, she just shakes her head and gently covers him with the throw over a blanket and dimmed the lights before leaving the doctor to sleep, while she finished her rounds.
The next Morning shined bright and sunny, while the birds chirped happily, people waking up and enjoying the sun and warmth of the day, but not everyone was happy or relaxed as James, Amber, Ryan, Michael, and Emily all got ready for their first day back to school without Sofia, they were glum and silence as they ate breakfast and got into the two separate carriages to go to their respective schools.
When Amber and James got off the carriage they were standing in front of Royal Prep surrounded by all their friends, who were happily chatting away with each other until Hildegard saw them and made her over to them.
"Hello, Princess Amber and Prince James, did you have a nice summer? I haven't seen you since the summer dance, where is Princess Sofia?" She asked curious and surprised to not be greeted by the bubbly young princess.
"Later," James said to Hildegard which startled the girl a bit but she nodded and soon conveyed the message to the rest of their friends as they all made their way to their first class of the day.
While normally the first day back was always a bit boring or crazy, for Amber and James it was torture as they both stared at the empty spot where Sofia normally sat, often getting scolding for not paying attention in class.
When it came time for Professor Pecullian's class, Ms. Flora came flying in startling the student who was still coming into the classroom.
"I hope you don't mind my intruding on your class before lessons start, Professor?" The Red Fairy asked when she spoke to the Faun.
Peculiar smiles gently at her and shakes his head, "Not at all ma'am."
Flora nods and then turns to the now seated students who were curious about her presence.
"Now as I am sure you have all noticed that Princess Sofia is absent today."
The students all nodded their faces showing both curiosity and concern for their adventurous classmate and friend.
"I was informed by her parents that she will be unable to attend for an unknown period for personal and medical reasons which I will divulge any further about at all as I am under oath to keep anything private about students and staff of this school, but until then I am sure that she will appreciate any gifts or cards, which you can send to the castle, where she will get them."
The students all muttered to themselves after hearing that, while Judy who was sitting in the back of the classroom was smirking evilly to herself as she looked at Hugo with greedy eyes.
'Soon Hughie, I will make you mine and when I do I will make you forget about that little tart!' She thought furiously as she continued to stare at Hugo, who was unaware of his "friend" staring at him like a piece of meat as he talked with James and Amber before Pecullian called for the student's full attention.
For the rest of the day, Judy followed Hugo around, clinging to him and fawning over him, ignoring his need for space or to be left alone, until he got fed up and practically shoved Judy off him, nearly knocking her to the ground.
"Hughie! Whatever is the matter?" Judy asked unaware that Hugo was not happy or comfortable with her weird behavior.
"Judith, I don't what has come over you today, but it stops now, the clinging to my arm and talking in baby voice is creepy and disturbing, not to mention embarrassing to not only me but to yourself, now I ask you kindly to leave me alone and I will say this as plain as the blue sky, I. HAVE. A. GIRLFRIEND."
"That little tart is nothing but a princess wannabe, boyfriend stealing peasant in a pretty dress, who should go back to whatever hovel she crawled out of and stay there," Judy said annoyed unaware that she incurred the wrath of several of her classmate and Hugo who was silently fuming as he watched his classmate gather around her and soon she was running away with tears of anger streaming down her face, then she turns back to scream.
"YOU WILL BE MINE HUGO AND IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU NO ONE SHALL!" Then she gets into her carriage and rides off back home leaving her classmates a bit stunned and worried for the popular Prince's safety.
Meanwhile, Sofia was currently sitting in the lunchroom eating her lunch with Tess sitting across from herself as she read the paper, but the silence was soon disturbed by a shy voice saying, "Is this seat taken?" Sofia turns her head to see a girl around her age, with ash blonde hair, blue eyes, and a heart shaped face wearing a simple icy blue dress with matching flats and bracelets on each wrist.
Sofia gestures to the seat for a girl, who smiled widely at her as she took the seat next to Sofia and said "Hi I am Elsa, what's your name?"
"Sofia."
Elsa smiles and then spots the stuffed rabbit sitting on Sofia's lap and looks back up at the girl.
"So you must be the new girl I have been hearing about," Elsa stated as she ate her food.
"What makes you think that?" Sofia said pretending to play dumb.
Elsa didn't take the bait and instead said, "You are the only face that I haven't seen before, and you still are carrying around your stuffed animal, even though you are supposed to keep them in your room."
Sofia tights her hold on the stuffed rabbit saying, "Clover stays with me always."
Elsa puts her hands up in surrender, "Hey I understand I was the same way with my stuffed Horse, Anna, practically carried her everywhere with me for about a month until I just forgot to take her with me somewhere and when I got back she was still there in my room safe and sound, so now I pretty much sleep with her at night."
Sofia let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding as she relaxed a bit, "I am sorry, this is only my second day here and I am still feeling out of sorts, I miss my family and friends a lot."
Elsa just smiles sadly in understanding, "I know just how you feel, when I first came here I was so scared and upset about being put here by my Aunt and Uncle that all I did was cry myself to sleep for the first week, but then I talked with Dr. Kevin and he helped me understand that my guardians didn't abandon me, they just wanted to help me get better."
Sofia just looked at the girl and said bluntly, "How long have you been here?"
Elsa thought about it for a second and said, "About 7 going 8 years."
Sofia just gapped at her as the other girl just continued eating as if everything was normal.
Tess, who they forgot about, looked up from her paper and said to Sofia sternly, "Eat, Sofia."
Nodding, she too went back to her meal, eating in silence as she processed everything she learned today, until she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder, turning to see it was Elsa sitting with a nervous grin on her face as she said "Do you want to play some checkers with me?"
For the first time in 24 hours since coming here, Sofia smiled and said, "That's the best thing I have heard all day."
Elsa matched the smile saying, "Great, it's all in the Play Area, you will love it has every sort of board game imaginable and so much more."
The excited girls tried to leave right away but were stopped by Tess's firm voice saying, "Elsa you know the rules about lunchtime and you need to be an example for the newcomers."
Elsa frowns but nods and then she takes her empty tray, gesturing for Sofia to take hers, and then she shows her where they put the trays to be cleaned and ready for another meal.
Turning back to Tess, she smiles at them gently and shoos them off to go play in the Play Area, watching as they practically run down the hall as she chuckles following them at a slower pace.
Meanwhile back at the castle, Roland had just told Miranda about last night's phone call about Sofia's tantrum and how she had to be sedated to say Miranda wasn't too happy about it lightly.
"I need to see her Roland, I need to see that she is alright." Miranda pleaded.
Roland sighs, "The Doctor said to give her 2 weeks to settle down, it's only been a day, my love she was just scared and upset, but if you feel that you need that reassurance I will call and see if we can't peek in on her."
Miranda smiled and said, "Thank you."
After calling and talking with Dr. Kevin about Miranda coming in to see Sofia, he said that they can watch her from the observation room that was set up in the Play Area of the Facility to let the children play without adults being seen.
"This way you can see her without alerting her to your presence, if she were to see either one of you before the 2 weeks are up, it will make it harder for her to settle in and accept it if she thinks that you can just come whenever you want then she won't be able to learn from the therapies or programs that are there to help her."
"I understand, Doctor, while I didn't like the fact that my child was drugged I know that you did what you had to do at that moment," Miranda said.
"Yes, Sofia is currently in the Play Area now if you want to see her." Dr. Kevin suggested
"We'll be there," Miranda said
"Let me know when you are close I will meet you and bring you straight to the observation room."
"Understood, Doctor, and thank you for everything," Miranda said, her voice cracking slightly.
"I am just doing my job, no thanks are necessary."
After saying their goodbyes Miranda turns to Roland, "We still have that meeting with Baileywick, Cedric, and Violet later this afternoon."
Roland nods, "I know, but the children will be fine with Baileywick and Cedric for the time we are gone and come back."
"Okay, let's get ready to leave and let Baileywick know that we are leaving for a couple of hours," Miranda said as she left to go grab her coat and purse.
Once Roland told Baileywick to keep an eye on the kids for a couple of hours, he promised the steward that they would be back in time for the meeting later that day.
Meanwhile, at the Facility, Elsa playfully drags an excited Sofia over the large open Playroom or "Play Area" which is called by everyone here.
The room was large and bright with thick rubber flooring that was covered by a few rugs and bean bags for people to sit on, there was a large shelf full of books for all ages, a large shelf full of every board game imageable and sensory area, sand buckets and large Lego kits and even a TV with family-friendly Movies and a large truck filled with dress-up stuff and a mirror to look at themselves when they do.
When they got into the room, Tess walked into the observation room, which was hidden behind a fake wall panel to keep the patients out of it and to keep them unaware of its existence.
She sat down to watch the girls as they played, smiling when she heard Elsa say.
"Finally, away from all the grown-ups, now let's have some real fun." She said as she went over to the game shelf and grabbed the checker box.
Sofia nodded, "Okay just let me put Clover down for a nap."
Elsa watches the girl, her eyes soften with understanding as she watches Sofia treat the rabbit as if it was real as she tucked it on one of the bean bag chairs.
When Sofia came back over to where Elsa was standing with the checker box in hand.
"Let's go play checkers," Sofia said as they made their way to a table, but then Elsa stopped her by saying.
"If you want we can play checkers on the floor near Clover's bed if you want?" She suggested watching the girl carefully for her reaction and when she saw the relief shining in Sofia's eyes reassured Elsa that she said the right thing as they moved over to where the toy was "sleeping" and soon they were playing their 6th round of checkers with Elsa in the lead.
"Thank you for not treating me like I am crazy," Sofia said softly as they began to set up the game again.
Elsa just smiled and said, "You aren't crazy, Sofia, just a little lost and losing to the checker's champion."
Sofia giggled which made Elsa and Tess happy to hear it as the girls continued to play.
Meanwhile, in an unknown location, a gothic-looking castle stood overshadowing the village that sat down below.
When Queen Elizabeth saw how distraught her daughter was when she came home, she decided to investigate and see if she could fix the problem.
"Judy my darling, is everything alright?" She asked as the girl sat on the window seat pouting her face red with tears.
Judy turns to look at her mother, and whines "It's just not fair! Why did Prince Hugo have to fall for that crazy peasant wannabe princess! He should be my boyfriend!"
Elizabeth just frowns disapproving of her daughter's whining and insults a put hand up to forestall her daughter's rant and said.
"Judith Elizabeth, that is enough, now I don't hear any more about you insulting Princess Sofia and Prince Hugo is free to choose whom he wants to date, this tantrum of yours is ending right now, am I understood?"
Judy pouts but says through gritted teeth, "Yes mother."
The Queen nodded, "Good, now go get cleaned up for dinner." Elizabeth left her daughter alone, fuming as the spoiled princess got cleaned up.
'I don't know if she is a princess, she is still a peasant and when telling Hughie about Sofia's little secret, he will reject her and finally be mine!'
She cackled wickedly at the delightful thought, scaring one of the maids that were clean outside her door, quite badly.