Hello everyone! I'm so glad more and more people are favoriting and following my story! Thank you so much for your support! This chapter is pretty normal in length, but we get to see Amber in the spotlight, yey! Tell me what you think about it, all comments/constructive criticisms are much appreciated. Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Discovery
Amber waited anxiously for her mother to come and tuck her in. She had to talk to her about what happened this morning. The night before, Amber had been in the throne room and lost one of her earrings so after breakfast, she went to look for it. That was when she heard her mother shout. Mother never shouted, she might have used a stern voice at times, but never, in the year that Amber had known her, had she ever shouted. That is, until this morning.
Amber put down the brush she had been using on her hair and began trying to piece together the puzzle of what happened in the throne room. She could remember seeing a man in a big coat, looking mostly at the floor as he talked to the King and Queen. When Amber was younger, she might have thought that was the way a civilian was supposed to talk to royalty, but this man just looked meager. When you speak to royalty, you must be humble, yet dignified, and this man, sure he looked humble, but there was nothing dignified about him.
Amber got up and began pacing, still pondering about the mysterious man. She heard him say something about hurting the Queen and Princess but wanting to make it right. Who could this man be? She had never seen her before, so the princess he was talking about was probably Sofia. And what did he mean by "make things right," what did he do wrong?
Amber sat on her bed and rested her chin her hand, thinking hard; then it clicked. The man said that he wanted to make amends to the Queen and Princess, but he couldn't have been talking about me, because I have never seen him before in my life, so he must be talking about Sofia. If Mom shouted at him like that, he must have done something really bad, like, bad enough for a wife to leave her husband bad, and if he was Mom's former husband then… that means he has to be Sofia's birth father.
Amber sat up, shocked at her realization. She couldn't move as she let it sink in. She had to be right. Why else would Mom be so mad at him, why else would he be seeking absolution?
She was staring at her door absently when a soft knock sounded.
"Come in," Amber said weakly, still shocked by her discovery.
"Hi sweetheart," Miranda said sweetly as she opened the door, "Ready for bed?"
The shock on Amber's face must still have been apparent because her mom laughed gently and then said, "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." Amber shook her head slowly. "You're not feeling feverish are you?" Miranda said as she felt Amber's forehead. Amber shook her head again, this time looking at her mom. She wasn't sure what to say exactly, but she knew she had to confirm her theory. She thought for a second and then decided to go with the direct approach.
"That man in the throne room this morning, he is Sofia's birth father, isn't he?" Amber wasn't really asking a question, she was checking her facts. Her mom looked absolutely shocked. "H-how did you know that?" she sputtered.
"Well, I heard you shout when I was walking by the throne room this morning, so I peeked in. I heard the man you were talking to say something about him wanting to make amends for some transgression he committed against the princess and the queen. Since I had never seen him before, I assumed he meant Sofia, but then he also said the queen, so that's you, obviously, so if you were so mad at him, he must be your former husband and if was your former husband, he must be Sofia's birth father."
Miranda was completely stunned, her jaw was slackened and her eyes were wide with confusion. She was speechless for a moment, but then regained some of her composure. "That's… exactly right… Amber."
Amber wanted to say, 'of course, I'm right, I'm a genius,' but subdued the urge and decided, instead, to ask, "What's going to happen, Mom?"
Her mother sighed and waited a moment before speaking. "Well, Amber, since you were so blunt with me, I'll do the same for you." she paused briefly before continuing, "Sofia decided that she is going to meet him."
Amber was horrified, "What! Why? He's obviously done something terrible! What about us? What about Daddy? Is Sofia still going to be my sister?" This couldn't be happening. She felt faint. Where did all the air in the room go?
"Relax Amber, breathe," her mom said gently putting a hand on her back . "Nothing like that is going to happen. Sofia will not abandon our family. She's just going to get to know another member of hers." Amber started taking slow, deep breaths. She still did not like the distinction of the words 'our' and 'hers.' It made them sound like two separate families.
Miranda obviously saw her daughter's distress. "Maybe, those weren't the right words." She said quickly. She kneeled on the floor so she faced Amber and took her hands. "Think of it this way," she began, "Just because Sofia is going to meet someone new, doesn't mean she's going to forget about us."
Amber nodded, she could breathe more easily now and she was starting to see what her mom was saying. "And just because he is her birth dad, doesn't mean she is going to stop loving her dad here, right?"
Amber nodded again, this time more sure. "Right." She said quietly.
"Good girl," said Miranda, and then kissed Amber on the forehead. Sitting back on the bed, she looked at her daughter intently. "Now, there will be some changes if Sofia continues to spend time with Birk. But it also depends on how honest he is being about having changed since I knew him. But don't worry, if we start seeing any reason Sofia should not be spending time with him, we'll make sure that we put a stop to it."
Amber's breathing had returned to normal and she could actually think before she spoke. "Well, ok, but there's still one thing that's been bugging me." Amber paused briefly. "What did the man mean, when he said he had hurt you and Sofia?" She gazed into her mother's eyes, searching for the answer.
Miranda sighed deeply and bowed her head, "Birk never actually knew Sofia. I left him before she was born because I thought it would be dangerous for her if I stayed."
Amber looked at her mom seriously. "So, if he didn't actually hurt Sofia, he must have hurt you."
There was a long pause before Miranda looked at Amber and patted her leg. "You are one observant girl. You understand so much more than just what you're told."
Amber kept her steady gaze on her mother, knowing she was stalling. Her mom, probably realizing that Amber wasn't going to give up so easily, let out another sigh.
"To tell you the truth, Amber, he hurt my heart more than anything else. And your heart is the most fragile thing about you." Miranda looked down and offered Amber her hand. Amber grasped it and looked knowingly at her mom. She may not have known what exactly was causing the hurt in her mom's heart, but she knew what it was like to have your heart hurt. After all, she had lost her mother when she was young, and although she didn't have many memories of her, she could still feel the sting when something reminded her of the mother she once had. Miranda did a good job of filling her shoes though. She was just as graceful, and just as kind. The best thing about having Miranda as her mom though, was that she was actually there to hug her, and hold her hand, and kiss her good night.
"Well," said Miranda, "It's time for you to go to bed, oh super-observant daughter of mine." Amber obeyed, and crawled under the covers of her opulent princess bed.
"Good night Amber." Miranda leaned down and kissed Amber oh her forehead, turned off her lamp, and made her way to the door.
"Good night Mom." Amber smiled. As Miranda was about to close the door, Amber spoke up, "Mom?" she called. Miranda poked her head back inside.
"Yes, sweetheart?" she replied.
"Thank you… for telling me everything that you did… and, I love you."
A wide, gentle smile spread across her mom's face. "I love you too, Amber. And thank you for listening." With that, she watched her mom slowly disappear behind the closing door.
Amber still thought about all that her mom had told her, about Sofia, about the man in the throne room, what was his name again? Brik? No, Birk. Even though her mom's words gave her some comfort that he wouldn't hurt anyone, she still couldn't suppress this feeling that something just wasn't quite right and she couldn't put her finger on it. Before long, she had done enough thinking and succumbed to a dreamy sleep.
