Sophia's Story
A Disney crossover by talking2myself
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any recognizable Disney characters. All original characters are my own creations.
CHAPTER 3. A Royal Wedding
Sophia groaned as she looked up at the orange and pink-colored clouds that covered the sky. The sun was beginning to set in the west, the day was nearly spent and she still hadn't made it home yet. She wiped her hand across her sweaty forehead and hefted the two heavy baskets full of berries. She quickened her pace. It would be dark soon, and Sophia didn't fancy the idea of wandering through the woods at night.
"Drat, drat, drat," Sophia muttered to herself in frustration. What was supposed to be a quick chore had turned into an all-day endeavor. Sophia had nearly made it clear to the other side of the forest before she finally found the berries she was looking for. She had filled up her baskets to the brim and trudged back home, pausing to huff and puff with exhaustion every now and again.
Sophia mentally berated herself as she wearily plodded back. Giselle was going to be so disappointed. There was no way they would make it into town by now. Sophia groaned again. "I could have turned around and called it a day. I could have just taken my birthday off, but noooo I had to find some…" Sophia sighed and looked down at her basket of berries. She had gathered more than enough for the dye. Maybe she could whip together a berry tart tonight for dinner? If Giselle's greatest talent was dressmaking, Sophia's was baking. She could make some pretty delicious treats when she had the proper ingredients. It wasn't nearly as good as a day in town, but it was something.
Suddenly, Sophia froze and looked around the clearing. She was almost home, but something felt off. It was too quiet. The two girls had grown up surrounded by animals. There was always birds perched in the rafters of their house, squirrels racing up and down the beams of the roof, and deer wandering their yard, the sound of creatures was constant, but now the whole clearing was silent.
"You're being ridiculous," Sophia told herself. "Everything is fine." Despite her own advice, Sophia tightened her grip on the baskets and quickened her pace, suddenly very eager to get home. Her skirts swished against her legs as she hurried into the clearing where her cottage was built. Sophia gasped at the sight that awaited her and dropped her baskets, littering the forest floor with berries.
The cottage looked half decimated. The roof had been ripped off and the walls were crumbling. One of the tree branches that had grown up around the roof had snapped in half. She could see the interior of your home. Her belongings were scattered everywhere and covered in dust.
"GISELLE!" Sophia sobbed racing towards the rubble. "Giselle!" she cried, terrified that she would find her sister in a crumpled heap crushed by a beam. "Giselle, where are you?!" she screamed. "It's Sophia. Please!"
Sophia's eyes fell on the box that her sister had given her earlier that day. It sat there, miraculously unharmed, covered in a thin layer of dust. Sophia hurried upwards and opened the lid of the box. The lifted out the shimmery dress that had sister had made her and clutched it close to her chest. "Giselle!" she cried. "Where are you?!"
"Eh ahem, um excuse me."
Sophia whirled around in shock. She heard a voice, but it wasn't Giselle's voice. A short, stocky, middle-aged man ambled towards her, making his way through the rubble to her side. He had lank, brown hair beneath a red cap and he wore a brown coat. "Are you mistress Sophia?"
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SISTER?!" Sophia screamed. She dropped the dress and lunged at the man. She gripped the man's lapels and shook him violently.
"Pleeeease… madam!" he gasped.
Sophia released him roughly and he plopped to the ground. "Who are you?!" she demanded.
The man struggled to catch his breath. "My name is Nathaniel," said. "I'm assuming you're Mistress Sophia. You look like your sister… except…" he trailed off awkwardly.
"Except not as pretty," Sophia snapped coldly. It was true, the days where her and her sister could have passed as twins were gone. If Giselle had blossomed into a beautiful rose, Sophia had sprouted up like a cactus getting more pricklier every year. While Giselle was tall and willowy with long flowing hair, Sophia was petite with sharp features and a wild mop of red curls that she could barely wrestle into a bun every morning. "So you've seen Giselle?" Sophia demanded. "Where is she? Is she alright?"
"Oh, yes, yes of course," he said. "She's fine. In fact, she is all set to marry Prince Edward."
Sophia stared at Nathaniel for a few moments, blinked and then launched into another rampage. "WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" she hollered. "MY SISTER IS GONE, MY HOME IS DESTROYED, AND YOU'RE MAKING JOKES!"
Nathaniel jumped backwards, holding up his hands defensively before Sophia could shake him again. "Please, madam," he cried. "I assure you, I'm completely serious."
Sophia froze. "What?!" she cried.
"Please allow me to explain," Nathaniel said. "You see Prince Edward and I were troll-hunting not far from here when…"
"A TROLL?!" Sophia shrieked. She whirled around and stared at the wreckage of her cottage in horror. Suddenly, it all made sense. Sophia pressed a hand over her mouth and stifled a horrified cry as she dropped to her knees.
"Yes, I'm afraid so," he said awkwardly. "It came crashing through your home."
"But Giselle is alright…" Sophia cried, rising to her feet. "You said she was okay?!"
"Oh yes," he insisted. "Prince Edward was able to rescue her and they have fallen madly in love with each other. They are all set to marry each other on the morrow."
"MARRY?!" Sophia cried, staring at Nathaniel in shock.
"Yes," Nathaniel said. "Your sister has ridden off to the palace with the prince and she is quite insistent that you attend the wedding tomorrow."
"MARRY?!" Sophia repeated.
"Yes…" Nathaniel said, eying her warily. "That's why they sent me back here to fetch you. Of course, it would have been considerably more convenient if they had realized this BEFORE I made it all the way back to the palace." Nathaniel cleared his throat, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.
"MARRY?!" Sophia repeated helplessly.
"Uh, yes," he said, eyeing her in confusion. "Anyway, if we leave right now and ride all through the night we should get there in time for the wedding and your sister is quite insistent. She wants you to be there. In fact, she wants you to live in the palace with her and Edward after the wedding."
"But wait…" Sophia held up her hands helplessly. "Giselle just decided to marry this guy after one day?!"
"Yes," he said slowly. "They believe it's true love."
"Of course she did," Sophia groaned. She pressed her fingers to her temple. "She had a fake statue of a prince this morning. Of course, she was going to go for the real thing!"
"Excuse me…?" Nathaniel asked in confusion.
"So, if Giselle marries this guy that would make her a princess?" Sophia asked.
"Well, technically a Queen once Edward is coronated…" Nathaniel explained.
"SHE CAN'T BE A QUEEN!" Sophia exclaimed. "She has no clue how to run a kingdom! She couldn't even run the dress business without me! This is a disaster!"
"Mistress Sophia," Nathaniel interrupted. "I hate to bother you, but we really must leave soon, if we are to make it in time for the wedding…"
"There's not going to be a wedding!" Sophia insisted. "I need to talk to her. I need to talk some sense into her before she does something stupid!" Sophia whirled on Nathaniel. "You need to take me to the palace right away!"
"Yes, miss Sophia, that's what I've been trying to do for the last twenty minutes," Nathaniel said with an exasperated sigh. "I have a carriage waiting." He gestured towards a small carriage that was nearly hidden behind the half-crumbled walls of her cottage.
"Good," Sophia said decisively. "Let's go! We're burning daylight." She grabbed Nathaniel by his coat sleeve and stomped towards the carriage, practically dragging him along.
"Miss Sophia," he cried in surprise. "Didn't you want to… gather your things?"
"My things?" Sophia repeated incredulously.
"Well, if you're going to be living in the palace after the wedding…"
"There's not going to be a wedding!" Sophia repeated more insistently. "And we're not going to live in the palace!"
"Well… then… where are you going to live?" Nathaniel asked.
Sophia frowned as the full implication of what had just happened hit her like a charging troll. The only home that she had ever known was destroyed. She had nowhere to stay. Even if she did track down her sister and got her to see reason, she and Giselle had nowhere to go. Their meager belongings were gone. Sophia gnawed her fingernail anxiously.
"Give me five minutes," she said to Nathaniel, her voice breaking.
"Yes, of course," Nathaniel said, brushing off his coat. "I'll be readying the carriage and we will leave shortly."
Sophia frowned and examined the remnants of her home. She managed to step over the broken tree branches and shattered furniture. She could see the broken remains of Giselle's former "prince" scattered across the floor. Her pitcher had split into two pieces, a pair of buttons and red thread lay besides it. Sophia managed to step over the wreckage into what had been her bedroom. She pushed aside the quilts and lifted the broken bed frame. She pulled out a dented lockbox. Scowling, Sophia struggled to open the lock. Finally, it popped open. Sophia emptied the few coins, all of the money they had from their last shipment of dresses into her apron pocket. She rose to her feet and looked around. Everything else was destroyed or covered in dust. She would have to start over again with a handful of coins and a prayer.
Feeling miserable, Sophia trudged her way back to Nathaniel. She paused for a moment, giving her home a silent goodbye, when her eyes fell on the box. She caught a glimmer of pink fabric and knelt down besides the box again. Sophia gripped the sleeves of the gown and lifted it out of the box. She shook it once, to clear the dust. It was somehow unharmed. Sophia folded it up and tucked it under her arm before rising to her feet once again.
"Okay, I'm ready," Sophia said as she made her way to the carriage. "Let's go."
"Yes, yes of course, mistress," Nathaniel said. He opened the door for her and bowed politely. Sophia climbed in, carefully setting the dress on the seat besides her. Nathaniel closed the door and moved towards the driver's seat. "Hang on, Miss Sophia," he cautioned before he cracked the reins.
The horse trotted off through the forest. Sophia was able stared out the window at the broken remains of her home as the sight faded away into the distance. Sophia sighed and pressed a hand to her cheek. If she would have just stayed home. If, for once, she could have just enjoyed herself, indulged Giselle's silly sculpture, gone off to town for the day, they wouldn't be in this situation. Sure, the troll might have still rampaged through their cottage, but they would have been safe. They would have been together. And she wouldn't be considering something so asinine as marrying a complete stranger who just happened to be a prince!
The sky transformed slowly from orange pink to deep purple and blue as the carriage ramble through the dark forest and closer and closer to the palace. Worry and worry raced through Sophia's mind. What if they didn't get there in time? What if the prince didn't like the idea of Sophia living in the palace? With all of this running through her head, Sophia stayed awake through the long night, but before long all of her thoughts exhausted and she nodded off into a troubled sleep.