Chapter 3: The Cat Prince
Author's Note: This chapter is after the events of "Princess Butterfly", where Amber gets butterfly wings using Cedric's magic and tries to steal the Amulet of Avalor.
"I'm really sorry, Sofin," said Princess Amber again. The Enchancian royal children were sitting together in the back of the huge flying coach they took to school and back. "I really shouldn't have tried to get Cedric to give me butterfly wings—or tried to steal your amulet to fix them." The three of them, including James, were just returning from Royal Prep after the All Hallow's Eve Costume Party the previous day. Amber had cheated by using magic to give herself butterfly wings and win the costume contest yesterday. But after trying to fix her wings today, she ended up getting caught and telling the truth.
"It's okay," said Sofin in a gentle tone. "I've got my amulet safe with me, so there wasn't any harm done. And I know you've learned your lesson and you won't do it again."
Amber shook her head resolutely. "Definitely not. I'm still really sorry."
Sofin sighed to himself. She'd keep apologizing all day unless he found some way to change the subject. "Hey, Amber," he asked, "where are you going trick-or-treating tonight?" The costume party was yesterday, but tonight was Halloween night. He couldn't wait to eat lots of candy!
"Trick… or… treating?" asked Amber. She sounded confused. "What's that?"
Sofin gaped. "You've never been trick-or-treating before?" But that was the best part of Halloween! How could Princess Amber not know what trick-or-treating was?
"No…" said the princess, trailing off. "Should I?"
James, who was listening to the conversation, decided to step in. "Amber, trick-or-treating is when you go out with your friends and go from door to door. You scare the person at the door, and if they're not scared you get a trick, and if they're scared you get a treat. Zandar and I do it every year in Tangu." He gave a look at his sister. "And you never want to come."
"Oh, that!" said Amber, realizing what he meant. "Well, I don't see why anyone would want to go out in the village late at night and dress up as scary creatures." She scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Why risk getting tricks when you could just stay in the castle and get all the treats you want?" Amber looked rather pleased with herself for that explanation.
Sofin realized he was still gaping in shock, and closed his mouth. This simply wouldn't do. His sister, never having gone trick-or-treating? "It's about having fun and spending time with your friends, and spooking other people," explained Sofin. "I can't believe you've never gone trick-or-treating before! I was planning to go with Ruby and Jade, just like we always used to, but I'll have to ask mom if you can come, too."
Amber held up a hand to stop the prince. "Wait, wait, I haven't even said yes. Why go out and collect treats when you can get them much more easily here? The servants will give us as many treats as we like!"
"It's about the experience, Amber!" said Sofin.
The taller princess didn't look convinced.
Sofin was starting to feel a little bit desperate. He couldn't just let his sister go her whole life without ever going trick-or-treating! "Come on, Amber," he said, "just try it out once. For me?" He tried giving her his best puppy-dog-eyes face.
Amber looked away. "Don't give me that look! I'm just not sure how much fun it'll be, really."
Sofin shook his head. He didn't want to do this, but if it would get Amber to try out trick-or-treating at least once, then it was worth it.
"If you come trick-or-treating with me tonight, I'll call us even for what happened today."
Amber looked at Sofin.
Sofin looked at Amber.
"Fine," agreed the princess, "just this once. I suppose Jade and Ruby aren't so bad. Seeing them again will be nice." The flying coach, which had been approaching the castle this whole time, finally landed. Amber opened the door and stepped out of the coach. "I'll go get ready," she called out as she left towards the castle. "Come to my room when we have to go."
As the other two children exited the coach, James said to Sofin, "Wow. I've never been able to get Amber to do something with me. You'll have to give me some tips for next time." The two children giggled as they walked towards the castle.
"Are you coming with us for trick-or-treating?" asked Sofin.
James shook his head. "Sorry," he responded, "Zandar and I already made plans in Tangu. We're gonna be the fiercest, most scary dragon pair ever!" He looked up at the sky, where the sun was already sinking towards the horizon. "And if I don't get going soon, I'm gonna be late! See you soon, Sof!" He left in a hurry, probably heading to his room to find his half of the dragon costume.
"That's okay!" called out Sofin as the older prince left. Looking at the sky himself, he realized there really wasn't a lot of time left in the day. If he wanted to go trick-or-treating tonight, he'd have to ask his mom and get into a costume as soon as he could. She'd probably be somewhere around working.
Just as he'd guessed, Sofin found his mom in one of the many rooms devoted to study. She sat in a tall chair in front of a table piled with paperwork. The queen held a pen in her left hand and scribbled signatures onto each piece of paper as she worked. It looked like she had a lot of work to finish.
When his mom heard the door open and close, she looked up to see Sofin. "Oh sweetie, how was school?" she asked, dropping her pen on the table and turning to face her youngest child.
"It went well," said Sofin. His mom looked pretty busy, and he didn't want to take up more of her time than he needed explaining everything that had happened. "I wanted to ask, is it okay if Amber and I went to the village for trick-or-treating tonight? I want to meet with Ruby and Jade, and Amber's never gone before so she's coming along too."
"Of course you can, sweetie," said his mom. "Just be sure to come back before it gets too late. And make sure you two stay with Ruby and Jade all night."
"Thanks!" said Sofin. His mom really was the best.
"Oh, and one more thing," said his mother. Sofin listened carefully. "If this is Amber's first time trick-or-treating, promise me you'll do your best to make her feel accepted. You know how difficult things were when you first came here."
Sofin nodded seriously. "I promise." He turned to leave the room. "I should get going. We have to go soon to be on time for trick-or-treating. And you look pretty busy too."
His mom smiled good-naturedly. "It's always hectic near the end of the month," she said. "Your father is still meeting with dignitaries. Stay safe, Sofin!"
Sofin nodded, then headed towards his room to get ready. What was he going to wear? There was the swan costume he had made yesterday, but he wasn't really sure if a swan would be scary enough for Halloween night. He knew he still had a cat costume from last year's Halloween. Maybe that would work better?
Opening the door to his room, Sofin realized there was another problem. Amber was already in his room, sitting on his bed. Still wearing her yellow gown.
"Sofin," said the princess, "I've just realized that without my butterfly costume, I don't have anything to wear at all for Halloween."
"That's okay!" responded Sofin, as he opened his closet. "You can wear the swan costume I had yesterday. It's not very scary, but it's better than not wearing a costume."
Amber gasped in surprise. "Really, Sofin? You'd let me wear that costume?"
"Of course!" said Sofin. "That's just what friends do." He found the costume in the corner of his closet and held it out to Princess Amber. It consisted of a white dress, like a ballgown, with folds falling down the length of it, and purple jewels matching his amulet in the center. "It might be a little small, though…"
Amber took the dress from his hands and held it gently. "No, it's perfect. I've wanted to wear it ever since I saw you at the costume party." She hugged the costume close to her chest. "Thank you, Sofin. Maybe tonight will be fun after all." She looked up at her sibling. "But if I'm wearing the swan costume, what will you be wearing, Sofin?"
"I have a cat costume from last Halloween," said Sofin, finding the costume. It had a headband with a pair of cat ears, a mask with a pair of whiskers, and a tail, along with a full-body purple cat costume. He pulled it out of the closet. "I remember it being tough getting into this," he said, looking at the costume. "Meet you outside in twenty minutes?"
"Sure," said his sister. "I'll tell Baileywick to prepare a coach to the village, too. You did get permission from mom, yes?"
"Yep!" said Sofin, then, eyeing the costume, started trying to put it on.
Twenty minutes later, after lots of struggle to fit his arms and legs exactly into the one-piece costume, Sofin was ready to go trick-or-treating. Before he could make it out of the door, he was interrupted by the chittering of a red-and-brown squirrel.
"Whatnaught?" asked Sofin, looking down at the squirrel chittering near his feet. "What are you wearing?" Whatnaught had dressed himself in a very dark black costume, with little holes for his arms, legs, and bushy tail to poke out of, and holes for his big yellow eyes, nose, and mouth. His tail, too, seemed to be painted or dyed black. Red lines of paint ran down the costume. His two large front teeth were now accompanied by two vampire teeth, one on each side, which formed little triangles and made the squirrel's smile much more creepy. One of the teeth even had a streak of red paint dripping down from it. Whatnaught's tall ears were covered by black-and-gray pointed ears. Basically, Whatnaught looked like a vampire squirrel.
The squirrel chittered in response. Then he pointed at himself, then Sofin's cat costume, and the window outside where Sofin could see the village in the far distance.
Sofin thought about this for a moment. "You were chased by a cat from the village?"
Whatnaught facepalmed and shook his head. Then he tried growling at Sofin, opening his mouth wide so that he looked really scary.
"Oh!" said Sofin, finally realizing what the squirrel meant. "You want to go trick-or-treating with us." He couldn't think of any reason the squirrel wouldn't be able to come. "Sure, let's go! Amber's probably already waiting for me by now."
Sofin and Whatnaught headed outside through the main doors of the castle, where Amber waited inside a carriage pulled by two horses. The sun was already starting to set outside. Sofin hoped they weren't already late. Hopping in the carriage, Sofin saw Amber was wearing the swan costume he had made. And she looked great in it! The contours of the dress almost perfectly matched her form. And the way she carried herself—so regally even while sitting down—really made the costume pop. Seeing her looking great in the costume, Sofin realized why his sister had won the costume contest the past two years.
"You look great!" said Sofin to his sister, when he was finally seated. Whatnaught jumped into the coach behind him and curled up near his feet. The coachman in the front whipped his reins, and the horses began trotting across the bridge and towards the village.
"Don't I?" she said, looking rather excited. "This costume is fabulous! And look, I can even move the wings a little!" Amber flexed and stretched her shoulders, and the wings bobbed up and down to match the motions. "But it's all thanks to you. You're the one who made it, after all."
"Yes, but…" Sofin wasn't totally sure how to voice his thoughts. 'The costume looks better on you than me'? 'It feels weird when I wear the costume'? Eventually, he just decided on, "you wear it very well, Amber."
"I suppose I do," responded the princess, a satisfied smile on her face. "Though it might be a little too short," she said, in a teasing tone.
"Hey!" replied Sofin with mock indignation. "I'm still younger than you are!"
"And shorter, too," joked Amber.
"Hey!" And the two broke out into giggles that lasted the rest of the trip.