Chapter 19:
(Sofia POV)
Hugo opened the stable doors and ran toward the horses. He took one out of the stables when we heard the door close "Going somewhere Commoner." I turned back and saw Eliza standing looking at us, "Ah Prince Hugo how wonderful of you to join us." Hugo stood protectively in front of me. "Let us go," He said and I stood staring down silently. "You see, I can't do that. We are supposed to be together and right now the person standing between that is right behind you and if I let her leave we will never end up together." I closed my eyes feeling more woozy. I placed my hands on Hugo's shoulders and felt them tense up, "I am never going to be yours. We were never meant to end up together." He said. She clicked her tongue walking back and forth, she came closer and Hugo held his arm out blocking her from getting remotely near me.
She forced his arm down and looked at me, "You want this weak, pathetic morsel when you could have me?" She came closer to me, "What are you going to do about this commoner? Are you going to say something?" I felt her grab my arms and pull me forward, "Speak." I felt myself losing all my senses but I had one move left. I quickly placed my hand on top of hers and butt my head into hers. She fell to the ground and turned towards Hugo, "I have wanted to do that for a while." I whispered as I felt my eyes droop.
(Hugo POV)
Eliza that is who she was. She kept calling Sofia a commoner and saying that we were supposed to be together. She came toward Sofia and I tried to protect her but Lady Eliza managed to get past me and went toward Sofia."You want this weak, pathetic morsel when you could have me?" She came closer to Sofia, "What are you going to do about this commoner? Are you going to say something?" She grabbed Sofia's arms and she still wasn't responding, "Speak." Sofia moved quickly after this she put her hands on top of Eliza's and pulled Eliza toward her head causing a collision between them both. She fell to the ground and Sofia turned toward me and whispered "I have wanted to do that for a while." I saw Sofia begin to sway and I went behind her and caught her as she fell into my arms. Her eyes were glossed over but she was still awake. "Hugo," I looked down at her, "take me home." That was the last thing she said to me before she closed her eyes.
I mounted the horse and held the reins in one hand and cradled Sofia in the other hand. I could hear the guards moving around and knew that they had now known that Sofia was gone. I got out of there quickly and flew on the horse over the mountain and down toward Electra. I tied a rope between the two horses and began going home riding on land for a while before taking off when the mountains were far enough behind us. "Hang on, Sofia. We're almost home." We got back to the castle and carried her inside past the guards who saw her and followed us. "DAD," I screamed carrying Sofia to our room. Dad soon caught up with us as I placed Sofia on the bed. "Hugo what is going on?" He asked. I kept my focus on Sofia, "Dad send guards to the No Man's Land in the center area of the mountains there are hidden entry ways through the mountains that lead to the Cunningham Family, that is where they are hiding out and kept Sofia." I quickly spoke still looking at Sofia. "Alright but, Hugo what is going on with Sofia?" I ignored him and then felt him put a hand on my shoulder.
I turned toward Dad and the feeling sunk in. My baby, our baby was gone. I was too late and now our baby was gone. "Hugo, what happened?" I went towards him and rammed into his arms, "I couldn't save her, I couldn't get to her in time." I cried into him, "Son, Sofia is here she is safe and alive. We will call the doctor in and take care of her but, you got to her in time." He said but I shook my head, I wasn't talking about Sofia, I was thinking about Clara. My innocent baby who had not yet been given an opportunity to live on this Earth yet was gone. "Hugo, Sofia is safe," he started again but I separated from him and looked up at him, "I'm not talking about Sofia. The baby didn't make it." I said quietly. Saying it out loud made it feel more real, we had lost our baby. Dad's eyes widened as he remembered that Sofia was pregnant, "Maybe you are wrong. Why don't we talk to the doctor and see what he says?" I nodded but, I wasn't getting my hopes up. We walked over to Sofia who drowsily opened her eyes, "I'm sorry." She said looking up at us. Why was she apologizing? She sat up and brought her knees into her chest and placed her elbows on her legs bringing her hands to her face, "I couldn't keep her safe. It is my fault, I couldn't keep her safe," she cried. Dad took this as a signal to leave and I climbed into bed and wrapped my arms around her. Today I had failed my family, I had failed to keep them safe and I had failed to keep them happy. I began to cry as well and Sofia lifted her head up and turned towards me. "It is my fault," I said, "I should have got there sooner, I should have kept a closer eye on Eliza, I should have... I should have..." Sofia wrapped her arms around me and buried her face into my neck and I did the same. We sat there, in each others' arms, crying for what felt like forever until I heard Sofia say, "It wasn't your fault."
(Sofia POV)
The doctor came in and confirmed what we already knew that our baby was gone and that she wasn't coming back. I sat dazed as the doctor began attending to the wounds on my hands, the rope burn and the cuts mixed together should have hurt more but, I was numb. "Princess Sofia," my attention turned back toward the doctor, "I'm sorry for your loss. Please take care of yourself for the time being and rest. Your body will need time to recuperate." I nodded and watched as he walked away. I could feel Hugo's gaze on me but, I was barely keeping it together and I could only think about how I had failed him and failed our child. "Sofia," he went to grab my hand but I moved it away leaving him only grazing my fingertips, "I-I can't do this right now." I said standing up. "Sofia you need to rest," He said from behind me. "I need to-to be out of this room," I said walking away.
I walked down to the gazebo and fell to my knees. This wasn't supposed to happen, we were supposed to be preparing for the coronation and arguing over how we were going to raise Clara and more. I wanted to be with Hugo put, I couldn't talk to him right now, I couldn't tell him how it was my fault she knew we were pregnant, I couldn't tell him that t was my fault that she was gone. I heard footsteps coming up from behind me, "Sofia." I turned and saw Garrick standing there, "Dad." I began to cry. He came down towards me and wrapped his arms around me, "I can't imagine what you are feeling right now. No one deserves to lose a child," I cried harder as he spoke, "but Hugo is going through the same thing and you to are going to need each other." He rubbed circles into my back like Hugo always did when I was upset. "I can't face him," I cried out. "Why can't you?" He asked and then I looked up at him, "Because it is my fault." He shook his head and then sighed, "Sofia... please talk to him." I stayed still on the floor. He got up and went behind me. I heard him talking to Hugo, but couldn't make out what they were saying until I heard Hugo say, "It is my fault!"
I then saw Hugo walk in front of me and sit down in front of me. I still wasn't looking at him but, I responded to what he had said before, "It wasn't your fault." I could feel him looking at me, "Losing the baby wasn't your fault." He sighed, "Sofia if I had gotten there sooner or if I had come down to the garden before they took you... You can't even look at me" "BECAUSE IT IS MY FAULT!" I shouted as I looked up at him and saw his eyes were as red as mine. I quickly looked away feeling ashamed. "Sofia how is it your fault?" He gently nudged my chin to look up at him. "Sofia, how is it your fault?" Tears were welling up in my eyes, "She-she heard me talking about the baby when I was there. I had gotten my hands free and this fabric off my mouth and was checking my stomach to see if they had done anything to me but it was ok. I said, 'We're safe for now' not knowing that Countess Laurianne was in the room. If I didn't say anything she wouldn't have known about the baby. I could've fought harder when she tried to have me drink that thing that got rid of the baby. I could've-could've" I felt Hugo's arm surround me.
I held onto him and ran my fingers through his hair and I felt his in mine. "It isn't your fault," I said to Hugo. He then whispered, "It wasn't yours either." That was the first time I started to believe it and I think he started to believe me too. "I want to do something for her. I want to do something for Clara," I said in his arms. "What do you want to do?" "I just want to do something," I said and he nodded into my back. "We'll do something," He said.
(Hugo POV)
I watched as my Dad talked to Sofia in the gazebo. She was wrapped in his arms and she was sobbing and I could feel a pit in my stomach. This was all my fault and now she was crying to my Dad unable to even look at me. He separated from Sofia, and walked towards me, "You need to talk to your wife." "She doesn't want to talk to me, Dad. It is my fault!" I said looking over at her. Her back was toward me and I wasn't sure what to do. My Dad placed a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes, "Talk to her." I slowly walked around and sat in front of Sofia. She was avoiding eye contact with me and I wasn't sure how to start but then she said, "It wasn't your fault... Losing the baby wasn't your fault." I sighed. We went back and forth blaming ourselves for what happened to Clara. As Sofia talked I wrapped my arms around her and felt her grab hold of me as well. We stayed like this until she spoke, "It isn't your fault." I squeezed her tighter starting to believe her, "It wasn't yours either."
"I want to do something for her. I want to do something for Clara," She said in my arms. "What do you want to do?" "I just want to do something," She said and I nodded, I wanted to do something for her to. "We'll do something," I said looking at her. We separated from each other and I grabbed both her hands gently, "We'll get through this, it is going to take time and we both are never going to forget her or what happened to her but, we'll get through this." She looked up at me, "We'll get through this."