She needed to get back into the palace and fast. Nick being here before his summer visit could only mean one thing. His father had taken a turn for the worst and now Nick has to fulfill his promise to marry her. But he can't do that if she wasn't there. Well, technically, she was, or rather her lookalike was. But that was all the more reason she had to get back, so Nick doesn't marry an imposter and Sadie a complete stranger.
When she got back to the dress shop she was a rabbit on a mission, she hid her ring in Sadie's straw bed so she didn't have to worry about giving herself away. But when she started searching a voice said.
"Looking for something?"
She turned back to see Madame Hippolyta holding the tiny ring in her grubby fingers.
"How did you-"
"I was checking your bed for any spare coins you might have kept for yourself since I remembered you doing that when you were young. Only to find this priceless gem… Have you been stealing?! Answer me, girl!"
Judith was feeling herself boiling, she couldn't hold it in anymore she had to reveal the truth, "I didn't steal it, because it is mine! I am Princess Judith Hoppson, and I demand you hand me back that ring!"
"Ha! That's a hoot! You, the princess?! How very funny! But until I get some straight answers, I will be holding on to this until you tell me where you got it from!" she stomped upstairs and Judith heard the slam of a door.
Fru-Fru who had been on table listening in, turned to the rabbit, "Sadie? Wha- why did you say that?"
Judith sighed as she faced the shrew, "I'm sorry I deceived like this but it was the only way I could moved about the kingdom without being detected."
"I-I don't understand…"
"Remember that day Sadie had to run those errands? Well one of my guards made a mistake and thought she was me and she was brought to the palace where we met and we switched places. The real reason I had to ask for your help in the sewing is because I never done that before."
Fru pondered on that and her eyes widen seeing the truth before her and questioned, "So that ring… it really is yours?"
"Yes. It was given to me by my fiancé, Prince Nicholas."
Fru gasped, "That's so sweet! Does that mean you and Nicholas actually love each other?" her eyes were full of hope.
"Well…" she thought this over, she told Sadie they hadn't said the words but the message was clear as day, she loved Nicholas, always had, always will. She told the shrew, "We never said the words, but now… being away from him like this has made me realized how much I have come to love Nicholas de Wilde."
"My princess…" Fru-Fru went into a deep curtsy, "I am at your service. I will do everything I can to help you."
"Thank you, that means so much to me."
Nicholas and his mother were greeted by the royal Hoppson family upon arrival but Nick noticed that one member of the family was missing, the one he wanted to see so much.
The rabbit queen noticed this and told him, "I'm sure she'll be along any minute."
Pauline commented, "Probably making sure she looks all right before she makes her appearance."
"There she is!" Abigail pointed to the top of the stairs.
Nick saw and he smiled at the sight, his princess was walking down the steps but she looked a little nervous. He slightly frowned at that. Normally Judith would careless about royal protocol and would run straight into his arms.
Maybe she's nervous about the wedding? After all, neither of us expected it to be this soon but I thought she would be at least a little excited…
Sadie approached the fox and for the first time in her life she was grateful for having to befriend Gideon ahead of time, had she never met him she would have been downright scared of meeting Nicholas at this moment.
"Prince Nicholas." she curtsied before him.
Nick was confused by this but he figured that Judith was following some sort of custom for the sake of the marriage that he bowed in return. "Princess Judith."
Stuart then said to them, "I imagine you two will want to do some catching up."
Queen Annabelle added, "Indeed, and while you do that, we'll be making the wedding preparations, all you two have to do is be ready."
Nick smiled, "Of course, isn't that right, Princess?"
Sadie gave a nervous smile as she said, "Um, right…"
Nick was growing suspicious by the minute.
Something's not right here…
Once Nick and Sadie were alone in the royal galley, they were sitting on a couch looking at a painting in awkward silence.
He couldn't take it anymore and came straight to the point, "Carrots, what's going on?"
"Carrots? Oh! That must be me…" she nervously chuckled
"I'll say that's you, I've been calling you Carrots for the last seventeen years since our betrothal."
"Really? Uh, I mean, how sweet…"
Nick was frowning more and more from Judith's lack of memory.
"Have I upset you in any way?" he questioned, "I know my last letter was vague given my father is ill. But I wanted to surprise you. We knew this day was coming, but for it to finally happen, I couldn't wait to see your face. As a matter of fact, the strangest thing happen to me while I was coming here. On the street, I could have sworn I saw you!"
Sadie's eyes widen, "Did you really?" she nervously giggled.
"Yes, I thought I was going crazy, because I was desperate to see you again."
"Oh, I wouldn't call it crazy…" she smiled uneasily.
"I just realized something, you're not wearing your ring." he pointed to her bare paw.
"Oh, that's because I kept it away so it would be safe." she answered truthfully since the princess was keeping it safe when she first saw it.
"It's just strange that you wouldn't want to wear it now that I'm here." he commented.
"Uh…" she was having a hard time answering that.
Nick looked on seeing how nervous Judith was getting, he just didn't understand it, what happen to his Carrots? It's like she was whole different bunny! The idea made him scoff, that was impossible. But then he looked at her cheek where he remembered having to accidently scratch her when they were young and he knows there were tiny scars at the bottom of her fur. But now it seemed the cheek was full and furry. He frowned at this and said.
"Say Judith, mind if I look at your battle scars?"
"Battle scars? What battle scars?"
"The scars that are on your cheek. Of course."
Sadie gasped as she touched her right cheek and that made Nick scowl.
"The scars are on your other cheek." he stated.
She gasped again as he stood up.
"Lift up your fur please." he said in a hard tone.
Sadie knew she was caught and gave a sad sigh as she lifted up her fur.
Nick examined the cheek. Nothing. No claw mark scars. He stared at this bunny before him. She was not his Carrots, his princess, his Judith. He said with anger in his voice, "Who are you…?"
Sadie gulped as she told him everything.
Gideon gawked at what Fru-Fru was telling him when she and Judith had came into his bakery that night.
He pointed to Judith, "You mean to tell me that the rabbit standing in front of me is really the Princess Judith?"
The shrew nodded while she was on the counter.
Gideon slowly approached her, "How do I know that for sure?"
She lifted her fur on her cheek, "Nicholas accidently gave me these while we were playing, and I'm sure Sadie never had something like this, did she?"
"Then… it's true…" Gideon slowly bended down and took her paw. "Your Highness, I own you so much, I will do anything to help you get back inside the palace and to get Sadie out."
Judith gave a small smile, "I figured you would…"
He stood up, "You and the Prince are the reason I even have this bakery to begin with. Without your betrothal a lot of us predators would still be facing oppression."
"Really…?" she said in awe, she had always hoped that her marriage to Nicholas would help her kingdom but their betrothal had a lot more of an effect on their subjects then she could possibly imagine. Now she knew it was destiny to marry the fox and it was even better that she had come to love him so much.
"Is Fru-Fru right? Did you two actually fall in love?"
She smiled, "Yes. I believe we have."
"That certainly is a relief. I didn't want you two to be miserable just to make your subjects happy."
"It was our duty to marry, we've always accepted that. We agreed we needed to do it for our kingdoms and that we be friends because of that. What I didn't count on was falling hopelessly in love with him… With every year that had passed I was slowly falling, it wasn't until the switch I made with Sadie is that I realized I have fallen in love and that I need and want him all at once. I can't let him and Sadie get marry when they don't even know each other!"
Fru-Fru exclaimed, "But she can't do that without the ring! Madame Hippolyta took it from her and now… she's stuck outside the palace walls."
Gideon scowled, "I can't take it anymore, Hippolyta has ruined yours and Sadie's life for far too long now, it's time someone stood up to her and that's going to be me…"
