Chapter Three
It was 5 a.m. and the sun was barely peeking over the horizon when Amy jumped out of bed. A smile was plastered on her face as she opened the balcony door. She leaned against the balcony and looked past the wall barely able to see the tops of some of the buildings and the bell at the top of the church. It took everything she had not to scream out with joy. Not wanting to wait any longer Amy ran back inside to try and find something to wear.
She searched through everything but wasn't sure what to wear. She wanted to wear something nice to celebrate but something that would fit in as normal. She finally settled on a flowy green dress that touched the floor with loose fitting sleeves that matched her eyes. She put her hair up in a high pony tail and put on a brown corset that squeezed her waist before the skirt cascaded to the floor, showing off her curves. Then she put on matching elbow length gloves and knee high boots. She contemplated putting on makeup but decided against it. The idea was to blend in of course, not stand out. Feeling satisfied with it she ran out of her room to wake up Rouge and Cream.
As she ran she passed through the dining room where she forgot her parents were already eating breakfast. As she ran in she quickly stopped so her parents wouldn't suspect anything. "Morning," Amy said as she politely curtsied like she always did. Her mother looked up along with the red hedgehog sitting next to her. "Good morning sweet heart." Amy's mother said before walking up to Amy and gently kissed her forehead. "Come eat breakfast Amy."
"No thank you, I'm not hungry." Amy said just a little too fast. Crystal was shocked at what Amy said, she never skipped breakfast. She slowly moved her hand to Amy's forehead to feel if she had a temperature. "Are you feeling ok?" She asked.
Amy laughed at her concern and took her hand off her forehead. "I'm fine, I'm just not hungry. I'm going to be spending the day with Rouge and Cream and I wanted to get started as soon as possible." She quickly gave her mom a kiss on the cheek before running to her dad and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Before she was out of ear shot Crystal yelled out to her. "Remember you have a dress fitting tomorrow for the party in a few weeks."
Without turning back she said, "I won't forget, bye." And with that she ran out of the room and ran to Rouge's room first. When she reached the door to Rouge's room she nocked as hard as she could to wake up Rouge. "Rouge c'mon wake up!" Within 2 seconds Rouge opened the door with tired eyes and bags under them, still wearing her night gown.
"Keep it down, do you want to wake up the whole palace?" Rouge said before pulling Amy in. "Sit down while I get dressed." She said before walking to her small closet and pulled out a brown and white dress and a black corset. She quickly took off her night gown and put on her dress then the corset over the dress. "Can you help me tie this?" She said referring to the string on the back of the corset. Amy happily obliged knowing the sooner she was dressed the sooner they could go. As she tightened the corset Rouge explained the plan to her. "So I was thinking once were outside the palace wall we would walk through the town and go to the market outside the city and stay there for a while, Cream and I know a great pub that has really good wine and sweets, sound good?"
Amy nodded as she finished up tying the corset. Rouge examined herself in the mirror before turning back to Amy. "First things first," She said before walking to her closet and pulling out a black cloak. "We need to make sure no one recognizes you when we leave the palace grounds." Amy nodded before taking the cloak and putting it on, covering her whole body.
Quietly they moved next door where Cream slept in the same room as her mother. Slowly they opened the door trying not to wake up Vanilla as they approached Cream's bed. As Amy went to wake up Cream Rouge pulled out a floor length yellow dress for Cream. "Cream," Amy whispered as she shaked Cream a little to wake her up. "Wake up,"
Letting out a soft groan Cream's eyes fluttered open and looked at Amy sleepily when she remembered what they were doing today. She quietly got up and put on the dress Rouge got out. As they headed for the door they heard Vanilla groan as she turned in her bed, eyes still closed. "Cream," she said. Amy and Rouge quickly walked out of the room so Vanilla wouldn't see them. "Yes mom?" Cream said trying to be as innocent as she could.
"Where are you going?" She asked groggily as she lay in bed. "I'm just going to spend the day with Rouge and Amy; I'll be back later tonight." Cream said quickly inching out the door with each passing second. "Ok," Vanilla said as she started to go back to sleep. "Have fun."
And with that Cream quickly walked out of her room and closed the door behind her. Amy jumped excitedly as she started to head for the front door. "C'mon," But when she started to move Rouge grabbed her shoulder. "Put on your hood, no one can see you before we leave." Amy nodded and put the hood over her head.
Rouge tried to keep Amy calm as to not draw attention to them as they walked through the halls and down the stairs. Once outside they headed for the gate that leads outside the palace walls. As they walked towards the gate servants looked at the black coated figure with Cream and Rouge. Amy kept her head down so none of the servants would recognize her and try to stop her.
Finally they reached a large gate as its shadow hung over them. Amy looked up at the gate as the sun's rays barely peered over the top. "Open the gate!" Rouge yelled to the man at the top of the wall. He gave her thumbs up and opened the gate doors. As the doors opened a sliver of light lit up Amy's face. When they were fully opened Amy smiled from ear to ear as she saw the city her family ruled over for the first time ever.
She slowly walked out of the palace grounds and into the city. She took in all the apartments and shops and many people running around doing their everyday routine. When the gates closed behind them Amy took her hood off and took in her first breath of freedom. They all started to head straight into the crowd as Rouge tried her best to make sure Amy was right next to her. "Remember Amy, I need you to stay with me and Cream at all times."
But when she turned to look at Amy she was gone. She looked around till she saw the top of Amy's pink head in the crowd and groaned. "Can't she stay still for 2 seconds?" She said before trying to weave her way through the crowd with Cream right behind her.
Amy was now looking at a jewelry stand that had necklaces, earrings, and bracelets lined up on a table. The man standing behind the stand smiled at Amy but not because she was a potential customer but because; well, he's a man, what do you think?
Amy sent him an innocent smile, unaware of what he was thinking about. When she bent down to examine a gold heart shaped locket the man tried to peek down her shirt, but to avail. Unknown to Amy he wasn't the only man staring at her, on her right two men leaned up against a building smiling slyly at her. They both wore long coats and boots. The bigger one of the two had a large scar on his left cheek. When she left the stand she headed the other way with the two men following her quietly. As she turned down an alley, curious about what was there, the men grinned to themselves for their luck.
Amy was stopped by a wall but when she turned around she was cornered by the two men. She didn't know what was going on but she just smiled at them trying to be polite. They gave her an evil grin and walked closer to her. "Um, I'm really sorry but I need to be heading back to my friends." Amy said as they came closer and closer.
The bigger of the two walked around behind her and pulled her back against him. Amy looked at the one in front of her scared. He laid his forehead on hers and placed his hands on her breasts. "Why don't you stay a while, we could have some fun." Amy was now scared beyond belief when she realized what they wanted.
The man behind her moved her cloak off her shoulder and started to slowly pull the sleeve of her dress down. Suddenly the man in front of her was hit on the head. He turned around to see Rouge with one hand on her hip and the other holding a piece of wood left in the alley and a scowl on her face. Cream stood right behind her with the same scowl plastered on her features. "Let. Her. Go." Rouge said through gritted teeth.
The two men laughed. "Or what?" the one in front of Amy asked. Rouge slowly walked up to him slowly with a flirtatious smile, throwing the piece of wood on the ground. She wrapped one arm around his neck and brought him closer to her face so she could whisper in his ear. "Or else…THIS," She said as she kneed him in the crotch causing him to let out a loud groan and hold his family jewels as he fell to the ground. Rouge smiled and looked at the man behind Amy with a smirk. He quickly ran off with the other man slowly walking behind him.
Rouge turned back to Amy with a disappointed look. "Amy, this is not the palace." She said as she pulled Amy out of the alley with Cream close behind. "Those men could have raped you, or worse." Rouge said trying to weave her way through the crowd and get to the city gates to go to the market place. "Stay by me and you'll be perfectly fine." Amy nodded and stayed so close to Rouge she kept stepping on her feet, but Rouge didn't mind, all she cared about was that Amy was safe … and innocent.
Unlike the palace gates the city gates were wide opened and ready for people to come in and out. As the entered into the market Amy was even more mesmerized by all the shops and smells. People ran around picking up their supplies and for the first time ever Amy saw little children running around in the road. Little girls running with their dolls and bows with thin wooden planks pretending to be knights with swords. Amy smiled at them and started to imagine herself having one. She smiled at herself, but to everyone else she looked like someone staring and smiling at nothing.
Cream didn't notice and grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her into the crowd as Rouge followed behind and just watched them have fun. Cream started to show her all the shops, her favorite being a shop that sells cakes and cupcakes. As they walked through the market Amy looked around at everyone having fun and talking to familiar faces.
Not too far from her a man at a bakery stand was staring at her with a smile. Finally he mustered up the courage to talk to her. "Excuse me miss," He said as Amy came closer. She gave him a warm smile and approached his stand. "Would you like to try a biscuit?" He said holding out the biscuit to her. She nodded and slowly bit into the biscuit as the man watched it slip into her mouth. And, of course being a man, this was enough to put naughty thoughts into his mind.
She looked back up at him and smiled wider. "It's good," she said. "This is the best thing I have ever tasted."
"I think I might know something tastier." The baker said looking at Amy's lips. Amy caught on to what he was saying and blushed. He barely moved forward and Amy became a little tense, not sure of what he was doing.
She was finally saved when Rouge came over and pulled her away. "Keep your mind out of the gutter." She said before pulling Amy away. "Okay, so note to self, keep men away from Amy, far away," she thought to herself.
"Amy please stay with me and Cream." Rouge said once they made it back to Cream. "I don't get it." Amy said, "It's not like he was doing what those other guys were trying to do in the alley."
"That doesn't make him that much better." Rouge said. She let out a small sigh of frustration. "Amy, I'm going to give you your first lesson on the real world. Guys only want one thing, sex. There are very few men who want to actually love a girl." She watched as Amy tried to make sense of what she said.
Amy started to shake her head in disbelief. "That's not what all my romance novels say." Rouge's mouth almost hit the floor when she heard what Amy said, along with Cream's mouth. Rouge rolled her eyes trying to keep in mind that Amy has no idea what real life is like. "Amy," Rouge said softly trying to not sound as stressed as she really was. "Life is not a romance novel. There is no such thing as a soul mate or the perfect love."
Amy looked at her with a blank stare as Cream just watched the two from the side. Seeing that the conversation had ended Rouge turned around but her stress immediately came back when she saw Knuckles and Tails walking towards them. She sends a glance towards Cream who had just noticed them too and hoped she knew what to do. Cream nodded at her and turned to Amy and quickly pulled her hood back on.
"Hey Rouge," Knuckles said and Cream threw her arms in the air and shot him a glare. "What, am I invisible?" She said. Tails sent her a smirk and said, "okay, hey shorty," He said.
Knuckles suddenly noticed Amy behind them with her hood over her head and looking at the ground. "You hiding someone from us Rouge?" He asked smiling down at her. She glared trying to intimidate him even though he was a head taller than her. He shoved passed her with Tails following close behind. "What's your name?" Tails asked but Amy didn't answer and kept her head down.
"Hey he asked you a question." Knuckles said and pulled her hood down. Knuckles and Tails were both hypnotized by Amy when they saw her bright jade eyes and long pink hair. Amy's cheeks were red and she tried not to look at them. Lucky for them Knuckles and Tails had never seen the Rose princess before so they didn't know who she was. Amy subtly looked at Rouge with a pathetic pleading look.
Rouge steps in front of them and looks Knuckles in the eye. "Leave her alone," She said sternly as Cream came next to her and glared at Tails who was also a head taller than her.
Knuckles brushed it off and looked down at Rouge a scoffed. "Whatever, come on Tails we should head back and get ready for tonight." After Rouge heard that she became curious and grabbed his shoulder making him turn around. "What's going on tonight?" She asked.
Knuckles and Tails grinned ready to brag. "Not that it's any concern to you but the Mobotropolis family is throwing a party in honor of the prince; a close personal friend of ours." Knuckles said proudly. "Come on Tails let's leave the rats to roll around in the filth." Tails laughed as he followed Knuckles back home.
An evil smirk appeared on Rouge's face as she turned back to Cream and Amy. The other two girls looked at her confused. "What is it Rouge?"
"Girls," She said as she walked next to them and wrapped her arms around the two. "We're going to crash a party."