Tales from the Castle - a Sofia the First fanfic
Chapter 6: Too Many Peaches
Notes: Blossom2014 sent me this story, and wanted me to add to it, so I added Lucinda, as well as Adair (from Chapter 4 of "Tales from the Castle"), and Bridget (from Chapter 5 of "Tales from the Castle") to the mix. This chapter takes place during the time Sofia and her friends are children, and is set the spring after Chapter 5 of "Tales from the Castle". Blossom and I hope you enjoy reading it.
Getting ready for the Fair
"Oh, Sofia, you're going to love the Spring Fair!" Amber said for the fiftieth time that hour.
"I know, Amber" Sofia answered indulgently. Amber checked her dress, peach with little pink silk blossoms sewn into it in honor of the occasion, in the mirror one last time before the two princesses went down to the entrance hall, where the rest of the royal family waited.
"What part are you looking forward to the most, Sofia? I can't wait for the eating contest!" James asked.
"Definitely the fireworks! They sound lovely," Sofia said. "But what's this about an eating contest?"
"It's the awesomest thing in the world! All the princes sit down at a table and eat as many peaches as we can. The last prince standing wins the Golden Peach" James explained.
Sofia rolled her eyes. "Another prince thing".
"Well - yeah" James said sheepishly.
"Look on the bright side, Sofia" Amber said. "At least we're not expected to make ourselves sick out of nothing but pride".
"Children, let's get going" Roland called from the door.
At the Fair
The fairgoers cheered in greeting when the royal family arrived, anxious for the fun to begin. From her seat in the royal carriage, Sofia picked out Ruby and Jade in the crowd, waving enthusiastically from atop their fathers' shoulders. The carriage pulled up to a stage in the middle of the fairgrounds beside an enormous peach tree, the oldest in Enchancia. King Roland took the stage and gave a short speech, but Sofia could tell the crowd wasn't really paying attention. All eyes were on the queen, waiting on a short stepladder to pick the symbolic 'first' peach of the season.
"I won't keep you all waiting anymore. Honey?" Roland said, smiling up at his wife.
Queen Miranda picked the fruit, and the crowd whooped and clapped. "Happy Spring, everyone!" Miranda said. She descended the ladder. "Now, you three go have some fun" she said to her children.
"I'm going to go find Ruby and Jade. Meet you guys later?" Sofia said.
"Sure. Just don't forget to come cheer me on at the peach eating contest. It starts in one hour" James said as he ran off to find Zandar.
"See you later, Sofia" Amber said, stepping towards Hildegard and Cleo. Sofia waved to them over her shoulder before heading for the last place she'd seen Ruby and Jade.
She found them by a dart game booth, trying to win a giant stuffed unicorn doll. It was Jade's turn. Just as she was about to throw her dart at one of the balloons, Ruby yelled "Oh my gosh, did you see that?" and pointed wildly off into the sky. There was nothing there, but Jade missed her balloon trying to see what Ruby was pointing at. The three of them burst out laughing.
"Can I try?" Sofia asked.
"Of course, yer ladyship" Jade said with an exaggerated curtsy and a fake accent. They giggled some more.
Sofia concentrated on the balloon marked 100 points. She threw her dart, but missed by a few inches.
The sound of slow, nasty applause came from behind them. "Not bad, princess, even if you did miss" Hugo said.
"What are you doing here, Hugo?" Sofia asked, irritated.
"It's a fair, princess, open to everyone" Hugo said lazily. "You know, if you really want one of these stuffed animals, I could win it for you".
"No thanks. I can win it myself" Sofia replied.
"Really? Cause it didn't look like it just a second ago" Hugo questioned.
Sofia glared at him. Without another word, she turned, aimed her last dart, and planted it right in the middle of the 100 point balloon.
"You did it, Sofia!" Ruby crowed.
"Yeah! Go, Sofia! Did you see that, Prince Hugo?" Jade said mockingly.
"Way to go, Sofia!" Lucinda smiled as she and her witch friend, Adair, walked up.
"Nice shot, Sofia!" Adair commented.
Hugo's jaw clenched as he looked at Sofia. "So you won a stupid toy. Big deal. You want to know what you can't win, princess?"
"What's that, Hugo?" Sofia asked, her blood pumping hot and loud and angry.
"The peach eating contest this afternoon" Hugo answered in an arrogant way.
"Is that a dare, Hugo?" Sofia challenged.
He snorted derisively. "Don't even try. I win that contest every year".
"Well, Hugo, I will prove to you again that a princess can do anything she sets her mind to. I'm going to win the peach eating contest" Sofia declared.
"Ha, yeah right. You won't even last that long" Hugo said, sure of himself.
"Oh no? Watch me" Sofia said as she walked away with Jade, Ruby, Lucinda, and Adair behind her, their backs ramrod straight.
"The nerve of that guy" Sofia thought. She was so angry she ran right into Jun, almost knocking her over.
"Sofia, are you alright?" Jun asked.
"I should be the one asking you that, Jun. I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention where I was going" Sofia apologized.
"It's alright. I'm fine" Jun answered.
"Really, Sofia, what's wrong?" Amber asked from Jun's other side.
"Ugh, Hugo just makes me so mad!" Sofia exclaimed. "He dared me to enter the peach eating contest".
Amber looked alarmed. "Tell me you didn't accept? What am I saying, of course you did" Amber sighed in exasperation. "Sofia, I'm sorry, but that contest really isn't for princesses. James tried it last year, and it just made him sick all day. He couldn't properly enjoy the fair after that".
"Amber, don't worry, I'll be fine. I won't get sick" Sofia assured Amber.
Ruby gasped. "Face painting! Come on, Sofia!" she said excitedly. She took Jade and Sofia each by an arm and pulled them towards the booth. "Come on, you two!" Ruby said as she looked back at Lucinda and Adair.
"It happened to James, it can happen to you!" Amber called after them.
A short while later, as Sofia, Ruby, Jade, Lucinda, and Adair were at the face paining booth, another girl walked up - Bridget.
"This looks fun" Bridget smiled.
"Ruby, Jade, Lucinda, Adair" Sofia started, "this is one of my friends from Royal Prep - Princess Bridget of Lavia".
"Nice to meet you, Bridget" Jade smiled.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bridget" Lucinda smiled.
"Any friend of Sofia's is a friend of ours" Adair smiled.
"Welcome" Ruby smiled.
"Thank you" Bridget smiled back at Sofia, Ruby, Jade, Lucinda, and Adair.
The six girls had fun at the face painting booth, then walking around playing various games at the fair.
"The peach eating contest will begin in ten minutes" a man announced.
"Well, I've better get going" Sofia said.
"Good luck, Sofia" Ruby smiled. "See you later so we can play more games".
The contest
Sofia took her place at the table beside James, mountains of peaches before them.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" James asked in concern.
"Yes" Sofia said firmly.
"Well, then good luck. But, please, don't push yourself too hard. It's just a game" James pointed out.
"I'll be alright, James" Sofia acknowledged. "Good luck to you too".
"Princes - and princess - on your mark!" said Roland. "Get set! GO!" The king blew a whistle and the crowd that had gathered to watch went wild, calling out encouragement to the contestants.
Sofia dug in, devouring peach after peach as fast as she could and throwing the pits in a little bucket next to her seat. Soon she had peach juice on the tip of her nose and all over the lower half of her face, running down her chin and staining her dress, but she didn't care. She was going to beat that arrogant jerk Hugo.
Princes started dropping like flies. Soon Zandar and Khalid were out, followed by Jin and James. Then it was just Sofia and Hugo. Even though she was getting really full and she wanted to stop eating, Sofia pushed herself to keep going. She couldn't let Hugo win. She had to show him a princess could do anything a prince could. Plus, she really just didn't like the guy.
Sofia peeked over at Hugo. He looked about as uncomfortable as she felt, but still, he kept shoving peaches in his mouth. For a second, Sofia thought maybe proving her point and stroking her ego all on account of a boy - especially that boy - wasn't worth what she was doing to herself. She slowed down a fraction. Then Hugo flashed her a condescending grin, and she reached for another peach.
She lost track of how many pits were in her bucket. Finally, when she thought she couldn't take it anymore and all those peaches were about to come back up the hard way, Hugo flagged and his hand froze midway to his mouth. His face turned green and he ran for the closest bathroom. The crowd cheered like crazy.
"Looks like we have our winner!" King Roland boomed over the noise. He put a hand on Sofia's shoulder and smiled down at her. "We'll have to count the pits to be sure. Bear with us a moment, as we confirm the results".
As the pits were tallied, Sofia tried to smile but gave up when the effort proved to be too distracting; her mission now was to keep the peaches down.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this year's peach eating contest is - Princess Sofia!" Roland announced. The spectators clapped and whistled and hollered. Roland presented Sofia with the Golden Peach. "Sofia, sweetheart, are you feeling okay?" he whispered in her ear. "You look a little woozy".
"Ugh, I don't feel so good, Dad" Sofia said.
"Uh oh. We better get you home". Roland gathered Sofia up in his arms. She laid her head against his neck and closed her eyes as he left the stage, searching for his wife and daughter in the crowd. James trailed behind.
"Dad, could I talk to you please" Sofia mumbled.
In a panic, Roland stopped by a bathroom.
"Oh no, Dad, that's not what I meant" Sofia pointed out
"Oh," Roland said, hoping his relief wasn't too unseemly. "What is it, Sofia?"
"Dad, I don't want you to miss the rest of the fair because of me" Sofia said earnestly.
"Oh, Sofia, honey, this fair comes every year. Don't worry about it, either of you" Roland said, throwing a glance over to his son. Finally, a little ways up the path, he found Miranda with the other queens, talking about starting a book club. "Miranda, could I talk to you for a minute, please?"
Miranda excused herself. "Rollie, what happened?" she said, her gaze settling on each of the children in turn. Sofia looked far worse off, but James was clearly also feeling ill. Her motherly instincts kicked in and she fretted over both of her children.
Roland didn't want to make Sofia and James feel worse, so he just whispered in her ear. "Well, Sofia won the peach eating contest, but let's just say it's not all it's cracked up to be" Roland answered. "I know Amber won't want to leave so would you mind staying while I take James and Sofia home?"
"I think we better all go home. I'll get Amber" Miranda said.
Sofia opened her eyes a little and said feebly, "Mom, don't, I'll be fine, I promise. Stay and watch the fireworks for me".
Remembering how much Sofia had been looking forward to the fireworks, Miranda's heart hurt and she silently vowed to do something to fix this for her daughter. "Just rest for now, okay, sweetheart?" Sofia closed her eyes and went back to sleep. "Dear, take care of them. And remember, Baileywick has the week off, so it's up to you to make sure they're comfortable".
"Don't worry, honey. I'll take care of everything. You have a nice time". Roland gave his wife a quick kiss and left with the two kids. He passed Amber.
"Oh no, not again! I knew this would happened" Amber said, worried.
Ruby came up to Amber, with Jade, Lucinda, Adair, and Bridget in tow. "Amber, where's Sofia? We were going to play more games!"
"I don't think Sofia is going to want to play any games anytime soon" Amber said sadly.
"Why not?" Jade asked.
"I just saw her leave with my dad. She wasn't feeling very good" Amber answered.
"Poor Sofia" Lucinda commented, concerned.
"Oh no! What can we do?" Jade asked.
Amber appraised them, fluttering her fan reflexively. "Ladies, follow me. I have a plan". She led them down to the lake, where they spoke to a certain group of barge masters whose assignment that night required a little …relocation.
Returning home
In the royal carriage, Sofia was still sound asleep in Roland's arms. The driver took the low road, so as not to upset Sofia and James' stomachs too much.
"Dad, I'm sorry I ruined the fair again" James apologized.
"James, you didn't ruin the fair" Roland said as he carried Sofia inside the castle, while having a hand on James' shoulder.
In the entrance hall, James looked at Roland and said "I can make it from here, Dad. You take care of Sofia".
"Okay James" Roland said as he made for Sofia's room.
Sofia opened her eyes. "Dad, my tummy hurts".
"It'll be alright, darling" Roland said.
Sofia suddenly ran for the bathroom. She came back a few minutes later.
"Why don't you get ready for bed, Sofia, while I go check on your brother?" Roland suggested.
"Okay" Sofia acknowledged. Roland left, and Sofia changed into her blue nightgown.
"Hey Princess, I thought you were at the fair" Clover said, hopping over to her bed.
"Ugh, Clover, please don't mention the fair. Or peaches. I hope I never even see a peach ever again" Sofia groaned.
Later that day
Sofia was just waking up from a nap when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in" she called.
The door opened to reveal Amber, tailed by Hildegard, Cleo, Ruby, Jade, Lucinda, Adair, Bridget, Vivian and all their other friends, even James, leaning slightly on Zandar's shoulder. Some of them were holding balloons, some baskets full of various contents, and a number of them had great big stuffed animals in their arms.
"Surprise!" they said in unison.
"Since you were too sick to stay at the fair, we brought the fair to you!" Amber said with a big smile. She and James came and sat on Sofia's bed, while the others set up some games and tied the balloons all over her room.
"Guys, this is wonderful! Thank you so much!" Sofia said, touched.
"And this isn't even the best part" Vivian said. She crossed to Sofia's window and threw it wide open. "Just wait until sunset!"
Sofia gave her a quizzical look.
"You'll see" Amber said.
They played games until twilight. As the sun began to go down, everyone gathered in front of Sofia's window. It was a good thing it was pretty big. Amber spotted the barges pulling into position down on the lake. "Here it comes!" she said excitedly.
There was a whistling sound and then a loud crack, and light bloomed in the sky. Sofia gasped. "Fireworks! Oh, thank you all so much!" Sofia said, her eyes shining bright, radiant bursts of motion, like living stars, reflected in their depths. "I'm so happy!"
Amber put her arm around her sister. Sofia laid her head on Amber's shoulder and reached for James. Surrounded by their friends, the three of them watched the fireworks.