Amber and the Magic Thread
Chapter 7
Amber opened her eyes cautiously. She listened closely but she heard no screaming or crying, and definitely nothing that sounded as if it was shattering into a million pieces. It worked! She thought happily, and glanced towards the clock. Noticing it was dinner time, she hummed cheerfully as she made her way to the dining hall. When she got there, she noticed her children were now teenagers, and were smiling and chatting with each other while they ate. Amber beamed at the idea of her children getting along and took her own seat at the table. Once she sat down, the children's voices stopped abruptly and they continued to eat their food in silence.
Amber frowned. "Why did you stop talking?"
Her son looked up at her, "I thought you didn't like it when we made noise."
"That doesn't mean you have to stop talking all together," Amber shook her head. "Tell me about what you two did today? How was school?"
"Since when do you care?" He daughter remarked harshly. "You've always ignored us except to tell us what we're doing wrong."
"That can't be right, can it?" Amber asked, surprised. She looked between her daughter and her son, both of which refused to look her in the eye.
"Look mom, we know you don't really care about us, so can you do us both a favor and stop pretending like you suddenly care about our lives? We're doing just fine on our own," her daughter spat accusingly, and continued eating her food.
Amber looked at her son who just nodded in agreement. "If that's how you both feel, then alright."
The three of them ate their dinners in awkward silence until the King appeared and took his spot at the head of the table. The two children quickly finished their meals and left the room as fast as their feet could take them. Amber, who had been sitting at the opposite end of the table from her husband, waited for him to greet her. When she realized he wouldn't, she coughed to get his attention.
Finally, he looked up from his documents to stare at her. "Yes?"
"H-how was your day?" Amber asked, trying to start a conversation.
The King scoffed and looked back at his notes. Amber scowled. Not only did her kids not want to talk to her, but now her so called husband was ignoring her too?! No, she was not having any of this.
Amber slammed her hands on the table. "Put those stupid papers down and look at me! We are husband and wife, and I should at least be able to have a conversation with you at the dinner table."
King Ezekiel looked up once again, this time out of surprise by his wife's new attitude. "And what, may I ask, do you suppose we talk about?"
"Well for starters, you could at least acknowledge me when you walk into the room! You could ask me how my day was, then tell me about yours. We could talk about how our kids are doing and why they feel like we don't care about them. You could at least try and act like you love me!" Amber glared at him.
"I married you because it was convenient, not because I loved you," The King nearly laughed at the ridiculous idea. "Why would I treat you as such? As for our children, who cares? We just need to make sure that they are raised to be able to take over the country someday. Once that goal is met, why should we spend any extra time on them?"
Amber stood up, furious, and stormed out of the dining hall. How could she have ever agreed to marry such a jerk! He was worse than Hugo! Amber slammed the door to her bedroom shut and grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on, which happened to be a bottle of perfume, and threw it against the wall in frustration. She was about to grab something else to throw when something sparkled in front of her. The next thing she knew, she was standing face to face with Miss Nettle.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Miss Nettle waved her finger in disapproval. "It's not very lady like to throw things now is it? Besides, isn't this what you always wanted?"
"This is all your fault!" Amber screamed at her. "If you hadn't given me that stupid golden thread, I wouldn't have married such a worthless prince and my children wouldn't hate me and I would have more memories of my time with my friends and I wouldn't be so lost every time I talk to them and…"
"Ah, but I didn't force you to pull the thread, dearie. You're the one who doomed yourself to this life. But hey, you're Queen! That's all that really matters to you, now isn't it?" Miss Nettle reminded her.
After all of this, Amber couldn't keep herself from crying. She didn't care about being Queen if this is what she was left with. "Please, you have to reverse it. Take me back to before you gave me the thread, please!"
"Sorry! No take-backs, remember? I told you that at the beginning. Once you pull the thread there's no way to put it back! So enjoy your life, because you're stuck with it!" Miss Nettle cackled evilly and disappeared into nothingness once again.
Amber was so angry and miserable. She hated herself for ever trusting that stupid fairy and wishing her life would hurry up. She should've listened to Sofia when she said that every day was important. She took out the golden bauble and stared at it, feeling sorry for herself. But that sadness started turning into anger yet again and she threw the bauble at the wall with all her might.
The ball shattered against the wall into a million little shards, and the room filled with a brilliant light. A gust of wind surrounded Amber, whipping her hair and dress in all different directions. She held her hands up over her face, trying to protect herself from the light and the wind. She closed her eyes tight and felt herself fall to the ground in a thud.
When Amber finally opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was that she wasn't dead. The second thing she noticed was that she was back in her garden at the Enchancian castle. She looked down at herself and saw the same yellow gown she always wore as a child and her favorite tiara adorning her head. She turned to see a young Hildegard and Clio sitting at the tea table chatting away like normal. When they saw her their faces turned to ones of concern.
"Amber, what are you doing on the ground?!" Hildegard gasped, appalled.
"Is everything alright?" Clio asked worriedly. "I thought you went to talk to your father."
Amber's heart swelled and she felt tears starting to form in her eyes, "Oh girls, I missed you so much!" She cried out, running over to them and hugging them both tightly.
"You've only been gone a few minutes!" Hildegard reminded her. "What possibly could've happened in that short amount of time?"
Amber smiled, "Well, I decided that I don't want to grow up fast. I'm happy taking my time with my life."
"Does this mean you don't want to be Queen anymore?" Clio asked in shock.
Amber shook her head. "Oh no, I still want to be queen of course. But I can wait."
She grinned happily and the three girls laughed as they enjoyed their time just being kids.
THE END