I know, I know, it has been a while since I've updated! Holidays and family vacations took priority over the story, however the updates should flow more regularly. In the next chapters we should be getting more Cedfia and some more dark story lines unfolding. Enjoy!
Amber couldn't say she was surprised when Sofia told her about Cedric as her suitor of choice but she was definitely not thrilled with her decision. Sofia could was a beautiful young woman and could have her pick of any prince, a hidden talent that Amber envied from time to time, but instead she chose the much older and awkward sorcerer. Though she didn't agree with Sofia's choice, she understood why Sofia picked Cedric; ever since they were little girls there had been an obvious bond between the two of them – one that Amber never understood. Sofia had been quiet about her intentions with Cedric but Amber knew that her sister must have high hopes.
Per the "good sister" unspoken rule, Amber kept quiet about everything. She knew that her father would never approve of such a choice and wondered how long Sofia intended to wait before letting their family in on her little secret. Poor Sofia, James would never let her hear the end of this!
All of Amber's reservations were put aside at the thought of helping plan the party, more specifically – the reception. Amber was definitely the person to go to when planning a party; she could make even the simplest tea party the most talked about event for the following year. If she was being honest with herself, Amber knew that Sofia's taste was much more muted than her own and it was a relief knowing that Sofia's simple style would not outdo the grandness of Amber's ball.
The first day of planning started early, much to Sofia's dismay, but Amber was dedicated to her role. She showed up to Sofia's room as the sun rose with plenty of coffee and pastries, more accurately she had a member of the palace staff show up to Sofia's room with plenty of coffee and pastries as she arrived. They started by going over themes and color choices.
Sofia had always been partial to purple so Amber thought purples, silver, and black were a natural choice. Sofia agreed the color choices and was barely half awake when they moved on to the discussion of themes. Amber's theme was butterflies, with thousands of butterflies released and on-display during her ball. She thought that Sofia needed something lady-like but not too over-the-top. Sofia, in her morning haze and fondly recalling her late friend Clover, offered up bunnies as a suggestion. Needless to say, Amber was not amused and thought that the suggestion was childish – definitely not fitting for a new debutante!
After much discussion, and many more cups of coffee, Amber thought of the perfect theme – flowers! She told Sofia that flowers were simple, yet beautiful and lovely just like her. Sofia blushed at the complement and thanked her sister profusely. They giggled and laughed at each other over having taken an entire morning just to think of flowers as a theme.
Once the theme had been decided, everything else fell into place. Amber was excited for her sister and spent a lot of her time throwing herself into her, "work." She hadn't always loved Sofia like a sister, even becoming envious of her at times, but now it was like none of that mattered; she wouldn't have chosen anyone else to be her sister and felt so fortunate to have the family that she did.
The time continued to pass quickly as plans were made, details ironed out, and dates set in stone. Now that the date was officially set, people were abuzz with questions and speculations on who Sofia had chosen to be her suitor for the evening in question. Amber kept her unspoken promise and pretended to be just as clueless as everyone else; not even her twin suspected that she knew anything, but then again it was easy to distract James.
Sofia had confided in Amber that she was worried about what people would think over her choice of Cedric as her suitor for the night; she had been nervous and flooded with emotion the night she asked him and had mostly avoided him, aside from a few awkward encounters, ever since. Amber did her best to comfort his sister and quell her concerns but in the pit of her stomach she knew that this was going to be a big deal for a lot of the palace. Other than her brief interactions with Cedric to coordinate an outfit that was complimentary to Sofia's gown, Amber herself had limited interaction with the mysterious Royal Sorcerer.
Family dinner was not going to go well, Amber decided. Sofia had told her that she planned to bring up her choice in suitor over the small family dinner and needed her to back up her choice. Of course, Amber would always support Sofia but she couldn't help but feel like this was a disaster in the making. The decision couldn't wait any longer and there was no time left to find another suitor, even if Sofia wanted to change her mind.
As they filled the dining room, Amber smiled at her sister reassuringly and hugged her a little more tightly when they greeted each other. As they all chattered about the ball, the inevitable question of Sofia's suitor came up and rather than dance around the subject as she had previously done, she was calm and collected, quietly speaking Cedric's name out loud. Everyone was stunned, aside from Amber, and once she caught herself she pretended to act just as bewildered. As she predicted, it was a disaster and Sofia's choice was met with laughter, mocking, and harsh criticism. Amber stood for it as long as she could before speaking up and letting her family know that she was happy that Sofia was comfortable enough with the Royal Sorcerer to allow him to be part of her big day; she continued on to say that Sofia had always had an interest in magic and sorcery so this should come as no big surprise to anyone.
The mood softened after Amber spoke, Sofia silently thanked her from across the table, but the tone had changed for the evening and the rest of dinner was consumed in silence.