Chapter 3

The Prince

The little hope that they would plan the wedding without her vanished, when she called: "Enter." The door opened and Baileywick walked in, with an excited look on his face.

"Oh Sofia, I'm so happy on your behalf. Oh it's been so long since we last had a wedding. It is going to be absolutely…." He stopped in his tracks, "Sofia what's wrong?" He looked down at her with a worried but loving gaze.

"Nothing, I'm just so excited for the wedding." It didn't sound as convincing when she said it as it had done in her head, so she tried avoiding his eyes. She couldn't see his face, but she could feel his gaze. They stood like this for a few seconds, and Sofia got the impression that Baileywick was thinking hard, apparently unable to figure out what was going on. Sofia considered just telling him the truth, maybe he knew what she should do, but then he spoke:

"Oh, of course." Sofia looked up, and saw Baileywick almost slap himself on the forehead, "how could I have had so little sense of occasion." He was now smiling apologetically, "I'm sorry Sofia, you don't want to marry Jin at all, do you?" Sofia took a deep breath.

"No not really, but I have to do it, or else Amber will have to. And the king will be disappointed in me, and mother will think bad of me, and the kingdom won't get the alliance, and we will lose the war. But what about Hugo, he will be devastated. And, and and.." The words had just fallen out of her mouth uncontrollably, and now she was panting.

"Oh Sofia," Baileywick walked across the floor, and put an arm around her shoulder, "I should have known that this was going to be hard for you. I for one know how it feels, to lift a burden like that." They sat down on her bed, and he grabbed her shoulders with both his hands; "Sofia, being a princess means a lot of things, like fancy gowns and tiaras, but first and foremost it means duty. And you must fulfill that duty no matter what." She looked up at him, and when she looked into his eyes, she knew that he understood. Understood that even though she wanted to have done some things differently in the past, she had to live with the consequences that those choices had brought her. He understood that Sofia wanted to give up, but that she couldn't. And most importantly, he understood that even though she knew what she had to do, she needed help to stay on the right track.

"I know I must do this for my family and for my kingdom. But I can't do it alone. Will you help me?" Baileywick's eyes weren't worried any more, and he smiled a warm smile at her. He didn't even have to say: "Of course Sofia," she already knew.

"Now, on to pressing matters." He said in a joyful voice, and even though Sofia still had to do the planning as before, she now felt unworried and light. "I have prepared a list of things that you need to attend to before the day is over." He grabbed inside his butler's jacket and pulled out a piece of rolled parchment.

"Now I will guide you through the day, so I will always be there right by your side." He said with a smile, that couldn't just be seen on his face, but also be heard in his voice.

Together they picked out decorations for the ball room. They went down to the village flower shop to pick out a bouquet for Sofia, and the bakery to choose the cake flavor and display. And while they were there Sofia visited Ruby and Jade, to tell them that they could be her bridesmaids, if they wanted to. All four of them went back to the castle, so that Ruby and Jade could choose their dresses. Of course theirs weren't going to be taylormade, but the ones they ended up with, were still very pretty. To Sofias surprise it all ended up being really fun, especially when she tried forgetting that she was the one whose wedding it was.

After Sofia and Baileywick had left the future bridesmaids for the kitchen to pick the menu, Baileywick told Sofia that he did not have anything left on his list.

"I can walk you back to your room, so you can change before suppertime." Said Baileywick, with a kind smile and a glance at Sofia's dress, which was a little dirty after the long day.

"Oh, that won't be necessary, Baileywick," said Sofia feeling a little tired, "but thank you for asking, and thank you for helping me today." Sofia gave him a sincere smile. "Without you I would never have been able to do this." She curtsied to him, he bowed to her, and she turned on her heel and walked down the corridor.

When Sofia came to the door that led to her room, she stopped and faced it feeling a little mournful. The day had been so fun, and even though she didn't actually want the party, it had been fun planning it. But now that she was alone again, the day of the wedding seemed unbearably close.

"Sofia," Amber was running towards her, in the company of James, "I've figured it out." Amber look down right jubilant, as she and James stopped in front of Sofia and started to explain:

"So when you told me no, to taking your place, I thought that there just had to be another way." She said, so excited that the words almost stumbled over each other.

"So I went back to dad, and told him that I would feel better about the whole thing if I was the one in charge of planning." she blabbered on. "Unfortunately, he didn't let me, I think he might have been on to me." Sofia thought that was very possible." But then I met James afterwards and told him the whole thing." James didn't look half as excited as Amber when he said; "jep" but still excited. "And then he suggested that we do it anyway." Said Amber, looking at Sofia awaiting, as if she was supposed to understand. But Sofia didn't quite understand how planning the wedding was going to stop it.

"I'm not sure I understand, Amber." Said Sofia, a little apologetically.

"Don't you see? If I'm the one planning the wedding, I can be the one ruining it." Said Amber dazzled by her own genius.

"But Amber I've been planning the wedding the whole day," said Sofia, feeling utterly bewildered.

"Yes you have, and James and I have been too." Said Amber looking a little irritated. "When the big day comes, everything will be all wrong. trust me." Now she looked at Sofia awaiting, like she needed permission.

"Alright you can try, but if anybody asks, I have had no part in this." Said Sofia with a stern tone in her voice. "The last thing I need is for father to lose faith in me."

"Understood, Sofia." Said Amber, now jumping on the spot. "See you at supper," Amber almost danced when she walked away. James stayed behind.

"I'm sorry Sofia, it's not always easy to be royal. I know you and Hugo had a thing; he told me about it." Said James sympathetically. "Amber and I are going to try and do something, but if it doesn't work, I hope you can live with it." He seemed sorry, like it was his fault.

"James, it was going to happen to one of us, and I was just unlucky." Said Sofia, not just to convince James, but also herself. James didn't seem to know how to respond to this, so he didn't really say anything. But after a few seconds of silence he finally spoke: "Well, see you at supper Sofia," as he started to walk away. When he had gone a few steps he turned around, "if you need someone to talk to, I'd always like to listen." And then he turned on his hell, and sped up to catch up with Amber, apparently satisfied with what he had said to Sofia.

Sofia turned to the door again and breathed out heavily before grabbing the handle. She thought for a second, about going back and helping with the supper, before opening the door. Sofia went inside with a big knot in her stomach. She wanted to go far away, maybe on an adventure with Clover, or Minimus, or maybe go and finish one of the stories in the secret library. Anywhere but here. Sofia's stream of thoughts was interrupted by one of the servants from the kitchen, judging from the clothes he was wearing. He ran into the room and closed the door quickly like was being chased and now needed a place to hide. Then he turned around and Sofia couldn't believe her own eyes. It was Hugo.

"Hugo!?" Said Sofia wanting to throw herself at him, but managing to hold back."What are you doing here?" She said in an excited but worried voice.

"I specifically told you to stay out of it." She said, trying to sound angry, but she had a hard time being mad at him, especially now that he had come right when she had been feeling down.

"Oh Sofia," said Hugo, with a smile walking to her, "you didn't actually think I could stay away. Did you?" He looked at her with a cheeky smile, and wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her tight. She couldn't resist and hugged him back, and they stood like that for a while, before letting go of each other.

"So Sofia, I have come to rescue you my fair lady." Hugo said with a teasing smile, and Sofia couldn't help but laugh. Hugo walked back a step and imitated a very noble and low bow. Then he grabbed hold of Sofia, and swooped her off her feet. They both laughed for a minute or so, before Sofia got a hold of herself, and stepped back onto the ground.

"Hugo," she said, "we don't have time for this. You need to get out of here." She looked up at his handsome face, and tried all she could to hold back a smile. Hugo's smile on the other hand, faded a little.

"Sofia," he said in a slightly aggrieved voice, "you can't expect me to just sit back and watch, when the lady of my dreams is getting married to somebody else." He was completely serious now, with no hint of a smile, neither on his lips or in his eyes. "Sofia, no matter what we do, we have to at least try and stop this war." Said Hugo with an injured look, like she had said something very unkind.

"You can go and marry Jin all you want, but someone has to stop this madness either before or after this wedding. And personally I like the idea about before better." He still looked hurt, but Sofia noticed a little smile in the corner of his mouth. Sofia considered this for a while, and sat down on her bed. Hugo did so too.

"Alright," she said, "I will listen to your idea, but I'm not promising anything." Said Sofia, not really fancying the feeling of negotiating with this young man whom she cared for so deeply.

"Yes!" Hugo almost yelled. "You won't regret it." He said, now in that teasing voice as before, and grabbed inside his waiter jacket, and pulled out a piece of folded parchment.

"So, after our last meet up, I have been thinking. I came to the conclusion that if our fathers will not negotiate, we should do it for them. You know, like a kind of mediator." He unfolded the parchment, and handed it to Sofia.

"This is the copy. I have one more with a signature and a seal and all." Sofia took the patchment a read it.

"It's a peace treaty," said Sofia in astonishment, "Hugo, that is brilliant. Why didn't I think of that?" Sofia was suddenly filled with hope. Maybe they could stop the war, maybe she didn't have to marry Jin at all, or lie to the ones closest to her to protect them, or feel bad about being a princess. And then it hit her: "But how are we going to give it to him?" All Sofia's hope had left her, like air from a balloon, but Hugo was just smiling.

"Oh, that's the easy part. I will give it to him." He said, visibly proud of his own plan, but Sofia wasn't so sure.

"I'm not so certain, that's going to work. He might just throw you in the dungeon without even reading it." Said Sofia in a little harsh tone. How could he have made this brilliant plan without thinking about the most important part?

"But Sofia, that's where I'll need your help. If you are there speaking my case, he wound't dare to touch me." Said Hugo, trying to make her understand.

"I don't know Hugo, but on the other hand, it's the best plan we've got." Said Sofia, feeling her spirit lift. They couldn't be sure it would work, but there was a chance, and she was willing to take it.