Saving Prince James: A James and Sofia Love Story

Set in an alternate universe, James is now 20 and usurped his father as king and conquered every kingdom to create an empire, but he has lived his years as a lonely king with only power and wealth to keep him company. When Cedric summons a banished Sofia, 18, to the castle to secretly save the kingdoms and James, something stirs in James's heart the moment he sees a grown and blossomed Sofia. Can a banished princess save the kingdoms and can a ruthless prince find his way into the heart of a princess he once lost?

Chapter 4: Memories from That Night

Sofia

Sofia arrived to Amber's old childhood room and gently knocked on the door, "It's Sofia. Can I come in?"

Through the door, Sofia could hear Amber running towards the door and she didn't even wait until the door was fully opened before taking Sofia into a tight sisterly hug.

"Sofia!" Amber cried as she just held her there in the opened doorway.

Everything in here stayed the same too, Sofia thought as she looked around the room behind her older sister, like it was all untouched….

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What happened? I'll kill him!" Amber sped as she led Sofia to two chairs in her room's sitting area, her eyes focused on Sofia and obliterating any thought Sofia had about the room.

"Amber, calm down. There's no need to hurt James." Sofia gently laughed. "One question at a time, please."

"Alright, you're right." Amber released a deep sigh. "So since you're here in one piece, I take it that you're okay and unharmed, right?" she said, giving Sofia a wary eye.

"Yes, he didn't hurt me in any way," Sofia answered.

"Good. So what happened?"

And the two sisters just sat there as Sofia recalled the events after Amber left, telling her about how James apologized and begged her to stay here at the castle and that she saw something in him that is indeed worth saving. Sofia gave Amber every detail about their conversation and tried to answer each question her older sister had.

"He called you his light?" Amber said, after Sofia finished. "Wow…."

"I know…. I couldn't believe it either when I heard it myself."

"So what happens now? You agreed that we would both stay at the castle, and I know you did it because you saw some light in him, but how are you going to go about it? How do you plan to save him?"

"I honestly don't know… yet. As of right now, I'm just winging it."

"Okay, I don't know how it's going to go, but I'm with you one hundred percent," Amber said with a smile and giving Sofia's hand a small squeeze. "Whatever you need, Sofia, I'm right here."

It made Sofia smile when she heard her sister, knowing that she's not entirely alone on this crazy rescue mission and she enjoyed the feeling of safety that grew in her stomach, a feeling that, for the past five years, only Amber could make Sofia feel.

Then they heard a knock at her door, "Your Highnesses, it's Baileywick."

"Enter!" Amber said.

In walked their royal steward with Sir Michelson and another handsome young guard right behind him. The man was as tall as Sir Michelson and he had red hair and nice green eyes that matched together with his easy smile.

"Your Highnesses, since I was informed that you two will be staying with us for an undetermined amount of time, I thought that it would be best to have two of our most loyal and capable palace guards as your own personal guards."

"Baileywick, what do you mean 'most loyal palace guards'?" Amber said, confused because she was asleep when Sir Michelson informed Sofia and the Queen Mother that almost all of the castle guards are still loyal to her and the remaining royal family, not James.

"Princess Amber," Baileywick's voice dropped into a hushed whisper, "Cedric and I have long ago created a secret society that consists of only those who are still loyal to only you and the remaining royal family. Many do not agree with how James took the throne from your father, a lot of the subjects want you or Princess Sofia as queen. But for as long James is king, we all vowed to protect only you, Princess Sofia, and Queen Miranda since many do not trust King James and his methods. So as a way to ensure the safety of you two while you are here under the same roof as King James, I have placed Sir Michelson and Sir Edwards as your personal guards."

"But I thought you believed there was still good in James, why have this extra protection?" Sofia asked, confused by Baileywick's action.

"I do, Princess Sofia. It's just that, while we are waiting for him to be saved, he is still so unpredictable and after this morning's fiasco, we all thought that it would be best to have some extra precaution to make sure you two are still safe and sound at the end of the day."

"Okay, I see your point Baileywick," Amber said, nodding her approval.

"Very good," Baileywick said with a contented smile. "Princess Sofia, Sir Michelson will be your guard while Sir Edwards is Princess Amber's," he said, motioning over to each respective person in the room, "introduce yourselves and get acquainted. I have many businesses to take care of, so I'll be off."

And with a bow, Baileywick pivoted and left the room.

"Your Highnesses," both men said in unison with a respective bow to the two girls who curtsied in return.

Sir Michelson was the first to speak, "Princess Amber, Princess Sofia, I am Sir Michelson and this is Sir Edwards."

"Yes, I believe Baileywick has already identified for us who is who," Amber playfully teased with a giggle, which caused Sir Michelson's cheeks to turn a light pink.

"Amber," Sofia nagged.

"It's quite alright, Princess Sofia," Sir Michelson said, gently shaking his head, "It was my fault for fumbling with my words. I'm just nervous, that's all."

"What do you have to be nervous about? You met and escorted us earlier this morning?" Sofia asked.

"Yes, but I didn't think I would get the chance to see you – er, um, you two again," he said, his cheeks reddening even more and, remembering his kiss on her hand, Sofia's cheeks to blush too. Thankfully, just light enough for Amber to not pick up on.

Clearing her throat in hopes to make it even and normal again, Sofia said with a positive smile, "Well umm… since you'll be around us a lot, let's hope that your nervousness will go away fast, Sir Michelson."

"Yes, Your Highness," he said, returning a shy smile to Sofia.

"Would you two like a seat?" asked Sofia, motioning to the two extra seats across from the sisters. "Since Amber and I were told to get to know you two better, I think it might be best to sit and have some afternoon tea while we're at it. Would you two like to join us?"

"Oh we couldn't, Your Highness," said Sir Edwards. "It isn't our place to eat with royalty."

"Nonsense," Sofia said, "I say it's alright for you two to join us. So come and sit."

"But Princess Sofia–" Sir Edwards began but was cut off by Amber.

"Oh! I have a better idea than sitting around and snacking!" Amber exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement and rushing over to her balcony's glass doors. "Let's go for a stroll around the garden as we get to know one another! I haven't seen the garden in such a long time and it's only a little past noon, so why not? Hmm?"

"It is a beautiful day outside." Sofia contemplated and looked over at the two young men, "is that alright with you two? Sir Edwards? Sir Michelson?"

"I don't recall a regulation against simply strolling with royalty," Sir Michelson said with a smile to Sir Edwards.

"I'll take that as a yes!" Amber squealed over her shoulder as she rummaged through her massive tiara closet.

"Amber, what are you doing?" Sofia asked as she walked over to her sister half buried inside her tiara collection.

"Looking for a 'strolling' tiara…," Amber responded. "Ah! Found it!"

Amber finally emerged out of her closet holding a silver tiara designed with a metal flower in the center and several other petals surrounding it, deep pink gems bedazzled into the center of the flower and around the petals.

That's a new one, Sofia thought. It always amazed her at the numbers of tiaras and crowns Amber had on her large shelves, and even with the many years they've been together, Sofia still hasn't seen all of Amber's tiaras.

"Oh Sofia," Amber sighed, answering to Sofia's one raised eyebrow and nagging look, "I haven't seen my babies in five years, I want to let them out and see them shine in the sun."

When they were forced to leave the castle as fast as possible, Amber and Sofia didn't have time to pack all of their belongings. They were simply put into a carriage with whatever the servants packed into the small suitcases and shipped off into the countryside. Amber was furious at what she saw in her luggage, only a five of her designer gowns and matching slippers. Sofia remembered how Amber screamed the number at her and their mother when they arrived a few hours later. Sofia even remembered the first few nights when Amber cried to herself because they had to leave all of her tiaras behind.

Looking at Amber now, how happy she is to be reunited with her tiaras, Sofia didn't have it in her to nag and chide her older sister. Not when, for the past five years, Amber had grown and matured so much, even learning to live with only flower tiaras she made for herself and the towns children.

Relenting, Sofia heaved a heavy sigh and simply smiled at her sister, who squealed happily and returned to looking through her closet devoted to only her tiaras.

"Wait, why are you looking through it again? I thought you already chose one to stroll with." Sofia said.

"I did, but I just want to see what else I have in here," she said into her closet.

Sofia suddenly felt a presence beside her and looked up to her left find Sir Michelson close at her side. Looking down at her, he smiled shyly back which made Sofia blush and look embarrassingly back to her sister. Out of the corner of her eye, Sofia saw that Sir Michelson was almost a head taller than her, the top of her head just made it above his jaw.

He really is handsome, Sofia thought, bashfully smiling to herself.

"Oh! Sofia!" Amber's exclamation made Sofia jump, believing that she was caught gazing at Sir Michelson by her sister.

"Yes!" Sofia squeaked, her voice too high even to her own ears.

Amber took her hands and was dragging her towards the door, "we should go over to your room and find your old tiaras too!"

"No, no. It's fine, Amber," Sofia protested as they made their way to Sofia's old room down the hall. "I don't mind not having a tiara on me."

"Nonsense, Sofia." Amber said as she opened the door and quickly rushed to her closet.

Inside of her closet, Sofia saw that many of her old gowns were still hanging inside; rows and rows of various purple gowns that she obviously cannot fit into anymore. She reached out and skimmed them with her fingertips as she walked past them, each gown bringing back many happy memories. Sofia even spotted her old and worn out purple dress from her childhood, the same one she would always wear around the castle.

With her back to Amber, Sofia reached out and removed her old dress from its hanger, gently touching the still soft fabric and smiling at the memories that came with the precious dress. Sofia could still feel the innocence of her childhood on the seams of her dress, the innocent and hopeful young girl that wasn't exposed to the ugliness of the world. Her heart wasn't as hard as it is now and she still believed in the love that she shared with her older brother.

So much of the happy times we had as a family were when I wore this dress, Sofia thought wistfully. I miss them….

"I remember that dress," Amber said quietly, suddenly at her side and holding her old purple tiara in her hands. "It was your favorite as a kid."

"Yeah…," Sofia responded, her voice small and close to breaking. "I miss the little girl that would always wear this dress… and the times she had in it."

Sofia stood rooted at her spot, unable to let the dress out of her hands. Afraid that if she were to release it, then all of the good memories would vanish with it.

"Well, I don't," Amber said, facing Sofia and softly placing the tiara into her hair, "because she's right here in front of me. And I know that with me helping her, we'll get those happy times again."

With a light laugh, Sofia smiled at her sister. "You always knew just what to say, huh?"

"Of course, it's one of my many gifts," Amber boasted as she smoothed out Sofia's hair. "There, now the tiara is back home, where it belongs."

"Thank you, Amber."

Amber just smiled brightly at her little sister and took Sofia's arm into hers. "Now, I believe we have kept our two handsome young guards waiting long enough."

The two sisters walk out of the closet to find their patiently waiting guards, Sir Michelson giving Sofia another bashful smile that made her blush again and her heart skip a beat.

Why do I keep blushing whenever he smiles at me? I don't get it…, Sofia thought.

Ever since she was young, Sofia never noticed any other boy before because she only saw them as friends or buddies, never in a romantic type of way. From her times on the flying derby team to how she just hung around the boys in the village, she has yet to meet a boy that made her blush. She always just stood behind her beautiful sister and let her bask in the attention from all of the boys because Sofia was never comfortable with all of it. She was contented with just letting Amber have all of the boys' affections, Sofia just wanted their friendship. Sofia could always tell when a boy liked her and she would make sure to clearly tell them that she only saw them as friends because no boy has ever made her heart flutter or skip a beat…. That is, until now.

As they made their way to the castle's garden, Amber started out the afternoon's series of questions. Sofia learned that both men are twenty-one and are longtime friends that trained together for over six years. Sir Michelson dislikes radishes and the yolk of an egg, but he likes all kinds of desserts, is an avid reader, and enjoys quite starry nights. Sir Edwards enjoys sword practices, running, and is a flying derby rider. He dislikes repairing his ripped shirts and anything that has to do with a needle, and long hot days.

As the day went on and everyone got to know each other well enough, Amber wanted to split up and walk alone with their respective guards, but to return in time for snacks. With her arm in Sir Michelson's, Sofia and her handsome guard walked and chatted as they strolled towards the far back of the garden.

Being so close to this handsome guard, Sofia could feel her cheeks grow hot but the longer she was with him and the better she got to know him, her nerves eased just a little. He made her laugh and relaxed with his sweet smile as they just talked about themselves and the two lost track of time.

"Sir Michelson, may I ask why did you join the royal guard?" Sofia continued with her questions as they walked past the many rose bushes.

"Well, Your Highness," Sir Michelson responded, "it has been a family tradition for all of the men in my family to go into some sort of military service out of honor and duty. Both my father and grandfather were knights, my two older brothers are soldiers in the King's army."

"Wow…."

"Yeah," he said with a small laugh, "I know. So I decided to join the castle guards because they protect the king and his royal family every hour of every day. And what's more honorable than that?"

"Oh nothing, of course," she teased, laughing.

But then, something behind Sir Michelson caught her eyes, ceasing all of the laughs out of her.

She and Sir Michelson had such a good time simply talking and laughing with each other that she didn't notice when they strolled into the area of the garden where all sandstone busts of every royal family members who have past were placed.

Sofia walked absently as she quickened her pace towards the busts. She heard Sir Michelson say her name but it sounded distant and far away. The only thing that was on her mind was the busts.

Sofia was unable to say a word as she looked around her, faces of every member of the royal family staring right at her. Lifeless, their eyes held her gaze and the further down she went, the more familiar the faces got. And eventually, she made it to where the most recent members of the family who have died were placed. Sofia was face to face with her father's and aunt's bust.

Then, memories of the night that changed everything flooded her mind.

It was a few weeks after James discovered his father's old notes up in the attic and confronted him about it. Things began to settle but there was still tension between James and King Roland II.

Sofia was only thirteen when it all happened. She and Amber were in the royal family room with her mother, their aunt, Duchess Matilda, and her husband, Sir Bartleby. Amber was playing the harp with their Aunt Tilly while Sofia was sewing a flower onto a small handkerchief beside her mother. King Roland was in his room finishing up some paperwork and James just recently excused himself to the bathroom.

In the beginning, it was all just a regular family night. Quiet and peaceful.

Until she and her family heard a horrific scream coming from upstairs. Then everyone rushed towards the sound. All of the adults, the guards, and the staff rushed to the continuing screams and was all shocked to the core at what they found.

James covered in blood and standing over the lifeless body of the king.

Everything was dead silent. No one said a single word. The only sound made that night was James's heavy breathing, like he had just finished stabbing his father with the large sword in his hands.

The first person to make a move was Sir Bartleby.

Slowly, the newly wedded knight walked towards the bloodied prince with his hands up, asking him to put down the sword.

James just looked at the knight and let the sword fall to the floor with a loud clang. Then he just walked out without saying a word and returned to his room.

Once they heard his bedroom door slam shut, everything became chaotic. Hysterical cries from their Aunt Tilly and Mother, loud questions were angrily thrown at Baileywick, and Sofia and Amber were just pushed off into the corner. Sofia remembered trying to shield Amber from looking at their father's body and simply holding Amber as she cried into her arms.

Next, Sofia heard Baileywick cry out orders to have the king's body taken away and everything cleaned up. She then felt herself being picked up by her uncle and saw that Amber was lifted into her mother's arms, their aunt was right beside her mother. They were trying to rush her and Amber out of the room as fast as possible.

In her ear, she heard Sir Bartleby say to her that they are going to be taken to a safe place and outside of the room, she saw guards breakdown James's door, but then loud screams filled the hallway and her uncle froze in his place.

Turning around, she saw that James managed to kill and slash five of the palace guards. More blood covered her brother and made him practically unrecognizable.

It was like he was possessed, he moved in swift movements and in just one motion he disabled and killed all of the guards in the hallway.

Then, her uncle placed Sofia into her aunt's arms and pulled out his sword. Cursing at James, Sir Bartleby rushed towards him and attacked. The knight swung his sword at James, but her brother managed to stop it with just a swing of his own. Their swords swished and slashed at each other, and Sir Bartleby continued to hit him with everything he's got, but James managed to disarm him quickly and just stabbed him in the heart. Sir Bartleby then fell to the ground, dead.

Her aunt screamed and fell to the floor with Sofia in her arms, her eyes never leaving her husband's body. Sofia remembered how haggard her aunt's breathing became and suddenly feeling her nails dig into Sofia's arms. As if she forgot about Sofia, her Aunt Tilly gently pushed her into a nearby corner and grabbed one of the fallen guard's swords. She charged at James full force, but was instantly slashed and killed by him.

Sofia couldn't move from her corner as she watched her aunt fall to the ground and try to crawl towards her husband. Aunt Tilly never made it and died trying to reach her husband's hand.

James walked over all of the bodies and towards the exit of the hallway, not saying a word. When he passed by Sofia, he stopped and bent down to where she was huddled in her corner. Eye to eye with him, the lifelessness in James's eyes froze her in her place. James then reached out and touched her cheek, even his hands were ice cold.

Sofia didn't flinch, she didn't move a muscle. Not until James got up and left the hallway.

Sofia was then lifted into Baileywick's arms and marched over towards her mother and Amber. He ushered them into a nearby room and locked it until it was safe enough to leave. As he was trying to clean Amber's and Sofia's face off, Baileywick was later notified that James was in the throne room wearing the King's crown and James didn't move from that spot all night.

The next day, Sofia woke up to the news that James had their father, aunt, and uncle hastily buried into the family crypt, and that he decided to lock the three women into their respective rooms. And about three days later, she and her mother and sister were taken out of their beds and told that they are now in exile.

Everything from that brutal and bloody night was scarred into Sofia's mind, from how big the puddle of blood was to how many bodies laid on the ground. But the clearest memory from that night wasn't the gory details, but rather, how empty and hollow James's eyes were. She remembered the fear from that night, of how her legs were too weak to run to James and see if he was alright.

And for the past five years, she wondered that if she did do that, then maybe things would have turned out differently.

Then Sofia felt like someone was shaking her and yelling her name.

"Sofia…Sofia!" Sir Michelson yelled, looking worryingly into her eyes and gently shaking her with both of his hands on her shoulders.

Sofia snapped out of it and felt warm tears running down her cheeks. Sofia did not shed a single tear all of those three days she was locked in, not until she faced James and he coldly told her to leave. Then, all tears in her froze and she hasn't cried since. But why is she crying now?

"Princess Sofia, are you alright? I've been calling your name for the past few minutes now." Sir Michelson said, bending a little to eye level so he could search her eyes to see if anything is wrong.

Sofia was unable to respond at first, her mind was still filled with the memories that shocked and attacked her.

"Princess Sofia?" Sir Michelson asked again, his faced etched with even more worry.

Absently wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, Sofia finally found her voice, choked with the still unshed tears. "I'm alright."

"Are you sure? Because most people don't start crying for no reason," he said, cautiously smiling lopsidedly at her.

Really looking at Sir Michelson now, as if she just noticed him right in front of her, Sofia saw a different kind of honesty in his eyes. A soft, quite honesty that drastically differed from James's raw honesty and made her feel like she could tell him anything.

"It's just…," Sofia began, now looking at her aunt's and father's bust behind her guard. "When I saw the busts, it was like… I…. My mind was just flooded with… all of these memories… from…." Sofia stopped, unable to continue as the lump in her throat grew with every word that came out of her mouth.

"From the night King Roland II was killed," Sir Michelson finished for her.

All Sofia could do was nod as she wiped a stray tear.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness," he said to her, handing her a handkerchief, probably understanding that more tears threatened to pour out of her any minute now. "My words may not mean much because I wasn't there that night, but I am sorry for your loss. King Roland was an excellent king. He and his sister did not deserve to die the way they did, and you do not deserve this type of grief."

Taken aback by his intensity, Sofia just offered him a weak smile. "Thank you, Sir Michelson."

He smiled back in return and nodded. The two then just stood there quietly and looking at the busts.

The busts captured her father's handsomeness and her aunt's beauty. Her father's strong jawline and brows stood out like they did when he was alive, but it was his gentleness in his eyes that outshined them all. Even in her aunt's bust, her quirkiness and bright smile was managed to be captured and stood out the most. Just behind her aunt's bust was Sir Bartleby's, his handsomeness and quite strength contrasting well with her aunt's wackiness.

They were only married a year long before they passed. The image of their fingers so far apart as they lay dying still haunt Sofia.

"Sofia!" Amber's voice broke through the comforting silence between Sofia and Sir Michelson. "There you are! You and Sir Michelson didn't return for snacks back in the gazebo, so I got –" she cut off, probably noticing Sofia's tearstained cheeks and the busts. "Oh, Sofia…," she said, immediately understanding, taking her into a hug.

The moment she was in Amber's arms, the tears instantly flowed out of her and the only sound that could be heard was Sofia's soft cries. Five years worth of tears just emptied out of Sofia and she didn't know how long she stood with her arms wrapped around her sister, just crying until she couldn't cry any more. The entire time, Amber just whispered encouraging words and the two men stood respectfully away as the sisters embraced each other.

It was funny how on that night five years ago, it was Sofia holding and comforting Amber as she cried into her shoulder, but now, it was the other way around.

"Sofia, are you feeling better?" Amber asked after several moments Sofia's sniffling finished and to that Sofia just smiled appreciatively and nodded. "Alright, how about we go back and get some snacks?"

On their way back, Amber began to talk about some of the things she learned about Sir Edwards and Sofia was grateful for her sister's obvious attempt to take her mind off of the busts. By the time they reached the gazebo, the mood had lightened tremendously. All afternoon and well into the evening, the foursome talked and ate until their hearts' content and cheeks couldn't take anymore wide smiles and laughter.

Close to dinnertime, they all returned to the castle so that the princesses could freshen up, and Sofia and Sir Michelson simply laughed and talked the entire way.

"I still cannot believe that Sir Edwards's first name is Edward!" Sofia laughed hard, her eyes close to watering.

"I had the same reaction when I first learned it too!" Sir Michelson laughed along.

"So, what's your first name?" Sofia asked through some giggles.

"Mine?" he asked, still laughing at the previous jokes. "Why would you want to know, Princess?"

"Well," Sofia blushed, unable to look at him, "it's only fair to Sir Edwards that you tell. And because… since we spent all day getting to know each other, I believe that we can be friends and friends call each other by their first names. You can call me Sofia if you would like, Sir Michelson."

Obviously stifling a laugh at her awkwardness, Sir Michelson responded as they stopped in front of her room, "It's Cyrus, Sofia."

She liked the way he said her name, it just rolled off his tongue so soft and smooth. Her body almost moved on its own, wanting to lean towards Cyrus and just hear him say her name over and over again.

Wait, what? She mentally shook her head. Quickly saving herself, "Yes – Well, I… I will see you tomorrow, Cyrus," and with that, she retreated back into her room to get ready for her first dinner with James.

Sofia managed to get dressed rather quickly and found herself almost half an hour ahead of time. So to waste time, she decided to go to the library and find a book to read as she waited for the time being. But the moment she walked into the library, she stopped in her tracks.

There was James with his head back, asleep.


Chapter four!

Again, I am grateful to all of those that read and reviewed this series! I just love all of your guys' feedback and I'm so happy about how much love this series of mine is getting.

I was getting a lot of messages with questions about what happened that night when Roland died, so I decided to make it in Sofia's POV to show you all her side of it all and I also wanted to introduce the other corner in this little love triangle I'm trying to do. Please don't hate me I promise that the next chapter will have a lot more James X Sofia moments AND you might be seeing a few more familiar faces soon. Plus, I'm thinking of putting up a chapter with only James's POV to show you all his side of the story about what happened that night too.

Please read and review, etc. etc.

Thanks :)