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 23: The Attic
Sofia
"Okay, so…" Sofia heard James say as they both stood in the doorway of the enormous attic room. "Where do we begin?"
"I. Don't. Know." Sofia mumbled, wide eyed and speechless.
The castle attic was like nothing she's ever seen before. It was massively large and wide, larger than twenty grand ballrooms. The slanted ceiling was high while the only three windows in the entire room let in some mid-afternoon light. Despite being the largest attic she's ever seen, everything was oddly neat and cluttered at the same time.
"I can't believe I've never been up here before…." Sofia said as she looked around the enormous room. The room almost resembled a long grand hall filled with rows and rows of paintings.
"Well, dad never let you or Amber up here because he thought it was too dangerous for you two," James smiled down at her.
"What's so dangerous about it?" Sofia arched her brow at him, challengingly. She didn't take too kindly at what he was implying.
Too dangerous for us? What could he possibly mean by that?
"I don't think there's anything dangerous about it," Sofia tried to defend herself. "If I had been able to see this room earlier, maybe I wouldn't feel so frazzled by the enormity of this room. And how come he didn't restrict you from this room?"
"He did," James chuckled at her. "I just snuck into the attic whenever he wasn't looking."
"So he restricted all of us. Well, why didn't you just say that?" Sofia smacked his arm, annoyed when that only made James laugh harder.
"Because I like seeing your reactions," he smiled mischievously at her before pulling her towards him and kissing the top of her head.
And for a brief moment, she didn't try to fight him.
Sofia's eyes closed without her permission as she felt his warm lips touch the crown of her head. Her body leaned into him, wanting the familiar feeling of his closeness to recapture her.
Everything was starting to drift away as his lips started to descend lower. He was kissing a light, soft, and heavenly trail down the length of her right temple and across her cheek. Sofia's eyes were clenched as her heart started to beat fast in the back of her throat.
But just when his lips were at the corner of her mouth, she felt a sudden absence of heat.
His lips were gone.
Opening her eyes, Sofia saw that James's lips was nowhere near her own. His arms were still around her waist, but he had pulled away and was smirking down at her. There was so much teasing and mischief in his eyes…. He was enjoying this too much.
"Stop it, James," she said even though he hadn't uttered a word. Sofia blushed as she pushed him away, needing to save herself from whatever embarrassing thing he might have planned for her.
He just laughed some more as he took her hand and started to lead her through the giant maze of a room. She was grateful when he returned their conversation back to their little mission at hand. "We might as well just start by finding where all of my mom's paintings are located in this giant attic room."
While on their way here, Sofia discovered that this castle had more than just an attic. They had an attic rooms. One whole top floor in the castle had about ten rooms dedicated to storing nearly everything and anything that passed through royal hands. Everything that isn't displayed downstairs was placed into one of the several large rooms on the very top floor of the palace. There was one room that stored nearly every dress and uniform that was ever worn by an Enchanian king and queen. The largest room held all of the outdated furniture, from mirrors to chairs to sofas.
The portraits and paintings room was the second largest on this floor.
There were paintings of past and present royal family members all laid out in a neat, bundled order. The room had aisles upon aisles of large shelves that were filled with only paintings. The larger paintings that couldn't fit into the shelves were left leaning against the walls in big clusters off to the side of the room while the smaller portraits were stacked neatly on the shelves. Rows upon rows of metal shelves decorated the entire room, leaving enough space between the aisles for at least two or three people to walk through. At the end of each bookcase, there were labels that indicated whose paintings and portraits were placed down a certain row.
This is more like a library or archive for paintings….
The three windows peaked out from between the shelves, somehow giving the large attic room an antique and aged feeling. Small dust sparkled through the afternoon light, swaying through it like it was in a dance.
She was surrounded by the smell of old, aged paper that mixed with a distinct underlying smell of painting oils and watercolors. It was almost like the paintings made the air in the room alive with colors and art too. The smell of worn paintings made the attic smell so colorful and cozy….
Each painting on the floor and shelves had either golden or nice dark brown or burgundy frames. Sofia could see that some had intricate designs of vines and leaves on them while others had an engravings of the royal's name. Few had raised designs of feathers or gems or simple carvings of things she didn't understand.
Right down the middle of the room were several large tables with frameless paintings and sketches were arranged orderly and according to size. In the far back, there was one table just full of sketchbooks. Sofia was sure that if the piles were on the floor, it could tower over and probably reach James's nose. Some were large and long while others were tiny, pocket-sized booklets. Another table held some unfinished portraits and canvas with just pencil sketches of some people.
"Let's see now…" James mumbled to himself as he dragged Sofia around the rows of tables and through aisles that had the label "Q-A.1."
"What does 'Q-A.1' stand for?" Sofia asked, confused by all of the labels on the shelves.
"The first letter stands for the title and position they held," James said as he leaned down to look closely at each of the name tags on each of the paintings. "The second letter stands for the names. So, 'Q-A' stands for each queen with the name that starts with the letter A. The one stands for the numerical order of each painting; it just keeps everything in order."
"Oh…" Sofia nodded. "They should really put up some kind of chart explaining these labels."
"They did," he chuckled. "It's on the wall beside the door." James turned the name tag in his hand around, Sofia saw that the name tag had the name of some queen she didn't recognized and a year beneath it. Probably the year the painting was commissioned. "We're in only 'Ab', we need to go down a few more aisles before reaching 'An'."
And so they did.
Sofia and James continued to walk up and down aisle, passing old portraits of kings and queens that Sofia didn't recognize. She saw that each and every painting was kept in pristine condition, but Sofia was sure that more than half of the paintings were at least a century old. The fashion in the paintings was a dead giveaway to how old the paintings could be.
Royals are some serious hoarders…. It's like they keep anything and everything that has been touched by royal hands….Sofia thought as James led her straight down the main aisle, then turning right once and pulled her down another aisle. They passed by more paintings that cluttered the shelves like they were books.
James finally stopped, bringing Sofia to a halt in the middle of some random aisle. She was surrounded by more paintings and it seemed that the smell of old paints and canvases became stronger from where they were standing.
"Here we are," James said as Sofia's jaw fell to the ground.
What in fate's name….
Sofia knew to expect a lot of Queen Anne's paintings but not to this extent. A good number of her paintings took up nearly an entire row. The entire aisle was filled to the brim with just Queen Anne's portraits! Her green eyes stared blankly back at them while her perfect smile just about surrounded them.
"Why does your mom have so many paintings?" Sofia stood open-mouthed. On both sides of the aisle, a hoard of Queen Anne's face smiled back at her.
It's kind of creepy to see a bunch of Queen Anne's face looking back at me….
"I don't know…."
She heard a tightness in his voice, like he was having a hard time just standing there with pictures of his mom staring back at him. From the tone of his voice, she would have figured that his hand would be like iron around her hand right now, but to her amazement, his grip didn't tighten in the slightest bit.
There was even only a firm steadiness in how he held her hand… but his voice was hard and strained.
James wasn't looking at her, he just stood there beside her and stared back at all of the paintings of his mother. His jaw was clenched and he sounded like he was starting to breathe too fast.
"Hey," she whispered, turning to him and gently rubbing his arm. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he said with a shake of his head as if he was snapping out of something. He gave her a small, sad smile. "It's just… I don't remember much about her, the only memories I have of her is how she died… But seeing her face again… I don't know, it's like all these other memories came crashing back to me."
"Are they good memories?" Sofia tentatively asked.
The corners of his lips lifted a little as he let out a quiet and tiny laugh. "Yeah, they're good memories."
"Do you want to talk about them?" Sofia's heart swelled a tiny bit when his sad smile grew into a slightly happier and honest one. She interlaced their fingers and squeezed tightly, hoping that he would say yes and tell her everything that made him smile like that.
She wanted to hear everything from him. The good that makes him laugh and smile unabashedly. The bad that makes him scared and angry. And whatever that may lie in between.
Sofia wanted to be able to always make him smile like that, to see him smile uncensored and free. She wanted to support him and carry whatever weight that lays on his shoulder.
"Sure." He turned to her and smiled gently. Then he lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles once. "After we find that painting though."
"Deal." She smiled up at him, her heart warming and lifting because of him.
"So…." He said as he dropped their intertwined hands back down to his side, but not releasing their hands. "How are we going to find it? I mean, look at this thing."
Royals are such hoarders…. Sofia thought again.
"My amulet." Sofia held the purple gem in the palm of her hand, waiting for it to behave just like when they were at Royal Prep last night. "It should tell us which one is the source."
And they both stood there in the middle of the aisle, waiting for it to start glowing.
They waited.
And waited.
And waited.
But nothing happened.
Thinking that it just needed to be closer to some of the paintings, Sofia started to move down the aisle and alternating the gem between each side of the aisle like it was some magical detector. Sofia moved slowly down the long and nearly endless aisle, swinging her arm left and right. James remained standing where he was, carefully watching her and the amulet.
When she finally reached the end of the aisle, there was no reaction from her amulet.
Nothing.
No glow.
No vibration.
No sparkles.
Absolutely nonreactive.
Sofia looked silently at James on the other side of the aisle. She could feel her brows furrow into a confused expression. James only looked back at her with the same confused and serious expression, and shrugged at her. He didn't know what to do either.
Unsure of what to do next, Sofia just retraced her steps back up the aisle and tried one more time.
But the results were the same. No reaction.
"I don't get what's going on," Sofia said as she stopped in front of James, looking down at the jewel in the palm of her hand. "It should have glowed or something."
"Maybe you should try one more time?" he offered, sounding unsure.
With nothing else to go on, she turned around and repeated the little plan but somewhat differently. This time, Sofia walked down the aisle and held out her amulet so that it could skim the frames of each painting. She wanted to make sure that the amulet touched each and every painting. And on her way back up, she did the exact same thing to the other side of the aisle.
But again, nothing.
"What's going on?" Sofia huffed, frustrated.
James stepped up to her and rubbed her arms, obviously trying to soothe her. "Maybe Glacia was wrong. What if the source isn't a painting?"
"No, she's right," Sofia said firmly, refusing to believe otherwise.
"How do you know? I mean, Sofia think about it, we're taking Glacia's word about this."
I'm taking Glacia's and your mom's word for it, James. Your mom said that the source is a painting of herself.
But Sofia knew she couldn't tell James this.
"I trust Glacia. I know that she's telling the truth." Sofia looked firmly at James. She understood if he was weary of Glacia, but Sofia truly did trust her. And she trusted what Queen Anne had told her this morning.
In the pit of her stomach, Sofia knew that they would never lie to her. Not about this kind of thing, where so many lives were at stake.
So, the problem at hand wasn't the source. It was her amulet.
I was sure that the amulet would tell me which one was the source. Why is it acting like a normal amulet?
Why isn't it picking up the source?
It is a magical issue or something? Is there something blocking it from identifying the source?
I can't go to Queen Anne right now, I don't even know when she'll pop up again.
I need to talk to Lucinda about this...
"We need to go to Lucinda," Sofia said, dropping her amulet back down.
James looked taken aback for a moment, most likely surprised by the sudden change in their plans. "What? Right now?"
"Yup." Sofia turned and headed towards the exit.
"But what about being seen? How are we going to explain this to everyone? We can't just disappear for who knows how long and then just pop back up like nothing was wrong. Do you even have a plan? Are you going all on a whim here?"
Funny, James is the rational one this time, Sofia thought, amused. She quickened her pace, not wanting to lose her resolve about this new plan of hers. We'll go out and sneak over there. Done. Just try to not get caught. That's not too hard. Right?
Sofia felt James grabbed her arm, stopping her before she made it towards the door. "Sofia, wait. Stop for a minute will you?"
"James, it's simple," Sofia said, turning around to face him. "We'll just take the horses out to the nearest forest and try to find Lucinda. Then she can explain what's going on with my amulet. Done."
"No, not 'done'," he shook his head at her, frowning at her unsound plan. "Think your plan through first before plunging head first. How are we even going to find her? She said that your amulet will help us find her in the forest, but if it's not working here, how do you know it'll work for us out there?"
He was right.
But what else is she supposed to do? Just sit here and wait for her amulet to work?
"Well, we're just going to have to find out for ourselves," Sofia said, turning back around and heading straight for the door.
"What about an excuse, Sofia?" James said, stopping her again.
"I'll just say that you and I want to go ride some flying horses for a while," she shrugged at him.
"Sofia –" James tried to stop her again, but another voice cut him off.
"Sofia! There you are!" Amber called out to her from the doorway. Never far from his princess was Sir Edwards, who stood protectively behind her. Just beside Edward was Hugo, who was looking intensely at Sofia.
Sofia saw the green necklace dangle around Amber's neck.
Good, she still has it on.
Immediately after breakfast, Sofia had managed to convince Amber to wear the necklace and never take it off. It was hard to do since Amber didn't like the plain green thing the moment she laid eyes on it.
"What. Is. This. Thing?" Amber said, disgusted. She held the necklace away from her like she was holding a dirty pair of socks in her hands.
"Amber, it's a necklace. I had it made for you." That was sort of the truth.
Sofia never liked lying to Amber, she was the one person who trusted Sofia unconditionally and always supported whatever crazy plan Sofia had concocted up.
So lying to one of the best people in her life was hard. It felt like she was betraying her and the trust Amber had on her.
"Well, either you or the jeweler had some trouble here because this thing is horrid." Amber crinkled her nose at it as she handed it back to Sofia.
"Amber please," Sofia tried to reason with her. "Just wear this for me. Look, it even matches your dress."
"Nope," Amber absently said as she smoothed the skirt of her soft pink dress. "While I do say that the color on that gem is wonderful, it's just the design of the thing that makes it horrible."
Ouch... If only The Fairies heard her right now... I think that their feelings are going to be well more than just hurt….
"Amber, please –"
Amber sighed at Sofia as she held out her hand to her. "Will it make you feel better if I just take it and put it with the other necklaces in my room?"
"No, you have to wear this necklace, Amber." Sofia didn't bother to hide how urgent her voice sounded. She need Amber to understand how important it was that she wear this necklace at all times.
Or at least until Sofia has managed to defeat this evil thing in the castle.
"Why?" Amber's bored and exasperated expression immediately changed into something serious and worried.
How can she explain this to Amber without putting her in danger with The Evil and not tell her too much?
"Because it can protect you whenever I've not around," Sofia said weakly.
"What do you mean protect me when you're not around?"
"Amber, look, I can't explain too much or else you'll be in danger –"
"Danger? What danger, Sofia?"
Okay, I'm telling her too much. I think it's starting to scare her.
"It's just a precaution I'm taking," Sofia told her another half-truth. "I know that lately, I've been spending all of my time with James and I'm not around you as much as I would like. I feel really bad about that, so I've had this magical necklace created just for you. This is just in case I'm not around and you're in trouble, this necklace can help you out of whatever situation you're in. It'll protect you whenever there's anything dangerous around."
"Sofia…." Amber sounded like she was touched and sad at the same time.
"So, will you please wear it? You can't take it off either."
"Alright. Since you've gone to all of this trouble to make it for me," Amber said dramatically as she took the necklace from Sofia and quickly clasped it around her neck in one flourish move. "But why did you have to make it green? Do you know how hard it is to match green with most of my dresses?"
"Oh, I'm sure you can find a way," Sofia laughed, grateful that Amber tried to ease the heaviness of the room with some of her teasing.
"The things I do for you, Sofia," Amber exaggeratedly sighed.
Sofia laughed for a small moment before the humor in her was quickly replaced with a dire seriousness. "Promise me that you won't take this off. I need to know that you're always protected even when I'm not around."
"…I promise," Amber said. Sofia could see how taken aback she was by her humorless tone.
No… not "taken aback"…. It was more like Amber was suddenly scared and worried by how serious she sounded.
I've scared her….
Amber's brows were furrowed and worry-lines creased her forehead; her usual bright green eyes were dark with concern for Sofia. And Sofia was sure that she was probably mimicking Amber's worried expression.
"I promise," she repeated. Then Amber hugged Sofia, wrapping her in a warm, sisterly embrace.
Sofia wasn't taken by surprised by the hug. Instead, it felt like it was something they both needed. That the hug was for the both of them in some way. There was something unspoken in how tightly and protectively Amber and Sofia hugged one another. As if they were trying to solidify their bond, to prepare it for… for… for the times ahead.
The changing times. When they no long see each other as often as they do now. When things aren't like they used to be….
"Have you and James been up here the entire time?" Amber asked, snapping Sofia out of her thoughts. "Why are you two even in the attic anyway?"
Crap! Think, Sofia, think!
Reason! I need a reason!
"We were looking through the paintings," James answered for her.
"Why?" Hugo asked. While his question was directed at James, Hugo's eyes were locked on Sofia's. The hazel colors of his eyes stared deeply into hers, as if they were mesmerized and enchanted by her.
Sofia felt James step closer to her and rest his hand on the small of her back. The warmth from his hand and chest seeped into her back, making her shiver just a little.
She knew that James was aware of Hugo's eyes on Sofia. Hugo wasn't even trying to hide how conspicuously he was gazing at her. And by how closely James was standing behind her, it was obvious that James didn't like it one bit.
"No reason in particular," James replied. "I just wanted Sofia's opinion on which paintings I should have brought down. Since spring is just around the corner, I was thinking of changing some of the paintings around the castle."
"Then why didn't you ask for my opinion?" Amber asked, sounding like she was offended by her lack of invitation to the fake reason James just gave.
"Because you would have said no if you knew I was going to be here," James said bluntly.
Amber glared at James, apparently not liking that he knew her that well. She turning her head so they couldn't see her blush. "W-w-well, it would have still been nice to be asked to help," she stuttered. "Anyway, I'm here now. So why don't I just help."
"We were just leaving," Sofia rushed. "It's okay. James and I were about to take a break and –"
"Nonsense, Sofia," Amber waved a dismissive hand at her, already making her way passed them and down the main aisle. "With my great decorating skills, I can be of more help to you than James."
"Amber," Sofia tried. With a silent look to James, telling him to stay where they were with Hugo and Edward, Sofia darted after Amber. "It's okay. James and I haven't chosen anything –"
"All the more reason that you two need my help to choose which artwork will get to decorate the castle in the springtime," Amber said, smiling and darting around the attic room like a child in a candy store.
Sofia managed to finally catch up to her when Amber stopped at some landscape painting of a large, vast meadow of white flowers. "Why were you looking for us, Amber?" Sofia asked, hoping to distract her. "How did you manage to find us up here?"
"Oh, well, after our little talk, Sofia," Amber said. By her wrinkle nose, Sofia could tell that she didn't seem to like the meadow painting and started to walk down whatever aisle they were in now, "I started to realize that you were right. Lately, we've haven't been spending a lot of time together now and I don't like it. Not one bit. So, to solve that problem, I want us to spend some more time together. Starting today. Right now."
Amber turned to her and smiled, large and happy. It was one of her rare, honest smiles….
Since their exile and what Amber believes as James's betrayal, Sofia has gotten to know and learn full well at how guarded Amber had become.
Her smiles and laughs were still real, but just variations of one another. Amber had shy smiles, teasing laughs, proud grins, even modest expressions. But it has been so long since Sofia has ever seen her truly smile, the ones that brightened her entire face and made her look like the Amber she once knew. In the long five years of their exile, it was like her real smile had just disappeared...
"Look, Sofia," Amber took Sofia's hands into her own, giving it a small squeeze. "I know that you're super busy and under a lot of pressure trying to save both James and the kingdoms, but I miss you. I miss all of the time we used to spend together and everything. And I want to fix that and be of some help to you. So I figured out that the only thing I can do is try to be that person who keeps you stress-free. "
"Amber…" Sofia tried.
"No, no. I know how you can be, Sofia," Amber stopped her, looking firm and unyielding. "I can't be of much help with stuff like magic or dealing with James, but I do know how to keep you sane and somewhat worry-free. This is the only thing I know I can help you with, Sofia. And plus, it can give us some time to spend together."
And by that happy, hopeful smile on her face, Sofia didn't have it in her to refuse Amber.
"…Alright…" Sofia gave in. She knew that if she had refused Amber's offer to help her, it would have been a cruel and heartless rejection to her. It could have broken Amber and their relationship.
"Yay!" Amber jumped, clapping her hands.
Sometimes, with everything that has been going on in Sofia's life these days, it has become easy for her to forget that Amber is a part of this mission with her. That Sofia isn't the only person who was affected by that night and the consequences that came with it.
Amber has always been the stronger one between the two of them. She's always looked so optimistic and happy. Even if her smiles weren't full and true, they were still smiles nonetheless. In the wake of the chaos and tragedies, her head was held high and proud, strong and beautiful. She had the strength to smile when Sofia didn't, to be strong when Sofia couldn't.
And sometimes, she was the one who held it together when Sofia crumbled and fell apart...
Amber is someone Sofia has always watched with awe and respect, and it's become too easy for her to forget that Amber is still a young woman who can be as emotional and weak as her. That she needed as much support as Sofia did.
She needs this as much as I do… maybe more….
"So, let's go hunting for some paintings!" Amber squealed, taking Sofia's hands and dragging her through the aisles.
And for the next few hours, Amber and Sofia walked up and down aisle after aisle just searching for paintings to hang up when spring arrives.
They talked and laughed of simple, idle things that didn't really make any sense to anyone outside of the two of them, but together, it made complete sense. It felt like nothing has changed between them, that they may have lost contact for a while but reconnected like they were never apart in the first place.
Amber would pull some out, examine with a critical eye, and then try to see if it would fit for the new spring décor that was swirling in her mind, which was some "spring renewal" theme she was trying to iron out.
Sofia actually has lost count of how many paintings were taken off the shelf to only be returned back to it. The ones that did manage to pass Amber's criticisms were handed over to one of the boys, who were never far from them.
They actually just quietly followed behind the two princesses. Sofia was surprised to not hear or see any type of conflict between James and Hugo. While James and Hugo didn't look like they were happily talking and chatting with each other like old friends – Sofia actually saw some glares being thrown between the two – but they were civil with one another as they carried the several paintings Amber handed to them.
When all was done, Sofia and Amber was seated around one of the empty tables that the boys placed the paintings Amber has chosen on. Out of the entire attic room and the millions of paintings, Amber chose about thirty painting. Most of them were colorful landscape paintings of flowers, meadows, and atmospheric depictions of the sky.
Sofia's favorite out of the bunch was of some couple holding onto one another as they were looking longingly at the sea during sunrise. The artist only painted their backs, the only thing Sofia could see about the couple was the woman's slightly turned head. But by the gentle strokes of pink on the young woman's cheeks that she was smiling happily as her love held onto her. With the soft colors of sunrise and the relaxing whites and blues of the sea in the background, it was like the artist was painting an intimate and secret moment between the two lovers.
As she was gazing down at the painting, Sofia felt a pair of eyes on her. And when she looked up, she found James watching her with a small amused smile from across the opposite side of the table.
Sofia would have returned his smile if it weren't for Hugo looking at her with a similar smile. His smile may have been soft and small, but his eyes was a blazing intensity of hazel as he continued to stare at her.
All day, Hugo has been looking at her with such deep eyes. She tried everything she could to avoid him, but he would always find a way to catch her and try some lame excuse for her to be alone with him.
Earlier this morning, Hugo had managed to catch her alone after her conversation with Amber and told her that he took it upon himself to grab all of the books that specialized in gems. He laid them all out in the library for her and asked if she would mind of he could help her research the gems The Fairies gave her.
Since she couldn't tell him the truth, Sofia managed to create an excuse that she wouldn't need the books but would appreciate it if he could gather some books on the history of paintings of Enchancia. She thought that it would keep him busy and away from her, but Sofia didn't have it in her to reject Hugo because of all of his hard work. So she ended up spending some time alone in the library with him. And while he was gathering the books, Sofia spent her time researching all paintings of Queen Anne.
Their moments together in the library was actually nice and peaceful. Hugo didn't make any attempts at her, he was gentlemanly and respectful towards her.
But everything wasn't as nice as she would have liked it because of the fire in his eyes.
When he wasn't off grabbing whatever book she needed, he just sat across from her and watched her reading and researching. And once in a while, she would hear him sigh as he just gazed at her lovingly. It was like he was just happy and contented with having her alone with him, no words exchanged between the two of them.
Honestly, it was somewhat flattering and awkward….
And in the middle of an attic's room, he held her gaze. Hugo opened his mouth like he was going to say something but Amber's voice cut him off. "Sofia," she called to her from the table that was filled with sketchbooks. "Is this you?"
"What? Me?" Sofia said, rushing over to Amber so she could break Hugo's gaze on her. She hated that a blush started to creep up to her cheeks because of Hugo.
"Yeah," Amber nodded as she closed the sketchbook in her hands and handed it over to Sofia. "This entire sketchbook is filled with what looks like drawings of you."
Amber was right when she said that the book was filled with nothing but sketches and drawings of her. There was one when she was just a baby, three months old as indicated by the writing in the left hand corner. The very last image of her was when she was about nine years old.
"Wow…." James's head appeared over her shoulder. "You look so young…."
Sofia recognized the sketchbook by the patchy leather binding and the small rainbow stains of paint. The pages were well worn and the edges were brown with age.
This was her mother's old sketchbook….
The only one she had back when they were just commoners and couldn't afford to commission for a family portrait. Sofia remembers how every year, on the day before her birthday, her mother would have Sofia pose for nearly an hour just so she could sketch Sofia into her book. It was her way of recording how much older she has grown from the year before, just like when she would measure her height and mark it by the staircase in their old house in the village.
"Oh, this is Mom's old sketchbook," Sofia explained. "This was her 'Sofia' sketchbook, the one where she would always sketch me on the day before my birthday."
"Where's one of me?" Amber asked, filing through the piles of sketchbooks on the table.
Sofia saw that there was one large pile of just her mother's sketchbooks. Thick leather-bound books that had loose papers sticking out at the edges towered on the table, one journal still had a pencil in it.
Her mother always had a talent for art, she was actually really good at it. If she wanted, she could have sold all of the paintings, water-color artworks, and even the sketches and make a huge profit.
During their exile, many had seen and admired her mother's work. Some even asked if she was willing to sell her artwork, but for some reason, she had always declined and refused to sell any of her work.
"Wait, I don't see one of me," Amber whined as she continued to flip through nearly half of the sketchbooks already. "How come there's one of you but not me?"
"Because this was Mom's old sketchbook, the one she had before she married dad," Sofia further explained, sympathetically patting her hand when Amber put down the sketchbook she had in her hands. "Mom stopped sketching me about a year after we moved here. I think when I was about nine?"
"Why did she stop?" James asked. He took the sketchbook from her hands and started to flip through it.
Sofia could see a smile grow on his lips as he looked at each sketch of her, making her heart start beating a second faster. She was kind of embarrassed that he was looking at sketches of herself. It almost felt like he was looking into a personal diary or something, even though it was her mother that drew them and not her.
"She stopped because the royal painters insisted that they paint portraits of me," she said, trying to hide another blush on her cheeks. "They said that it wasn't the job of a queen to do that kind of thing and she just got fed up with fighting them about this, so she just gave up and went on to just sketch animals and plants."
"That sucks," Hugo said, stepping over to James so he could get a look at the sketchbook too. "Your mother is a pretty amazing artist, I can't believe they stopped her from getting to sketch you."
"I know…" Sofia agreed.
Sofia was upset when her mother stopped sketching her after they moved into the castle. She somewhat blamed it on their new royal lifestyle, she was angry and worried that it would stop the old traditions they had created for themselves. Their old traditions and small, quirky habits were what kept Sofia and her mother so close. And when they stopped, it was like the reality of everything changed for Sofia.
While they didn't stop all of them, it did stop the little ones that Sofia enjoyed the most.
"Hey, why don't we go for ride," Amber suddenly said.
The thought was so random and out-of-the-blue that no one said anything for a moment.
"What?" It was Sir Edwards who managed to speak and break the silence.
"You all heard me." Amber walked over to Sofia and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You looked sad, so I am trying to cheer you up by offering that we all go and take the flying horses out for a ride. What do you think?"
"Umm…." Sofia was a bit unsure of what to say. Amber's completely random idea was so… so… random. It just popped out of nowhere. Sofia always knew that Amber could be somewhat fickle, but not this spontaneous. "What about the paintings?"
"I'll just have Baileywick bring them down and clean them up a bit before I decide where to hang them," she waved a hand dismissively. "So…?"
"Oh, well…."
"Come on, Sofia," Amber bounced up and down, impatiently waiting for her to agree to her new activity. "This is just the break you need from all of this. I promise that James and Hugo will play nicely. I'll even try to be nice to him and everything. So say 'yes'…. It can take your mind off of the mean royal painters and –"
"Alright. Alright," Sofia gave into her. Again.
Jeez, Amber and James are so alike.
"Yay!" Amber cheered, happy that she got her way.
Yup, they really are twins….
And in less than ten minutes, after a lot of shooing and pushing from Amber, Sofia found herself outside in her classic purple rider's outfit. The bright, winter sun was making the snow around her shimmer and shine as she was making her way towards the flying horse stables.
She was fastening her helmet on when she felt a hand on her shoulders. "You forgot your jacket," James said as she turned around and found him grinning at her with a perfect smile and holding her rider's jacket.
Oh, my jacket…. Sofia thoughts as she let him help her into the thick matching jacket.
To her defense, it wasn't entirely her fault that she forgot the thing. With Amber's impatience to rush her out of the doors and her mind running busy with how she was to meet up with Lucinda later, her jacket was the last thing on her mind as she was getting dressed in her rider's outfit.
"Thanks," Sofia smiled back, quickly pecking James on the cheek. Luckily for them, Sofia quickly looked around to make sure that they were the only ones on the trail towards the stables before kissing his cheek. So, she was more than sure that no one saw that little kiss she gave James. "I wouldn't have forgotten it if it weren't for Amber's impatient nagging."
James chuckled and offered his arm. "Yeah, about that, why is she suddenly so clingy to you?"
"Oh, like you're one to talk," she said, looping her arm through his as they headed down to the stables together. "You're way clingier than she is."
"I never said that I wasn't." She could hear the teasing smile in his voice. "I was just pointing out an observation. Seriously though, why is Amber so enthusiastic about being around you?"
"It's because of what I said to her when I gave her the protection necklace."
"And what did you say?"
"In order for me to convince her to take the necklace, I said told her that it's my way of protecting her whenever I'm not around since I'm always with you and that we never spend as much time together as we used to. Amber said that she's going to try to fix that and make some time for us to hang out a little bit more."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Sofia smiled to herself. "I kind of like it. It's sort of something Amber and I need in all of this craziness."
"And what about your plan to sneak off to Lucinda?"
"Well, Amber said that this is kind of like my break from everything and I agree with her," she shrugged. "So, the plan has changed and we'll go later tonight."
Being honest with herself, Sofia actually wanted this break. She needed it because everything was starting to become too overwhelming for her. Day after day after day, it has been nothing but trying to stop the evil and save James. Almost every hour of every day has been dedicated to this mission and it was just getting too much. This break is going to be like her moment to just rejuvenate her mind and let it have a moment to itself.
"Alright then, another midnight sneak-out it is." Sofia felt his lips on her own before she felt his fingers lift her chin towards him. It was a quick kiss but the lingering aftertaste of his lips on hers made her crave for more.
On most days, when they are alone and in the privacy of their rooms or his study, it was a good thing because she liked that effect he had on her. And she knew that James liked having that effect on her too. But exposed out in the open like they are now, it wasn't because they both knew what a kiss on the lips could do to them.
Her kiss to him was a harmless and docile kiss on the cheeks. Not the lips.
When he looked down at her, he just smiled and tilted his head in an amused kind of way.
Sofia's embarrassed mind couldn't find itself to save her from James's teasing look. Her mouth was hung open with no words to say back to him, leaving her blushing like the brightest cherry-apple-strawberry mix.
What made it only worse was that he just kissed her out in broad daylight!
Out in the open!
In the middle of a usually busy trail! Well, it was empty right now... but still! Did he even look around to make sure that no one saw them? Sure, she gave him a kiss too, but she kissed him after she made sure the coast was clear!
She absently heard James chuckle some more while her mind was too busy being embarrassed for herself and afraid at the possibility that someone saw them.
"Come on," he said in between some laughs. "Amber's going to be mad if we're late."
Sofia wordlessly let James tug at her and lead her out to the stables. And when they finally made it there, Amber, Edward, and Hugo already had their flying horses saddled and ready to go. The three of them had to wait a few more minutes for Sofia and James to ready their flying horses.
Amber was dressed in a bright green rider's outfit, most likely to match the green necklace Sofia gave her. She had on her bejeweled and overly decorated helmet that oddly matched well with the whole green ensemble she was wearing.
In comparison to Amber, Hugo and Edward's riders outfits looked plainer than usual. They were a neutral and simple color of grey and brown. James's outfit was a similar blue outfit he had on last night.
"Alright," Amber smiled when Sofia and James emerged from the stables and their horses trotted over to the others. "Who's ready to race?"
But Amber didn't wait for anyone to reply before she took off on her pink flying horse.
"Hey!" Edward called after her, pushing his white and brown spotted flying horse off of the ground.
Far off into the distance, Sofia could hear Amber laugh fully. It was a warm and happy laugh that Sofia has been missing for a long time.
Wow, her riding form as gotten a lot better, Sofia thought as she watched Amber fly high in the sky.
She could still remember her initial shock when Amber approached her one day during their first year in exile and before Amber found her passion in flowers to teach her how to ride Minimus. Sofia had just returned from returning a pair of shoes to their first few customers when Amber approached her and asked her with her usual haughty tone to teach her how to ride, claiming that she was bored out of her mind because she had nothing to do here in the countryside and since Sofia and their mother was busy with their infant shoe business.
Sofia was actually very excited and hesitant to teach Amber how to ride since she did know Amber well enough to know that Amber was very fickle when it comes to working hard. And in the beginning of her training, Amber was true to her character. She whined and complained and cried when she fell off of Minimus several times. There was even some unprincess-like cursing that was thrown at Sofia and Minimus.
But as the months drew on, Sofia saw the determination and maturity grow in Amber. Sofia taught Amber everything she knew about riding flying horses, or what Amber could handle at least. The months turned in years and Amber became a pretty good rider. She wasn't a professional, but she was skilled enough to not get herself killed.
Sofia looked over at the two boys on her left and smiled challengingly at them. "So, are you two just going to let two amateurs show us how to race or what? Because if I remember correctly, we're a five-time Flying Crown winning –"
"You had me at 'so'," Hugo stopped her. "Now, let's show them what a real race is like."
And just like that, all five of them were up in the air, racing and laughing and having a great time.
Being up in the cold winter air, with the sun shining around them, it was almost like all of their worries were left back at the castle. They were having the time of their lives up in the air. The five of them all raced and chased and fooled around as they flew in the air. Their laughter ringing all around them, bouncing around and floating up to the white clouds above them.
Sofia has never seen Amber smile and laugh as much as she did today. She was so open and free as the cold winds blew in her face and brushed her blond hair behind her. Amber was laughing so hard that her cheeks looked red and flushed.
And among it all, James looked like he was having as much fun with everyone as Sofia was. He was talking and joking around with Edward, the two of them were racing one another like they've known each other their whole lives. James was even being civil with Hugo and the three of them even joked with each other without resulting in some sort of violence.
They all had fun well into the evening, never breaking their smiles and laughed until their stomachs hurt.
It was all so wonderful to see the two people she loved the most happy and laughing. She almost didn't want to go back down and return to the castle. Sofia wanted to keep this moment as long as possible, to keep this happiness for them.
But in this world of chaos and evil, not all happy moments last forever. It had to end in some way or another.
As she and Amber watched the three boys goof around, Sofia heard an unearthly screech from behind her.
It roared and rocked the air around them.
Shattering the moment she wanted to preserve for her two most precious people.
Turning, Sofia saw some kind of large, spiky dragon flying straight towards her. It was moving fast and swiftly through the air, its sharp tail swaying behind it as it rapidly sliced through the air. The dragon's wings looked like large pieces of sharp glass.
In one blink of an eye, the thing was already less than a yard away from Sofia.
She heard James and Hugo yell her name.
But they weren't fast enough. Or maybe the dragon was too fast...
Its claws slashed at Sofia.
Its spiked tail barreled at her, piercing her stomach.
And Sofia was falling off of Lilac.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Towards the hard snow.
Chapter twenty-three! Woo!
I know, this is another late release. College has been keeping me way too busy and I hate it, I don't have as much time to work on SPJ as I used to. I am sooo sorry!
Anyway, a lot of you guys have been messaging me about putting Amber back into the story. And, well here you have it! This isn't as steamy as the last few chapters, but it was a lot more sisterly.
And it seems that there has been a lot of positive reviews about my chapter extra. I am so happy that you all love it and I am thinking of continuing it. Don't worry though, when this series is finished, I will put them all back up towards the end.
Challenge: simply leave a review. Tell me what might happen to Sofia, or who sent that dragon, or what will James do. Stuff like that. Since this is an easy challenge, I am going require more than fifteen reviews for you guys to unlock another chapter extra, POV is going to be by THE EVIL.
Yes! You read that right. The chapter extra is going to be by The Evil!
Good luck!
Read, Review, etc.
Thanks :)
