Amber's Promise

Summary: *Rewrite, takes place after the curse of Princess Ivy* After Sofia gets severely beaten after a Flying Derby race by a rival team, Amber vows to protect her step sister no matter what.

Author's Note: Nearly four years after the original, I thought this story badly needed an update, especially the later chapters, so here you go.

Chapter One

Royal Prep Academy had won another Flying Derby race as the crowd went wild, cheering the winners' names as loudly as they could.

It was a clear and sunny day as it sometimes was for a Flying Derby race.

Princess Sofia and Prince James of Echancia, considered to be the best flyers in Royal Prep's history of Flying Derby racers, congratulated each other with high fives and patted their horses' heads before going their separate ways.

Sofia, her heart pure and true as a proper princess should be, wanted to make amends with the rival team she and her step brother had beaten during the race.

She was, unfortunately, unaware of the consequence that would follow for her generous action.

...

Princess Amber of Enchancia was worried. It wasn't a lost shoe or tiara that had her worried. Surprisingly, it was her stepsister Sofia that had her worried.

She wasn't sure if she had dreamt it or not but the thought of an evil princess out for revenge, Sofia being angry with her for taking her amulet, and Princess Rapunzel of Corona appearing out of nowhere had Amber appreciate her stepsister much more than what she had before.

It was true that, at first, Amber had been jealous of Sofia, trying to do everything that she could to ruin her stepsister's special night.

Now she had changed. Through spoiled rotten to the core, Amber cared about her family and was nicer to everyone.

Especially Sofia.

Twenty minutes passed and she grew extremely worried. Sofia was never late after making amends with someone. Whether it be a witch or Cedric the sorcerer, her stepsister only took five minutes to make amends, not twenty.

Amber walked away from the crowd, her parents, and James to find Sofia, only to see Sofia's riding helmet on the ground and covered in dirty footprints.

She picked up the helmet as she followed some footprints which led her to the stables.

She sniffed the air. It was a foul stench that replaced the familiar smells of freshly cut hay, carrots, and apples.

It was the smell of blood.

"P-Please! S-Stop!" Amber heard a voice sob while a group of boys laughed.

The sobbing voice was familiar to her as night and day. The voice was Sofia's.

Amber, dropping Sofia's helmet, angrily marched up to the boys while Sofia was on the ground, gagging up a mix of vomit and blood on the dirt.

"Whatever you're doing to my sister, it has to stop!" Amber shouted, causing the boys to laugh harder.

"No way!" The leader of the boys, Prince Felix of Martinstine, exclaimed as he kicked Sofia's back, causing the little princess to scream in pain before returning to gag on the ground. "This is what she gets for trying to make amends with us."

"She was only doing it to be nice! My brother told me that she felt bad for you guys losing the race!" Amber yelled. If she wasn't a princess, she would've hit Felix and his gang square in the face.

The thought that Sofia had been alone in the stables with these boys for who knew how long made it unbearable for Amber to stand any longer.

"My friends and I are not fans of making amends dear princess. Your pathetic sister should've known that from the beginning!" Felix hissed, turning to what Amber hoped wasn't his friends. "Maxwell, get our horses! Calvin, Samuel, Gabriel, and Dexter! Make sure to tell the other boys around school tomorrow. I'm sure they'd be interested in hearing on how we made Princess Sofia of Enchancia weak and afraid."

The boys did as they were told while Felix had left the scene chuckling.

"Amber! Go get Mom and-" Sofia tried to speak but felt short of breath and pain.

Lots and lots of pain.

"Sofia, try to grab my hand. I'll get us to Mother and Daddy," Amber instructed as Sofia weakly grabbed her hand.

Tears were filling Amber's eyes as she looked at Sofia. Her auburn curls were a mess, her riding clothes were torn, and her body was barely unrecognizable with scratches and one of her arms bend at a strange angle.

"Mother! Daddy!" Amber yelled when she and Sofia reached their parents.

"My baby!" Queen Miranda screamed, scooping up Sofia in her arms as she started to sob loudly, having the entire crowd wonder what had happened to shook up the benevolent queen of Enchancia.

"Amber!" King Roland the second demanded even though he could clearly see it in his only daughter's eyes that she was already beginning to feel shaken up. "Do you know who did this?"

"A group of boys from a rival team that James and Sofia had won against," Amber responded. She felt sick to her stomach but didn't show it to her father who had decided to get the coachman and have him take the royal family of Enchancia back to their castle.

...

Amber knew James felt guilty when the twins were alone in the castle gardens after a dinner of silence.

Their parents had made it beneficial for them both to miss school the next day as the king and queen of Enchancia knew that they were affected by Sofia being severely beaten, especially Amber.

"I just can't believe some people would do something cruel just because one person was trying to be kind to them," James said, lifting his arms in frustration.

His anger was something that Amber hadn't gotten over yet as well as Sofia's cries before her stepmother had pulled her away from the scene of two servants trying to scrub off the dry blood off Sofia's body with wet sponges.

"I know, James, I know," Amber sniffed as tears were beginning to fill her eyes for the second time that day.

"Don't cry, Amber."

James tried to comfort his sister with silly faces that had cheered her up when they were four, only for Amber to push him away.

"I can't help it! Sofia must be sacred right now and it's all our fault that we left her alone!"

"You know what Mom and Dad told us, Amber. They told us to wait until tomorrow to see her when she's resting so she's not disturbed tonight," James reminded her.

Amber didn't say much after her brother was finished as her mind was focused on Sofia.

And since her stepsister was on her mind at the moment, it was going to be very difficult for her to get to any sleep when she would be required to get some later in the evening.