Chapter Text
"Hey! Wait for me!"
Amy Rose panted as she ran through the castle corridors. Laughter was heard ahead of her. She went as fast as her chubby legs could go, but who was she kidding. There was no catching up with the Hedgehog triplets.
She had been in the palace garden playing with her dolls when she saw Princes Sonic and Manic running from Princess Sonia, who was waving a stick at them and screaming. Sonic had noticed her too and had yelled, "Ames, watch out! Sonia's gone crazy!"
Sonia spit, "I'm gonna impale you, Sonic the Hedgehog! And I'll twist both your arms and kick your knees, Manic!"
The two boys just laughed and kept running. Amy grinned. She wanted to join them and see what happened. But she should've known better than to keep up with the older kids.
Amy stopped at the top of the stairs, panting. They had sped away. She whimpered. Who was she gonna play with now? She had no siblings. Or family for that matter. Her lady-in-waiting, Delphine the Swan, tried to keep her entertained, but Amy wished the triplets included her in games more. At least Sonic played with her tea party and duchess-rescue at times.
"Lady Amy, what are you doing up here?"
Amy jumped at the deep voice. Sir Shadow the Hedgehog, a knight, was looking down at her. Amy could never tell if he was concerned or displeased with her. Apart from usually having his visor down, his expressions ranged from frowning to mild annoyance. She admitted she was a little scared by his sharp red eyes and imposing figure, but she knew Sir Shadow was also an honorable hedgehog. It also helped that he was very nice to her.
Amy answered, "Hello, Sir Shadow. I was trying to follow Sonic, Manic, and Sonia, but they're too fast for me. So I got left behind. Again." She crossed her arms and huffed.
Sir Shadow lifted his visor. His mouth was slightly to the right. "Well, you made it up the stairs this time. For someone as small as you, that is impressive. Although, I do not think Miss Delphine will be pleased with this."
Amy cried, "I'm not small anymore! I'm a whole four years old! I can be up here now without Miss Delphine."
Shadow hummed, "I suppose you are right. I will have to tell the king and queen then that Lady Amy should change her room."
Amy whined, "But I like my room. I don't want a new one." She looked up at him. "Please, Sir Shadow. Don't tell anyone I was up here by myself. Pleeeeeeease?"
Shadow chuckled, "I won't, Lady Amy. Now, let me escort you downstairs so you don't get hurt." He held out his arm for her to take. Amy grinned and puffed out her chest as they walked down the stairs.
"Can you take me to the garden, Sir Shadow? I left my dolls there, and I want to keep playing with them before supper."
"Of course, Lady Amy. I am at your service."
***
Another day of pretending.
It had been four months since the wedding of King Sonic the Hedgehog and Queen Amy Rose the Hedgehog. While things in the kingdom were much of the same, the routine inside the castle had changed completely. Well, at least for three hedgehogs and a cat.
After a long day of signing documents and visiting schools, Amy was unwinding by brushing her hair. Sonia was laying on the bed surrounded by a stack of books. She was reading on some of the history of Soleanna, but based on her frustrated sigh, it was not going well.
She slammed a book. "Nothing. Why the hell is there nothing about the Rose family apart from family trees?"
Amy turned. "We weren't exactly a powerful house. Perhaps no one thought us important enough to mention or include in major kingdom matters."
"Well, it's bullshit. This is why writing down everything matters. These idiots did us all a disservice. At least now we have tech to help us conserve history."
Amy giggled and shook her head. In her free time, Sonia had been working in finding a loophole to annule Amy and Sonic's marriage. But she was finding nothing. For as much as the Council pushed for the arrangement, it seemed Amy's family didn't have a big royal presence. She did appreciate Sonia's help, though. The two hedgehogs weren't particularly close, even if they grew up together, but they had grown closer in the past few months.
Sonia grumbled, "I'm sorry, Amy. I want to find the answer to this problem, but I keep finding more questions." She opened another book. "Like this: one of your earliest ancestors was a purple hedgehog named Sibyl. She was the first in Soleanna to find the Temple of Solaris and establish the Order. Very important, right? So then why in Gaia's name is there only one book dedicated to her when our own ancestor, who discovered the Chaos Emeralds, has multiple books about him?" Sonia was now pacing around the room. "It just doesn't make sense."
"I don't know, Sonia. My parents didn't leave me anything, so I have nothing to offer," Amy lamented. "But...maybe...what if the other kingdoms have information on this? Now that some of them see Sonic as more of a king maybe they will be open to exchanging books and scrolls with you."
Sonia's eyes lit up. "Yes, that could work! Maybe one of the kingdoms has more books on Sibyl. That seems like a place to start."
"Wasn't there a crossover at one point between the Acorn and Hedgehog kingdom? Maybe they have some history on us."
"Great idea. I'll get in contact with Princess Sally and hopefully get an audience with her." Sonia was grinning. "This could be it, Amy."
Amy offered her a smile, but truth was she was not as optimistic. It had been four months of this. Of a new lead and then a dead end again. And again. And again. A small part of Amy was not losing hope, but she couldn't lie to herself. She had gotten used to this new routine of being queen. She didn't mind it. The only issue was Sonic. He was her best friend, and she cared about him deeply. But he was not who she wanted to marry. Despite being a wife, her heart belonged to her ebony knight. Her angel.
Oh, Shadow, I miss you.
After the wedding, things between them were...strange. Shadow would still escort her to places, and they would talk about their days. But it was formal and reserved, not at all how they used to be. There were a few times Amy tried to at least have him call her Amy, but he had shook his head and gently insisted he would continue to call her Queen Amy or Majesty. Never his Rose again. Amy shuttered. She then bid Sonia a goodnight as she walked back to her chamber with all the books.
Alone, Amy looked at herself in the mirror. She seemed to be containing her misery quite well if no one was pointing out her longer hair or dark circles under her eyes. On nights Shadow guarded her chambers, Amy wouldn't get any sleep. She would stay up listening for any clicking of his armor. Feeling his heartbeat through the door. Catching any whiff of lavender.
Amy got up from her dressing table and walked to the door. She opened it, and there he was, as glorious as the night sky. He bowed when he noticed her. "Good evening, Queen Amy. I will be at your service this night."
She smiled despite herself. Always so honorable. "Thank you, Sir Shadow. When you're here, I feel at ease knowing my safety is in the hands of Soleanna's best knight."
Shadow nodded. "The honor is mine, Your Majesty. I will be just outside your door should you need me."
And just out of reach of my heart too. "Well, I bid you goodnight, Sir Shadow."
"Goodnight, my Queen."
Laying on her bed, she stared at the door, thinking of rubies and feeling the lack of warmth around her.