Author's Note:
Hello! To those of you who have favorited or followed the initial workings of this story, I thank you very much. I will admit to not having a concrete plan as to where my story was headed at the time however, and have been working on it and playing with the idea since then.
My original concept has now been fleshed out, and I look forward to sharing this tale with you. This story is un-Beta'd at this time, so please excuse any little mistakes that I might have missed here and there, and please feel free to point them out.
This story, while taking place in the Disney universe of Enchancia and fellow kingdoms, is heavily AU in the fact that I've fleshed out the world a bit differently than they have in the show.
I have altered the rating to this work to be Teen instead of Mature, so readers who would like to read the eventual alternate mature chapters can go to AO3 and look up this fic under the same title and author penname.
I hope you enjoy, I will try updating about once a week.
Thanks again!
Sofia clenched her small fists even harder around the silken top-fabric of her gown, nervousness fed by her step-father's behaviour. King Roland had barely spoken a word to her since he came quietly to collect her from her room not fifteen minutes earlier, requesting that she dress herself again. She was filled with confusion, and a deep certainty that something was wrong. Ever since her father's bizarre reaction to her excitement this afternoon, the feeling had started deep in the pit of her stomach, and persisted to needle her. In a way, she was fairly glad that something was happening to confirm her suspicions. There was nothing worse than waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"Father... you're scaring me," she confessed quietly, looking up at him again as they walked softly down the nearly deserted corridors of the palace.
He glanced down at her briefly as he responded "You'll understand soon dearest".
His voice, though pitched lowly, still carried down the elegant hall they traversed.
Sensing that she would not be getting any additional answers, even should she pry further, silence reigned once more. Soon enough, the rout they were taking began to make a little more sense. Only once they took a left turn down an overly familiar corridor did she become certain of their final destination. A small sense of comfort came over her, as she knew that the friend they were going to visit would be able to help them sort out whatever problem was evidently taking place at the moment.
After what seemed like ages to Sofia, they arrived at the large oak door, flanked on both sides by two imposing stone gargoyles. Rather than mention the location of the key she knew to be hidden close by, she simply observed the king take a small breath before resolving to bang the large knocker twice in quick succession. For a spell, all was quiet within, until they both heard some muffled cawing followed by a few equally muffled sounds of protest. A minute or so later, the door was swiftly yanked open by one disheveled and groggy court sorcerer. In his nightclothes.
"What in the blazes do you want?" he demanded gruffly, before his expression morphed into one of quiet horror as it finally registered just who, exactly, he was speaking to in that tone.
Before Roland could even begin to reply, Cedric was already babbling a nearly incomprehensible stream of apologies in the wake of his mishap. Roland put up a firm hand in response, to halt the sorcerer's garbled speech. From previous experiences, he knew that trying to interrupt verbally at this point would be useless.
Eventually, Cedric seemed to realize that the two were staring at him in complete silence, and so halted his lengthy act of contrition. Roland stared at him a moment more to ascertain that no other words were forthcoming, and then began.
"Good evening Cedric. I apologize for disturbing you at this hour, but I would not do so if I didn't deem it to be absolutely necessary. May we enter?"
Cedric glanced briefly towards Sofia as the king spoke, and was alarmed to see his usually chipper pupil looking so sombre. Cedric, feeling a little off-kilter from the unusual quality of the visit, stood mutely in the door, staring at them both. This prompted a subtle eye-roll on Roland's part as he cleared his throat with thinly veiled impatience.
"There are things we must discuss that are of a highly sensitive nature" hinted the monarch.
"Oh, of course your highness, do come in" Cedric startled, jumping out of his daze and lowering into a slight bow as he ushered the two royals inside.
Once safely ensconced within and away from prying eyes, Roland did a small turn about the room, the movement teeming with a nervous energy. His eyes quickly took in their surroundings before turning abruptly to their mystified host.
"I'm assuming you were taught how to perform an assessment of the Orenda-Scale on an individual at the academy?"
"I… yes… yes I was, your highness, but I fail to see why…"
Roland cut the flabbergasted man off mid-affirmation. "Then I need you to perform the spell on Sofia, right this minute. I have to see the result". The king had a distressed gleam in his eye as he conveyed the last part of his request.
Sofia's bad feeling multiplied tenfold as she watched the two adults she trusted, act in such a peculiar fashion. Well, Cedric wasn't too far off the usual mark where the king was involved, but her stepfather himself was looking more distressed than she'd ever seen him to this day.
She glanced over at Wormwood during the confusing exchange, hoping the bird would comment and perhaps offer insight into the situation. Unfortunately for her, Cedric's avian companion seemed as perplexed as she was feeling. She stood to attention mutely off to the side until their collective scrutiny was redirected to her rather suddenly.
Cedric gave her a curious, yet apprehensive look as he told her to back away a few paces so that he could prepare the site for the spell.
"Now Sofia, when I tell you to, step into the rune I will have cast onto the floor. Don't step out until I say so" the sorcerer directed briskly.
Sofia dutifully backed away until she could feel the ridge of the work tabletop pressing into her upper back. With large eyes she watched as Cedric summoned his wand to his outstretched hand, a nifty trick he enjoyed displaying to others, and started to mumble a few words in a low voice. Wand pointed to the ground a few feet in front of her, he rotated his wrist three times in a tight circle and finished off with an intricate movement of his hand.
Slowly, like a trickle of honey, a golden strand leaked out of the wizard's wand-tip and slid onto the floor, the glow lengthening until a perfect circle of light was resting delicately about a half an inch above the cold cobblestone floor of the tower.
Roland's expression grew even more anxious from where he stood a little behind Cedric, brow furrowed tightly as he knew he was seconds away from finding out just how much trouble they were going to be in.
With a nod from her magical mentor, Sofia hesitantly inched towards the incandescent spell, until she was just a hair's breadth outside its confines. She looked up at her stepfather then.
"...Dad?" She sounded small then, even to herself, since something deep down told her that this was it, the point of no return. She didn't have a clue as to what all of this was about, but somehow, she knew. She'd bet her new periwinkle ballgown on it.
"Please sweetheart" he implored gently, summoning up enough fatherly affection in his gaze to propel her the last two steps.
For a moment, they all held their breath, waiting to see what would happen. The rune did not disappoint. It started slowly. The slight golden glow of the circle pulsed. Once. Twice. Then, it started becoming brighter, and as it did, the color purified into a white luminescence.
Roland sighed to himself in relief. " I guess it might have been completely unrelated, I was probably just overthink…" he started, but never got to finish as the shade of light morphed into a beautiful purple, as lovely as any lilac in spring.
From there the color changed again, this time the transition picking up speed as the quantity of light being emitted by the spell ramped up as well. Blue, dark green, lighter green, yellow, orange, red, the colors shifted by until at last, it settled on a dazzling deep golden hue.
A choked sound came from the sorcerer as what the spell was telling them truly registered in his mind.
The king, wide eyed and staring at his glowing little princess, slowly opened his mouth and uttered "Oh dear".