Chapter 1: Conflicts of Interest
"You've never believed in me, can't you at least pretend to be proud of me, for once Father, is that so HARD"
"I would be proud of you Cedric, if you did the right thing. But this madness has to end, think of Sofia, you can't keep her asleep forever."
Goodwin was wrong. Cedric was pacing the halls, rife with anger at his father. He'd done it. Finally, the king of Enchancia was overthrown and he, Cedric the Great had emerged victorious. Triumphant over his detractors, he now held sway over their fate. Goodwin the oh so great and wonderful was wrong, and now he and Mummy were on a permanent wand-less vacation on a deserted tropical island, courtesy of King Cedric. He chuckled, Mummy always did want to live in the topics. Cedric paused at an open window and shouted out at the night sky, "I am Cedric the Great!"
Palpable looks of surprise graced the king and queens face as he demanded their crowns. He had them imprisoned, the entire royal family. Save for Princess Sofia. He could never throw her away. The image of her watery eyes and tear stained face as he took her amulet seared into his heart. The spell he'd cast and potions he'd brewed kept her in a state of dormancy, as if asleep. Wait, what time was it? Cedric raced through the halls to the nearest grandfather clock, gasping at the time. "Poseidon's pumpkins, it's nearly midnight!"
Cedric's potions and spells had managed to keep Sofia unconscious for the better part of three weeks, but it took a tremendous amount of time and care to make sure they didn't wear off prematurely. The untimely arrival of his father, and their subsequent argument, had delayed his normal spell-casting routine. Cedric practically flew up the stairs of his old tower and grabbed a bottle of the now ubiquitous dormancy potion. He was met by raucous cawing, "I'm sorry Wormy but I'm running late, if I don't get this potion in Sofia soon, Oh, I don't want to think about it! I'll be right back to feed you proper." and with that he raced off to Sofia's room. All this time, and he still lacked the courage to confront her with the truth of it all. She needed to sleep, just a little bit more.
He spent his days brewing potions, much as he'd always done, except now they were designed to keep Sofia… unaware… of what was going on around her. He also spent a great amount of time with her as well, trying to find the right words to say. However, in this state her usually sparkling conversation was a bit lacking. That pesky rabbit of hers was always around as well, trying to be as menacing as was possible for a elderly woodland creature. For the most part, Cedric ignored the majority of kingly duties. After all, he didn't desire the position to help commoners. As he approached Sofia's room his mind wandered to the afternoon after he had assumed control of the castle. How the villagers had run in terror as he destroyed the homes of those fools who had dared to mock him not a week prior! Now, he was finally in control. No one dared challenge the all-powerful Cedric!
Sofia felt as if she was wandering through a haze. In and out of consciousness she drifted, like a lifeboat lost at sea. Her eyes began to open, but her gaze viewed nothing except white mist. A low humming caught her ears and focused her attention on the grey mass bouncing by the side of her head. Slowly, her eyes focused and she was able to make out the loose shape of a small animal by her side.
"Wha…. Clover?... is that you?"
There was no reply, except a series of nudges to her cheek by a tiny wet nose.
"Ugh.. Clover I feel like I've been sat on by Minimus. I had the most horrible dream too, my amulet.."
Sofia felt her neck, to reassure herself that the dream was mistaken. No comfort came, as she grasped at her neck desperately, realizing that the Amulet of Avalor was indeed gone.
She managed to sit up, still wrapped in a fog. But if the amulet was really gone, then maybe her dream… wasn't really a dream after all. Sofia froze. There was no way Cedric would take her amulet, could he? No, she trusted him. Something else must have happened. She needed to find Cedric, he would help her find whoever took her amulet, definitely.
Sofia slowly staggered toward the door, only to hear muddled voices on the other side. That's odd, no one ever lingers outside her bedroom door. She paused to listen, pressing her ear against the fine woodwork. Two men were talking to each other, but their voices were unfamiliar.
"He's sure late tonight."
"Yeah, I heard his dad came by and they were yelling at each other pretty good."
"How'd you hear that?"
"One of the maids got trapped in the throne room and was hiding behind a curtain through the whole thing."
"Well, if King Cedric doesn't show soon I'm gonna go get the night watchman to change shifts with me. I'm tired."
"It's your funeral buddy."
KING CEDRIC. No. No. NO! Sofia's head was spinning, and she fell softly to the ground. KING Cedric. Had he… taken over the kingdom?... and that meant… where was her family, her Dad? And if Cedric had taken over the kingdom… did he take her amulet too?
The dream was real. Horrifyingly real.
Sofia heard more muffled conversation between the men, but was too upset to listen closely to their words. Who were they anyway? She bent down to see through the small crack under the door. Their footwear told the tale, they were palace guards. And they were guarding her door. Dad, no… King CEDRIC must have ordered them to guard her. Sofia walked slowly back toward the bed, reeling from the revelations. Clover bounced up and down as best he could for a rabbit if his age, and gestured toward a pillow and some blankets near the head of her bed, but Sofia was too upset to think critically at this point. There were vials, over a dozen empty vials, on her desk. Sofia walked over and inspected them, they smelled of herbs mixed with griffin's wings, the color was decidedly brown. One of Cedric's potions, no doubt. So many vials, how did they get here? It was then she heard a commotion outside. The guards were shuffling about, and Sofia heard the familiar sound of her outer bedroom door opening. She scurried over to her closet as fast as she could to hide from whoever was entering the room, Clover following on her heels. Peeking out from the closet, she saw a man enter her room. He was dressed in a long robe, dark blue and of the finest silk. She couldn't help herself from calling out to him,
"Cedric."
He spun around, a look of terror in his eyes, "Sofia sweetheart you should be sleeping! I can fix that just hold still and it will all be okay.." He started to move toward her, a new vial of the brown liquid clutched in one hand, his family wand in the other. He reached out toward her.
"NO!"
Sofia pushed him away and maneuvered in between him and the closet doorway. She was still suffering some side effects of whatever potion he had given her, but was much more coherent than before.
"Sofia, it's not time yet, I'm not ready. Please go back to sleep, please."
"No, no, NO CEDRIC NO." She could see him recoil a bit, and then he slowly walked to the table and put down the vial of brown potion. He lingered there, staring at all the vials, much as she had done.
"Are you feeling okay, Sofia? Does your head ache at all? I can bring you some medicine."
She began to scream at him, "NO CEDRIC NO!"
They stood staring at each other for what seemed like ages. Sofia finally broke the silence, albeit with a whisper, "It's not true."
"What was that?"
She looked him straight in the eyes, belting out, "It's not true, is it Cedric? Tell me it's not true, tell me!"
All color drained from his cheeks, and his arms dropped to his sides.
"Tell me Cedric. Tell me that someone else took my Amulet. Tell me that the guards were lying, that Dad is still the King, tell me Cedric, PLEASE!"
He didn't respond. He just stood there, looking at her, with one of the saddest expressions she's ever seen him wear. He finally spoke, in muted tones.
"I'm sorry Sofia, I can't."
Sofia lost it, and in her hysterics she sputtered something incoherent in his direction. She grabbed the nearest object, a pillow off her bed, and launched it at him. It was ineffective as a weapon, but the message was clear. She then collapsed on the floor.
"How could you do this, Cedric? I trusted you, I cared about you!"
"Sofia, please listen. Did you ever stop to notice just how they treated me, how they mocked me. I just couldn't let them do it this time…"
"Of course I noticed! It was wrong and I always stood up for you, so now I'm telling you THIS is wrong, and you are wrong Cedric."
"Oh dearest Princess, how many times must I forgive if they never learn!"
"Cedric please, you are my best friend, I know they hurt you, but please free them, and give up my Dad's kingdom! Stop this nonsense!"
Sofia watched as Cedric's eyes lost their sadness and began to harden with anger.
"How could you ask me that Sofia. If I give up they'll have my head! You want my death, is that it? I thought you cared, that you were special, I…." He trailed off, lost in anger, crimson rage washing over his face. He turned and pushed his face into the wall, as to avoid completing his sentence.
All Sofia could muster was "Please…" before he lost all composure, stormed out of the room, flung the door open and disappeared down the hallway. The terrified guards standing outside her door practically fainted at the sight.
Sofia began to sob lightly at the end of her bed. Clover came to sit beside her, but without the Amulet of Avalor, his lack of conversation did little to calm her nerves.
"Oh.. Clover. What Can I do? How… How… How could he DO this?" Large tears rolled down her face, collecting on her legs below. Clover curled up beside her, which was a small comfort.
Her family, what could she do to save them?
