Sophie huddled in the corner of her bed with her hands around her knees pulling them close as she cried. Trying to ignore the pain that hit her everywhere she could possibly think of. She started remembering how she had ended this way.
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Sophie sighed contently as she finished cleaning the table. Market chipping had been restored to the small city it had been rebuilt again after the war and now everything was back to normal.
Today her mother came to visit her with her husband, or Sophie's step-dad. Markl had gone out to see a girl he'd seen the other day. Sophie smiled, puppy love. Calzifer was going to lie low… literally. Howl had agreed sometime yesterday but he'd left that morning since Madame Suliman had wanted to talk to her. He probably went on his own since his curse had been already lifted but it still surprised her and the Witch of the Waste had actually moved out and had a caretaker of her own refusing their offer for her to stay.
There was a knock on the door and Sophie went and oppened it. Her beautiful mother was standing there and next to her a middle-aged man was next to her.
"Oh, Sophie! I haven't seen you in a while!" Her mother said as she hugged Sophie and Sophie hugged back.
"Mother, I've missed you too." She said.
"Sophie, I'd like you to meet my husband Robert Trance." Her mother introduced and Sophie smiled and nodded at Robert.
"Hello Mr. Trance." Sophie said and stepped aside to let them in.
"Please, just call me Robert. We are family after all." He said smiling and they all entered and sat down as Sophie put on some tea.
"Ok, Sophie, tell me everything." Her mother said delightedly.
"Well, there's not much to really tell." Sophie said laughing softly.
"Nonsense, your mother tells me you're Wizard Howl's cleaning lady! There has to be something interesting to tell from that!" Trance said and Sophie smiled.
"Not really." Sophie said choosing not to reveal anything about hers and Howl's relationship. Calzifer was extremely quiet but even she could feel he was paying an extremely close attention to the conversation for reasons she had yet to verify.
The black portal had now disappeared and was now a portal to the royal city, changing into an indigo color. After an hour of talking and getting to know Trance Sophie considered him a really nice man, and a very interesting one too. The Indigo portal turned and Howl came in.
"Hello Sophie!" Howl said as he came in. He was about to give her a 'hello' kiss when he noticed the two strangers.
"Howl! You're back!" She said smiling and when both guests were distracted she mouthed that she hadn't told him about their relationship yet. "Well, let me introduce you, Mother, Robert, this is… Wizard Howl." The word wizard felt weird since she almost never referred to Howl that way. "Howl, this is my mother and Robert Trance, her husband."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Howl said and after greeting Sophie's mother he shook Robert Trance's hand and whilst Sophie and her mother were talking about something else Trace glared at Howl and Howl glared back. Looking back at the women Howl's glare disappeared. "Well, if you'll all excuse me, I have some business to attend to." Howl excused himself and left.
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"Bye mother! Bye Robert." Sophie said and closed the door behind her. Immediately Calzifer stretched into his normal size and sighed contently. Soon however he looked at Sophie very seriously.
"Sophie that Trance guy is evil." Calzifer said. Sophie laughed softly.
"Oh, don't be silly. He's a really great guy!" Sophie said and Howl came in.
"Sophie, I don't trust that Trance guy." Howl said.
"Oh, Howl, not you too. He truly is a nice person." Sophie said.
"How do you know? You've only known him for two hours." Howl said.
"And how would you know? You've only known him for like two minutes!" Sophie said. The door opened and in came Markl with a smile plastered on his face but he stopped as he noticed the argument that was taking place.
"Sophie, would I tell you anything for no reason? That guy, there's something wrong with that guy! I also sensed magic from him." Howl said.
"He was once a wizard's apprentice for a month but he stopped learning when he took his father's business. He's harmless Howl." Sophie said.
"No he isn't Sophie! The magic that I sensed was not something a month long apprentice learns."
"Howl, I don't need to hear this. Maybe if you'd stayed a little while longer to talk to him you would have realized he's really a nice guy!" Sophie said and went towards her room.
"Sophie you can't just not listen to me!" Howl said. Sophie looked back at him.
"Howl that man is my mother's husband! I've talked to him and my mother and my mother wouldn't lie to me about him. She was truly happy and I could tell. So either your senses are going a bit rusty or you just dislike him." Sophie said and went to her room. Howl sighed and sat on the couch.
"At least the guy wont be around here for a while… and besides I'm too powerful for him. He can't attack me." Howl half muttered, half told Calzifer.
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Sophie whimpered as she tried to lie down properly on the bed trying to ignore the pain. Why hadn't she listened? Why did she have to be so stubborn?
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Trance looked over at Sophie's mother. "Miriam( I don't actually know her name so I'll just use this one.) Are you sure It's alright for Sophie to stay working with that wizard Howl?" Trace said and Miriam smiled.
"Sophie likes it there, why shouldn't she stay?" She asked.
"Well, Sophie is very young, I just think, we have more than enough to support her and she should be acting more of a Lady." Trace said.
"What do you mean Robert?" Miriam asked with doubts now rising to the surface.
"Well, we have money, why should she spend time cleaning? She should be out there in parties, meeting young men, dressing more feminine, enjoying her life and we both know the reputation that Wizard has!" Robert said.
"Actually I just thought they were stories, he doesn't seem like an evil type of Wizard!" Miriam said.
"They hardly ever do… Sophie is also a very attractive young woman and any second that Wizard is going to try to tear her heart out! Oh that poor, poor girl! In the very house of a murderer!" Robert said pretending to show a deep concern and judging by the deathly pale face of his wife he had won the discussion.
"Oh Sophie! Tomorrow I'm going straight to pick her up!"
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First chapter! Now actually I'm still going to talk about the past (since the present is actually the Sophie huddled in the corner of her bed.) for a little bit more but it'll soon catch up with the present.
Please review!