A/N: I wrote this one without my partner for my other Sofia story, and that's all I have to say.
Disclaimer: Sofia the First is not mine. Sad, but true.
Cedric watched from the back of the crowd as King Roland and Queen Miranda danced their first dance together as husband and wife. The wedding ceremony had been large and everyone from the kingdom attended, and of course, Cedric was required to be there to perform little, parlor tricks here and there. Cedric had thought of the job as quite tedious, but what could he do? Say no?
Cedric had to admit, the ceremony was quite an event. The King had ordered that the palace be covered with the fanciest decorations. That the Queen's dress would be spun from only the finest silk, retrieved from only the royal silkworms that were in the royal garden. He proclaimed that every man, maiden and child was to attend. He had even made Cedric change out of his usual sorcerer's robe, and wear a fancy suit, like a gentlemen.
As he watched the King twirl around the new Queen and give her a passionate kiss, like the ones that would be placed in romance novels, he couldn't help but feel jealous. Not, because he wanted to marry the Queen, he had no interest in doing so, whatsoever. But, he couldn't help but feel lonesome. Even as a lad, it had always been someone else who had gotten the girl. Someone else who would ride off into the sunset holding the fair maiden. Always someone else.
When he was a lad, his mother would read him a fairy tale every night. It would always have something to do with a princess and a brave knight. And every single one of them ended with the princess and the knight, or the princess and the prince sharing a kiss, or getting married, or riding off into the sunset on the knight's trusty steed. After his mother would finish the tale she would place the large book back onto Cedric's bookshelf, kiss him on the forehead and wish him sweet dreams.
After he had heard her footsteps go down the hallway to his parent's bedroom, he would grab a stool that he hid under his bed. He would carefully climb up it, first making sure it was steady, and grab the fairy tale book. He would cast the light spell with his training wand, that he had hid under his pillow and begin to read the stories again. Except, whenever Cedric read the stories, he would change them to his liking. Every time he read the word knight, or prince, he would change it to sorcerer. He would always change the name of the brave man to Cedric. And from there, he would read on, as Cedric, the brave sorcerer, would rescue Princess Rapunzel from her tower. Or as Cedric, the brave sorcerer, would waltz gracefully with Cinderella, and eventually find her, as the maiden who fit the glass slipper.
Sometimes he would read the stories as they were written, but he didn't much like to read them that way. Besides, he only changed them in the slightest bit. The only story he changed a lot was The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He had thought that the gypsy, Esmeralda, was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Whenever he read that story, he would always stop and look at the picture of her, and stare in awe at her beauty. Cedric didn't very much like the ending of the book, though. He didn't like the character the Esmeralda ended up falling for. Quasimodo wasn't the most attractive chap, but he was kind and beautiful on the inside. Cedric liked to think of himself as that way, but nobody else seemed to.
Cedric had always liked the idea that Esmeralda would fall for Quasimodo, because it proved that you didn't need to be handsome to get the beautiful woman. But, apparently, the book didn't like the idea as much as he did and decided that Esmeralda should fall for a handsome, vain, evil man. Every time he read the story, he would change it so Esmeralda would love Quasimodo, because of who he is, and not for what he looks like.
But, as the years passed, Cedric learned that being handsome does get you the women, and being him does not. He would watch as stupid, pretty sorcerer's-in-training would dazzle the young beauties with their mediocre magic. Whenever Cedric tried to cast a much more advanced spell, it would inevitably fail and end up with him utterly humiliated.
Cedric had thought several girls in the village were particularly lovely, but he had only fallen for one girl. Her name was Jezebel and in Cedric's mind, she was the most beautiful girl in Enchancia. And the most poised, intelligent and well-bred. For years, he had been too nervous to talk to her. He would be eating lunch alone and imagine that she would come and sit next to him and soon she would fall for him, like he had for her. He sat right behind Jezebel in sorcery school. Somedays, when the teacher would give a boring lecture or two, Cedric would just stare at her hair. It was perfectly blonde, with hints of red and it was as smooth and shiny as the softest piece of silk. And she smelled, oh, she smelled like roses mixed with raindrops. She was his Esmeralda.
One day, when Cedric was sixteen, he decided that he was going to talk to her. He practiced the spell he was going to perform for her all night long. It was a fairly simple spell that made a bouquet of fresh flowers appear. As Jezebel was walking through the marketplace, Cedric gathered up all of his courage and began walking over to her. He was no more than ten paces away when he saw that she was with someome. None other than King Roland II.
Back then, King Roland II was quite the strapping lad. On the flying derby team at Royal Preparatory. Strong muscles and blonde hair that was neatly parted in such a way, that girls would swoon when they saw it. He must've been in the marketplace when they were, because he had made it over to her and already had her falling for him. Cedric just backed away and hid behind a tree, so no one would see him, and he wouldn't have to see that horrible sight any more. He felt like Quasimodo, seeing that his Esmeralda had fallen for the handsome man after all, just as the story had foretold.
From then on, Cedric vowed vengeance against King Roland. He also refused to ever fall for anyone else, ever again. In fact, unless they were family, Cedric refused to get close to anyone. Not that that was ever a problem. He had never really had any friends, so there was really no one to separate himself from.
Cedric had suffered lots of pains in his life. But, nothing, absolutely nothing, was worse than having to see King Roland marry his beloved Jezebel. She looked lovely, as usual, as she walked down the aisle. Cedric was standing behind the King, so he imagined that he was the one who was marrying her. But, unfortunately, he had to face reality sometime, and was forced to watch the King and Queen Jezebel dance together, as husband and wife.
The Queen's death was quite terrible. It was right after she had given birth to Prince Tweedle-Dee and Princess Tweedle-Dum. It was very sudden. One day she had been perfectly healthy and full of life and the next, she was bedridden. Jezebel had gotten sick. Very sick. Soon, she was barely able to move her hand. In accordance with the King's wishes, Cedric performed little magic shows, attempting to keep her lively, but it didn't help much. Cedric had always enjoyed putting on little shows for her. He loved seeing her face light up. It made Cedric feel like they were together after all. Eventually, one crisp, Autumn day, the Queen passed away peacefully in her sleep.
The kingdom's mourned her death. They held a large ceremony in which everyone was allowed to come and pay their respects. Cedric might've mourned the most out of anyone in Enchancia. Jezebel was his first and only love and now she was gone. Her soul whisked away from the world like a piece of tissue paper. But, despite how he felt, he refused to let himself go and see the body. Instead, he just spent the day, sitting in his workshop, looking out the window at the crowds, with Wormwood resting comfortably on his shoulder.
And so, now, the King was marrying another. The King had moved on from Jezebel and was now happily married to Miranda. Now, Cedric, began to wonder if he should do the same. If he should find his own Miranda. He shook his head. Love only causes heartbreak. There is no such thing as true love. He was Quasimodo and no one would ever love him for who he was. He would only watch as the ones he loved were taken away from him, by the stronger and the more handsome men of the kingdom.
As he was no longer needed for the rest of the ceremony, Cedric began his way back to his tower. He had lots of work to catch up on after all of this nonsense.
As Cedric made his way past several men and women, who were happily enjoying the festivities he bumped right into a young woman, who was admiring the castle.
Cedric rolled his eyes, "Miss, watch where you'r-" Cedric was stopped short when he saw the young woman's face. She was breathtakingly beautiful. She had chocolate brown hair that went down to a little above her waist. She had fair skin and small freckles scattered across her nose. Her brown eyes, speckled with little green dots, stared straight into his amber ones, "you're, you're so lovely."
The girl smiled, "Thank you." She chuckled, "I don't hear that very much. Say, do you think you could help me? I'll be starting here in a few weeks, as Princess Sofia's tutor. I don't suppose you could give me a tour around the castle." She looked over at the castle again, "It's so big, and I don't want to get lost in those labyrinthian pathways it has."
The Sorcerer cleared his throat, "Well, I suppose a Royal Sorcerer, such as me-self, could assist you." He gave her a small smile.
"Oh, grand!" Cedric offered out his hand to her and she gladly accepted it, "By the way, my name is Esmeralda."
Cedric smiled. Maybe there was hope after all. He looked over at her, "My name is Seedric-" He chuckled uncomfortably, "I mean Cedric."
"Well, Cedric, very nice to meet your acquaintance." Esmeralda said as she walked off with him.
Princess Sofia looked over at the Sorcerer from her new throne, next to her new royal brother and sister's throne's. She watched as the Royal Sorcerer walked out of the gardens and into the castle and she placed a hand on her cheek, "Hm, Mr. Seedric. What an odd name." She shrugged, "Oh well."
A/N: After all of his hardships, I felt that Cedric needed some love. I regret nothing! Read and Review. Pretty please?