Birthright

Chapter 1: The Mark

It was a brisk autumn evening, just shy of a fortnight after Sofia's sixteenth birthday, and the harvest moon hung full and red in the inky sky above. The trees had begun to shed their healthy summer foliage, their bare branches jutting every which way and darkly contrasting the thick, grey clouds that littered the sky, threatening to snuff out the only light source.

Sofia had stayed well past sundown for an important ballet rehearsal with Professor Popov, practising a solo number for the upcoming recital. Her entire body ached terribly and she was fairly certain she'd never been so tired in her life, even counting the time she had expended all of her magic and fainted while helping Cedric defend the kingdom from a misguided tribe of elves. I'm going to collapse onto my bed and never leave it again, she promised herself as she ambled her way to the ageing stables outside of Royal Prep, thankful that she had brought a cloak with her to combat the crisp October chill, though a small shiver still traced its way down her spine.

As she trudged down the familiar winding paths of her former school, she first got the distinct impression that she was being watched, then followed from a distance. Stopping in her tracks, she glanced around cautiously but found nothing out of the ordinary. That's odd, she mused, but ultimately chalked her restlessness up to a side effect of her bone-deep exhaustion. She continued on her way but couldn't shake the foreboding sensation no matter how she tried. At the double doors to the stables, she heard the telltale rustling and crunching of dried leaves under feet and spun around in time to see an unfamiliar man lunging towards her.

...

"I can't talk right now, father", Cedric muttered dismissively as Goodwyn, fresh from the enchanted portrait, regained his full height beside the desk. "I'm busy preparing the Samhain festivities." While he normally begrudged such menial tasks, Samhain was Sofia's favourite day of the year, and he'd come to enjoy making a big deal out of the royal celebration for her sake.

Undeterred, the elder sorcerer laid a hand on his son's shoulder, gaining his hesitant attention. "It's time, Cedric", Goodwyn spoke softly, but there was an underlying firmness to his tone which conveyed so much more than his actual statement.

Cedric's eyes widened as he easily grasped his father's meaning. For years, he had been simultaneously expecting this particular visit and believing that it would never come.

"What? N– no, it couldn't possibly be. We don't even know wh– who she is yet", he sputtered, his heart beginning to beat harshly beneath his chest as though it might break free from the prison of his rib cage.

"We know enough. It's happening now, at Royal Prep", Goodwyn answered bluntly.

Cedric's mind raced, raw nerves blurring rational thought. Sofia had missed her lesson to practise some dance at the school, and though there were pressing matters that demanded his immediate attention, his main concern was whether she'd made it home yet. Of all the days for this to happen, he griped, resisting the urge to run downstairs to his apprentice's chambers and confirm that she'd come back safely.

"Royal Prep? That's the children's old school. You don't suppose she's a princess, do you?" Cedric queried, still trying to wrap his head around this news.

Goodwyn shrugged, signalling that he now knew exactly as much about the subject as Cedric. "I really couldn't say, but you must go there at once." With that, he vanished back into the portrait that hung on the stone wall.

Left to his own devices, Cedric hurried to his bedroom, lifted the mattress from his bed frame with only mild difficulty, and tugged out an old chest from underneath. He quickly emptied the box of nearly all its contents — tucking them into the various inner pockets of his purple sorcerer's robe.

Finished with his task, he transported to Royal Prep, materialising on the school grounds in time to hear the unmistakable voice of his best friend and apprentice letting out a horrific scream.

"Sofia!" Cedric called out anxiously, hoping against hope that she was somehow okay and willing his sight to adjust to the sudden darkness of his new surroundings.

A guttural, animalistic growl sounded behind him and he spun to find a burly, dark-haired man, haggard in his appearance, pinning the second princess of Enchancia to the dry grass a good distance from where he stood. The scene was nightmarish and he had to fight against the instinct to draw his wand, knowing it would do no good in this battle. You can do this, Cedric. You trained for this, he reassured himself, racing across the field. About eighteen years ago, a second inner voice, one that sounded suspiciously like his father, mocked him, but Cedric shook it away. Fear for Sofia's safety prompted him to act on impulse and he grabbed the back of the man's weathered suit jacket, deftly tugging him off of the girl.

"Run!" Cedric managed to bark out the solitary command before her attacker switched his attention from Sofia to the sorcerer.

I only need to fend him off and give Sofia a chance to escape. She can handle the rest when she gets here. He landed a punch, but the blow mostly served to transform the brute's features into a monstrous visage, complete with a wicked grin. Oh great, I'll just amuse him to death, Cedric chided himself, making a break back across the field. A glance over his shoulder alerted him in an instant that this was a mistake, however, as Sofia hadn't run at all. Rather, she was doing everything she could to lure the beastly man away from her mentor. Worse, she was succeeding. Why you impudent little—

"I told you to run!" Cedric huffed as he switched directions yet again, determined to put himself between Sofia and the fiend.

Somehow, she pulled off an indignant glare in his direction while simultaneously dodging an attack.

"What do you want?" Sofia boldly demanded of the stranger, trying to maintain a safe distance as he rushed her again.

"Oh, I can think of a few things", he answered with a sneer, and Cedric was not at all fond of the suggestive tone in his deep voice or the way his gaze lewdly swept across Sofia's form.

Reaching into his robe, Cedric retrieved a long, pointed piece of wood and aimed it at the man's broad back. I just need to... he began to reassure himself, but he lacked the stealth required to sneak up undetected at such a pace and soon he was being thrown hard to the ground, his weapon knocked from his hands to land directly at Sofia's feet. Her eyes travelled from it to him and he shook his head furiously at her. He wanted to insist, again, that she must leave him and escape, but their assailant was on top of him, face so close to Cedric's that he nearly gagged from the overbearing odour of his putrid breath, the weight of the larger man crushing his lungs, rendering him incapable of speech.

"You think you can protect her?" the monster taunted Cedric, punctuating the question with a derisive chortle.

Cedric struggled for the ability to reply, and he was opening his mouth to make an attempt when the man vanished into a cloud of thick black dust, revealing a rather aghast Sofia as it cleared. She hastily dropped the stake and stumbled backwards.

"I–I..." she stammered out, at a complete loss for words. Her face contorted in pure anguish as she stared down at Cedric.

He scrambled to his feet and embraced the girl, wanting with everything in him to calm her, convince her that she'd done nothing wrong. It wasn't uncommon for him, this fierce, inexplicable urge to protect and comfort Sofia. He'd never grown entirely accustomed to it, but it drove him often enough that he no longer questioned it much.

"Shh. It's alright. You did the right thing, Sofia", he soothed the princess, murmuring the words into the wild auburn curls at the top of her head.

She nodded against him, but her body began to tremble and he was perfectly aware that she was trying to be discreet as she cried into his chest. "Did I... Did I kill someone?" she hiccoughed, and Cedric felt an awful pang in his chest.

Of course Sofia, the most kindhearted person he'd ever met, would guilt herself over the man's demise no matter how obviously justified her actions had been.

"No, he wasn't real", Cedric assured her, lifting a hand to stroke his fingers through her hair. Well, not the way you think he was, at least, he added silently.

"What was that?" she breathed, but Cedric simply shook his head, not bothering to suppress a deep sigh.

"I can't tell you that", he whispered regretfully.

If he would break his vow of secrecy for anyone, it would be the princess who currently clung to his robes, but he couldn't. He'd sworn his oath long ago. Besides, the truth wouldn't serve to make her feel any better. He scanned the horizon for the one girl who could have prevented all of this, wondering why she hadn't come.

A plume of ruby smoke appeared nearby soon Cedric was met with the disapproving glower of his father. Usually this would cause him to distance himself from Sofia in order to maintain the appearance of propriety, but after everything she'd gone through he couldn't bring himself to do that to her.

"Where is she?" Goodwyn demanded gruffly, searching for the girl they'd been expecting.

Sofia sniffled into Cedric's robe and peeked out at the older sorcerer.

"She didn't come", Cedric informed his father evenly, coaxing Sofia to relax against him again.

Goodwyn spun to face him, completely befuddled by his words. "What do you mean, 'didn't come'? The Council said you would meet her here", he blustered, clearly unable to believe the girl had been absent for the fight.

"Who are you talking about?" Sofia interjected, gazing up at Cedric with puffy, red-rimmed eyes.

"It doesn't matter right now. Were you harmed?" Cedric questioned, wincing as Sofia nodded softly.

She stepped back from his grasp and for the first time he noticed the rips in the bodice of her gown — deep, angry gashes visible beneath. Cedric nearly choked at the sight.

"Of course it matters. She must be here somewhere", Goodwyn pressed on, completely oblivious to their exchange, as he sought any sign that someone else was nearby.

Cedric ignored him, producing his wand and transporting himself and Sofia back to the tower, his father appearing soon after.

"On the table", Cedric instructed Sofia impatiently, hurrying to his cabinet to dig out a healing salve.

Sofia hopped up onto the surface as she was told and Cedric returned quickly, disregarding his station long enough to pry away the scraps from several layers of blood soaked fabric that clung to her wounds.

"How did this happen?" Goodwyn asked, finally grasping that Sofia was injured. Cedric shot him an annoyed glance before returning to his task.

"I told you, she didn't show up. Sofia could have been killed!" Cedric spat out angrily as he attempted to dislodge a particularly stubborn piece, hesitating when Sofia winced and sucked in a sharp breath.

"The Council couldn't have been wrong", Goodwyn doubled down on his stance, unsurprisingly refusing to believe his son's account of the evening.

"Just like they never miss one", Cedric retorted sardonically.

Goodwyn shook his head at the younger man's tone. "That's precisely why it's so urgent that we find her. If she's activated with no training and no idea of what's happening–" Goodwyn began, but Cedric didn't especially care about any of that right now.

It's her fault that Sofia was hurt, he fumed, though he feigned a smile as he checked on his patient, and soon Sofia nodded that it was alright for him to continue tending to her. "When I find that girl, I'm going to..." Peeling the fabric back further, he trailed off, too astonished to form words as he stared at the broken wine stained ring directly above the top gash on Sofia's torso, closely resembling the teeth marks one might get from a hard bite. His eyes shot up to meet hers, but she avoided his gaze, her cheeks flushing visibly. "Has this always been here?" he questioned her gently.

Sofia swallowed hard before bobbing her head so slightly that he almost missed the gesture.

"You might want to have a look at this", Cedric called over his shoulder to his father, who was now pacing the stone floor behind him.

"For goodness' sake, Cedric, just heal the child already so we can get back to the business at hand", Goodwyn scolded, marching over while making no attempt to mask his annoyance. He stopped abruptly a short distance from the pair, all the colour rapidly draining from his round face. "She bears the mark?"

Cedric was fairly certain his father meant it to be a statement, but it sounded much more like a question. He nodded dumbly, a wide grin spreading across his face. For as long as he could recall he had been dreading this day, but if Sofia truly was the girl they'd spent years seeking, then this might actually be bearable after all. Excitement quickly gave way to apprehension as he remembered that it also meant his best friend now came complete with an early expiration date. He did his best not to think about that and forced the carefree expression to remain plastered on his face.

"It's just a birthmark", Sofia mumbled, self-consciously covering the patch with her arms.

Cedric placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing in a deep breath. "There are some things we need to discuss, Sofia", he told her quietly, unsure how to properly breach the unusual topic.

"I'll leave you to it", Goodwyn dismissed himself, disappearing from the tower.

For his departure, Cedric was utterly grateful. It would be much easier to have this conversation without the old man peering over his shoulder, silently judging every word and bit of contact that passed between the two of them. Sofia may be blissfully unaware of it, but Cedric had heard the lectures about how 'inappropriate' their close friendship was more times than he cared to count and he could definitely do without another one. Cedric engaged himself with slathering Sofia's injuries with the foamy pink salve, deciding that the rest could wait until after she was cared for.

"The girl you were looking for, who was she?" Sofia ventured to ask after he applied the last of it.

Cedric chuckled lightly and perched on the table beside her, wiping the excess cream off onto the leg of his trousers. "Well... you, as it turns out", he whispered, still awed by the revelation.

"I don't understand", she replied, mirroring his hushed tone.

"That mark on your stomach is called the Mark of the Coven. It appears only on very special girls. Remarkable young women born with a destiny to–" he decided to change course to make sure she would have any idea what he was on about. "Have you ever heard of vampires?"

Sofia stared at him like he'd grown a second head and, honestly, he couldn't blame her for being sceptical. "The villagers talked about them sometimes, but mom said they weren't real", Sofia worried her lip as she tried to recall any of the superstitious gossip from her childhood. "I don't remember much of what I overheard."

"They are real, and extremely dangerous. You, uh, you met one tonight, actually", he paused, allowing this information time to sink in. "Some of the girls born with that mark anywhere on them are called to fight them in order to protect others from being killed or turned into more of their kind", he continued, trying to read her unfamiliar expression.

"But not all of them? I mean, I could go my whole life without–" she peered up at him, her bright azure eyes filling with hope. He was loath to disappoint her, but it was his duty.

"Not all of them, but you have been chosen."

Sofia sank against him as he spoke and he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. "So I have to–to fight those... things?" she whimpered, and Cedric nodded, resting his chin on the top of her head as he drew her closer.

"Not alone. I was out there tonight because I'm sworn to help. You should have been identified at birth and brought here for training when you were very young but, for whatever reason, you slipped through the cracks."

Sofia shifted out of his grip to throw her arms around his neck. "Then I'm sure it'll be alright. When we're together, we can handle anything."

Cedric bristled at her optimism, the only one between them who was aware that her life expectancy had been drastically reduced by fate.

11.2.19: I'm alive. Just some minor edits to things I noticed while backing up stories.

5.10.18: Updated yet again, just typos and grammatical errors.

27.8.18 Author's Note: Changes occurring in this chapter's rewrite include a retcon to make Royal Prep Sofia's old school instead of her current one, and some added content to keep Cedric from chatting away casually while Sofia suffers with an untreated wound. :P Other than that, it's just generally written better than the previous version.

1.10.17 Author's Note: It's finally October, and that means I can FINALLY post this! I've been so excited about this project but now that people will be reading it, I'm ridiculously nervous... Hopefully, some of you will enjoy it for the month. *fingers crossed* No planned update schedule, just kind of winging it. T for now, and I *think* I can manage to keep it that way. So I didn't put this under crossovers because none of the characters from the other series meet the StF characters. Hoping I'm right and that's the distinction.