2.
Cedric leaned against the door after he had managed to get her out. She had done nothing but distract him with her presence since she knocked on his door. He had expected Baileywick, or even one of the twins, but not her. Not the pretty librarian with wavy brown hair and big blue eyes.
He groaned and walked back to his desk. The potion he had been working on was thoroughly ruined. He would have to start over from scratch, which would be easier now that a fair maiden wasn't walking about the room humming to herself.
At first he had been annoyed by the soft notes she seemed to hum without realizing it, but then he had recognized the tune. It happened to be a song he knew, and was quite fond of. Then he had stolen glances at her when he didn't think she would notice. He had watched her trace the titles of his books with her finger, and had witnessed her pause and tilt her head curiously when she would see something interesting. Or so he imagined, because he had no idea what went on in the heads of women, especially young ones who smiled so easily.
When she had offered to go down to his rooms to retrieve the book on Avalor he had panicked. He didn't want her walking through his private chambers, looking at all the books and scrolls he had scattered about. He normally didn't even let anyone into his tower, and never in his private quarters.
And she had just stood there, smiling at him. It made him shudder. He normally went to the library to stretch his legs and browse the books that were there at his leisure, but not anymore. Not if she would be there. Cheerfully humming, smiling, and making him uncomfortable.
Almost as uncomfortable as he had felt when he had caught her and held her in his arms. It had felt, well unpleasant wasn't the right word. But, she was much younger than him, and he needed to focus on his magical studies. He just couldn't afford a distraction in his search for power, even if that distraction had a pretty face and lyrical voice.
#
Night had come before Sofia had even realized it. She glanced out the window at the sorcerer's tower, which was still well-lit. Perhaps he had forgotten to bring the book by? If he had she would leave in until the morning. She swept the floor, even though it wasn't very dirty since she had cleaned before. When she passed the window again she paused to glance out at the tower. She recalled earlier how he had caught her when she had fallen. It had been exciting, and the memory still made her blush. She leaned on the broom handle and wondered what he was doing.
A voice cleared behind her and startled her. She jumped and turned around to see Mr. Cedric standing in her library, holding the last book she was missing.
"Here," he said, holding it out to her.
"Thanks," she skipped over and took it from him. Like all of his books this one was well cared for and clean.
"What were you doing?" he asked, looking down at her.
"Oh, sweeping," she said, blushing. She wasn't about to admit that she had been staring out at his tower.
"Right," he started to walk away and Sofia tried to think of something to make him stay. She was starting to get really lonely in the large library all by herself.
"So, you're the royal sorcerer, huh?" she said lamely.
"Yes," Mr. Cedric stopped and glanced back at her. He raised an eyebrow and frowned.
"That must be really exciting." Sofia tried to think of something else to say, but her mind was not cooperating.
"Not really," Cedric said. "Unless you find preforming magic tricks for children and visiting royalty… exciting," he added bitterly.
"Oh," Sofia said. She had no idea what to say to that, so she picked up her broom and started to sweep again. "That's too bad," she added awkwardly. In truth it really was, a powerful sorcerer doing nothing more than magic tricks seemed like a waste.
"Yes, well, goodnight Sofia," he said as he left.
"Goodbye Mr. Cedric," she said with a curtsy. She was curious to see if he noticed, and he did.
"I told you those formalities were unnecessary," he said stiffly.
"Sorry, I guess I forgot." She smiled at him. "Goodnight, Cedric."
He nodded, and left. Once he was gone she gave up on sweeping for the night. She picked up and held the book he had returned to her, deciding to place it back where it belonged and then go to bed. When she reached the rather miniscule section on magic in her library she realized that out of all the books the ones on magic were all in good condition. The shelf wasn't as dusty as the others, and the books were better organized than the other sections. She wondered if Cedric came by there often, which gave her some hope. He seemed so mysterious to her, and she was anxious to learn more about him.
After pacing a bit she went to bed, glancing out at the still lit window of the sorcerer's tower.
#
The next morning she took the library's allowance and went to the village. It was a market day and she had been instructed to expand the library as she pleased, keeping to a monthly stipend of course. She dressed in her cleanest dress, a simple brown and beige one she reserved for travelling in since the hem was shorter than her others. The village of Dunnwitty was just as busy as ever, but probably more so thanks to it being market day. Stalls opened up beside shops and performers had flocked to gain some profit from the crowds.
Sofia stopped to say a quick hello to her mother, and then went on to shops where she knew they sold books. Ruby was there, and she waved to her friend. The two didn't bother to say hello to each other, Ruby was no doubt in a hurry to return to her husband and small children. They had grown apart ever since Ruby's wedding, but Sofia didn't let that bother her too much. Her mother had told her it was only natural.
"Got anything interesting, Maurice?" Sofia asked the bookshop owner instead.
"Just got a new bundle of books in this morning. Old man Thomas passed away a few nights ago and these were in his personal library." He told her.
"His family didn't want them?" Sofia asked, kneeling down to look into the box he had pointed at. Nothing really caught her eye until the bottom. There was one book, old and wrapped in a strange smelling leather.
"Nope, 'fraid not. They're all priced at five silver, let me know if one interests you, Miss Sofia," he said. "Hey, aren't you working at the royal library now?"
"Yes, I am." Sofia picked up the old book and paged through it. The words were written in a language she didn't know.
"That's great, Sofia. Jobs at the castle are hard to come by,"
"I know," Sofia said. "I'll take this one." Sofia held up the strange musty book.
"That old thing?" Maurice took it from her and looked at it, wrinkling his nose. "It's not written in any language I've ever seen before, it's likely a coded ledger book."
"Coded ledger book?" she echoed.
"Sometimes paranoid old men try to hide their assets with codes," he said shrugging. "Are you sure you want this? It's probably nothing of interest."
"Yes, it'll be an intriguing acquisition regardless of what it is," Sofia said.
"If you say so," he said, shrugging.
#
She paid for the book and returned to the castle. She hadn't wanted to say anything then, but she thought she may have seen a similar language on one of Cedric's books. She was making her way to the tower when she bumped into the king.
"Your majesty," she said, curtsying low. "I acquired a new book for the library." She held it out to show him.
He smiled and took it from her, "Very interesting," he said.
"I think I may have seen similar writing on one of Mr. Cedric's books," she said when the king paged through it.
"So you've met Cedric," King Roland said.
"Yes, Sire." She said, taking the book back as he handed it to her.
"Well if that turns out to be an interesting find make sure to let me know," he said before walking away.
"Of course, your majesty." She curtsied as he left, and then resumed her trip to Cedric's tower. If this book was special in a magical way he would surely know about it.
#
Cedric was forcing images of the librarian out of his mind and focusing on another potion. This time he hoped to create an invisibility potion that lasted longer than the previous one. Just a few careful drops, and-
There was a loud knock at the door and it startled him. He dropped the whole vial into the cauldron and a puff of black smoke erupted with a loud bang. Cedric glared at the door, storming over to open it. He was tempted to ignore the knocking, but if it was one of the royal children or even the King he would get is some serious trouble for not answering a summons.
"Yes?" he opened the door and was startled to see who was standing there. The librarian he had been attempting to forget was standing there. She looked up at him with that same cheerful expression and casual smile that he continually pictured when he thought of her.
"Good afternoon, M- Cedric," she said. She had even started to grip her dress, but had released it. Cedric had no idea what had caused him to tell her not to bother with titles or formalities, but he was glad he did.
"Sofia," he said simply. He enjoyed saying her name, and was irritated at himself for it.
"I found this book in town, and I could have sworn that I saw something similar in your shelves," she held it out to him and he took it without really looking at it at first. He stepped aside to allow her in his workshop, and once she walked past him he caught a whiff of parchment and flowers. He finally looked down at the book in his hands, if only to keep his eyes off of her body as she moved. Seeing the book in his hands chased all thoughts of pretty librarians away. She had brought him one of the seven forbidden texts.
#
She glanced around the room, and then back at Cedric. He was staring down at the book she had handed to him. His face had gone quite pale, and she started to worry.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Where did you find this?" he opened it slowly and turned the pages gently. He moved absently towards his desk and sat down.
"I told you, the shop in town," Sofia said. She followed him and looked over his shoulder. The pages were mostly covered with that strange red text, but occasionally there were strange symbols sketched out. "What is it? Maurice thought it was some paranoid old man's ledger book."
"hmm," he said.
"It's not though, is it?" she asked.
"No, it isn't." Cedric closed the book and sniffed the cover. He shoved it away and then set it down on his desk.
"I knew it was something special," Sofia said. "Can you read the language?"
"Only a little," Cedric looked up at her. "This was just sitting on the shelf of a bookshop in town?"
"No, it was in a box." Sofia began to feel somewhat unsettled by Cedric's distant behavior. "Maurice said it was part of a collection that had belonged to old man Thomas who passed away recently."
"Old man Thomas?" he asked.
"Yeah, don't know much about him I'm afraid." Sofia was starting to regret not asking more questions.
"Well we need to find out more," Cedric stood and pulled a key out of his robe. He unlocked a drawer in his desk and placed the book in it.
"Wait, that belongs in the library," Sofia said.
"No, it doesn't Sofia. This book is dangerous, and it is safer here."
"but," Sofia frowned. "I already told King Roland about it, he'll want to know all of this. Is it really that dangerous?" she asked.
"Yes, it is. Come on, we'll go see the king."
Sorry for the jerky POV switches :-/ and things get a little darker after this chapter just FYI... not sure why I originally intended for this to be a much fluffier piece lol. Also enjoy my super lovely cover that I made in a few seconds LOL i know I'm so talented (note the sarcasm) Not sure when I'll be uploading more since I have a friend in town, but don't worry I will complete it, I have to.