Proof Positive
Summary: Cedric and Sofia attend a sorcery seminar in the Kingdom of Helvetica where they run into Gabriella, a reformed sorceress-in-training whom they encountered a few years ago. She informs them that her mentor, Sir Finlay, has been arrested on what she proclaims are false charges of treason and seeks their help to clear his name. *Many references to "Magic of Memories"* *Chapter story*
Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First. I only own Gabriella, Sir Finlay, the Kingdom of Helvetica, and any original characters associated with it.
A/N: Glad to see people enjoying the story so far! 😉 I've seen a few making some guesses as to who the "real" troublemaker may be. Just keep in mind that Gabriella and Finlay are not necessarily going to have the same enemies as Cedric and Sofia, though I won't say it's impossible. :D That's all I'm going to say. Yep, there's plenty of mystery here (theblindwriter95). Yes, you'll see some bonding in here with Cedric and Sofia, though keep in mind that there's a bigger picture to all of this. :) Don't worry. Plenty of sweet moments throughout (Mr. Shortman92). And Royal Detective, you are correct…but why? Haha! Here's chapter 2, so I hope you enjoy! :)
*Story*
Chapter 2: Framework
After determining that they would, in fact, try their best to help Gabriella exonerate Sir Finlay of the crime with which he was charged, the sorceress led Sofia and Cedric back to the castle where she now lived and worked. The castle itself was rather large and quite beautiful. Like the building where they'd met for the Sorcery Seminar, the exterior of the castle was a shade of ethereal blue with numerous colorful plants outlining the building. The castle was situated across a bridge (just like Enchancia's, Sofia noticed), but the water was much father down. Instead of the usual blue shade, which most would come to expect of water, it was a gradient of purple and green. It was unlike anything they'd ever seen before.
"Here it is: home sweet home," Gabriella told them, though it was easy to tell she'd said the word 'home' with a sense of irony and obvious bitterness. After all, she'd have to return to this place where her mentor was held for something she claimed he could never do, and she was expected to carry on as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
"So…with Sir Finlay…indisposed at the moment," Cedric began, treading carefully with his choice of words, "does that mean you've taken his place for the time being?"
"Something like that. Although King Cyprus doesn't necessarily trust me nearly as much as he did Finny. He thinks I have no idea what I'm doing, if I'm being completely transparent." She rolled her eyes. "He can be so…difficult." She sighed, her resolve to continue withering the longer she dwelled on the reality. "Let's just head inside before I lose my nerve." She blinked and looked down when she felt Sofia take her hand for comfort. She actually smiled, appreciative of the girl's notable kindness. With a gentle squeeze of the girl's hand for comfort, she spoke to the guards and got them approved for entry before going inside.
The interior was just as majestic as the exterior. Glorious golds and silvers were intricately woven into numerous designs in the walls and ceiling. Several chandeliers lined the hallway and were focal points of plenty of the rooms they passed up. Sofia made particular note of the large indoor water fountain, which seemed to shimmer with a magical property.
"Finny made that," Gabriella confirmed with a sigh. "All he's done, and they still think him a traitor…"
"That's what we're here to disprove," Cedric encouraged her gently so that they wouldn't be overheard. "Don't be so discouraged so easily, Miss Gabriella. We'll get to the bottom of this."
She gave him an appreciative nod and released Sofia's hand as they reached the doors to the throne room. "Let me do the talking at first. If you two want to speak to the royal family, keep it on neutral ground. If they ask why you're here, the obvious response is the real one: you're here for the Sorcery Seminar and merely came to visit me. Make no mention of Finlay. It will be suspicious. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to say something like we're colleagues or something, Cedric."
"I suppose, in a way, we sort of are now…" He shrugged. "We'll leave the conversations to you."
"Although—" Sofia blinked when she realized Cedric had placed a hand over her mouth to keep her from saying anything else. She gave him a sarcastic look. Did he really expect her to just stay silent? What? Was he afraid she'd say too much and blow their cover? …Yep, that was probably it. She sighed and rolled her eyes before removing his hand. "Okay, Mr. Cedric… I get it."
"I'm glad you see it my way," he remarked somewhat playfully, garnering a smile from his apprentice.
Satisfied with their responses, Gabriella gave the necessary information to one of the guards and stepped back as the doors opened. She led them inside and walked directly in front of the set of thrones where the king, queen, and evidently their little son were all seated. She lowered into a humble bow as the two behind her followed suit. "Your Majesties," she greeted softly.
"Gabriella," King Cyprus, a red-haired king with a big and bushy mustache greeted amicably before looking behind her, his brown eyes narrowing in curiosity. "And who have we here?"
They all stood and Gabriella took it into her own hands to introduce them. "King Cyprus, this is Princess Sofia of Enchancia and her friend, Cedric the Sensational, Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia. Both have come to participate in the Sorcery Seminar, where I happened to encounter them."
The man raised an eyebrow at her. "Is the seminar over so soon? I was told you would be gone all day."
She smiled, obviously a strained one, the two friends could tell, and nodded. "It is all day, but I realized I'd forgotten some very important materials for our meetings, and they kindly accompanied me back to get what I needed."
"Ah, I see. Make sure you keep yourself organized, young one. It makes life much easier."
"Yes, sir." She had a few choice words for his condescending tone, but she didn't want to get arrested too.
King Cyprus stood and bowed respectfully to Sofia. "Princess Sofia, correct?"
Sofia giggled and curtsied politely. "Yes, sir. I know—I look a little less like a princess today, I guess. I'm actually Mr. Cedric's apprentice and decided to wear my outfit to reflect that." She smiled. "You have a beautiful kingdom, Your Majesty."
"I appreciate that. Oh, let me introduce you to my family." He gestured toward his wife. "This is Queen Léonie, my wife, and Prince Luca, my son."
"I just turned fwee!" the little boy announced with a big grin, his crown slipping down his head and falling around his eyes. "Ah! It's dark!"
"Does he remind you of anyone?" Cedric quietly asked Sofia, who snickered. Oh, the resemblance between the boy and James was rather obvious to both.
Sofia laughed. "It's nice to meet you all. And happy belated birthday, Prince Luca."
Luca giggled.
Gabriella sighed as the king sat back down. "Well, if it pleases Your Majesties, we must be going. The meetings will begin soon, and we're on a bit of a deadline."
"Of course… Gabriella, when you return this evening, please be sure to take a look at the schedule for the upcoming events. We'll need a magical hand, so to speak, and I'm afraid you're it…" The disappointment with which he'd said that was not lost to anyone in the room. Obviously, he didn't necessarily trust her as much as he had Sir Finlay.
"Yes, sir." She bowed once more before ushering the other two from the throne room.
"That was tense," Sofia told her as they walked out of earshot of everyone.
"Ugh, you're telling me. King Cyprus is convinced that I'm an accomplice in this 'grand scheme' that they think Finlay had. No proof or anything, but he's still somehow going to believe it. He doesn't care for me though and has always been somewhat standoffish with me, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"With such a kind disposition as you possess?" Cedric gasped in mock surprise. "I can't imagine why."
"Hey, I've changed a lot these last two years."
Well, they couldn't deny her that. She had been much calmer and less prone to violent outbursts. Time had been much kinder to her this round.
"Anyway, let's get down to Finny's workshop and we can talk a bit more openly."
"His workshop is under the castle?" Sofia inquired with a curious look.
"Yeah. Our towers are blocked off for security reasons. So he had to make do with what he could." She reached a wall and pressed a loose stone, smiling as the wall moved ninety degrees, allowing them entrance. She glanced toward the Enchancian inhabitants. "Follow me."
Cedric and Sofia followed Gabriella as the wall shut behind them and locked back. The descending staircase was well-illuminated and not nearly as intimidating as they'd expected something located in the basement to be. In fact, it was something of a rather comfortable atmosphere. They paused at the bottom when Gabriella stopped again in front of a large oak door.
The sorceress removed her pendant from her neck and inserted the jewel into the peculiar lock on the door, opening it instantly.
Sofa nudged Cedric with a grin. "Now that's the kind of lock you need, Mr. Cedric," she joked.
"And yet, Baileywick would still somehow figure out how to get inside so he can do that meticulous cleaning of his." He rolled his eyes as she giggled.
They walked inside and were greeted with a burst of cold air, proving the door had been sealed for a while. The room lit up instantly with various shades of red and blue, torches on the wall automatically lighting as the visitors entered. They could see shelves of books and several scientific and magical instruments lining the tables within. Beakers, pipettes, vials, burners, a cauldron, a mortar and pestle, a crystal ball…just everything expected in a sorcerer's workshop was in this one. But there was one thing that caught Sofia's eye.
She smiled as she walked forward, stopping in front of a rather large portrait of Finlay and Gabriella in an embrace, looking as in love as any other couple. She turned back to Gabriella. "Is this recent?" she wondered. "This painting?"
The dark-haired girl inhaled once and nodded. "Last year, actually…when Finlay and I eloped."
"Wait, what?" Cedric blinked. "You and Sir Finlay…got married?" Oh, great. So now, not only was she his apprentice, but she was also his wife. That was certainly unexpected!
She folded her arms. "Yes, in secret. No one in this kingdom even knows we're married. I can't even wear a ring…"
Sofia frowned in sadness for the girl, who obviously seemed distressed by this topic. "Why not? Everyone who's in love should be able to express it. That's not fair to you."
"Let me just be blunt. King Cyprus doesn't like me, and he certainly doesn't trust me. It was my idea to keep our marriage a secret, because I didn't want the king's dislike of me to transfer to Finlay." She laughed bitterly at the irony. "Turns out it doesn't matter though, since he had him arrested anyway. So much for loyalty." She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "All that aside, I now keep the secret because I need to protect myself this time around. If they find out we're married, not only will Finlay never regain his reputation he'd worked his whole life to build, but I'd immediately be considered an accomplice and tossed into the dungeon with him. Then again, maybe it should go ahead and happen. At least we'll be together."
Cedric sighed heavily. "Miss Gabriella, don't speak like that. No one who's innocent of a crime should fold so easily and bow to the expectations of another. Be perfectly honest with both of us: did you plot to overthrow the king?"
"…No. I may not like him very much, but I'm not stupid." She put her hands on her hips. "And neither is Finlay. None of this makes much sense to me."
"We'll figure out what's going on," Sofia soothed as she began looking at all of the things in the workshop. "There has to be some sort of evidence in here to clear Sir Finlay's name."
The three friends worked together for nearly half an hour, sifting through every book and each nook and cranny. For some reason, they managed to miss the most obvious area in the workshop: Sir Finlay's work desk.
Cedric turned out of curiosity when he'd not found anything yet. He noticed a leather-bound book stuffed to the brim with what appeared to be notes, likely for spells. He walked over and unbuckled the book, opening it fully and blinking when a piece of folded parchment fell out. He picked it up and unfolded it, his eyes skimming the contents. The color slowly drained from his face. "Oh, dear Merlin…"
"Mr. Cedric?" Sofia and Gabriella both turned to the sorcerer, curious as to what he'd discovered. "What's wrong?"
He handed the parchment to Gabriella, who gasped. "A plot…to overthrow King Cyprus," Cedric managed, disbelieving the very words leaving his lips.
Sofia frowned suspiciously.
"This can't be," Gabriella said in disbelief. "Finny wouldn't—he couldn't… He respects King Cyprus even more than I can fathom, and he's just so loyal to the family. There's no way this is his!" She growled and slammed the paper on the desk, the loud sound echoing off the walls.
"I agree," Sofia told her confidently, garnering the attention of the other two. "Think about it. Sir Finlay is very intelligent, right?"
"The smartest man I know," Cedric responded, Gabriella nodding in agreement.
"Well, why would any intelligent man—or anyone for that matter—just leave evidence lying around? And in a book that's not even locked, lying on a desk that he uses all the time? Sure, the door is locked with a special mechanism, but that wouldn't necessarily stop them from getting someone to break it down or uncharm it. My point is, it's kind of fishy that something like this would be in plain sight."
"You know what this means," Cedric suggested as the girls looked at him with realization on their faces. "I'm quite confident about this. Sir Finlay was set up, and we need to figure out who's responsible immediately, lest they allow an innocent man to remain locked away forever."
To be continued…