AN: This chapter gave me a little bit of hell but I think I like it anyway. As I reread some parts I can't help but wonder if I need to bump the rating up to M... let me know what you think.
It was the middle of the night when Sofia awoke groggily to the sound of a voice calling her name from somewhere but in her clouded state she couldn't make out a direction. It took a moment for the fog from her sleep to clear before she sat up, realizing the voice was coming from outside her window. It sounded familiar, though it was hard to really tell due to the muffled quality the thick drapes afforded. She slid her feet into the slippers at her bedside and started languidly toward the window. A clumsy hand reached and failed to clasp at the drapes and her frustration with the ordeal was beginning to grow. Finally she was able to pull the fabric back enough to peer out the window and see Wormwood flapping frantically to and fro.
Her brow furrowed as she tried to keep steady eyes on the raven dashing about in the moonlight. Were it not for the gleam of light on his wings she would have lost sight of him against the blackened sky. "Wormwood? What's the matter?"
But whatever response may have come was lost to her. The feeling of a hand slipping over her mouth and the icy steel of a dagger being placed against her throat caused her heart to pound in her ears, drowning out any other outside noise
She felt the sensation of warm breath against her ear. It carried on it a demand but her heart was still pounding too erratically to hear. She swallowed hard and did her best to calm herself so that she could make out what was being spoken. It took a few deep breaths but finally the beat of the muscle in her chest gave way the purr of words coming from her assailant's mouth.
"I don't want to hurt you, princess. But make no mistake I'll do so if necessary." His voice came, soft but stern. "Raise your hands very slowly to the clasp of your necklace and remove it for me."
Her breath caught in her throat at the words. The voice was unmistakably Cedric's, though it was a few octaves higher than normal. It carried with it a dark tone that frightened her in a way she'd never been frightened before and she felt herself begin to tremble. She raised a quivering hand up to the appendage covering her mouth and grasped it, pulling it away with a quick tug. "Mr. Cedric, please. A-after everything we've been through-"
"After everything we've been through..." He mocked, mimicking the sorrowful voice of the girl as he forced his hand back over her mouth. "Who do you think you're trying to fool, Matilda?"
Sofia's eyes grew wide at the name Cedric used. She was terribly confused but she didn't let it distract her from her plan to escape the situation. She opened wide to bite down hard on the hand covering her mouth, the action of which caused the dagger in his other hand to clatter to the floor. She fumbled in the darkness in an attempt to find the weapon, if only to keep it out of Cedric's possession. Her fingers found the blade just as she felt two strong hands pushing her backward.
She stumbled back and caught herself on the drapes. The tug was enough to bring the large metal rod clattering down upon her, curtains and all. She tried to fight her way out from under all the heavy fabric until she felt it being torn from her form. The next thing she saw was Cedric's face contorted in rage but it soon gave way to a look of shock.
"Y-you're not Matilda." Cedric rasped, the moonlight now flooding the room to illuminate an unfamiliar looking girl.
Sofia's chest heaved as her eyes adjusted to the new light. There was no doubt that it was Cedric standing in front of her but there was something decidedly different about his appearance. He seemed frailer than he had been earlier in the evening and the silvery tufts of hair that served as his bangs were now much longer, framing his face and giving it a more angular look. "Mr. Cedric, what's going on?"
"Why are you calling me that?" He asked with a light growl. "You're not that much younger than me. And how do you know my name anyhow? What are you doing in Princess Matilda's room? Just who are you, girl?"
Sofia blinked up at Cedric in uncertainty before pushing the heavy curtain rod off her lap. "Which question do you want me to answer?"
"All of them, you twit." Cedric snapped.
Sofia's chest shuddered at the harshness of Cedric's tone. She pushed off of the floor to regain her footing and took a deep breath. "My name is Sofia and this isn't Princess Matilda's room anymore. It's mine."
"Since when?" Cedric asked incredulously.
"It's been my room for years, Mr. Cedric." Sofia said, her voice quaking. "Don't you remember?"
"How could I remember something that's clearly a lie?" Cedric retorted, stepping closer to the girl before him. "Where is Matilda? Where is her amulet?"
"Th-the amulet!" Sofia gasped in realization before her hand wrapped instinctively around the necklace. "This is what I wished for..."
Cedric's gaze narrowed on the girl and the surprised look on her face. "What are you babbling about?"
"How old are you, Cedric?" Sofia asked, reaching out to clasp Cedric by his arms.
"I'm seventeen." He muttered, shaking the girl's hands from his body. "What does it matter to you?"
"I did this." Sofia whispered, half mortified and half impressed that she'd been able to change Cedric from an adult to a teenager with the help of the Amulet of Avalor. "This is incredible! It's you! But it isn't you... but it is."
Cedric's eyebrow cocked involuntarily at the ramblings of the girl before him. "What the hell are you going on about?"
"Cedric!" Sofia lurched forward and clasped the boy by his shoulders. Her fear and confusion had melted away to pure excitement as she tried to think how best to explain things to him. "You're not really seventeen. I mean, you are right now, but in actuality you're much older. I just made you seventeen accidentally. Well, the Amulet of Avalor did. But-"
"The Amulet of Avalor?" Cedric spoke, his eyes flashing as they fell over the necklace dangling precariously above the cleavage peeking out from the girl's nightgown. It's appearance had changed since he'd seen it last but there was no mistaking it was certainly the jewel in question. "How did you come to own that necklace?"
"It's a long story." Sofia said, letting her hands slide down his arms to cup his hands. "Come sit! I have so many questions for you!"
Cedric watched bemusedly as the girl pulled him over to the bed where she forced him to sit. She dropped to her knees and began digging under the frilly bed skirt as though she was looking for something. As her hair fell forward he spotted the clasp of her necklace but she whipped back up before he had the chance to reach for it. She brought with her what appeared to be a wand box and once she opened it she produced a fair little wand fit for her dainty hands.
He hadn't expected her to know how to use the item so it came as a bit of a surprise when she gave light to all the lamps in the room with a flick of her wrist. His brow raised in interest at the girl as she replaced the wand back in its box. "You're an enchantress?"
Sofia giggled wildly and kicked her feet as she plopped down on the bed a healthy distance away from the teenage boy. "No, I'm not an enchantress. I'm a princess, though I might add that I'm quite skilled in magic thanks to you."
"Thanks to me?" Cedric looked the girl up and down, clenching his fists at his sides. "You had better start saying something that makes sense."
Sofia sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was admittedly a bit giddy over the whole situation. After all, it wasn't every day that one had the opportunity to meet the younger version of their mentor and there was never an occasion where she was alone in her bedroom with a seventeen year old boy. It all left her too squirrelly for her own good so she tried to calm herself. Another slow inhale and exhale seemed to do the trick. "Okay. This may all sound very strange to you but you're not really a seventeen year old. I think the Amulet of Avalor turned you into your seventeen year old self because I wished for it."
"You... wished for it?" Cedric asked, none of his confusion being alleviated at all.
"It's complicated." Sofia said with a sigh. "The Amulet of Avalor allows me to do things that normally would be impossible without the use of spells or potions. I'm honestly still trying to figure out how it works now. It never used to be this way. It used to-"
"Get to the part where you tell me why you wished for me to be seventeen." Cedric interrupted, growing impatient.
"Oh, right." Sofia nodded. "Well, earlier this evening we were in your workshop and we were discussing some things. You were telling me about a problem you had when you were younger that was similar to a problem I was facing. You gave me a small glimpse into what you were like when you were around my age but I wanted to know more. When I was leaving I told you I wished I'd been able to meet you as a teenager and I guess the amulet just took it upon itself to make it happen."
"I see." Cedric replied, though he'd truthfully been tuning in and out of listening while she spoke. His eyes were fixated on the amulet resting happily on her bosom. It was so closely in reach but he likely wouldn't have the chance to sneak up on her again and being a princess, there were probably guards waiting to come if she cried out for help. He would have to be tactful. He needed to keep her talking. Needed to distract her. "I assume that I'm your magic teacher then."
"More of a mentor, really." Sofia said, thinking on their relationship for a moment. "But we're so much closer than that. At least... we used to be."
A wide smile spread across Cedric's face as a distinct look of sorrow flooded the girl's features. He'd found an in. "We're not close anymore? Why not?"
"I don't fully understand it." Sofia spoke softly. "I mean, I do when it comes down to brass tacks. I understand why we shouldn't be close. Appearances and all that. We never really spoke about it like this. It was always sort of an unspoken understanding that things had to be a certain way because of who I am and who you are. But still-"
"It's unfair." Cedric cooed, trying to play on the girl's attachment to a version of himself that she felt she could trust. "When two people are close like that they shouldn't be kept apart."
"I agree." Sofia replied. There was a strange, almost tickling sensation crawling over her flesh as she felt Cedric's gaze wash over her. He was certainly different from the adult Cedric in a way she couldn't describe. More alluring, perhaps? Yes, certainly that but something else too. Something she couldn't put her finger on. She tried to shake her thoughts and continue the conversation at hand. "B-but you know, you're really the only one who keeps us apart. Nobody has ever told me I shouldn't be alone with you. I suppose nobody ever needed to tell me. I'm not dumb. I know we shouldn't be alone together."
"We're alone together right now." Cedric said, his voice scarcely above a whisper. "Tell me something, Princess. If you got to have your say how would things be between us? Would we be close friends again? Thick as thieves? Or perhaps something a bit more... tangible?"
Sofia's face flushed at the boy's words.
It wasn't a foreign idea to her, Cedric and herself. She wasn't without basest instincts, after all, and she'd allowed her mind to wander on more than one occasion. The thoughts had started out innocently enough in her early teens but as she grew older and her innocence gave way to secret lecherous desires she began to have fully vivid fantasies. They would always come at the most inopportune times, usually at some banquet or gathering where Cedric would perform for the guests and she would serve as his lovely and anxious assistant. Their nearness in those moments would cause her to ache in unmentionable places but with onlookers everywhere it was impossible to do anything other than fantasize. Any other time, however, he would chase her from his workshop, claiming to be busy even when she knew he wasn't and for a while the reveries would cease to exist.
She was in a constant battle with herself over what she truly felt and what was just a symptom of overactive hormones. But now as she sat in the privacy of her room with a version of Cedric who seemed to have little regard for proprieties those lustful feelings caused her loins to tighten in anticipation of what could be.
"I-I suppose I fancied the idea." Her voice cracked as she shifted a bit on the bed. "You've been the one constant man in my life, my brother and father aside, of course."
"Of course." Cedric purred. "And it's only natural to feel that way. After all, we've been close for years it seems."
A lump rose in Sofia's throat as she watched Cedric pull his legs up underneath him. He rose to his hands and knees, eyes intent on her as he began crawling forward. She could feel her heart pounding again, the drumming in her ears almost deafening. "C-Cedric wh-"
"Shh." He silenced her with a finger to her lips before leaning forward to replace the digit with his mouth. He could detect the tremble of her body almost immediately. He forced back a smile and moved to deepen the kiss by parting his lips and hoping that she followed suit. Her inexperience was obvious as he slid his tongue in to taste her mouth, her own wet muscle standing virtually still as his danced around hers. He pulled back, nipping at the flesh of her chin momentarily before nibbling his way along her jawline to her ear. "Don't be so timid, Princess."
Yes, this Cedric was very much a different person from his adult counterpart. He was far more forward than she would have ever expected. The warmth of his breath against her flesh seemed to set her on fire. She gasped into open air as she felt his mouth press onto her throat. An involuntary moan escaped her parted lips as he trailed his way down her neck. It felt so wonderfully debauched, she could hardly stand it. She knew she had to get ahold of her senses before things went past the point of no return. "Cedric, we shouldn't be doing this."
"I won't go too far." He crooned against her neck. "Please don't stop me now."
It was hard to deny him. The feel of his skin against hers was too tantalizing and he'd only just begun. She was struggling to keep her whits about her and she knew it would only be harder the further they went. "I'm afraid that if we don't stop now we won't stop until-"
"Will you relax?" Cedric hissed in mild frustration. "I'm not going to take your precious virginity."
"Y-you're not?" Sofia croaked out in relief; though, truth be told, there was a hint of disappointment as well.
"No." He whispered as he pulled back from the girl and shifted to remove the mountains of pillows she was leaning against. He positioned himself behind her and brushed her hair over to one shoulder. "I just want to enjoy you while I can. One is so rarely presented the opportunity to revel in the company of a beautiful girl such as yourself."
And he was a smooth talker to boot. Oh dear sweet goodness, she'd gotten herself in over her head. She couldn't fight the whimper of pleasure that her vocal cords let slip as his head dipped down and he reclaimed her throat against his mouth.
His arms were wrapped securely around her waist, legs on either side of her with something firm and intriguing pressed roughly against her backside. She wasn't so naïve as to be unaware of exactly what it was... rather she was quite conscious of it but pretended to be oblivious. If she acknowledged his throbbing need she would also have to acknowledge his want for release and she was far too shy to attempt anything even remotely close to trying to gratify him.
Kissing was fine, though. Kissing she could handle.
As if he'd read her mind, his tongue darted out to taste the nape of her neck and she squirmed in reaction. She could feel his hands beginning to slide then, the right one trailing up to grope at her breasts through her nightgown while the left slipped between her thighs. She cried out in shock but tried to keep her voice hushed as he continued to kiss the back of her neck. "C-Cedric! You r-really shouldn't be doing th-thaaaat!"
He either didn't hear her or he didn't care; likely the latter. She fidgeted against his touch, wishing that he would cease his titillating tirade on her body while simultaneously hoping he'd forge on like a sultry male character in one of the secret smutty novels Amber kept hidden under her bed.
His left hand was well on its way to slipping into her bloomers when the feeling of something falling into her lap caused them both to freeze. His right hand fell to her lap faster than her own could and he grasped what he'd found there. She felt him moving out from behind her, placing now gentle kisses as he went.
"You know, I think you're right, Princess. We should take things slowly. I'm so sorry to have disturbed your linens." Cedric spoke sweetly. "I should probably leave you be."
"Cedric, what did you take from my lap?" Sofia asked, the boy's sudden change in tune disconcerting. Only moments ago he seemed ready to throw her down to the mattress and show her all the things she'd privately fantasized about for so long. Now he was slinking away with an item that seemed to have dropped out of nowhere.
"It was my earring. It fell out." He replied with a charming smile as he made his way for the door. "I'd better go replace it at once, otherwise I'm bound to mislay it."
Cedric was lying. She knew it immediately. She had spent more than enough time examining the man up close when the opportunity was afforded to her and she had never noticed any sign that his ears had ever been pierced. She crawled to the edge of the bed as he continued away, trying to catch a glimpse of just what was clenched in his hand. That was when she noticed an odd sensation, or the lack there of. There was no amulet dangling from around her neck.
Her eyes widened and she bolted from the bed but Cedric was already out of the room before she could reach the door. By the time she flung the door open and stepped out into the hall she saw that Cedric was gone.
A feeling of guilt mixed with horror flowed over her as she realized she had allowed herself to be manipulated by the boy. She couldn't believe she had been so foolish as to fall for his charms and leave herself and the amulet exposed. Rather than despair, however, she clenched her fists at her sides and marched off to locate the young sorcerer before he could do any damage.
AN #2: So I have this great side story in my head for how Amber got her hands on her secret stash of dirty novels but it's not going to get written. Basically, she dresses down to peasant clothes and sneaks to the book shop where she accidentally runs into Cedric in the morally questionable section of the store. Mortified at having been caught, she decides to blackmail him before he can do the same to her (though he really doesn't care one way or the other.) As part of their deal she asks that he purchase the novels for her so she doesn't need to risk getting caught and the part of him that delights in the idea of depravity and moral ambiguity is all too happy to contribute to her corruption.
