Chapter 4: In Which Sophie Announces Her New Plans

By the end of the dinner, all of Fanny's guests were full and pleased.

"Fanny, thank you so much, I really enjoyed seeing you again," Mrs. Fairfax began. She launched into a ten minute discussion with Fanny, every now and then mentioning that she and Lettie should really be going back to Upper Folding.

When it was her turn, Fanny immediately responded, "Oh no, Annabel, you must stay the night at the mansion! You couldn't possibly head back to Upper Folding now. You wouldn't make it back until very late tonight, and it would just be exhausting! Stay here for the night. You can go back in the morning."

"Fanny, really…" The two women debated for a long time, intermingling their discussion with gossip and other tangents. Finally, they decided to go with Fanny's plan of Mrs. Fairfax and Lettie spending the night at the mansion. Really, neither Fanny nor Mrs. Fairfax could have hoped for anything otherwise. They saw each other so rarely as it was, especially now that Fanny had moved out of Market Chipping.

"Martha, you should stay the night too. You too, Sophie. You three girls haven't seen each other in ages," Mrs. Fairfax added benevolently.

"I have to be back at work at Cesari's early tomorrow morning," Martha sighed.

"I'll take her back, on my way back to the Castle," Sophie said quickly and firmly, before any other suggestions could be offered.

Justin and Ben took this pause to announce that they too would be returning to Market Chipping for the evening. Before Fanny could try to stop them, Ben interjected, "We already made reservations at an inn in Market Chipping. Thank you so much, but we really ought to return to Kingsbury as soon as possible tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, once again, all of you, for everything you've done. And thank you for this fantastic celebration, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Fairfax," Justin added.

Fanny arranged for a carriage to take everyone back to the Moving Castle. From there, Michael walked Martha back to Cesari's, while Ben and Justin thanked Howl and Sophie again.

"You plan on returning to Kingsbury with us tomorrow, don't you, Pendragon?" Justin asked.

Howl had thought about it and decided that the prospect of getting paid for his work overpowered his aversion to the various court functions celebrating the return of the Prince that he would have to attend. He also had some business he wanted to discuss with the King: now that Suliman was back, there was no reason for Howl to continue to hold the post of Royal Wizard.

"Yes, can you meet me at the castle tomorrow morning? The Waste is probably closest to Kingsbury."

"Of course, of course! Well, we should be off and let you rest. Until tomorrow, then," Justin said. Suliman cast a disguise spell on both of them and they stepped out into the street in Market Chipping. The rain had finally let up and the town was still bustling, trying to enjoy the last remaining hours of Midsummer's Day as best they could.

Though both Ben and Justin had wanted to return to Kingsbury as soon as possible, they were generally pleased with the evening's celebrations. Ben was looking forward to teaching his new pupil: if what Mrs. Fairfax had said wasn't too exaggerated, it seemed like Lettie would be a very promising student. Justin was pleased to leave such a good impression on the wife of one of the most important business men in Ingray. Although Sacheverell Smith was not nobility, he was part of the emerging class of newly rich who primarily made their money from trade. Mr. Smith had strong connections in High Norland which could be useful considering the imminent war – the current situation of which Justin wasn't even sure about.

"It's good to be back," Ben said, suddenly. "I wonder just how much we've missed."

"Yes, it is." Justin decided to stop worrying about whatever problems his brother might have created during his absence and simply enjoy his first evening back with Ben. Despite the mediocrity of the inn, the two men spent the night pleasantly, finally together after their long separation.


Now that all the guests were gone, Howl sank into the chair by the hearth and looked like he wasn't going to move. This was mostly out of habit; before Sophie came, he would usually end his day relaxing in that chair while talking to, or rather arguing with Calcifer. A minute later, he realized that Calcifer had left earlier that evening.

"I wonder where Calcifer's gotten to?" Howl asked.

"I wonder that he's not tired after everything that's happened today," Sophie said, sitting down at one of the stools near the work bench.

Howl sighed and said, wallowing in self pity, "There's no rest for the weary. Going to Kingsbury tomorrow will be a bother. They'll make me attend every court celebration in honor of the Prince's return. I probably won't make it back here until sometime next week." Sophie didn't know much about the court, but if it was anything like the stilted and long winded conversations with Prince Justin and Wizard Suliman, she could see why Howl didn't want to go back.

After a few minutes of silence, Sophie said suddenly, "The Prince's university sounded interesting. I think I'm going to apply."

"Why would you want to do that?" Howl hated admitting that he did generally like his university days. Instead, he would only recall the long busy periods of studying and writing papers and taking exams that kept him from doing the fun things that he had really wanted to do. And besides, going to university usually meant… Howl did not like the way this conversation was headed.

"Well, Howl, I need something to do. Sitting in the flower shop all day does get a little boring."

Howl was seriously becoming concerned about Sophie's implications with all this. "I thought you'd study sorcery with me! You have such a natural talent for it."

Sophie had considered this option, but she had always been the type of person that liked many different kinds of things. Ever since she had been young, Sophie had enjoyed reading, and in school, literature and history had been her favorite subjects. Political history was her particular favorite but, since she wasn't related to any nobility, she had never had the chance to learn about current politics beyond the gossip that passed through the hat shop. Her school hadn't offered any sorcery classes, and while she had always been curious about it, she had previously assumed that she wouldn't be good at it, as the eldest of three. All the tasks that she had been doing for the last few months – trimming hats, cleaning, cooking, sewing, arranging flowers – were merely hobbies, not things she could picture herself doing for the rest of her life. After all, a few months ago, she had set out to seek her fortune. Her recently developed courage wasn't about to let her stop here, without exploring what shape her fortune might take.

"The university seems like a good way to explore my options," she replied, "and Kingsbury seems like a nice town. I'll be able to see Lettie, too."

Here it was. The words Howl was afraid of. He started so violently he almost fell out of the chair. "Sophie, you're planning on leaving me?! After all this! You can't be serious!"

"Howl, I'm not planning on leaving. Besides, you can visit me."

Ignoring the first part of her response, Howl whined, like a petulant child, "No I can't! Kingsbury is so far from here!"

"But since you're Royal Wizard, you'll have to open up an entrance to Kingsbury again, won't you?" Sophie was trying to stay rational, but she was beginning to lose her patience with Howl.

"I'm resigning tomorrow! That's the only reason I'm going to Kingsbury at all!" Howl was so genuinely frustrated he was being bluntly honest – a state only Sophie could bring him to, after all.

Now it was Sophie's turn to be appalled. His comments earlier that day, when they were returning from the Witch's castle, had implied that Howl generally only acted the irresponsible coward. "Howl, you're just running away from responsibility again!"

"You don't know everything, Mrs. Moralizer." Howl was being pinned down – inaccurately no less – and he hated every second of it. He glared at Sophie, but the look wasn't nearly as horrifying, now that he had real eyes and not eyes like glass marbles. Realizing Sophie wasn't about to let this argument go and was waiting for him to continue, Howl sighed angrily and, releasing his glare, stormed out of the chair, towards the stairs.

"That's right, just slither out, like you always do," Sophie muttered, sending a stabbing scowl through his back. The line was familiar to both of them.

Howl had half a mind to turn around and defend his good name. But, Michael sauntered in from the flower shop, just then, whistling merrily. He took one look at the scene and, rushing up the stairs past Howl, said, "I'll be going to bed now."

"So will I," and Howl continued his angry ascent.