A/N: I finished this story last night (yeah) so I can say for sure it's six chapters. Like I said in the beginning, it's a lemon Oreo. So chapter 6 will be another 'sexy time' to end things (hopefully) on the right note!
Thank you to everyone who's been reading and especially to those who've reviewed. The encouragement is pure motivation!
Disclaimer: Sofia is 18, Cedric is 34 and I don't own either of them.
.o~O*O~o.
The rest of the day passed in oppressive silence.
Sofia greeted the other Masters, new and old, with perfect courtesy and kindness. Sometimes she even managed a small smile when one of them said something kind or witty.
The majority of the time though, she spent quietly avoiding everyone's gaze, even his… especially his.
She seemed deeply ashamed in a way Cedric wasn't sure he understood, since she had nothing to be shamed about.
Part of him, the petty part that still resided somewhere deep down, wanted to take it personally.
He'd been the butt of so many unkind whispers and nasty jokes his whole life, he had a hard time coming to any conclusion but that she must have recognized she should be ashamed of him.
He wanted to rail at her. She really should have realized before they got here what people would say if she attached herself to a skinny, ugly… what was it Elliot had called him… second-rate hack.
Make bad choices and you'll be forced to live with bad consequences. His inner voice sneered.
He'd tried to warn her countless times he wasn't worthy of her.
But then he remembered how she'd phrased things when all this had first dawned on her. She'd called him brilliant and gifted. She'd called herself a spoiled little princess. As though they were still the over exuberant child and grudgingly tolerant adult they'd been all those years ago. It implied it was him who had reason to be disappointed with her.
And then he felt like a horse's ass.
His better-self shoved down his misgivings and distrust, and without the insidious voice of doubt whispering in his ear, he realized she wasn't ashamed of him.
She was mortified her fears had become reality. Hurt people thought she was a fraud and a cheat. Humiliated they believed her attachment to him was sordid and dirty. And astonishingly, she also seemed anxious that others would now look at her and think she wasn't good enough for him!
The reality was much simpler though.
People were simply envious.
They were jealous of a woman like Sofia because she seemed to have literally everything: youth, beauty, intelligence, wealth, social status, and magical talent. That all these things should coalesce in a single person must seem bitterly unfair to those who knew themselves to be inferior to her… like young not-Master Elliot
And, if he here honest, Cedric knew they were probably jealous of him too.
Not because he had everything, but precisely because he didn't.
In this world being a Royal Sorcerer gave him social status, and despite the mistakes of youth, he had managed to build a decent reputation for himself in the last decade. No one called him Cedric the bungler anymore.
But he lacked youth, wealth, and most especially the conventional attractiveness that would have made winning a woman like Sofia understandable to the masses.
And so they looked at him and turned green with their envy. Choosing to believe Sofia's having fallen in love with him was nothing more than luck. Why should he have such good fortune when they didn't?
Then there was a truth he didn't like pondering too closely.
One that seemed innocent on the surface, but maybe, given his tendencies… actually was not.
Sofia's love, even the innocent childish love of so long ago, had made him more confident. That confidence had made him not just better… but more powerful.
His guidance had caused her magical potential to bloom.
She'd grown from the little girl who came to him distraught because she couldn't turn rocks into rubies, to a woman who could perform the most complicated magic, create the most ingenious spells, and brew the most inspired potions.
His patient attention had helped create an awe-inspiring Sorceress.
And there were still things he had left to teach her. Secrets he'd spent the years before she came into his life learning.
Together they made a powerful pair.
Their combined power, or at the least the potential of it, might be viewed as… threatening to others.
Even the glorious Masters, it seemed.
Why else would they first insinuate that it must have been him who'd put together her master's pieces and then spent three hours trying to break her when it became obvious he had not?
Cedric could come up with no constructive reason for the inquisition she'd been through.
And it had been an inquisition.
When Goodwin finally managed to wrench the details out Sofia it was much, much worse than Cedric initially expected.
They'd started simply enough. Asking her to site the ingredients to her potions, to explain why she'd used one particular thing over another more obvious choice.
When her explanations had been beyond argument, they'd tested each of the potions and found them as perfect as he knew they would be.
They'd interrogated her more harshly about her spells. Implying she'd made mistakes in language or confused subtle meanings of words. Something it was unheard of to do. If the spell worked than that should have been good enough.
Sofia, normally so intent on pleasing others, had found herself having to fight two of the Masters. Defending her knowledge and explaining to them why her choices were in fact better than the alternatives they suggested.
When they finally ran out of arguments, they made her perform all eighteen spells. Punishment, no doubt, for not allowing herself to be bullied into yielding.
It was then things had seemed to go completely off the rails.
Master Ignatius, apparently incensed with his inability to find any reason to withhold the title of Master from Sofia, had demanded she create a spell on the spot.
Cedric had watched his father blanch at that. Not even Goodwin the Great attempted such madness. Spells where complicated, they required the most precise language or else they didn't work, or worse yet they went wrong.
If the saying 'be careful what you wish for' was true, than it was doubly true one should be careful what they 'spell' for.
That was why apprentices where only required to have created ten spells in an education that usually spanned eight to ten years.
For Ignatius to demand such a thing was not just mean-spirited it was wildly, negligently dangerous.
But seeing that none of the other Masters would stand up to him, and knowing it was within her power to prove herself and win, Sofia had done it.
If the impotent prick had ever seen her race in the flying derby, he never would have never challenged her like that.
Sofia didn't do anything by halves.
The girl who'd let her derby partner essentially hurl her at the finish line like a living rock, just to win a toy crown, wasn't going to back down.
He was more thankful than ever she hadn't worn the Amulet of Avalor today, or she would undoubtedly have been sent to one of the lower rings of hell as punishment for calling Ignatius's bluff.
Cedric had called her test a 'trial by fire' but that turned out to be inaccurate, since it was Sofia who'd ended up bringing the fire to the party.
He couldn't say he wasn't proud of her though. Or that Ignatius the Irascible hadn't deserved what he got.
The spell she cast created a storm in the room, but after the thunder cracked and the lightening illuminated the space, the dark cloud opened to reveal, not water, but burning lava.
Sofia didn't even look abashed when she told them she'd made it rain molten rock over Master Ignatius's head. The man had screamed for several long seconds before realizing he wasn't actually being burned.
By time the fire had finally consumed itself, so had Master Ignatius's appetite for provoking her.
The volcanic soot covering him, and the black smoke rising from his clothes where proof Sofia hadn't conjured an illusion. Her spell had made real lava, but changed its properties to render it harmless when it touched the Master's skin. He'd smell like he'd been dunked in a volcano for several days, but otherwise he was unharmed.
And since the idea of creating a 'burnless' lava tempest seemed pretty farfetched, there'd been no question whether Sofia was simply reciting some obscure spell she'd found somewhere.
When it came time to say yeah or nay, the vote to confer the title of Master on Sofia had been unanimous.
When Sofia finished recounting her three hours with the Masters, they all fell into a contemplative silence, only broken when Goodwin stood up.
"I'm going to see if my help is needed before the feast. Even though I didn't judge today I was meant to. They might have want of me. Do excuse me."
When Goodwin was out sight, Cedric took Sofia's hand in his own and turned to face her.
"That was a rather magnificent spell! What are you going to call it?" Cedric couldn't help himself. Even after all this time she still managed to surprise him with the tenacity of her spirit.
He wondered though, if perhaps he should be concerned some his darker instincts had rubbed off on Sofia in their years together. But he supposed he wasn't negatively influencing her virtuous nature too badly. He would have burned Ol' Iggy till the only thing left was a dust pan's worth of scorched ash.
Sofia shrugged.
"I was thinking about something along the lines of 'Assholis Quietis."
"Hmm, an obscure phrase, but quite fitting."
After a moment he continued.
"I'm not used to being on this side of the conversation so you'll have to forgive me if I'm seem out of my depth."
Sofia raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
"I'm not usually the one who has to convince you that things are not as bad as they seem, or that you're worth more than you're giving yourself credit for."
"It's not every day I find out people think I'm not just a phony but a whore."
Cedric flinched at her words but he couldn't very well argue she was wrong.
"No it's not.
But the truth is you haven't lived a life where people are constantly trying to elevate themselves by stepping on your back.
Being a Sorcerer isn't just beauty and light. It's competitive, dangerous, and filled with people who believe they deserve whatever they desire simply because they have the skills to acquire those desires. And getting everything you want, all the time, can warp a person. They start to believe they not only deserve what they desire, but have the right to dictate what others deserve."
Sofia laughed at that, and Cedric heard, for the first time, a strain of bitterness in her tone.
"You wouldn't think so, but that isn't very different from being a Princess. I'll introduce you to Hildegard sometime and you can tell me if she wouldn't put the fear of God into some of the people here."
Cedric made a rye snort.
He'd never been formally introduced, but he was quite aware of Friesenburg's Princess. She was what Amber would be, if Amber suddenly woke one morning without conscience or scruple.
"I know you're shaken by the naked enmity you've seen today. But I think you're losing sight of the bigger picture."
"Oh?"
"Sofia, you won. Not only did you win but you proved them wrong so spectacularly none of them, especially not Iggy the Irascible, will ever open their mouths to slander you again."
He saw a small smile at that, but it was nowhere near as radiant as a Sofia smile should be.
"I know, but I can't get over it. Why would they hate me so much in the first place? I've never done anything to any of them!"
Cedric squeezed her hand feeling as though today's ending might never be more than bittersweet. She'd carried the day, but it had cost her a little of the boundless optimism he secretly loved so much. He'd teased her on more than one occasion that age had not tempered this tendency in her.
Now he knew the price of her victory was a little of her innocence, he would do anything to give that optimism back to her.
She'd grown up a little today and not in a good way.
"No you haven't, but that isn't how envy works Dearest. Envy is an emotion that strikes because a person wants what another has. Trust me I'm an expert in envy. Before you came into my life it was my primary emotion."
"So then how do I get past this?" She asked sounding lost.
"That is easier said than done." He took her chin between his fingers and tilted her head up to his for a soft kiss, wishing the caress could somehow transfer some of her anguish to him.
"You say FUCK THEM, and then you let it go. Envy is a poison you give yourself. If they wish to drink it, you have no need to let their sickness effect you."
Sofia nodded her head.
"Fuck them." She whispered.
Then looking as though she'd surprised even herself, Sofia giggled at the sound of such profanity rolling off her tongue. Apparently Princesses could light people on fire, but using an expletive was a no-no.
The sound was so welcome Cedric laughed to.
"Fuck them." He repeated and saw her laugh a little more. He didn't think she'd ever heard him utter an actual profanity either. He had a moment to feel thankful she couldn't read his mind though.
"FUCK THEM." She said loudly enough to garner the attention of the few people still milling about the garden.
He knew everything wasn't all better just because she'd said a few bad words, but he was happy to see her spirits brighten.
Just then the bells in the west tower began to ring, and everyone stopped what they were doing.
Cedric rose holding out his hand to Sofia.
"It's sundown."