4.
Once Sofia was back at the castle, she hesitantly left Cedric to speak to the king. The sorcerer was in a lot of pain, and it had steadily gotten worse. Her hands were shaking and when she finally saw the king she broke down in tears.
She told him everything as clearly as she could, and he nodded. Guards had been sent to retrieve the man, but she had no idea when she would know if he was in custody or not. King Roland reassured her that he would tell her as soon as he learned anything. He also informed her that it would be best if she stayed within the castle grounds for a while until everything got sorted. It was late so he insisted she go get dinner and then go to bed. She didn't want to though. She wanted to check on Cedric. However, the king had ordered it and she couldn't disobey him. With a shaky curtsy she left to pick up a quick meal and then go back to her library.
Once inside her library she felt a heaviness settle over her. She had taken a sandwich from the kitchen, but after a few nibbles had given up on it. She looked out her window to see that the light was on in Cedric's tower. The library was too quiet, so she finally retreated to her room.
Even though she was exhausted she was too unsettled to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she felt the knife on her throat, and had to rub the sensation away.
#
Cedric applied the salve, but it only took the edge off. He cursed and tried to think. Perhaps if he added more enchanted aloe to the mixture, he thought There was a knock on the door, and he got up to answer it. He found himself hoping to see a pair of big blue eyes but instead the King himself stood there.
"Your majesty," Cedric said, trying to bow. Unfortunately the pain in his arm was making him care very little for propriety. He leaned against the wall by the door, hoping the king would leave soon.
"How is your arm?" King Roland asked.
"Not very good," Cedric answered. He pushed off of the wall and staggered back to his desk. The pain was throbbing a little harder now, so he began crushing ingredients in his mortar. This time he added a lot of enchanted aloe. If this didn't work he wasn't sure what he would do. The pain was becoming intense.
"Sofia was quite rattled, can you manage to tell me what happened? She said you were attacked by someone looking for the book."
"Yes, we were." Cedric added the final ingredient and then ground the mixture into a thick paste. "And I found a symbol from the book on the cabin. This doesn't bode well, sire. That man was practicing very dark magic."
"I though black magic didn't work," King Roland said. Cedric applied the salve onto his burn, and felt a bit of temporary relief. The pain remained, but it was manageable. Hopefully it would heal quickly.
"I thought so too," he pointed at the burn on his arm, "However it would appear we were wrong."
"What does this mean?" King Roland asked.
"Hopefully nothing, but we won't know until the man in the woods is questioned."
"I want you to study that book, Cedric. And then maybe we should find a way to destroy it."
"Of course, your majesty." Cedric nodded, and again hoped that the king would leave. Of course he planned to study the book, but destroying it was another matter entirely. If the black magic spells worked he wanted to know all about them. It would take some time to translate the book, and then he wanted to try one of the spells. He knew he shouldn't, but perhaps he could find a spell with components that weren't too terrible. The king didn't need to know any of this.
Cedric knew what the rumors about him were, and the temptation of silencing those rumors with magic, even dark violent magic, was too strong to resist.
#
Sofia woke up after a horrible night of tossing and turning. She wasn't even sure she had fallen asleep, but she must have. She leaned up, and rubbed her eyes. Her stomach grumbled and she left to seek out the kitchens.
As she sat quickly eating her breakfast the servants around her were unnaturally quiet. They looked at her and they whispered. She knew they were probably exchanging rumors about what had happened last night, but she was in no mood to discuss it. She just wanted to finish her meal, check on Cedric, and then get back to work. Claiming some normalcy back into her life is what she thought she wanted. But then there was all the business about that book. Cedric hadn't told her what, if anything, he had found in the cabin. Maybe he could tell her today. Even though it scared her she was still fascinated. It was like an adventure out of one of her books.
After she finished eating she rushed up the stairs to the tower and knocked on Cedric's door. She bounced from one foot to the other, impatient to see him. He had looked so poorly the night before, and she wanted desperately to see that he was doing better now. Her heart was beating faster and harder until she thought it would burst out of her chest. She tried to ignore her building worries, and knocked again. She was growing more and more anxious with each second.
The door opened slowly, and there he stood. He wasn't wearing his sorcerer's robe. In fact he wasn't wearing much at all, just pants. Her breath caught, and she saw his arm. It was wrapped up in a white bandage, but the skin around it looked red. His eyes were blood-shot and swollen, and his whole body seemed to tremble.
He didn't say anything, just moved aside and let her through. Then he staggered back to the desk where he was working.
"Cedric," she whispered. She blinked away tears, knowing now wasn't the time to break down into hysterics. "What's wrong with your arm?"
"I don't know," he muttered. There were books scattered all over the tower. Vials, beakers, decanters, and bowls of ingredients were strewn about. There was a horrible mix of herbal smells in the air.
"Have you been doing this all night? By yourself? You're trying to heal your arm aren't you?" Sofia gasped. She rushed to his side and looked over his shoulder to see what he was currently working on.
"Yes, I can't seem to heal the burn." He traced a list of ingredients for an anecdote for poison. So it looks like he was getting desperate.
"Does it hurt?" she asked.
"Yes." His words were clipped, and she knew that the answer should have been obvious.
"What have you tried?" she grabbed his shoulder so he would look at her.
"Everything," he snapped. "Now, if you don't mind I need to get back to work." He didn't move, but he was glaring at her. She fought off any hurt she might feel from his words, it was the pain talking.
"A salve for burns?" she asked.
"Obviously."
"Ointment for wounds?"
"Of course."
"Pain relievers?"
"Yes, yes!"
"What about a counter-curse?" she asked. Cedric opened his mouth, but then snapped it shut again. His eyes grew wide and he jumped up from the chair. He ran, only stumbling a little bit, to one of his bookshelves and pulled out a large gray book.
"I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner," he grumbled.
"How can I help?" she asked, looking over his shoulder again. He opened the book and flipped through the pages.
"You can't help," he said. Then he stopped, and closed his eyes, "But, you already did help. Thank you for your suggestion." His hands were shaking as he resumed turning the pages.
"Well, I can get ingredients for you, or smash them. Mix things. Anything, really. I'm not leaving you until your arm is better." Sofia put her hands on her hips, and dared him with her eyes to argue. He didn't. She might get in trouble for neglecting the library, but so be it. This was more important. A surge of anger at the king and the servants of the castle hit her, why had they just left him up here to deal with this alone?
"Grab that jar of white petals over there," Cedric said, pointing.
"Ok," she said, handing over the jar once she had retrieved it.
"Can you place 4 of the petals into here." Cedric pointed at a black cauldron. She nodded and did as he told her. He had her retrieve and add several more ingredients, and then pour a thick purple liquid over it all. There was a sizzling and the mixture began to melt.
"Is it supposed to do that?" she asked.
"Yes, stir please." Cedric's voice sounded so weak. He was carefully unraveling the bandage to reveal the burn. It was blistered and angry, Sofia had to look away. She focused on stirring, and fought off the fear.
"How much longer?" she asked, stirring vigorously. This just had to work, she thought.
"That's good. Take this," he handed her a clean rag. "And put it in the mixture. Let it soak up as much as possible, then, um, can you, apply it?" Cedric pointed weakly at his wound.
"Of course," she said, doing as he had instructed. She dipped the rag in, and let it soak up as much of the thick strangely-sweet smelling liquid as she thought it could. Then she placed it directly on the burn. Cedric hissed, and jerked back, but when she tried to pull it away he placed his hand over hers and pressed down onto the wound.
Their eyes met, and Sofia held her breath. She was desperate for a sign that this had worked, and that the burn was gone. Cedric's lips parted ever so slightly, and Sofia raised her eyebrows in silent questions.
"It worked," he said finally. He slowly pulled his hand away from her and removed the rag. Under the mess of the goop his skin appeared normal. The redness was gone.
"Oh, Cedric!" Sofia cried. She threw her arms around him and pulled him into an awkward embrace. He had to grab the desk to keep them both from toppling over onto the floor. "I should have come back last night to check on you. I'm so sorry," she said. He felt stiff in her arms so she pulled away, blushing at what she had done. And at how nice it had felt, if she was honest with herself.
"Don't apologize," he said. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears and smiled at him.
"Sorry about that, I just felt so relieved," she said.
"Don't worry about it, but I really need to get some sleep, so…"
"Oh! Right," Sofia said. She didn't want to leave, but knew that she should. "Do you need any help getting to your bed?" she asked.
"N-no." Cedric turned his back to her and shifted some of the books on his desk around.
"Ok, I should probably get back to the library anyway…" Sofia trailed off. She didn't want to get fired after all. Even if her first few days had been so trying. Sofia let herself out, and walked solemnly back to the library. Even though she knew that Cedric must be exhausted, she wanted to stick around and ask him questions. But, it wasn't her place. What would the castle steward, or even the king, say if they found out she was trying to shirk her duties in favor of spending time with the sorcerer? In a few days she would have a free day, and could maybe approach Cedric then.
#
Cedric covered his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. The pain was gone. Most of it anyway, his head still throbbed from lack of sleep, food, and water. Sleep, he decided, was priority. He needed to forget the way she had looked at him, the way she had touched him, and even hugged him. She was a distraction, he reminded himself. There was a book to translate, and it could possibly be the key to everything he ever wanted.
He stepped carefully down to his room, trying to focus on anything but the montage of images flashing through his mind. The librarian smiling at him, laughing, humming, worrying, biting her lip, flipping her hair, looking into his eyes.
Cedric shook his head and collapsed on his bed. Sleep came easily, for once.
A/N: sorry about the wait! Chapter 5 will likely take some time as well, but next week I'll have more free time to spend on this... I feel like it's starting kind of slow? opinions? I know where I want to go with this, but not sure how long/short it will be I'm sort of just trying to let the story set it's on pace. I would love some feedback :) and thanks for everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed so far - you guys rock.