Chapter 4.
Sophie finishes the final stitch and casts off her hook. She holds up two corners and inspects her finished crocheted blanket. She'd been working on it for four weeks, and was pleased with the finished item. It came with a tinge of sadness. It'd helped her come to terms with Granny's death over the past two weeks.
Sophie drops her hands onto her thighs, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. She didn't know how she got through the past two weeks. Somehow she's been able to keep everything running smoothly. She looks up to the ornate fireplace, to the small 'keepsake' urn they'd kept Granny in after her cremation. It was set center on the fireplace, over the grating that sometimes held Calciver when they stayed indoors.
Memories flooded back as she stares into space. Summer days spent picnicking by the lake, days spent at the markets. She looks over to the area Granny occupied downstairs. Little keepsakes litter the shelving from the various visits to the different towns and places around the country.
Sophie smiles at the trinket box on the side table, and she gets up and walks up to it. She carefully picks it up and opens it. She finds small bits of jewellery and gems hidden inside. Granny would sometimes just hold the bracelets when she told them stories about the good old days, before war and selfish diplomats started making the world a different place.
The world had started to become the place they all knew, but scars were hard to heal. Even Markl had remembered something of the early days when the world had seemed normal. Of course, that had also been the time he had lived with his parents. Just before the war seven years ago, Markl had shown magical prowess, and his parents put him under the instruction of Howl. A week after, Markl's house had been bombed with his parents in it, whilst he had been at lessons. Howl had then taken him on as his apprentice, letting him live at the castle and becoming his legal guardian. Since his marriage to Sophie, Sophie had also adopted him. Markl had no other living relatives and had refused, even at the tender age of six that he wasn't going to an orphanage.
Sophie quickly put the box down when she hears a knock on the door. She quickly ran to the door and thrusts it open. Standing against the midday sun was someone she hadn't seen in over two weeks, and hadn't been able to get hold of. She flew into his arms.
''Prince Justin!'' She exclaimed, hugging him tightly. Tears spring to her eyes, but she wasn't sure whether it was from not seeing him for so long, or Granny, or having to tell him about her.
''Sophie.'' He replied, his smile evident in his tone, giving her a hug back, but soon noticing something was wrong. He held her at arm's length as she put her hands to her eyes to wipe them. Prince Justin looks her over, and his look of concern made Sophie cry even more.
''Where have you been?'' She cries, trying to stop herself from crying, but only succeeding in crying even more. Justin rests her head against his shoulder as he led her into the castle.
''Hello Heen.'' Justin calls to the far corner of the room, and gets a breathy snort in return. Justin settles Sophie into the seat she'd recently vacated, and bends to his tip toes to look into her face.
''What's wrong, Sophie?'' He asked, not sure what to do, apart from taking his handkerchief out of his long sleeved shirt cuff and handing it to her. Even with two older sisters, he never seemed to know what to do when ladies cried; even when one of them was the most beautiful women he'd ever known.
Sophie hiccupped into silence, and in that time, Justin looked around the room. He took in the open curtain to Granny's room, to the small urn on the mantel piece. His eyes widen as he looked back to the Granny's old space.
''No!'' He gasps, staring back at Sophie. Sophie nods, her tears starting up again at the revelation. Justin sat back onto the floor, his knees pulled to his chest. ''What happened?''
Slowly, with lots of calming breaths and attempts at stopping her crying, she told him.
''I contacted your palace. They told me you were away, and that they would contact you. That was two and a half weeks ago.''
''No one told me.'' Justin whispered, shocked at what had happened. ''No one's been in touch with me for two weeks.'' He stands up and takes a few steps. ''I didn't even get told when I came back this morning. I dropped by because I hadn't been to see you all in so long.'' He sits in one of the dining table seats and puts his face in his hands.
The front door opens and Howl comes in, followed by a deflated Markl. Markl carries some grocery bags over the threshold, before dumping the two bags onto the table and storming upstairs.
''Markl.'' Sophie calls, but he ignores her and a few moments later, they hear his bedroom door slams. The echo reverberates through the castle. A small dot of light whizzes down from the upper floors and transforms into a floating Calciver.
''Geez, even heard that in the attic.'' He said, but in a much more subdued voice. They all look up the stairs. Howl walks over to Justin and shakes his hand.
''It's good to see you again Prince Justin.'' Justin stands and smiles slightly back.
''It's good to see all of you too, despite the situation I find you in.'' Howl nods, walks over to Sophie and takes her in a hug.
''We were wondering why you hadn't come sooner, even this morning it was mentioned.'' Howl tells Justin as Sophie buries her face into Howl's shoulder for a moment. Sophie moves out of the hug quickly to put the kettle on for tea.
''Unfortunately, I wasn't informed my end of what had happened.'' Justin tells Howl, his face full of grief. ''I would have been here, and damned the consequences, if only someone had told me. I don't understand why they wouldn't have.'' They fall into a silence as the kettle whistles. Sophie fills the four prepared cups and puts the kettle back onto the fire trivet. She takes the strainers off the top of the cups and outs milk in them.
''Come and get yours.'' She tells the boys, then picks up the other two. As Howl and Justin walks forward to grab a cup each, Sophie walks to the stairs. She carefully takes the cups of tea upstairs and sets them on the window sill next to Markl's room. She knocks lightly. A small scuffle of noise emanates from within the room, but she gets no answer.
''Markl, can I come in please?'' She asks softly. Still no answer, which usually meant for Markl that she could come in. She opens the door enough to allow her to take the teas in. Once she was in the room, she backs up slightly to close the door a bit, but not before a small light whizzes in. Neither of them seems to notice, and it settles itself on top of Markl's wardrobe, slightly behind the border at the top.
The room was mostly in darkness. The curtains were pulled together and only the small amount of fairy lights were on. The slight light cast an eerie shadow on the room. Sophie spotted Markl straight away on his bed, curled in a ball on his left side, so that he was facing away from the door.
''I've got tea for you, Markl.'' Sophie says softly, setting his mug on his bedside table and keeping hold of her own. She sits on his mattress next to his lower back and starts sipping her own tea. A few moments of awkward silence pass.
''Is there anything you want to talk about?'' Sophie asks. This was something they did every week anyway, they would sit down at a meal on a Friday and speak to each other about any worries they might have or any problems that may have risen over the past week. Over the past two weeks, Sophie and Howl had tried to keep up with this tradition, but they had met with silence, rebukes or flounces off whenever they'd tried. Sophie had hoped that by coming into his domain, i.e. his bedroom, that if they bought it to him, he might open up a bit more. She was starting to wonder if she was doing the right thing as the silence lengthened without any hint of ending soon.
Sophie continued to drink her cooling tea, whilst Markl's tea stood untouched and just as much cooled as Sophie's. By the time she'd finished it, there still was no word from Markl, and Sophie was feeling disheartened. But she wasn't going to give up that easily. Whilst tapping her feet slightly on the floor, she began to speak.
''look Markl, we understand what you're going through. We want to help you. Please speak to me.'' Nothing. Not even a twitch. Sophie looks over her right shoulder at Markl's face. Tears streak down his face, and he was pursing his lips in an attempt to not make a sound.
Sophie sighs and pulls him into a bone crunching hug. Markl tries to resist, but he had been trying for so long to hide his emotions, to varying degrees of success, his emotions just spilt over. He cried into Sophie's shoulder, breaking the dam he'd been holding onto.
They stayed like that for ten minutes. Sniffing and finally silent, but with tears still coursing down his face, Markl pulled away from the hug.
''I've lost my magic, Sophie.'' He blurted. ''I can't do my spells any more. I can't transform like I used to. I don't know what's happened.'' Sophie stared back, shocked. Markl's powers had been unprecedented. Even at thirteen, he had the powers of a wizard twice his age and education. He could do almost anything, influence the elements around him. Now, if what he was saying was true, Sophie wasn't sure what they could do. But it wouldn't be without trying to find out.