Author's note: I struggle so much with chapters where there's awkwardness between characters, because I find it hard to keep the scenes going. So this one really gave me fits until the end.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Cedric cringed at a voice he knew all too well as he turned a corner, spying the Steward in the midst of lecturing an equally familiar little girl. While he watched Sofia shrink away from Baileywick, he debated leaving her to her fate and simply taking a detour back to his tower. She's none of my business. He repeated words that were becoming a mantra of sorts lately, though he rarely had the good sense to follow his own advice on the matter. "Just look at your gown! What do you have to say for yourself?" Sure enough, Sofia's dress was caked with dirt, and she was holding the top layer of skirts up so she could use it like a basket, no doubt to carry her rabbit's lunch up to the tower in secret.
"I-I-" Sofia stammered, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"I asked Princess Sofia to gather some herbs for me." Cedric interrupted, coming to stand at the child's side. Baileywick cleared his throat, regarding the pair with palpable contempt.
"Cedric. Why am I not surprised that you're involved." He spat out the Sorcerer's name like a curse, and Cedric had to remind himself that he was no longer a boy, and he actually outranked the older man, now. "You've been nothing but trouble since the day you were born."
"Please don't be cross with him. I simply wanted to be helpful, and I'm the one who was running!" Sofia burst out before Cedric could retort, begging for forgiveness on the Sorcerer's behalf.
"Fine, but let this be a warning for both of you. Sofia, don't get yourself involved with such shameless people." His tone filled with even more venom as he turned his attention to Cedric. "If I catch you treating the children as your personal servants again, I will have no choice but to take the matter straight to King Roland." With that, he did an about face, stalking off in the opposite direction. Cedric waited until Baileywick's back was out of view to let out a deep sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry." Sofia whispered, tugging on the Sorcerer's sleeve, though she kept her head down, hiding her face from him. "I caused trouble for you when I promised that I wouldn't."
"I can't stand that fucking man." Cedric growled, rubbing his face as he ignored her apology. "Those for the creature?" He gestured to the plants bundled in her soiled skirt, and Sofia gave a soft nod.
"I found vegetables planted in the side garden. Even some carrots." She was still barely audible, but seemed to cheer up slightly. "I'm a little late, since I had to dig them up myself. Clover must be really hungry by now."
They walked to the tower together, pausing at the door so Cedric could unlock the workshop. Once inside, Sofia went straight to task, depositing her small bounty on the table and taking the rabbit out of his cage so he could eat lunch. Cedric kept a discreet eye on her, wondering if he should try to lift the girl's spirits. I wouldn't even know how to do something like that. He concluded, sinking into his desk chair. Her mood isn't my problem, anyway.
"Mister... Have you really known Baileywick all your life?" She broke the silence a while later. Why is it that she calls him by his name?
"Unfortunately." He groused, wishing she had chosen any other topic besides the Steward.
"Was he always so...?" Sofia threw up her hands, at a loss for a good word to adequately describe how Baileywick made her feel.
"Strict?" Cedric supplied, a mild word for the man, as far as he was concerned, and Sofia nodded, content with the term. "Just stay out of his way from now on, alright?"
"I think Clover's getting bigger." She mused after another pause. Grateful for the change of subject, Cedric joined her at the worktable to examine the animal.
"So he has. He'll be big enough to release soon." This was clearly the wrong thing to say, judging by the look of panic on the princess's face.
"Oh, but... He wouldn't know the first thing about living as a wild rabbit." She replied anxiously. "He might get eaten, or have trouble finding food. He's used to being a pet, now." The girl had a point, Cedric reluctantly admitted to himself. The bunny couldn't have been more than a few days old when she found him, there was no way he'd survive if they just deposited him back in the gardens.
"I suppose he could stay a little longer, but you should try to find someone who can take proper care of him." He relented, returning to his desk. Truthfully, he didn't have anything pressing to do, and it was technically his day off, but for some reason it was far easier to spend Sofia's visits with his nose buried in work, so he shuffled through his spell books in search of a distraction. I never know what to say to her... Besides, she's just here for the rabbit. It should be fine if we don't talk.
Unable to find any busywork, he wordlessly retreated to the curtained off room adjoining the workshop, selecting a book of fairy tales and retiring to the sofa. About mid-way through the first story, he heard the soft clank of the rabbit's cage door sliding shut and assumed that Sofia would be leaving soon.
"What are you reading?" The girl questioned, claiming a spot beside him to peek over his shoulder.
"I told you everything but the workshop was off limits." Cedric mumbled, not looking up from his book. "You move like a damned cat, you know that?" Gesturing to her bare feet as he added the last part, he shut the book and set it on the cushion beside him, planning to drag the girl out of the tower.
"I didn't mean to interrupt, I was just thinking that maybe..." She paused, deciding against whatever she was about to say, but not before the sorcerer's curiosity could get the best of him. "Never mind. I'm sorry to interrupt." She stood to leave, and he knew he should let her. That's what he wanted, to be left alone in his tower, the sooner the better.
"Finish your sentence." He ordered, wrapping a hand around her small wrist to halt her exit. "If you want something, you should just say so." Her cheeks glowed as she stared down at him with those wide, jewelled eyes, and Cedric instantly regretted choosing this moment to examine her.
"Would you read it to me?" He released her wrist in surprise, scoffing at the request. "Sorry, it was a silly idea." He handed her the book, but she shook her head instead of accepting it, and the sorcerer finally grasped the meaning behind her request.
"You mean to tell me you can't?" He demanded, but the memory of the wedding ball crept up, discrediting that theory. "No, you read the spell..."
"I can do it a little.. a-and sound certain letters out." Cedric's heart raced as he realised what a mistake he'd made.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" He demanded, growing more agitated by the second, and finding it easier to blame her for not telling him sooner than to deal with his guilt. It's just dumb luck that nothing terrible happened to her. When he glanced back up, Sofia was disappearing through the curtain.
"Get back here, brat! Don't just leave when someone's talking to you." It was too late, according to the sound of his tower door shutting behind the child. He frowned down at the book beside him, the one he now wished he'd just read when she asked him to. It was such a simple request. She's none of my business. He insisted yet again. With a groan, he hurried out of the tower, slamming the door behind him.
He caught up to her halfway down the stone staircase, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around to face him properly.
"I am not your father! I refuse to accept the burden of reading your bedtime stories while you remain ignorant." Sofia swallowed hard, squeaking out an 'Okay' that barely passed for speech. Cedric curled his fists at his sides, trying to persuade himself to shut up and go back to the workshop before he said something stupid. "But... if you want to learn, I'm willing to teach you." And... there it was. Sofia threw her arms around his waist before he could stop her, though he did pry himself free as fast as possible, straightening his robe in irritation.
"You would really do that?" She grinned up at him, undeterred by the harsh manner in which he'd made the suggestion. "That would be amazing!"
"I have conditions. You'll learn Latin, too, in case you get it in your head to go fucking around with magic again. And if you miss a single lesson, that's the end of the whole experiment." Cedric ticked off the details of the arrangement, already sure he would come to regret the entire thing. "If that's agreeable, we'll start tomorrow."
"There's school tomorrow." Sofia responded, chewing her lip as she waited for his reply.
"Before school, then. Just this once you can come downstairs and wake me if I'm not up." With that, he took his leave, berating himself for getting involved even more than he already was. It just irked him to think no one had bothered to teach the child to read.
...
Sofia rose with the sun, stretching well rested limbs as she threw her legs over the side of her window seat. Unable to fasten all the trappings of royal clothing by herself, she dug one of her old dresses from the back of her closet and threw it over her head, then hurried out of her room and down the increasingly familiar path to Cedric's tower.
Assuming he would still be sleeping, she didn't bother to knock, instead inching the door open until she could squeeze through. On the other side of the barrier, the sorcerer leaned against his worktable, sipping from a mug as he watched her with narrowed golden eyes. She bowed her head apologetically, waiting to be invited in properly before taking another step inside.
"Knock, brat." His voice was hoarse, and his face was drawn, leaving Sofia to wonder if he'd even been to bed as she lifted a hand to rap her knuckles against the door. He acknowledged her with a slight nod, and she scurried the rest of the way into the tower.
"I thought you'd be sleeping." She explained, aware that the reason didn't help her case any. Cedric grunted his displeasure through another mouthful of hot liquid. "What's that?" She ventured.
"Coffee." He replied, setting it on the table beside him. Sofia eyed it, thinking about how good the nearly black drink smelled. Cedric smirked and lifted the cup again, holding it out to her. "Want a sip?" Sofia eagerly accepted the gesture, only to regret it seconds later when the bitter fluid hit her tongue, making her gag and sputter. The only thing that made the experience worthwhile was the quiet laughter the sorcerer tried to hide behind his glove.
She stuck her tongue out in an over-exaggerated expression of disgust, secretly delighting in the way it made him all the more amused. "How can you drink that?" She demanded.
"They say it's an acquired taste." He told her, finishing off the beverage in one large gulp. "But really, no one would drink it if it weren't for the side effect." Sofia wondered what he meant, but was loath to admit that she didn't already know, so she decided to change the subject.
"So... you said that you would-" Before she could finish, Cedric waved her into the library, placing the same book she'd seen him with the day before into her hands. He sat on the sofa, and she followed suit, scooting as close to the man as she could get away with. He smelled like the coffee and smoke, hints of the aromas she'd come to associate with his potions blended in, and she smiled to herself as he reached across her to open the cover and thumb through to a predetermined page, marked with a folded corner at the top.
"We'll start with this one, just because I like it the best..." He instructed, placing his index finger below the first word. "Go ahead." Sofia knew this one, and felt herself relax as she read it confidently.
"That's easy, it's 'sun'." Cedric let out a soft 'mhmm', sliding his finger to the next cluster of letters. "M-m..."
"Double O sounds like 'ooh'." He informed her. Sofia did as he said, and soon they were on to the next word, which he read for her, telling her that it was a name, so it would be too difficult to sound out properly.
As seemed to often be the case, right around the time that Sofia began wishing she could stay forever, it was time to leave.
"I only made it through the first few sentences." She complained, hoping he would tell her to stay, even though she was sure he wouldn't. Just as she expected, he stood, shooing her out of the library.
"I already told you, you can't be in the tower during school. Besides, I have work to do." She chanced one more wistful gaze in his direction before slipping out of the tower.
Poor Cedric... His walls are crumbling, but he's too stubborn to admit it, yet. :P