.o~O*O~o.

Sofia

.o~O*O~o.

Sofia had wasted the night with indecision.

Now she had Cedric's wand she could finally make her escape.

Her first instinct wasn't to run though. It was to burst from her room, wand in hand, and vanquish the enemy single handedly.

It wasn't in her nature to play the swooning princess waiting to be rescued. She was a woman of action, she always had been. Better to rush the throne room and kill Magnus, or battle the five hundred or so guards in and around the castle than slink away like a coward.

But killing Magnus would also mean having to kill Elliot.

He was the real villain in all this.

And though Sofia believed she was the stronger sorcerer, Elliot was playing with black magic. Magic dangerous and unpredictable enough she wouldn't use it even to win. Which convinced her any confrontation with Elliot, no matter who won, would result in her injury.

She had gone back and forth for hours. Until she'd finally come to the conclusion she wouldn't be playing Warrior Sorceress this time.

Cedric would never forgive her if she got herself killed.

And she would never forgive herself if her actions harmed their child.

Touching her stomach, Sofia felt a twinge of regret.

She'd been sure she was pregnant for almost two weeks, but had put off telling Cedric because they were going to their cottage in the woods after James's wedding.

It was there special place.

A strange little house by a stream, tucked deep in the woods, and built entirely around an enormous ancient oak tree.

It had been abandoned for a long time when they stumbled across it, but it wasn't anything a little magic couldn't fix.

They went there as often as they could now, just the three of them.

She and Miranda would shed their princess dresses, Cedric would leave his robes, and they would live like simple folk. She would cook all their meals. Cedric would tinker with his ever growing array of inventions. And Miranda would find a bevy of woodland creatures to play with. Giving Clover and Wormwood, who were both getting on in years, the chance to rest from being the constant companions of an exuberant five year old.

She'd planned out exactly how she would tell him. Sending Miranda off to play, while they had a quiet lunch, just the two of them.

Then there would have been no one around to hear her scream when he'd made joyful, ecstatic love to her in celebration!

Instead here she was cradling the beginnings of a small roundness alone.

Offhandedly she mused this was far earlier than she'd begun to show with Miranda. But Ruby had shown earlier and earlier with each of her pregnancies so Sofia thought this was probably normal.

Ruby….

She'd been so wrapped up in her own worries and fears she'd given very little thought to her friends in the village.

Looking out her window now she tried to see Dunwitty. The smoke had stopped rising from it two days ago, but she was too far away to know if anyone remained in the village or if they'd all been killed or fled.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a guard burst into her room.

"Princess, you're presence is required in the throne room."

The man closed the door again and left Sofia alone with a feeling of dread forming in her stomach.

Hurrying to her closet she tried to find something to wear.

Magnus had decided he didn't like her in black and so he'd taken her ball gown away.

The last time she'd used this room seriously was the two weeks before Miranda had been born. Other than that, when they were here, they lived in the west tower. All of her clothes were there.

Sofia tried to stifle a bolt of anger. All of her clothes were probably ribbons on the closet floor now.

Trying to find something, she frantically pushed hangers aside until she came across a lavender gown that was essentially a larger version of the dress she'd loved so much as a child. It was so far from her style now it made her feel a little strange putting it on, like trying to step back in time.

But it only had a few hooks at the back instead of the long column which was more typical of her formal gowns and that meant she could get into it on her own.

Struggling into the dress Sofia found it was a tad too tight.

The last time she'd worn it she was probably fifteen.

She hadn't grown a single inch since then, much to her dismay, but she had given birth.

When Sofia finally got the dress closed it was obvious how poorly it fit her now.

The neckline in this gown dropped to her shoulders and the bodice was too small, making her spill out the top.

Though she had only the slightest hint of roundness to her belly, her hips were fuller now than what the dress allotted and she felt like she could barely breathe.

Looking in the mirror, the only thing Sofia could think was she looked like a prostitute playing princess.

Still it would have to do.

"In for a penny, in for a pound," she sighed as she pulled the exact tiara she used to wear as a little girl from the shelves and jammed it on her head.

Leaving the closet she walked to the door and knocked on it from the inside.

The same guard opened it, and proceeded to walk in front of her all the way to the throne room. Two more flanked her from behind.

She wondered at how they were all so afraid of one little woman. But then they ought to be. No doubt Elliot and Graylock had informed them what she'd be capable of if they gave her even half an inch.

When they reached the throne room the guards opened the door for her and she entered alone.

There was a man standing at the foot of the throne.

Sofia tried to keep herself from gasping. He was wearing her Aunt Tilly's colors!

At the sound of the door, Magnus looked up from the paper he was reading and pinned her with something between a sneer and a leer.

"That's much better," he purred at her before motioning her to take the seat next to him.

Her mother's throne had been salvaged from the wreckage of the first night and whenever Magnus decided he'd like to scream and rage at her here instead of in her room, she was expected to sit in it.

Walking now, as regally as she could, she ascended the steps and sat, trying hard to tamp down on the urge to run to Tilly's messenger and shake him till the man told her everything he knew about her family.

"It seems your damn father needed more incentive than having to flee his castle through a picture, to realize he should leave Enchancia to a real king!" Magnus started.

Sofia gripped the edges of her mother's throne hard and willed herself not to look at him or make any reply. No matter which one she made it always seemed to be wrong.

"They tried to fight me at Ramblingham, but Elliot's magic won the day." He continued.

Sofia saw a malicious smile paint his face out of the corner of her eye.

"Your father and the rest of your family are on their way to Corinthia now, so says his messenger. All except your amazing husband." He laughed outright now, and Sofia couldn't help herself. She turned to him with wide eyes, desperate to know anything he would tell her about Cedric. "Here," he held out a paper to her, "why don't you read it directly from the cowards own pen."

Sofia all but ripped the paper out of his hand.

She read quickly, and then read it again, and again, trying to make it say something different.

Cedric repudiated their marriage.

He gave up all claim to her as his wife.

Sofia was reading over the four lines for the tenth time when Magnus dropped something into her lap.

Cedric's wedding ring.

A gold band with small rubies and diamonds inlaid around the entire outer surface. It was the match to the band she wore on her own finger. They'd created the rings themselves, to compliment her beautiful engagement ring.

Sofia couldn't form words. Instead she simply shook her head back and forth as tears sprung to her eyes.

It was a trick. It had to be.

"Where is my husband? What have you done with him? He would never take his ring off willingly."

Magnus just laughed at her some more, his fat belly shaking with his mirth.

"I haven't done anything with him. After I defeated your worthless family I sent word he was to bring your father's surrender himself. I was going to behead him just before we said our vows and you became my wife. But when the coward found out he wrote this and left it on his pillow before fleeing like the impotent craven he is. If you don't believe me ask your Aunt's messenger. "

She looked at the man standing below them, her eyes pleading with him to contradict Magnus.

"It's true your highness. I'm so sorry."

"And my family…they've fled to Corintha?"

The man didn't answer her this time. He just looked at the floor.

"You can go back to your room now, Sofia. I just wanted to share the good news with you." With that Magnus rose from her father's throne and waddled his way towards the dining room.

When he was gone, the messenger ran up the steps and took her by the arms, startling her.

"Princess," his voice was barely above a whisper, so soft even she had a hard time hearing him. "You're family have not fled, they're hiding at Glenbonnie."

Sofia looked at him and a wave of relief washed over her.

"And Cedric is there too?" She was already smiling and nodding as if he'd given her a response, but when he lowered his eyes and shook his head she felt her heart sink.

"He's not with your family Highness. No one knows where he is."

Sofia shut her eyes tightly, refusing to allow the breaking feeling in heart to take her over.

Looking up at the messenger she grabbed his hand in return.

"Tell my family I'm alright and that they shouldn't try to come for me. I can take care of myself. And when you see my husband tell him I love him. Tell him I'm counting on him to take care of Miranda. Tell him…tell him I'm taking care of myself and Winifred."

The messenger gave her a puzzled look, but promised to relay her message word for word.

"Now go, before you're hurt for talking to me."

The messenger kissed her hand, and bowed low before running down the steps and out of the throne room.

When he was gone, Sofia threw the hateful piece of paper off her lap and brought Cedric's ring to her lips.

"I don't believe it!"

Sofia looked down at the rings on her own finger. Taking them off, she put Cedric's on her finger first, then replaced her engagement ring, and finally her wedding band. Wearing them this way secured his larger ring so it wouldn't slip off. When it was done, she stood with purpose.

She was ready to leave now.

Once the guards had locked her back in her room, Sofia stripped off her to small dress and took the only other one that would fit her out of the closet.

A peasant dress she used to wear when she went on her story keeper adventures.

It was a loose purple dress that ended at her knees and had short bell sleeves and a scooped neck.

Slipping into it she found the dresses material generous enough to still fit well. The green velvet girdle that went with it, Sofia laced loosely, and the sturdy black flats she was hoping to find were still at the back of her shoe rack. Taking the matching cloak, she fastened it around her neck and went to pull Cedric's wand from underneath her mattress.

Lifting it above her head, Sofia prepared to say the words that would take her out of the castle when she realized she wasn't sure where to go.

Glenbonnie was over a hundred miles from Enchancia castle. It was a long distance for one person to go even with a wand as powerful as Cedric's. It might be better to teleport to the village and see if she could find a horse there.

If so she could make the journey to Glenbonnie by road. If not she could teleport herself in smaller distances until she finally made it there.

Sofia spoke the words, and was engulfed in a familiar wash of light.

When she materialized again, Sofia had only a moment to notice there were lights in some of the damaged buildings before she wretched violently.

Bent over double, she felt her stomach empty it's entire contents onto the dirt of the road and then continue until she'd heaved bile and even a little blood.

When it was over, she sat and cradled her stomach, pain running through her and dizziness making it hard to breathe.

She'd transported herself often enough she never got queasy from it anymore.

Putting her hand on her stomach she tried to smile, even though she felt more like crying.

"I take it that's your definitive answer on whether or not we're traveling by horse or magic." She spoke into the air.

When she felt her dizziness pass she stood up.

She was out of the castle. She was free.

Walking into the village she made her way through the empty streets, taking in the devastation all around her.

The bakery, the school house, her old home, they were all burnt out. The fields beyond the village and the garden's her father had planted were nothing more than scorched earth. Sofia's heart clenched and she felt tears pricking her eyes yet again.

When she rounded a corner though she saw a light on at Rubies' parent's home. Rushing over she knocked on the door.

Sofia heard the sound of muffled voices inside and shuffling steps, but she began to be afraid the Hanshaw's wouldn't answer.

"Mr. Hanshaw, Mrs. Hanshaw, please, please open the door." She hoped they would recognize her voice without her having to say who she was. She was afraid saying it out loud would bring soldiers from the castle down on her, ready to drag her back.

The door opened and Mr. Hanshaw stood there.

"Princess Sofia?" He looked at her astonished.

"I escaped."

A smile lit his face as he pulled her into the cottage, giving her a big hug before shutting and barring the door.

When Sofia got a good look around she realized there were at least thirty people crammed into the Hanshaw's home.

They were all injured.

Sofia saw Mrs. Hanshaw tending the miller's wife and Ruby, a baby slung on her back, checking the wounds of the daughter of the shoemaker who'd moved to town when she and her mother went to live in the castle.

"Most people are dead," Mr. Hanshaw told her sadly when he saw her bewilderment. "There's only about a hundred of us left alive.

Sofia hands flew to her mouth as tears started to form.

Mr. Hanshaw put his arms around her and let her cry until well after she'd soaked through his shirt.

Sometime during her tears both Ruby and her mother had come up to envelope her in hugs as well and Ruby had even cried some with her.

Jade and Lucinda had died trying to defend the village, along with just about everyone else she knew. Most of the people here were widows and orphans now.

Sofia cried until there were no more tears and then she sat at the Hanshaw's little table, numb for a while longer.

Eventually the Hanshaw's went back to tending their charges and as Sofia watched she realized she couldn't go to Glenbonnie.

With her family in hiding she was the closest thing the people of Enchancia had to a ruler. And while she'd never wanted or cared for a title, her father had taught her that part of being a monarch was being a guardian to your people.

Her people needed care now as they never had before.

Standing up, Sofia pulled out Cedric's wand.

Speaking a spell he'd taught her years and years ago, she created an exact replica of the enchanted feast. Sofia would have cried when she saw the centerpiece, a perfect roast turkey 'a la Cedric', but she'd been wrung dry. So she just clutched at his ring, and tried to ignore the aching hollowness in her stomach.

Mrs. Hanshaw was the first to see what she'd done.

"Thank you Sofia. They burnt everything and we ate the last of our food two days ago."

"Why don't we get everyone who can eat a plate and then you need to sit eat yourselves. You need to rest. I'll see what I can do for the injured."

Mrs. Hanshaw squeezed Sofia's arms and smiled through her tears.

Once everyone had eaten, Sofia sat next to a little girl who was crying.

It was easy to see her arm was badly broken and she was running a fever. She must have been in terrible pain these last days.

Lifting Cedric's wand she spoke the spell that would mend the bone and then another which conjured a beautiful, soft teddy bear. Giving it to the girl, she cast a sleep spell over her. Rest and then food were what she needed now.

"Don't leave us Princess." The girl said before she fell off.