Chapter Eight – Swans

When Sofia got home she went straight to Amber's room, not bothering to drop her backpack off in her room. Opening the door, she saw Amber look up with a smile and a piece of paper in her hand.

"So, what is the plan?" she asked, dropping her backpack near the door before walking over to her.

"A romantic boat ride!" Amber exclaimed as Sofia sat down next to her on the bed. "I planned everything after you left. Since none of our previous plans have worked I decided to combine all the romantic boat ride ideas from my books into one! At precisely five o'clock go up to Cedric's workshop and ask him to accompany you on a boat ride to see the floating lanterns show. The boat will be waiting for you down by the docks. Don't worry about missing dinner, I've told mom and dad that we'll be dining by ourselves."

Amber handed her a map and Sofia studied it. A red line marked a clear path down several rivers until finally ending at a large lake. The first marked location was the River of Trees, where the trunks grew up from the water and towered overhead. The trees would be in full bloom and at their most beautiful state.

"This is your first stop," Amber said, pointing to it. "And just to add a little more romance, I had the servants place a flock of swans there. Oh, it'll be absolutely beautiful!" Amber gushed, then moved her finger along the red line to another marked spot.

"This is where a band will be waiting, and as you swim by they'll be singing romantic songs. If Cedric asks, they'll say they're practicing for a singing competition held on boats."

She moved her finger along to the final marked spot, a lake. "This is where we'll release the lanterns after the sun has set, right behind the hill across from the lake. That will give you plenty of time to travel through the other romantic locations I've set up. Oh, and I've placed a book of romantic poems in the boat, just in case Cedric really gets in the mood and decides to read you poetry."

Sofia turned to her sister. "Oh, I don't know how to thank you, Amber. It all sounds so beautiful."

Amber smiled and looked down at her nails, pretending it was no big deal. "Oh, I'm just doing my job as your older and wiser sister, but you can pay me back by telling me all the juicy details afterwards."

Sofia laughed and nodded. "You got it."


At exactly five o'clock Sofia raced up to Cedric's workshop, trying to figure out a way to convince him to go with her. She knew he had a lot of work to do, and taking into account all the times she had distracted him the past few days, he might just say no. Then Sofia thought about all the hard work Amber had put into the plan, and made a promise to herself that she'd do whatever it took get him to accompany her on the boat ride. She arrived at the wooden door and gave a couple of knocks. A moment later it swung open and Cedric let out a sigh when he saw her standing there.

"What is it now?" he asked.

"I'm going on a boat ride to see the floating lantern show at Gooseberry Lake, and I'd like you to come with me," she said with a smile.

"I can't. I'm busy."

"It won't take long. They release the lanterns at sundown, and after that you can come back and work."

"Yeah, it's not like I need to sleep or anything," he replied sarcastically. "Why can't you just go by yourself?"

Sofia remembered how women in romance novels got what they wanted—they buttered the hero up. "I'm not strong enough to row the boat, but you are."

His eyebrows rose slightly at this, but he quickly covered it up, smiling a bit at the compliment. "Yes, I suppose I am." He paused and turned, glancing at his workshop. "But there's so much to do and—"

"Oh, but it would only take up an hour or two of your time. Like I said, I need someone strong to row the boat. I could never do it by myself."

Even before he answered she could see in his eyes that he would agree. "Well, I guess I could spare an hour or two."

Sofia clapped her hands in delight and then grabbed his, pulling him down the stairs. "Great, let's go!"

They found the boat exactly where Amber said it would be—down by the docks—but it wasn't the kind of boat Sofia was expecting. She had pictured a plain wooden rowboat with barely enough room for two people, but the boat tethered to the docks was so much grander. Sofia knew she never would've been able to row this thing by herself. Instead of the wooden benches she had been expecting, there were two plush, red velvet seats on either side, with a couple of fancy pillows and two footstools to complete the look. The wooden bottom she imagined was instead lined with deep red satin. The sides of the boat curved to meet at the ends, where two wooden poles rose up before curving outward. The gleaming wood of the poles reminded her of the bannister in the palace. It was more like a floating bed than a boat, and Sofia immediately blushed at the thought.

She turned to see Cedric's reaction and saw him staring at it, slightly less surprised than she was. He must be used to such extravagance, growing up a Royal Sorcerer, she mused. Even after ten years as a princess, she still found herself surprised by how grand everything was.

"Well, we'd better be on our way," Sofia said, grabbing Cedric's hand and pulling him over to the boat.

He helped her in, then took a seat across from her. A boatman handed Cedric the oars before releasing the rope that tethered them to the dock. Cedric slipped the oars through the small rings on either side of the boat and started to row. As he leaned back, dragging the oars through the water, one suddenly slipped out, hitting Sofia in the face with a cold blast of water.

She looked up at Cedric in shock, only to see her expression mirrored. "Sorry! I've never paddled a boat before."

Sofia smiled and laughed it off. "Oh, it's all right."

It took a few more tries—and a few near misses when water splashed up around them—but Cedric finally managed to get the hang of rowing. Sofia let out a sigh and leaned back, placing her elbow on the wooden surface behind her. She immediately jerked her arm away when she felt a sticky wet substance.

"The boat is wet," she said as she rubbed her elbow on her dress, and looked up to see Cedric furrow his eyebrows. He put the oars down and turned slightly, running a finger across the wooden surface behind him. He brought the finger up to his nose and sniffed it.

"It's a finisher for wood, to protect it from scratches. They must have just put it on if it's still wet."

"Is it dangerous?" Sofia asked, unable to keep the worry out of her voice.

Cedric snorted. "No, it's perfectly safe, but I wouldn't touch it."

Sofia felt her body relax again as he picked up the oars and began to row. They sat in silence, with Sofia enjoying the scenery and Cedric concentrating on what he was doing. Finally they came to a bend in the river, and Sofia pulled the map out from a pocket in her dress. Unfolding it, she scanned the parchment for a brief moment.

"Take the right bend," she said, and Cedric nodded. A couple more minutes passed in silence before Cedric finally spoke.

"Is everything all right?"

"Oh, yes. My hair is almost dry now," she replied with a smile.

"No, I mean at home. Is there anything wrong?"

Sofia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "No, of course not. Why do you ask?"

"These past few days you've been visiting my workshop a lot…well, a lot more than usual."

"Oh. Well, I like hanging out with you," Sofia replied with a shrug. Cedric opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then closed it. "What is it?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a princess, why do you want to spend your time hanging out with me?"

Sofia frowned. Couldn't he see how much he meant to her—that he was her best friend? But Amber wouldn't like it if she said that; it would be admitting her feelings.

"Because pestering you is so much fun!" Sofia joked instead, and Cedric smiled.

"But shouldn't you be attending parties or going on dates with a prince?" She noticed that his grip on the oars tightened when he said that, turning his knuckles white.

"Maybe I don't want a prince," Sofia replied with a shrug.

He looked confused by that. "Then what do you want?"

Sofia debated whether or not she should say what she thought in that moment. It wasn't exactly telling Cedric how she felt, but it was a big hint, and she wasn't sure where the line was about how much she could tell him. Finally, she took a breath and just decided to tell him exactly what she wanted.

"I want someone who holds me when I cry and who I feel so comfortable with that I don't mind," she began, remembering how comfortable and safe she felt when he held her after her fell from the ledge. "I want someone who I can laugh with and just be silly sometimes. I want someone who will always be there for me, no matter what. I want a best friend."

Cedric looked like he wanted to say something, but just as he opened his mouth, Sofia caught sight of the Forest of Trees up ahead and let out a gasp. Cedric stopped rowing and turned around to see what it was. The branches of the trees formed a canopy above them, but the most amazing part were the thousands of tiny pink buds that were just beginning to bloom on the branches. When Sofia finally lowered her eyes from the amazing sight and was greeted with another: hundreds of swans swimming all around them.

"Where did they all come from?" Cedric asked, and Sofia turned her gaze to see his eyes on the swans. She smiled and gave a shrug. Even though Amber had told her about the swans, she never imagined there would be so many, or how beautiful it would look.

As they glided under the cover of the trees Cedric lifted the oars from the water to avoid hitting the swans. They covered nearly every visible part of the water. Sofia got worried when the boat slowed down and stopped. They only had a limited amount of time before the sun set and Amber released the lanterns. Cedric must have gotten tired of waiting, because he slowly dipped the oars back into the water and moved them through the water. The oar bumped one of the swans on the rump and he flapped his wings, spinning around to glare at Cedric.

"Hey, I'm swimmin' here!" he yelled, but Sofia knew Cedric wouldn't be able to understand him.

"Be careful," Sofia said. Cedric gave her a look before removed the oars and then dipping them into the water again. He moved them more forcefully through the water that time. Most of the swans moved out of the way, but one swan didn't notice the oars.

The wooden paddle hit him and he let out a cry. "Oh, my back! My back!"

"He hit Uncle Kenny!" one of the swans cried, and the other swans started squawking angrily.

"Attack!" another cried.

They all started flapping their wings wildly and rose in the air. They formed a line and began dive-bombing Cedric, delivering painful pecks. He turned and yanked an oar out of the ring, then started whacking the birds as they swooped down.

"Stay back! Stay back!" he yelled, swinging the paddle wildly. Water droplets were flung in every direction—some of them hitting Sofia.

"Don't hurt them!" Sofia cried, grabbing his arm to stop him. She didn't want Cedric to get hurt, but she didn't want the swans to get hurt either, especially since they were just defending their uncle. She grabbed the oar and held it out away from them to stop some of the blows raining down on Cedric.

"We're sorry! We'll leave!" Sofia called out. "We'll leave right now, just let us!"

The swans stopped their assault for a brief moment, but continued to squawk angrily as they landed in the water and crowded around the boat.

"Get out of here!" one of them yelled, reaching over the side to peck Cedric's hand. He let out a yelp and raised the oar to smack the swan, but Sofia took it before he could and slipped it back through the ring.

"Let's just get out of here," she pleaded Cedric. His eyes narrowed into slits, but he grabbed the oars with white knuckles and rowed away. Sofia looked over his appearance and felt terrible. His usually neat hair was disheveled and he had quite a few tears in his robe from the pecking.

"Those demonic ducks," he muttered under his breath once they were far enough away. Sofia was tempted to mention that they were swans, not ducks, but didn't think it would help the situation any. It would be best to just move on to the next spot and hope nothing else went wrong.


References. So many references. :P

A reply to Guest: Don't worry, there will be some affection from Cedric in the next chapter. :) Thanks for reading!

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