Chapter Nine – Sparks Fly

She unfolded the map and looked at the next destination. A peaceful pond with a band playing. She smiled to herself when she heard the sweet sound of singing up ahead, accompanied by instruments. As they drew closer, she could make out the words.

"Now's your moment, floating in a blue lagoon. Boy, you better do it soon, no time will be better," they sang, and Sofia smiled when she recognized the tune. They rounded a bend in the river and the band came into view.

A plain wooden boat was floating off to the side with a group of three men inside. They each held a different instrument, and wore such colorful clothes. She was delighted with the bold patterns and variety of colors. The singer in the band wore the flashiest clothes—a bright orange shirt with colorful diamond patterns and a pair of bright purple pants. Unlike the rest of the band members, he stood and shook a pair of maraca's as he sang—his dreadlocks swinging from side to side as he swayed along with the music.

"Sha-la-la-la-la-la, don't be scared, you got the mood prepared. Go on and kiss the girl," he sang, looking intently at them. Cedric gave him once glance and let out an irritated sigh, dropping his gaze.

"I hate this song," he muttered under his breath as he pulled the oars through the water.

Sofia felt a frown tugging at her lips. If he hated the music playing then it obviously wouldn't work. She lifted her head and put her hand on the side of the boat, leaning slightly over the edge.

"Excuse me," she called out, and the band immediately stopped. "Do you perhaps know any other songs?" She made sure her voice was sweet so she didn't come across as rude.

The lead singer gave her a smile in return. "Certainly, Your Majesty."

He turned to his band members and began shaking his maracas to an upbeat tune. They caught on quickly and began playing along.

"How does she know that you love her? How do you show her you love her?"

Sofia turned her gaze back to Cedric. "Is this song better?"

"It's tolerable," he replied, his face unreadable. Sofia wasn't encouraged by his answer, but she tried to remain optimistic. Tolerable was certainly better than his dislike for the other song. As they played on Sofia noticed that Cedric gradually turned his head towards the other boat, as if listening intently.

"Well, does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?" At this line Cedric's hand paused and he looked down, as if deep in thought. Sofia smiled, thinking perhaps the plan was working; however, a moment later he looked up, as if broken out of some spell and began rowing again. Soon, the sound of singing and instruments faded until she could no longer hear it.

A few minutes later she could see the river emptying into Gooseberry Lake. She looked up at the sky to see the sun still fully above the hill. They were a bit early. Oh well, maybe they could make use of the book of poems Amber left in the boat. As soon as they reached the middle of the lake Cedric dropped the handle and laid down on the red cushion, pressing a hand against his forehead.

"Oh, thank goodness we're here!" he panted, looking exhausted. Sofia wondered how they would get back with him in this condition, and made up her mind that she would help him row back when the time came.

"Are you all right?" Sofia asked after a couple of minutes. He finally sat up and gave a nod.

"Yes, I'm fine," he replied, sitting up, though he still looked a bit faint. She leaned forward and looked all along the bottom before she spotted the book Amber had been talking about. Love Poems, was written on the front in gold lettering.

"We're a little early. We could read out loud while we're waiting," she suggested, holding the book out for him.

His nose crinkled when he glanced down at the title. "I really can't stand love poems, Sofia."

She could feel her shoulders sag as she drew her hand back and placed the book next to her. "Oh. Why is that?"

"They just…they sound so insincere. They all sound the same because they all use the same clichés over and over again."

Sofia glanced at the plush red carpeting as she thought about all the love poems she'd ever read. Her eyes widened when she realized he was right—they all did sound the same, in a way.

"Well, I suppose that's because love is a universal feeling," she replied with a smile.

He shrugged. "Perhaps, but that doesn't mean every poem has to sound the same. All I want is a little bit of originality, or at least a more straightforward way of saying it. Instead of all that pomp and show, they could just say the three letter phrase."

Sofia had to chuckle at that, but also felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She wondered what he would think if he knew everything she had done to gain his attention over the last few days—all the pomp and show she had organized, as he called it. "Okay, so no love poems."

Just when Sofia was ready to admit this had been a total disaster Cedric gave her a small smile. "But I can still remember some poems my mummy ready to me when I was a boy."

She immediately perked up. "Oh, I'd love to hear them."

"All right." He sat up straighter and cleared his throat.

"If life be time that here is lent,

And time on earth be cast away,

Whoso his time hath here misspent,

Hath hastened his own dying day…" he began.

By the time he was finished Sofia was clapping her hands in approval. "That was beautiful. Do you know any others?"

He gave her a smile, and Sofia thought to herself that maybe tonight wasn't a total disaster, even if it wasn't quite what Amber had planned. A sudden light caught Sofia's eyes, and her gaze slipped past Cedric to see the first of the lanterns being released from behind the hill. She let out a gasp of awe, causing him to turn around in his seat. He gazed at them with her as more and more lanterns were released into the sky, lightning up the lake with a soft yellow glow. It was more beautiful than Sofia could have imagined.

"Wow," she heard Cedric whisper, and her grin widened at his reaction. He turned and she felt a fluttering feeling in her stomach when he gave her a rare smile. As they gazed at each other his smile slowly faded into a serious expression, and he leaned forward. Sofia was only vaguely aware that a floating lantern had landed on the wooden pole behind Cedric.

"Sofia, earlier when you said—" he began, but suddenly the smell of something burning filled her nose, and she turned her eyes up to see the curved wooden end of the boat in flames, caused by the lantern.

"Cedric!" she cried, pointing at it. He jumped and then spun around in his seat, taking notice of the fire. He reached into his pocket and whipped out his wand. He waved his hand and opened his mouth to say a spell, but as the wand slipped his between his fingers as he flicked his wrist and landed with a plop in the water.

"Oh, Merlin's mushrooms!" he cried, hands flying to his face.

Sofia leaned over and cupped her hands, scooping up some water before throwing it on the flames. There was a loud hiss as the water touched the fire, but it did little good as the fire grew and spread. Sofia heard a crackling behind her and turned to see another lantern had landed on the other wooden end, and was quickly engulfing the boat in flames. Black smoke curled all around them and licked at the edges of the boat. Sofia brought one arm up to cover her mouth and nose as she leaned over and scooped up more water.

Cedric took her lead and leaned over the edge just as Sofia did. Suddenly the boat gave a lurch beneath them. She could only let out a short scream before the boat capsized and they tumbled into the cold water. She could only see darkness as the icy water swirled around her, shocking her senses and freezing her bones in place. Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and dragged her to the surface, coughing and sputtering.

"You're all right," she heard Cedric say, and she turned to see him floating only inches away from her. His hair hung in wet strands of black and gray around his face, while concern shone in his eyes. She suddenly felt warmer than before, and she knew it had little to do with the arms wrapped around her. The once floating lanterns were coming back down, going out with a hiss as they landed on the water around them.

Sofia coughed and pushed the wet strands of brown hair away from her face. "It doesn't make sense. Fire doesn't spread that fast."

"It was the wood finisher," Cedric grumbled. "It's extremely flammable."

"Sofia? Cedric?" she heard Amber's voice call from the shore. Sofia reluctantly turned her eyes away from Cedric to see her sister standing on the bank, a servant with a lantern next to her. "What are you doing in the water?"

"Oh, the boat caught on fire," Sofia said, biting down on her lip. "And then we accidentally tipped it over."

Amber looked as determined as ever when she heard this. "Well, come on out before you catch a cold."

Cedric's hold on her tightened as he swam to shore. Amber pulled out a handkerchief from her fur coat and gave it to Sofia. "Here—to dry yourself with."

Sofia shook her head good naturedly at the small piece of cloth, but took it and began wiping the cold lake water from her face. "I had the coachman drive me here. You can ride back with me."

Sofia sat on her bed, trying to dry her hair. After they arrived back at the castle Sofia had immediately been escorted to the bathing room, where a warm bath had been drawn for her. After that she had gone straight back to her room and changed into nice warm clothes, wondering if Cedric was all right. She supposed he was, since he had a bath in his tower, though she wasn't sure the water would be heated. Still, he must have a spell for that, or something.

As Sofia pondered these things she heard her door creak open and turned to see Amber walk in, a book in her hand. Sofia almost wanted to groan. She admired her tenacity, but after all their failed attempts, it was becoming clear that nothing was working.

"I've got another plan," she announced as she walked over to Sofia's bed, sitting down on the edge.

"It's no use, Amber. Nothing we do works."

"That's why we have to keep trying."

Sofia let out a sigh, looking down at her bed sheets. "I'm a lost cause. Maybe I'm just not cut out for romance."

Amber waved a dismissive hand, catching Sofia's attention and making her look up. "Nonsense, any girl can be trained. We just have to keep trying until we find a method that works. Not all these tricks work the first time, and some only work on certain men…" Amber paused for dramatic effect. "But I have an idea of what will work on any man. This will be guaranteed to get you a kiss."

"That's what you said about the spaghetti plan, and the boat plan," Sofia said, giving her a frown as she crossed her arms.

Amber waved her hand again. "But there's no way you can mess this up. It's foolproof."

She handed Sofia a thin paperbound book with the title Twelve Steamy Nights. The woman on the cover was dressed in a green dress with a red sash, while the man wore a pair of red breeches—but not much else. In the background was a grand, decorated Wassalia tree.

"Wassalia Day? But that was two months ago. I don't understand," she said, turning her gaze back to Amber.

She only gave Sofia a sly grin. "Oh, Sofia, you're too naïve." She gave her a pat on the head, then stood and walked over to the door. "I'll tell you everything tomorrow."

Sofia leaned back into her pillows and let out a sigh as the door closed behind Amber. Placing the book on her bedside table, she relaxed and placed both hands behind her head, staring up at the ceiling. Suddenly a white object appeared out of thin air above her, falling and bouncing off her forehead.

She let out a scream and jumped out of bed, batting the object away. Her feet stumbled back and she accidentally hit her back against the wall. Heart beating erratically, she peered at the projectile before realizing it was a crumpled up piece of paper. She quickly walked into her closet and grabbed a spare hanger. A crumpled up piece of paper wasn't something to be afraid of, but the fact that if appeared out of thin air was.

She crept up to the bed and carefully poked the paper with her hanger before deeming it safe to handle. Laying the metal hanger aside, she picked up the white sheet and smoothed it out. Inside, she was surprised to find a note written in Cedric's handwriting.

"Sofia,

I was just practicing a teleporting spell for small objects, and I thought I might send it to you since you've been on my mind. Well, you're usually on my mind. I mean, not that I think about you obsessively, but you do come to mind. I blame the fact that you pester me day and night. Anyway, just wanted to write and say I was thinking about you…and testing out a spell. But mostly testing out a spell. I'll just stop now.

Sincerely, Cedric."

Sofia closed her eyes and smiled, holding the wrinkled paper close to her chest. Those words he used—"you've been on my mind"—they sounded so familiar. Her mind wandered back to the song the band had been singing earlier, something about sending a note to tell a woman she was on your mind. Sofia wondered if maybe it had affected him that much, and her heart soared at the possibility. Maybe the night hadn't been a complete disaster after all. Still, she shouldn't assume too much…but if she was right, Cedric would reveal his feelings soon enough. Amber was right, she couldn't give up just yet. She just had to keep trying.

Ok, so there was some affection from Cedric in this chapter. (Not a lot, I know, but if you're looking for more, you'll love chapter twelve and thirteen)

The poem in this chapter is called Of The Loss Of Time by John Hoskins, a poet from the late 1500's and early 1600's. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! :) Thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed!