Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Sofia the First.
Thank you to Lunawolfmoon for betaing this chapter for me. Please review I enjoy reading what everyone has to say about my story.
The news of their return spread quickly through the Palace, the King and Queen all but ran to the front doors to see them. Queen Miranda was quick to notice the four additions to the party that had left, and although she was curious about the baby Amber held, she was more concerned about Sofia. When Sofia turned her head to say something to Cedric, Miranda saw the bruise on Sofia's cheek. The queen sighed, knowing her daughter there were probably more. Sofia was never one to be a traditional Princess when she was eleven she asked for fencing lessons. Roland disagreed at first, but Miranda told him that she was just going to anyway; it might as well be with their consent and knowledge.
'Hello Jade and Lucinda, did you two help Cedric and Amber get Sofia back?' Roland questioned, just noticing the two. He went to comment on how close the two were standing when Miranda nudged him in the side. The two ladies nodded and as Lucinda was about to say something when they heard a baby cry. The two royals turned toward the sound and were shocked to see Amber holding the baby.
'Sh, Sh, little Brendis, mommy is here. I'm just going to introduce you to your new grandparents,' Amber softly comforted while she walked over to Roland and Miranda. 'Mother, Father, this is Brendis. I just adopted him while we were in Barvin. His mother was skin and bones, and I couldn't just leave him there to die. I was about to tell his mother that she could come too when she disappeared into the crowd.' Miranda smiled softly and reached out to ask if she could hold her new grandson. Roland, on the other hand, was still in shock that his oldest came home with a baby, and was willingly calling herself his mom. Amber gently passed Brendis over to the Queen, who instantly fell in love with his big blue eyes and dark hair.
'Amber, you do realize that this will affect how many suitors you have, right?' the King asked, still confused as to why Amber brought a baby home, Sofia he could see doing that, but with Amber, it came out of the left field.
'Daddy, anyone who claims to care for me will have to accept the fact that I now have a son who is only a few months old that needs my attention. Before you even suggest getting him a nanny, my answer is no.' Amber explained her father, 'On top of that, I have asked Jade and Lucinda to help me with him when I need it.'
'You also have us, dear, if you, young ladies ever need a break, we will be more than willing to watch our grandson, right Rollie?' The King was quick to nod his head; his wife was already mad at him for entertaining the idea of Sofia marrying the King of Barvin. Speaking of which Roland gave his youngest a once over and all he saw was the bruise on her cheek. So he assumed that other than that she was unhurt, after all, she was wearing a lovely lavender gown. Sofia all but ran over to her sister and gave her a big hug.
'You have me too, Amber, once all my bruises are healed up of course. Right now they are still a little tender.' Amber's golden eyes went wide when Sofia said that.
'WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING!' Amber all but yelled at the top of her lungs before Roland could ask about the other bruises. Lucinda and Jade let out a small chuckle each.
'Princess Amber, I think she was in far too much shock, after all, Cedric had just told her he wanted to ask her permission for a formal courting between the two of them.' Jade filled in for Sofia who was blushing.
'That was only half of what Cedric said,' Sofia whispered, looking away from her parents and over to Cedric. Cedric saw Sofia look at him and walked up behind her and stood as close to her as was proper. Although they were a few feet apart, Miranda was taken back, momentarily, by the love she could see in both of them. Both Cedric and Sofia had, unknowingly, angled themselves to be slightly facing the other.
'Your Majesties, if I may, why don't we take this inside where I can give Sofia a poultice to heal the bruises she got from fighting back.' Cedric calmly interjected and Bailywick, who was standing nearby, as always, was quick to inform the Royals that the family solar was set up for their evening tea.
'Very good Bailywick,' Roland said turning to go back inside, 'Cedric head up to your workshop and grab that poultice then meet us in the family solar.' Stepping away from Sofia, Cedric performed his transportation spell and was gone. Sofia pouted slightly, when he left without her, for she had wanted to go with him, as they ushered Sofia into the castle.
While walking down the hall to the solar Sofia stepped on her right foot, in just the wrong way, and fell to her knees as a sharp pain shot through her leg. Ignoring everyone else, Sofia shifted so she could look at her ankle, which was swollen and bruised. Then Sofia felt strong arms lift her up. She looked up to see who it was and saw that it was her dad carrying her, Princess style of course.
'I am so sorry, Sofia if I hadn't invited him to talk about his suit to marry you. Then none of this would have happened,' Roland sounded genuinely remorseful over the whole thing. Sofia, in turn, wrapped her arms around her father's neck and hugged him.
'You don't know that Dad. He may still have found a way to take me.' Sofia comforted as she laid her head on Roland's shoulder. The rest of the walk was relatively quiet; the only sounds were Brendis' coo-ing up at Miranda and the sounds of shoes on the marble floors. Jade and Lucinda followed behind the Royals holding hands as they took in the grandeur of the Palace. No matter how many times they came here, they always were astounded by the luxury that surrounded them.
'What are you two doing back there get over here, honestly, I don't know why you were back there in the first place,' Amber called to Jade and Lucinda beckoning them up to where she walked with the Queen and Brendis. Calling to Bailywick, Amber informed him that she needed a nursery set up in her rooms as well Jade and Lucinda needed a set by her, 'As his Godmother's they will need to be close by in case anything happens.'
'At once your majesty, I will have a nursery set up, and two sets of rooms set up for Jade and Lucinda respectfully,' Bailywick said with a bow and was about to leave when Amber corrected him.
'No, they don't need separate sets of rooms, one set is enough, with a big bed of course.' Amber said smiling at the two women who were blushing, Jade more than Lucinda.
'Whatever do you mean, Princess Amber?' Bailywick was confused; there were more than enough rooms in the Palace for each of the women to have separate rooms.
'Oh, Bailywick,' Queen Miranda interjected, 'Lucinda and Jade are a couple, why would they want separate rooms?' Bailywick's eyes went wide as he clued in.
'Oh, OH, I am so sorry I didn't mean to offend you lovely ladies.' He apologized with a bow to Lucinda and Jade.
'It's alright, Bailywick, we try not to advertise our relationship, as most people aren't as understanding as the royal family is.' Lucinda explained and was quick to brush off another apology from the steward. With that over with he was gone to make all the arrangements.
When they reached the solar, the King put Sofia on a couch and made sure her foot was elevated. Amber, Jade and Lucinda took turns explaining what happened on the journey to and from the castle of Barvin. Sofia was oddly quiet, as the three ladies talked, Miranda noticed, of course, and questioned her on it. To which Sofia replied that she wanted to wait for Cedric before she started her tale. Jade handed Sofia a cup of tea, just the way she liked it. You simply cannot have as many tea parties as they have without picking up on how the other likes their tea.
There was a quick flash of light as Cedric appeared, holding a small ceramic pot and a bouquet of Sofia's favourite flowers: lavenders, lilacs and purple roses. Cedric's eyes were only on Sofia as he made his way over to her. Sofia was about to move to get off the couch when Cedric lightly pushed her back into a laying position, after laying the bouquet down on the coffee table.
'Sofia you must rest, your injuries need time to heal,' looking down at her ankle, 'this must have happened when that bastard hit you.' There was a gasp from the king and queen that went unnoticed by Cedric and Sofia. Sofia placed her hand on Cedric's stubbly cheek.
'You were there to save me, and that's all that matters,' Sofia guided Cedric to look at her face. 'Besides that was the first time HE had hit me, the rest were from the guards that grabbed me. They wanted to make sure I wouldn't put up much of a fight but said they couldn't hit my face on their king's orders. Something about me being too pretty to damage, or something along those lines anyway.' Cedric growled wishing he had done more to the guards while he was there.
'Oh, are you ever going to reverse the spell you put on that king?' Sofia asked as an afterthought moving her hand down to her lap.
'There is no counter-spell, yet, and I don't plan on making one anytime soon either. That idiot needs to understand that he can't do that to his people. We saw so many of the commoners begging, some had just given up and were lying in the street waiting to die. So no I don't ever plan on reversing the spell I cast on that sad excuse for a king.' Cedric explained to Sofia, and by extension Roland and Miranda.
'Cedric, were you going to cast that spell on Daddy?' Amber asked making Cedric remember that he wasn't alone with Sofia, where he felt most comfortable.
'Um, yy-yes,' Cedric stammered, Sofia moved her hand to his shoulder, which calmed his nerves. 'I had been at my post as the royal sorcerer for about a year at that time, and I was out of my tower more often as I was still learning what all I needed to have prepared for the various seasons.' Cedric started to explain turning to look at the king, 'This ties back into what happened when Achim was here,' Cedric refused to continue to call that thing a king, 'I saw more than my fair share of the staff in similar positions, and not just the females either. I often saw some of the male staff trapped up against a wall by guards doing the same thing. When I created the spell I had wanted you to understand what was happening right under your nose but somehow it became stronger than I intended.' Bailywick, who had entered as Cedric was talking about his first year at the castle remember it well.
'Ah, yes I remember that time well, so many of the staff were afraid of the guards, and I just could not figure out why until the Captain of the Palace Guard came to me and told me that several of his men were harassing the staff. According to his men, they were cursed, to inform the authorities the truth by a sorcerer of great power. I didn't realize it was you, Cedric.' Cedric shook his head, unable to believe he was a sorcerer of great power.
'I don't blame you, I'm quite used to being overlooked, and the spell I cast wasn't on the Guards it was on the staff's clothes.' Cedric told Bailywick as he stood from kneeling by Sofia. Cedric handed the ceramic pot to the steward. 'Please put that in Princess Sofia's room she will need to apply it to all her bruises.' Cedric then reached over and grabbed the bouquet off the coffee table. 'Princess Sofia, I know now may not be the best of times, but would you allow me the honour of courting you?' Cedric, finally, asked, his face stained red with the intensity of his blush as he handed the bouquet to Sofia.
Sofia launched herself off the couch and into Cedric's arms, the bouquet was forgotten by the wayside, 'YES, yes, thousand times yes you silly man,' was her reply before she kissed him straight on the lips. It wasn't a very long kiss as Miranda coughed lightly, but it was still enough for the two of them for now. As Cedric once again felt like a schoolboy with his first crush. Sofia winced as she moved to sit back down on the couch, the sudden movement had aggravated her wounds, but she was too happy to care. The queen permitted Cedric to help Sofia to her room, as her foot was still quite swollen
Cedric helped Sofia walk to her room, they weren't talking, but they were comfortable with the silence. They had spent many long hours in Cedric's workshop, working on various alchemical potions and doing research on various magical subjects. They were stopped shortly after exiting the solar by King Roland. Who still seemed a little unsettled over the whole affair.
'Cedric, I must know, what does that spell you mentioned do?' Roland asked nervously, wanting to get a better grasp of the situation currently going on in Barvin.
'It's rather simple, to be honest, but it takes a lot of power to be able to cast and not feel fatigued afterwards. The reason for that is simple; it ties a monarch to their people. The health of the king, or queen, equates to how prosperous and healthy their people are. It didn't take me long to realize that you don't need that spell, you already care very deeply for your people.' Cedric explained, feeling more confident than ever before with Sofia at his side. Roland thought about it for a few minutes then nodded and bid them both good night. Cedric looked down at Sofia as they continued on their way. 'You know, I never thought I would ever tell your father about that spell, as before today I never had a reason to cast it.'
Sofia giggled and leant her head against his shoulder while they walked, well he walked she limped. Sofia was fairly sure if there were a need for it before today, Cedric would have cast it in a heartbeat. Thinking back to the night before, and how sexy Cedric looked with the magical runes glowing on his chest. Sofia wondered what type of ritual Cedric had done that caused him to scream out as he did.
'Cedric, what ritual were you casting last night?' Sofia was hesitant to ask, as she looked at Cedric's hazel eyes, but had a burning need to know. Cedric paused and looked down at Sofia's blue eyes and leant down to kiss her on her forehead.
'I will explain tomorrow after we have breakfast, bring your witch friend as well. Seeing how we shouldn't be alone together after tonight, we have, after all, just started courting after all and I don't want anyone questioning your virtue,' Sofia blushed and nodded, content for the moment with the promise of an explanation. Slowly they traversed the halls, when Sofia became too tired to walk, limp, any further. Sofia had just opened her mouth to ask Cedric to carry her when he scooped her up and continued walking the rest of the way.
When they got to Sofia's rooms, Cedric walked right by the maids trying to take her from him. Carefully, Cedric laid Sofia on her bed and gave her a simple, yet passionate, kiss goodnight. As Cedric left the room, he reminded Sofia that she had to apply the poultice to all of her bruises. After the doors closed and Cedric was alone with his thoughts he started to bang his head against one of the many pillars lining the hall.
'Why did I make her walk so far with her ankle hurt? I could have just teleported us to her room,' Cedric mumbled to himself, as he started to make his way up to his tower. 'No, of course, I don't think of that until we're already there. However, it was nice to carry her in my arms like that. Why the fuck am I walking?' Cedric exclaimed to himself as he cast his teleportation spell for the third time that day.
Once safely in his tower, Cedric removed his plum sorcerer robe and plopped himself into his mahogany armchair. Cedric covered his eyes with his hand as he rested his elbow on the arm of the chair. He sat there for most of the night trying to figure out how to explain the ritual to Sofia. Hopefully, she remembers to bring the navy haired witch with her. Wormwood flew over and landed on his shoulder. The raven tilted his head to look at his master.
'So, what happened to you today?' Wormwood asked, once again he was thankful for being able to speak properly to Cedric.
'Some idiot of a king decided that he wanted Sofia and nothing was going to stand in his way. Fuck, if I had found out even a few hours later then I did I don't know what would have happened to her.' Cedric explained. Wormwood then asked if the king was after her amulet, which Cedric suddenly remembered he had. 'No, Wormy, the fucking bastard wasn't, and that's the worst part. He wanted to break her and make her like everyone else in his kingdom. Hold down the fort Wormy; I just remembered I have to return Sofia's wand to her.' Cedric knew he was lying, but he couldn't let Wormwood know he had the Amulet of Avalor in his possession. Cedric's familiar just wouldn't understand why he would want to return it to the Princess. Grabbing his robe Cedric was out the door before Wormwood could say anything.
Sofia was lying in her bed looking at the beautiful bouquet Cedric gave her; one of the maids had retrieved it from the solar. She quite simply couldn't wait for tomorrow when her courtship to Cedric would officially begin. Most would probably call it a whirlwind courtship, but Sofia didn't care. She wanted her Sorcerer, and by the gods, she was going to get him. Sofia heard a light knock and the door to her room open and shut. She looked over and saw that Cedric had entered, causing her to smile as big as her bruised cheek would let her.
'Good evening, Master Sorcerer.' Sofia greeted him in a soft voice as she sat up.
'Hello Sofia,' Cedric quietly said as he sat on the edge of her bed, 'I fear, I forgot to return this to you.' Cedric held up the red amulet for Sofia to see; she put a hand on her chest where the necklace regularly laid, just then realizing she wasn't wearing it. Cedric opened the clasp and moved closer to Sofia. Cedric slowly reached around Sofia's neck to put the necklace back where it belonged. Their faces were mere centimetres apart, and Sofia couldn't resist, she just had to taste his lips once again. Sofia gently places both her hands and Cedric's cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss.
Sofia had intended it to be a simple pressing of the lips but quickly changed as Cedric gave in to his desire to taste more than just her lips. Cedric's tongue brushed against Sofia's lips begging to be let into her moist cavern. Sofia, still new to the whole thing, parted her lips and Cedric was quick to slip his tongue in tasting every square millimetre of her mouth. Then he used his tongue to beckon Sofia's to return the favour. There were several moans as the kiss, for what felt like only a few seconds but was a few minutes. Cedric pulled back looking at the gorgeous sight of Sofia's flushed face, as they gasped for air. Maintaining eye contact, he gave her a quick peck on the lips then stood to leave.
'Sweet dreams, Princess.' Cedric's husky voice washed over her as he grabbed one of Sofia's hands and gave her one last kiss on the back of it. Sofia was positively giddy as he left; the kiss caused so many reactions in her body that she was unused to.