(A/N: Wise Owl- don't fret too much. Sofia will free him. Eventually. She just has a lot of little adventures and mishaps on the way. One of them is coming up very quickly. Mr. Shortman92- stop reading if you must once the suitors come into play. They aren't a huge deal in the long run. And I'm a huge Cedfia shipper too. I don't care that there's a bit of an age gap between them. They are just amazing together. ; ) Also, I went back and fixed those two little typos you pointed out.
I own nothing!)
One year later
Sofia sat on a picnic blanket out in her spot in the royal gardens. She was not looking forward to that night.
That day was Sofia's sixteenth birthday and there was going to be a huge party that night. She would have just liked to skip the whole ordeal but as she knew from the parties for Amber and James a few months prior, it was not something she could miss. Not without insulting her family and the kingdom's allies.
Sighing, Sofia laid down on the blanket and looked up at the sky. Some days she wished for the simple life that she had lead in the village.
A rustling nearby caught Sofia's attention and she looked at the door to her spot in the garden. Amber opened the door and stepped in.
"Happy birthday, Sofia!" Amber exclaimed. "Can you believe it? You're sixteen now."
Sofia forced a smile.
"I just wish it didn't have so many strings attached to it. I still don't want to deal with more royal functions and the addition of suitors. But both were part of my agreement with Dad last year."
Amber sat by her sister.
"Do you think you're any closer to finding a way to get Cedric out?"
"No. And I haven't been able to find very much recently that might be able to help. It's starting to feel a little hopeless."
"You're not giving up are you?"
Sofia sat up quickly, startling her slightly older sister.
"Never!" Sofia said. "I've sworn I will find the way to get him out and I will. Even if it takes to the end of my life, however long or short it may be."
"And don't ever give up," Amber said. "You've come a long way in the last four years. As hard as it has been, you've not once given up. Each time life has knocked you down, you've gotten right back up."
Sofia smiled. "What did I do to deserve such an amazing sister?"
Amber blushed slightly. "Oh Sofia, you didn't need to do a thing. It was meant to be. Now come on. Madame Collette is looking for you to do the finishing touches for your gown for your party."
Sofia smiled knowingly. The dress had been finished a long time ago. Sofia just had Madame Collette play along with the little scheme that the younger princess had in mind.
oOo
Sofia smirked as she got ready to enter the party for her. Her guests were in for a huge surprise, as well as any potential suitors. She had had Madame Collette pretend to be making a grand gown for the party as well as the royal wig maker pretend to be making a special wig for the occasion. If they actually made a gown and wig, Sofia was not using either one of them.
Hearing the trumpets announcing her entrance into the party, Sofia stepped through the doors and into the sight of everyone attending. The deafening applause from the guests died very quickly as it became apparent what Sofia had done.
She was wearing a black dress similar to what Amber had given her two years ago but with cap sleeves and not quite as high a neckline. And the princess wasn't using a single covering for her head- no wigs, no shawls or handkerchiefs- nothing. The outfit showed many of the scars from the accident. And any make up the maids might have put on her earlier had been washed away.
Sofia stepped forward.
"Thank you all for coming," the princess said sweetly. "It is an honor to have so many wonderful guests here. I hope you will all enjoy your time here tonight."
Sofia joined the crowd and chatter resumed. Before the princess could get very far in greeting her guests, a hand tightly clutched hers and dragged her off to the side.
"Ow, Amber! Not so hard!"
"Sofia, what did you do?" Amber all but hissed. "I thought you were going to be in a grand ball gown and wig. What is all of this?"
"This is my party, Amber," Sofia retorted. "I should be able to dress in a way that is comfortable for me. And this will help me sort through any suitors who are nice on the surface but won't accept me scars and all. This is me, Amber. This is my statement to the royal world that I am who I am. Now if you'll excuse me, I still have a lot of guests to greet."
Sofia left her stunned sister behind as she went back to greeting her guests. As she did, the bald princess paid particular attention to the young men who could end up a potential suitor. Sofia wanted to commit to memory those who she felt would only accept her if she put on her best gown and wig.
"Princess Sofia, that is a most unique gown."
Sofia turned to see King Magnus. The young Enchancian princess put on her best smile, hoping that her dislike of the pompous king didn't show.
"Your Majesty, it is good to see you," Sofia said as sweetly as she could muster.
"Yes, I'm sure it is. Tell me now Princess. Why the lack of one of your wigs? You would look even better if you had one on. As well a dress that didn't show those ugly scars."
It took every ounce of control Sofia had to remain polite.
"I thought about both," Sofia lied through her teeth. "But none of the wig makers I've gotten wigs from can make a wig that is comfortable for me. And most designs for royal gowns irritate my scars. And the baldness and scars are a part of who I am. So I went with comfort over looks."
King Magnus scoffed and walked off. Glad to be done with conversations with the arrogant visitor, Sofia continued on with greeting her guests. Before the night was over, the princess got a lot of remarks about her appearance. Some nice, some very poorly veiled insults. But the princess didn't care. She was finally starting feel comfortable in her own skin.
oOo
"Sofia!"
Sofia sat up straight, startled awake. After the party ended the night before, the teenager had changed into a more comfortable sorceress gown and retreated to the tower, wanting to look at a gift that had been sent to her from Avalor. Sofia never made it back down to her room. She fell asleep in the workshop.
"Sofia, come down here now please!"
Sofia looked out the window from the bed and saw the shimmer in the invisible wall, telling her that someone was waiting outside the door. Her visitor had to be yelling quite loudly if he was able to wake her up. Sofia walked over to the window and looked down to see her dad standing at the door. Although Sofia couldn't see his expression very well, the body language spoke of a great deal of irritation. Sofia disappeared in a puff of purple smoke and reappeared behind her dad.
"Good morning Dad," Sofia said with a smile.
"What was with that stunt you pulled last night, Sofia?" Roland demanded. "Gossip is flying high this morning because of how you appeared at the party. King Magnus left a note saying that you are an embarrassment to the kingdom and that until you are contained, Rudistan will have no further trade with us."
"Is that what you think of me?" Sofia asked. "That I'm an embarrassment that needs to be contained? For the first time in years I felt comfortable with how I dressed. And nothing about what I wore was indecent."
"You're supposed to put on your best looks for royal functions! Image is huge when you're a royal. And for you, that image involves a wig and a little bit more coverage of your scars."
Sofia flinched as if her dad had just hit her.
"Am I considered less in your eyes because of my scars and baldness? I did not ask for the accident that caused this. I didn't ask for one of my best friends to be imprisoned in a trap that is not easily reopened. And I certainly did not ask for condescending remarks, especially from my own family! You once told me that despite having no blood relation to me, I was your real daughter and that you loved me. Is that still true? Am I still your real daughter? Do you still love me regardless of the challenges that I have because of the accident?"
Sofia didn't give her dad a chance to answer as she transported to her own bedroom. After casting the spell to keep everyone but herself out, Sofia screamed in anger. She threw open her closet doors and started ripping her royal gowns apart. She threw dusty jewelry that she never used at the windows, breaking both. Shoes got thrown out the shattered windows. Fancy trinkets joined the shoes in going out the windows. Sofia pointed her wand at the many pieces of furniture in the room and caused each of them to explode. Sofia blindly reached for something else to get rid of but stopped short when she recognized it as the dress Amber gave her two years prior.
The dress itself didn't fit very well anymore as Sofia had grown but she still kept it as it represented the unconditional love that she was certain her family would provide as she navigated the new world that was Sofia's. Looking at it, Sofia fell to her knees and buried her face in the soft fabric. Tears streamed down her face as the young princess wondered why even her own step dad had to be so hard on her for things out of her control.
After several hours of curling up in a ball and crying more tears than she thought she had, a familiar shimmering of the invisible wall caught Sofia's attention. She clenched her hand into a fist and opened it again. An image appeared above her hand showing Amber outside the door, holding a basket in her hands. Sofia sighed. She didn't have much desire to see her family, especially not Amber or Roland. She especially didn't want anyone to see what she had done to her room.
Sofia was about to close her hand and make the image of her sister disappear when she heard Amber say something softly.
"Sofia, I know you're in there. Let me in, we need to talk. I brought some food too, if you're hungry."
Sofia sighed and made the image disappear. Doing nothing to hide the disaster she had created, she opened the door, grabbed Amber's arm and pulled her inside. Seeing the mess her slightly younger sister had created, Amber stared.
"Whoa," Amber said. "Now, I knew you were mad but I didn't think you were capable of getting this mad."
"What do you want?" Sofia said. "Are you going to criticize me for my choices last night too? Or rather, again?"
"No," Amber asserted. "I owe you an apology. It was your debut ball last night and you had every right to wear what you felt good in. I once told you that you're beautiful no matter what anyone else thinks and last night I joined the ranks of anyone who can't see you for who you are."
"What does it matter?" Sofia said. "The last several hours have been very enlightening. Even your dad is among those who are criticizing me for being different."
"What do you mean?" Amber asked in shock. "What happened?"
Sofia recounted the conversation that took place that morning. Amber was beyond stunned at what Roland had said.
"I can't believe he said all of that," Amber said. "And what does he care about King Magnus showing once again that he is pompous and prideful? He's always been that way and it's always driven Dad insane trying to deal with him."
"It doesn't matter now. I don't belong here. Your dad just proved it a few hours ago. I embarrass him. It's time I returned to my roots, the life of a village girl."
"But what about your quest with Cedric? You're not giving that up are you? And what about Mom? James? And me? We're still sisters."
Sofia stood up and walked into the closet. Amber followed closely and watched what the bald princess was doing. Sofia took one of her travel bags off of its hook and stuffed a couple of her plain dresses into it. Amber watched in shock as a few choice wands went in as well a couple of sorcery books.
"We are still sisters," Sofia agreed. "We'll never lose each other. I just need to go away for some time. And my quest to free Cedric will never stop, just because I won't be here. I can continue my quest just as well from the village."
"You'll at least write me and let me know how you are, right? Just hearing that you're going to leave is making me sick with worry. And you know that once Dad comes to his senses, he'll send out search parties for you. How do you plan to remain hidden from him?"
Sofia looked at her sister. She reached over and plucked a hair right off of Amber's head and placed it in an empty vial.
"I remember seeing a spell somewhere for changing hair color and design. Hopefully it'll work for wigs. And I know of a very small, very hidden away village. I read some stories about it in my studies. It will have everything I need. It's even fairly close to a magic marketplace."
Amber nodded numbly. "Just please, write me when you can. And if I can do anything for you while you're away, please let me know."
"I'll try to write. And thank you Amber. I need to go up to the tower for a bit and grab a few items from there. Once I'm done up there, I'm leaving."
Amber tightly embraced her sister. Sofia returned the embrace before going up in a puff of purple smoke, leaving her sister's arms cold and empty.
oOo
Some hours later, the royal family was gathering to dinner, Amber still the only one who knew that Sofia was now gone.
"Where's Sofia?" Miranda asked. "I haven't seen her all day."
Amber watched Roland closely and as discreetly as she could. She wanted to see if she could detect feelings of guilt or remorse.
"She probably lost track of time studying," Roland said. "Baileywick, will you go remind her of dinner?"
"Of course, Your Majesty."
"Don't bother, Baileywick," Amber said before the steward could leave. "Sofia's not here. But please leave us for now, Baileywick."
Confused, Baileywick stepped out of the dining room.
"What do you mean Sofia's not here?" Roland asked.
"She left around lunchtime. Are you going to tell Mom and James just why she left or do I have to?"
Miranda and James looked towards the king, confused and worried.
"I don't know what you're talking about Amber," Roland answered.
"Oh you don't?" Amber nearly yelled. "So did you not realize how unloved and unwanted your words caused Sofia to feel this morning? She told me about that conversation you two had. How you repeated King Magnus' words about how Sofia is an embarrassment to the royal family!"
Miranda and James gasped.
"You messed up Dad," Amber continued. "She wouldn't even refer to you as her dad when she told me what happened. And unless you can find some way to fix what you did, Sofia will never return. She will live her days out in some quiet village, separated from her family."
"Roland, is this true?" Miranda asked in disbelief.
The silence in the dining room was nearly deafening. Three sets of eyes were on Roland.
"It's true."
Miranda gave the twins a glance that told them to leave. Amber and James quickly and quietly left the dining room, their appetites shot.
"Sof's really gone?"
"Yes. She's gone and only Dad can bring her back."
