AN: I'm so sorry for the delay, everyone. A family friend recently became ill suddenly and has since passed away.

It is for this reason that I will be taking a short break from this story until affairs are in order, but I didn't want to leave you hanging for too long without any notice so I offer you this chapter and an explanation. I am hoping to be back by February 3rd with regular updates for you.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding in this difficult time.


Sofia awoke with a soft groan as she stretched languidly across the pile of clothing that had served as her bed for the night. The lingering scent of intimacy hung in the air, mingling with the smell of freshly harvested hay. It brought with it memories of not only what had occurred between her and Cedric just yesterday but of their time in the loft before, intense and tempestuous as it was. A sigh escaped her lips at the memory. She found herself filled with a new sense of heat that didn't stem from the warmth of the barn and she reached over to touch her husband, eager just to feel his body against hers.

But as she felt around for Cedric she quickly realized he was not beside her. Her eyes popped wide in instant concern and she bolted up to find herself alone in the loft. She rose from her spot and peered over the edge to the barn floor below but there was still no sign of life.

Panic took over for her as she grabbed her dress and pulled it on rather haphazardly before she practically flew down the ladder. Her feet carried her like wings to Ruby's front door where she didn't bother knocking. She threw open the door and called out frantically into the house to anyone who may be listening. "He's gone!"

"No he isn't." Baileywick said as he entered the foyer upon hearing Sofia's cry. He looked the young woman over, taking note of her disheveled appearance but made no vocal judgments. He'd heard well enough what they had been up to out in the barn but it certainly wasn't the first time so he retained his remarks for later. "Your idiot husband-"

"Don't call him that. Please." Sofia said with a trembling voice. She allowed herself a moment to regain her breath and tried to calm her pounding heart before she looked to Baileywick hopefully. "Where is he?"

"He's in the kitchen." Baileywick replied. "Imagine my surprise when I found him there. You weren't supposed to bring him back to Enchancia, Sofia."

"I didn't have any other choice." Sofia said quietly. "Grimtrix-"

"Broke the wand. Yes, I'm aware of what has occurred." Baileywick said with a sigh and crossed arms.

Sofia lowered her gaze from Baileywick's face. She could tell that he was displeased and indeed, he had every right to be. When she had first come to him pleading to know Cedric's location he had refused to tell her, insisting that it would only cause trouble and heartache. She had reasoned with his emotional side, made a case for her situation with her sons and managed to convince him to tell her the whereabouts of her husband. There was only one condition to be adhered to; Cedric was never to set foot on Enchancian soil ever again.

Now as she stood in front of the former castle steward she felt ashamed for facilitating Cedric's return to the very place she had sworn to Baileywick she would never let him go. "I-I'm sorry, Baileywick. I never meant for-"

"Don't apologize, Sofia." Baileywick said softly as he moved to pull the woman into his embrace. "You're worried for your children. I understand entirely."

Sofia let a few silent tears fall as she pressed her face against Baileywick's chest. "Thank you, old friend."

"Any time, sweetheart." Baileywick said affectionately as he kissed the top of the young woman's head. He then pulled back from her and placed is hand upon her shoulder as he walked with her in the direction of the kitchen. "I should warn you, Miss Ruby is a nervous wreck at the moment."

A small laugh bubbled up from Sofia's throat but she quickly stifled it as she entered the living room to find Ruby peering out the windows and wringing her hands together. She forced a smile at her friend as the woman glanced over at her but the smile was short lived.

"Sofia, do you have any idea what he's done!?" Ruby cried out as she bolted over to the other woman.

Sofia's heart sank at the thought that Cedric, having regained some of his memories, had perhaps done something awful. She looked at Ruby nervously and began fidgeting with her own hands. "What did he do?"

"He walked straight up to the front door and knocked!" Ruby said in exasperation. "He could have been spotted! If anyone finds out he's here-"

A bit of relief washed over Sofia at the other woman's words. Though she knew Ruby was right to be concerned about Cedric standing in plain sight at the front door it was certainly the smallest of sins he could have committed. "I'm sorry about that. I told him to stay in the barn."

"Well, he didn't." Ruby replied. "And I had to bring him in because I couldn't just leave him out there for the world to see! So now he's in my house. I have Enchancia's most wanted criminal in my house. I'm going to be hanged for treason for sure over this!"

"No you're not. I won't let that happen to you." Sofia said as she placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "You've done more for me than most people ever would and I can't thank you enough for that, Ruby. There is no way I would allow my parents to do any such thing to you. Just get back to keeping an eye out and I'll try to get him out of here as quickly as I can... okay?"

"Okay." Ruby said with an eager nod.

Sofia watched as Ruby turned back to looking out the window. Once the woman was occupied she continued on through the living room, past the dining room and into the kitchen at the back of the house. That was where her eyes fell on something peculiar; her husband standing side by side with Lily at the counter and very intent on whatever it was the witch was showing to him.

It caught her off guard to see the two working in tandem given the centuries old prejudice between witches and sorcerers. She tried to speak several times but words failed her before she finally just cleared her throat to gain their attention.

Cedric peeled his eyes from Lily's work to glance in the direction of an intrusive noise but when he saw that it was Sofia he breathed a sigh of relief. "Good morning my love... how did you sleep?"

"I slept fine, I suppose." Sofia answered, her brow crinkling as she fully took in the sight before her, empty bottles and vials littering the kitchen counter and several herbs spread every which-way. "I don't mean to interrupt but... what exactly are you two doing?"

"Miss Lily is teaching me how to make more of the recordatio potion." Cedric said, motioning to the witch by his side and the nearly completed potion they had been working on.

"You're teaching the recipe to him?" Sofia asked, shifting her eyes from Cedric to Lily in questioning. "Why?"

"He was very disappointed to find that he hadn't dreamed anything helpful in regards to bringing your son back to you." Lily explained. "I offered to make more potion and he insisted that I show him how to do it so that he can make it for himself in the future."

"Just in case." Cedric added, reaching out to take Sofia's hand. "I don't know how long it will take to recover the memories I need but I want to be sure that I know how to do this. Miss Lily said you know how to make it too so between the three of us we should be able to brew plenty."

Sofia blinked up at Cedric before she returned her gaze to Lily, still somewhat stunned by the sight. "I-I'm glad that you offered to teach him this... all things considered. But what about Lucinda? Aren't you worried that she-"

"Oh, she won't be awake for some time." Lily replied with a smile. "She spent her night like she does most nights, drowning her anger and sorrows in hard liquor. In the time it would take for her to wake up we could make twenty batches of this potion."

"That's all well and good." Sofia said, turning her attention back to her husband. "But you shouldn't have come here, Cedric. It was dangerous and you could have been spotted, not to mention you have Ruby in an absolute frenzy."

Cedric looked to Sofia in fear that he'd upset her. "I'm so sorry, my love. I was only trying to get more of the potion. The dreams I had last night were... enlightening... but they weren't the dreams we were hoping for."

Sofia looked over Cedric's face as his features shifted in discomfort. It was clear that his dreams hadn't been pleasant, though she was afraid to ask just what they had consisted of. She supposed he might tell her at a later time when they weren't in the company of virtual strangers, but judging by the look in his eyes she was fairly certain she didn't really want to know what he'd remembered. She clutched his hand tightly and offered him a small smile to alleviate the concerns that had taken over his face. "It's okay, Cedric."

Cedric returned Sofia's smile with an uneasy one and gripped her hand. He brought the appendage up to his lips and kissed it delicately when the sound of yet another person clearing their throat entered his ears. His attention darted to an elderly man standing behind his beloved, gaze narrowed and arms crossed. Though he did not initially recognize the man, an overwhelming sense of shame filled him as they locked eyes. He dropped Sofia's hand immediately and reached out timidly to greet the older man. "G-good morning sir. I'm-"

"I'm well aware of who you are." Baileywick said, looking Cedric over with a scowl. "It appears as though I'm the only one here who remembers just exactly who you are."

"Baileywick, not now." Sofia said, turning to plead with the elderly man. "Please, he doesn't remember anything."

"Wait, B-Baileywick?" Cedric said in surprise, examining the face that was far more aged than the tiny recollection now contained within his mind. "You look so... old!"

Sofia's eyes widened as she whipped around to face Cedric. "You remember him?"

"Vaguely." Cedric answered, looking the man up and down. "The memory isn't entirely clear, though it seemed you were much taller than me at the time. I must've been a child."

"Yes, well, that was a long time ago." Baileywick said coldly. "And things have changed significantly since those days."

Sofia continued to look at her husband, searching his face for information. "What about me? Do you remember me at all? Calista, Cordelia, your mother and father? Wormwood?"

"Wormy..." Cedric said softly, his brow furrowing. "I remember Wormwood and my mother and father as well. Cordelia is... my sister?"

"Yes!" Sofia said with an eager nod, grasping Cedric's hands. "What else do you remember!? Anything at all!?"

Cedric looked down at Sofia remorsefully. The truth was that he remembered many things, awful things, things that he was certain had helped to shape him into the monster he eventually became. Unfortunately none of those things were going to help bring her son back to her so he didn't dare speak of them. Instead he shook his head solemnly and let out a sigh of regret. "Outside of a handful of childhood memories, I don't remember a thing."

Sofia stared up at Cedric and the expression on his face. Although she was indeed disappointed by the memories he'd obtained she didn't want to let him see it. She gifted him with a smile and gave his hands a tight squeeze. "It's okay. We'll try again tonight."

"Yes, tonight." Cedric replied with a nod, though the thought of actually obtaining even more memories like the ones he'd dreamed about left him with an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Of course he wasn't about to let Sofia see how truly reluctant he was so he forced a smile and motioned back to the work on the counter. "Let's finish up this potion, shall we?"

Sofia reciprocated Cedric's smile and moved to join him when she felt Baileywick clasp her elbow gently. She looked to the elderly man as he pulled her from the kitchen and back into the dining room to speak to her with a concerned look on his face. A sigh escaped her lips as she crossed her arms and kept her eyes to the ground. "Baileywick, please spare me the lecture. I already know what you're going to say."

"No you don't." Baileywick replied calmly. "I'm not going to say a word about that man. I merely wanted to ask if you are certain that this potion of Miss Lily's is the most prudent way to achieve what you're after."

Sofia blinked up at Baileywick in thought at his words. "I... I guess I don't really know. Right now it seems like the only option available to me. Without a wand I can't reverse the oblivio enchantment and there is no other way of restoring his memory."

"Yes, I understand." Baileywick said with a nod. "However, I fear that it may take far longer than we can afford. Sofia, sweetheart, we are running out of time. Indigo is doing everything within her power to maintain Rowyn's state but even with Miss Lily's rejuvenation potion, she is growing weary. I fear she won't be able to keep this up for much longer."

"I know." Sofia said, shifting to wrap her arms around herself. "I know time isn't something we have a lot of. We have even less now that I've had to bring Cedric all the way back here. I wish that the potion wasn't our only option but with Indigo's wand unavailable and Lucinda being so difficult this is the only option I have left."

Baileywick looked over the young woman's sad features before sucking in a deep breath. "There is, perhaps, one other option. I know that you're reluctant to consider it but... perhaps you should try asking Cedric's father for help."

Sofia's gaze snapped to Baileywick in disbelief at his words, her nails digging into the flesh of her arms at the thought. "No. That's not an option."

Baileywick sighed and shook his head in response to Sofia. "Sweetheart, I understand your feelings on the matter but he may be able to help. I don't care how loyal to the throne he is, I highly doubt he would have turned over all of his magical instruments. Surely he must have retained at least one wand."

"Oh, I'm sure that he did." Sofia retorted with a warble in her voice. "Likely the very wand that he used to place the seal on my amulet's powers at Roland's behest."

Baileywick looked Sofia over, the pain on her features almost unbearable. He didn't want to press her too hard on the matter but he knew if he didn't make a case for this secondary recourse, all their struggles might be for naught. "I know that he's done more harm than good lately, particularly where you're concerned, but he might be more inclined to cooperate now... what with Winifred having passed and his grandchildren at risk-"

"Baileywick, please keep your voice down." Sofia whispered harshly, glancing back toward the kitchen to make certain that Cedric hadn't overheard. "He still doesn't know."

"And at this rate he might not ever." Baileywick said softly. "Sofia, it isn't that I don't understand the hurt and betrayal that you feel. You have every reason to feel as you do but... Sweetheart, at some point we have to start considering other options, as unpleasant and difficult as they may be."

Sofia averted her gaze from Baileywick once more, fearful to admit that he just might be right. Although seeking help from her estranged father-in-law certainly didn't feel like a viable option she knew it was something she needed to look at as a last resort, should things become far more dire than they already were.

She opened her mouth to respond to Baileywick that she would indeed consider turning to Goodwyn should all else fail but she was interrupted by Ruby entering the room swiftly. She turned her eyes to the other woman in enough time to see the grim expression cross her face as she stopped abruptly before them.

"We have a major problem." Ruby said, looking between Sofia and Baileywick in a panic. "Somebody's here..."