Sofia was visiting her mother on her quest to search for her elder siblings.
When she had visited the last location, she had seen them at, the old camp was long empty and overgrown with brush. So she moved on to her old village to check on the old shoe shop and upon her mother.
Now Sophia helped her mother make shoes, showing some of the magic she had learned by using it to create intricate patterns and sparkling buckles, despite being warned against using magic. Sophia didn't worry, reasoning that it was very simple magic and wouldn't cause any problems, and she reasoned that it helped the process of making shoes move along a lot faster. Sofia was almost surprised when she saw her mother had become more weathered, and thinner then when she last saw her. Her once pure brown hair tarnished with large strips of grey and her face becoming tired and hands shaking. But she was still a strong and caring women and Sofia loved her all the more. But a sadness and bitterness now wrapped itself around her mother's heart and it was evident in the way she moved and worked.
At present Sofia had taken it upon herself to arrange the newest shoe display at the window, removing the now old and dusty Alpargata, Batts, and Panyofle's so that they could be placed on sell while the new designs now decorated their place. Staring out the window she saw the street was far busier than when she had woken up just a few hours after dawn. She watched the townsfolk rush back and forth in slight confusion as they rushed back and forth with large grins on their faces with baskets and water buckets. Sofia called to her mother over her shoulder and the former queen moved slowly toward the window to witness the the happy villagers, eyebrows knitting together in confusion her won form of confusion. Without any warning the shops door slammed open, bouncing off the wall as an aged gentleman stood in the doorway, puffing and heaving air into his lungs, cane in hand and an almost exasperated look on his face. Miranda looked to him and went to get the elder a chair while Sofia took him by the arm to help him to it as he fought to stabilize his breathing.
"Bailywick what's wrong?" Miranda asked, concerned as the former steward continued to breathe heavily. When he finally found his voice to speak he was almost crying as he did so.
"The fields are full… King Cedric has actually filled the farmer's fields and there is now food everywhere. Orchards, vineyards, vegetables, everything is full now." He said as he reached for the former queen's skirts, griping the fabric as if it was the only thing keeping him grounded. "Food Miranda, lots and lots of food."
Sofia and Miranda exchanged looks as they processed their dear friend's words. "There so much to go around now, it been so long."
"Bailywick calm down…" Miranda said as she patted him on the back. "We know him well enough, this sudden bought of kindness won't last and we will be plunged into hunger once more."
"Has everything really been that bad since Dad was… Since King Roland passed away?" Sofia asked, a lump forming in her throat at the memory that still haunted her in her weakest hours. She returned to the window and she watched as the villagers moved quickly past, looking far happier than when she first arrived. More children were out and if she listened closely she could hear a band playing happily from a couple streets over.
"Yes Sofia, it has been," Miranda said as she continued to calm Bailywick. "But to have the fields filled once more I don't know what to think… Why would he change so suddenly when he has been so determined to keep everyone so miserable?" Miranda said coldly as Sofia tapped her fingers lightly on the glass, looking at the corner of the shop where an old and sleeping Wormwood snored lightly.
"We could ask him… Maybe we can go to the castle? See what- "
"NO! We will not be going to the castle, and you can't convince me otherwise! It's too dangerous for us to go there and I have already lost two husbands to magic, I will not lose you too!" Miranda shouted, and Wormwood jerked awake, glaring at the aging women who interrupted his nap.
"Mom it was just a suggestion…" Sofia said and watched as Miranda sat in another empty chair, remaining silent and signaling the closure of the topic.
Sofia sighed looking out the window once more as her fingers moved from the glass to the sapphire pendent resting against her chest. It wasn't the amulet, but the weight felt almost comforting, like a glimmer of hope that one day the amulet will be where it belonged.
Ever since she had been back she had seen the hunger and the fear that fermented the air like a sickness. But as she continued to watch from the window it was like a strange cure had been given and all she saw were smiles as food was passed around and music filled the air. But while the joy fermented outside it refused to come into the little shop, despite Bailywicks arrival and announcement. The anger and sorrow that poisoned the shop came from Miranda, her mother, and Sofia couldn't help but feel sickened by the strength of the emotion coming off her. Even when Sofia came home Miranda had to use a lot of energy to feint joy to see her, and Sofia felt her own heart break at the thought that her own mother was so consumed that even faking a smile drained her in such a way.
A thought formed in her head and if it worked she felt she could fix everything, tough she knew she could never bring back the former king and restore what had been lost, she still felt there had to be a way to give the story a happy ending. Sofia heaved a sigh and turned to her mother who looked at her with question in her eyes.
"I'm going out for a while" She could see the protest quickly form in her mother's eyes and Sofia held up her hand before Miranda could give it words. "I will not go to the castle… I promise." With that she turned to the door, Wormwood taking to her shoulder while she grabbed a cloak of a hook in passing. When she closed the door behind her she breathed in the outside air deeply, as if she could chase away the dark cloud the shoe shop had left hovering over her. It did help but a part of it remained, nagging at the back of her mind as she walked briskly down the cobbled stone streets. Farmers passed around baskets filled with the harvest that the King had given them and one was handed to her with a joyous smile from the farmer and a pleasant thank you from Sofia.
Sofia's 'walk' eventually left the small town of her birth behind her as she headed in an eastern direction through the trees and into the forest. It had been a long time and she remember always taking a hidden passage inside the castle, but now she looked to reach her destination by foot. Wormwood sat on her shoulder, nestled inside her hood to keep warm as the trees kept the suns warmth from reaching them. Sofia could still remember the path seen from above in her mind, even when the trees and bushes have over grown, and the game trails almost gone. She picked her way smoothly through the foliage with some difficulty, until she reached the crest of a hill that over looked the tree tops. One single tree over looked the forest canopy and she stared at it with a sigh and a sense of sentimentality. The great tree that held so many unfinished books and unhappy endings…The Secret Library, surrounded by mist, other tall trees, and large sheer-faced mountains.
Left untouched and safe from the reigning King all this time.
Sofia looked at Wormwood when he clicked softly in her ear and she looked at him. Though she had long lost the ability to speak to animals, she knew what he was asking.
"This is a place filled with the stories of people and creatures all throughout Enchancia and beyond." She said quietly. It's a library filled with books with no endings and a long time ago when I was still living in the castle, I would come here and be given a story that needed a happy ending, and I would be the one to do just that. But its been so long and I don't have the Amulet anymore… I doubt I could ever give them their happy endings now." She sighed as she continued to walk. The sun had already moved across the sky, showing her that much time had passed since she left her mother's shop and she knew that her mother would worry. But she also knew that she was an adult and a trained sorceress meaning her mother would just have to understand that she made her own decisions now.
When Sofia finally reached the Library, the stars were beginning to come out and it took her some time to find the outside entrance under years of moss and vines. But when she entered she just stood in the dim library, staring at the full shelves that were now coated in thick layers of dust and cobwebs. The magic mirror still glowed its soft blue light around the room, yet she had a sense that nothing, but loneliness remained in the dark chamber now. There was no magic, no wonder, and no purpose for many of the books now as she ran her fingers along them.
"Without the Amulet it's almost like this place is… Dead." She said sadly as Wormwood flew away to roost on top of a stair rail and watched her as she walked around. Eventually she made her way to the bench and sat on it, facing the swirling blue face of the library mirror, holding her breath as she waited, wondering if there was still magic enough without he Amulet of Avalor resting around her neck, hoping that somehow, she would receive the story she hoped would be among the shelves.
Wormwood crowed, and it echoed in the silence of the library when nothing happened. Sofia hid her head in her hands with her elbows on her knees, hunching over as she allowed her disappointment to seep in and bring her sorrow to the surface. It had been so long since she cried, never allowing herself to dwell on her sorrow all throughout her magic training and burying the memory of that night so long ago deep in her mind so she could avoid thinking about it as best she could.
But she just couldn't.
It hurt too much to keep a constant façade about her, seeming confident, and fine with what she had without mourning what she had lost. She always thought she would still have her mother but now she realized that the tragedy of losing another husband to magic was to much for her and now the bitterness and anger was there to stay. But no one around her, not the Goodwins, not her mother, or Bailywick, seemed to realize that Sofia didn't just lose another family that night, but she had also lost who she thought was a dear friend and mentor. She lost her Amulet, she lost her greatest connection to her animal friends… And no one knew accept maybe Wormwood, who had lost his long-time master that night.
And now the only glimmer of hope she truly allowed herself to feel had failed her.
The Library remained silent around Sofia as if it knew the hidden pain she was in, and it allowed her to mourn like she always had needed to.