AN: So the powers that be apparently don't wish for me to give you a second update this weekend. I'm a bit hung up on the chapter I'm currently writing so there will only be this update until next Wednesday morning (or Tuesday night because I'm impatient as fuck.) I'm sorry! :(

That being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Pretty, pretty please let me know what you're thinking!

Sofia stood in the castle courtyard, eyes ablaze as she stared Jonathan down. He was watching her, a wicked smirk on his face as he walked toward her, dragging her mother along. She went rigid as he passed, a chuckle just loud enough for her to hear falling from his mouth. It took everything within her power to stay stationary rather than lunge at him and attack.

She turned her gaze to Abigail to distract herself. The girl was standing several yards away with her arms crossed over her chest and wand in hand. If memory served her correctly, it appeared to be Cedric's family wand. She knew that he would not be pleased to see this, though he was in absolutely no position to do anything about it.

Sofia took a hesitant step forward and kept her gaze focused on Abigail. "Where is my brother?"

"Where is your husband?" Abigail retorted.

Sofia glanced behind her. While Ruby and Jade were mounted atop their horses in the courtyard, prepared to make a quick get away if need be, Cedric was hidden from sight with Baileywick as his guard. She looked back at Abigail and clenched her fists at her sides. "I'm just taking precautions to ensure that this trade goes as agreed upon."

Abigail gave the woman a half-smile and lowered her hands to her sides. "I can assure you, I have no need of your family outside of this agreement. I'm not trying to trick you. I said that I would release your mother and brother in exchange for both of you. I will do precisely that but I need both of you."

Sofia glanced back over her shoulder to see Ruby pulling her mother onto her horse. Once the other woman started off with her mother safely out of the castle gates she turned her eyes to Jade and gave a curt nod. Jade whistled, signaling to Baileywick to enter the courtyard with Cedric draped over the back of his horse. Her gaze then snapped back to Abigail expectantly. "My brother."

"Jonathan, fetch the former prince." Abigail commanded.

Sofia stood stiffly as Jonathan bypassed her once more and made his way into the castle. He returned after what felt like an eternity dragging James along behind him. She watched him with a scowl as he delivered the prince into Jade and Baileywick's possession before reclaiming Cedric for Abigail. Baileywick cast her one last farewell glance before urging his horse into motion with James on board.

Only when they were gone from sight did she return her gaze to Abigail. "Alright, you have us."

"Yes, I do." Abigail said with a smirk. She closed the castle gates with a flick of the wand before advancing on Sofia. "And I know that it was bravery, not stupidity which brought you back here, Sofia. You shall be rewarded for that."

"The only reward I want is the release of my sister." Sofia replied. "That is all I could ask for."

"But you know I can't do that. She's unfortunately the only assurance I have that you will try just as desperately hard as I will to get the Amulet of Avalor." Abigail replied. "But perhaps I can provide you a bit of comfort. You're here of your own free will. I see no reason to keep you locked in a prison cell. You can return to your room, though unfortunately I'll have to keep you locked inside with several guards outside your door and windows. You understand. Still, it's much better than a filthy prison, is it not?"

"And what about Cedric?" Sofia asked, glancing at the man who was bound and gagged and draped over Jonathan's shoulder, struggling vainly.

"What about him?" Abigail asked with a scoff. "Surely you don't suggest he be treated as fairly as I would treat you."

"I understand why you want to lock him in a cell." Sofia replied. "And he certainly deserves it but in his current condition he might die. As much as you would like to pretend that isn't a problem for you, we both know that it is. As it stands he's still the only person who knows the location of the Amulet of Avalor. If you let him die we may never find it. You're entirely justified in your want of revenge but be smart about it. If you kill him now you may as well forget all about the amulet."

Abigail looked Sofia over skeptically. "I should warn you against trying anything funny, Sofia. You won't be lucky enough to escape a second time."

"I don't intend to escape." Sofia said calmly. "I'm fully prepared to do as promised. I will do whatever it takes to help you find the amulet... but you understand I will need Cedric alive to do that."

"Very well." Abigail said with a nod. "I'll allow you to nurse him back from the brink of death but once he's capable of surviving a cold, damp prison cell that is precisely where he will go. Agreed?"

"I can't think of a better place for him." Sofia replied.

A wide smile crossed Abigail's face and she motioned Sofia to follow. "Come along. The sooner we get you to your room the sooner you can pry that information out of him."

"Yes, of course." Sofia bowed her head and followed after Abigail with Jonathan trailing behind, lugging an incapacitated Cedric.

"I'm so glad you decided to return of your own free will, Sofia." Abigail said, casting a smile at the older woman. "Jonathan and I were fully prepared to launch a kingdom wide search for the two of you. I fear the results would've been particularly nasty if it had come to that. Thankfully things worked out this way. A peaceful solution is usually the best, wouldn't you say? Extenuating circumstances aside, of course."

"I couldn't agree more." Sofia muttered. "Especially when it comes to extenuating circumstances." She followed the woman along, occasionally catching glimpses over her shoulder of Jonathan staring at her menacingly. She wanted nothing more than to strike the smug look from his face but she knew that her primary focus needed to be freeing Amber. Any revenge she hoped to seek would have to come afterward.

They made the long walk up the stairs in the direction of Sofia's bedroom. There were far more guards lining the hall than there had ever been before and it became clear that there truly would be no chance of escape, not that she planned to try.

When they entered her bedroom she watched Jonathan throw Cedric to the bed before producing some shackles to restrain him. Cedric struggled, but to no avail, as Jonathan successfully shackled his wrist to one of the bed posts. The witch then dismissed Jonathan and stood beside her, staring down at Cedric.

"The gag was a nice touch." Abigail said, with a snicker as she looked Cedric over in delight. "Who's idea was that?"

"Baileywick's." Sofia answered quietly. "Cedric may be physically weak but his mouth works just fine. He wouldn't quit complaining so Baileywick gagged him to keep him quiet."

"Mmm... I like your friend Baileywick." Abigail replied. "He's the sweetest old man. He certainly cares a great deal about you, Sofia. He made me swear a witch's oath that no harm would come to you before he would even agree to tell you about my proposition."

"He did?" Sofia asked in shock. "And you swore that oath?"

"Of course I did, although I don't think your friend believes I'll keep the oath. But I have no intentions of hurting you, Sofia. Quite honestly, I rather like you." Abigail smiled sweetly at the older woman and shrugged. "Unfortunately you got dragged into all this the day you agreed to marry Cedric. I'm sorry that you had to get involved but now that you are I need you to play your part. It's the only way to fix the damage he's caused."

Sofia blinked at Abigail in thought before turning her gaze to Cedric. "I'll do my best."

"That's all that I ask." Abigail said with a smile as she made her way out of the bedroom. "I'll have Agnes bring some food up shortly."

Sofia kept her eyes on Abigail as the girl exited her room. She then looked back at Cedric and reached out to untie the gag from around his mouth, an action which she almost immediately regretted.

"Sofia, you have doomed us both!" Cedric said furiously. "I can't believe you would do something so moronic as to-"

"This gag goes back on almost as easily as it comes off, Cedric." Sofia warned.

Cedric scowled at his wife but didn't let her threat stop him from his rant. "You can't tell me you honestly believe her when she says she doesn't want to hurt you! You saw what she did to me! And she may be acting sickeningly sweet to you now but when her patience begins to wear thin you can bet she'll be just as vile to you as she was to me! Mark my words, Sofia, that witch will-"

Sofia balled up the gag and quickly shoved it into Cedric's mouth as he spoke. He muffled a few more syllables before seemingly realizing it was pointless. Once she had his silence she pulled the blankets up over his exposed chest and let out a heavy sigh. "No, I don't fully trust Abigail and I'm well aware that these niceties might all be an act. But it doesn't do me any good to get on her bad side when our lives are in her hands."

"Oh, I see..." Cedric said with a roll of his eyes, though with the bunched up fabric in his mouth it came out sounding like nothing more than garbled nonsense. Thankfully Sofia reached up to pluck the fabric out for him to speak. "When your life was in my hands you fought me tooth and nail but with Abigail you bow down to her every whim."

"Abigail didn't lock me in a cell for years, ruin my entire family and discard every ounce of trust I had in her." Sofia snapped back at Cedric. She saw his eyes dart away in apparent guilt and she let out an uncomfortable sigh. She placed a hesitant hand over his in an effort to regain his attention. "I also have no level of confidence that Abigail won't kill me if I make her angry, where as you... I think I knew you never would, encroachment charm or not."

Cedric looked up at his wife in silent thought a moment before casting her a small smile. "Me and my silly weakness for you. Look where it's gotten us."

"Cedric, please tell me where the amulet is. Please." Sofia said, giving her husband's hand a gentle squeeze.

"If I tell you where the amulet is it will only put you in danger." Cedric replied.

Sofia sighed and shook her head at her husband. "I already told you, I'm well aware of what could happen to me. But I'm also prepared to do whatever it takes to help my family. If I die as a result then so be it."

Cedric shook his head to the best of his ability and raised his hand to her face. "I don't want to lose you."

Sofia reached up to pull Cedric's hand from her face and averted her gaze. "Cedric-"

"I know." Cedric smiled and placed his hand back against Sofia's cheek. "I know you think that's just something I'm saying to trick you or lull you into a false sense of security but I genuinely mean that. I've always been terrified of losing you... to the point that I couldn't even bear to wipe your memories away because I knew whatever would have been left behind would not have been you. I've done everything in my power to keep you around and although I may not have always handled it in the best way it has always been so that you would never leave me. I know it may not seem like I'm being sincere when I say that I don't want to lose you but I don't think I've ever spoken more truer words."

"Cedric, I know you mean it." Sofia said sadly. "That's why it's so hard for me to hear. Sometimes it's just easier for me to still think of you as some horrible monster because when I think about you having real, honest feelings for me it... it makes everything that's happened just feel that much more terrible."

"I'm sorry." Cedric offered with a sorrowful smile. "Maybe one day I'll be able to make up for all that."

"You can make up for it by telling me where the Amulet of Avalor is." Sofia responded.

A small laugh fell from Cedric's lips and he let his hand trail down Sofia's face and arm to clasp her hand. "If I thought for even a second that it would be worth putting you in danger for, I would tell you. But as it stands, that's not a risk I'm willing to take."

Sofia huffed and opened her mouth to plead with Cedric more but the sound of the door being thrust open caught her attention. She saw Jonathan standing in the doorway with the elderly servant woman, Agnes, pushing a cart of food. She drew closer to Cedric as Jonathan approached, though he would be of no help to her if Jonathan decided to do anything.

Thankfully the man only seemed interested in leering down at her and making her as uneasy as possible. She did her best to ignore him as Agnes wheeled the cart silently over to the bedside. The old woman then turned and vacated the room and Jonathan was soon to follow but his presence seemed to somehow linger for a long while after he left. The air felt heavy around her and it was all she could do to push herself off of Cedric. What little sense of security she had fled her body as she withdrew entirely from her husband.

She tried to ignore the sense of dread washing over her and moved to lift the cloche from the food. There were two bowls filled with gruel sitting on the cart; a fitting touch of irony if ever there were one.

She picked up one of the bowls and its accompanying spoon and moved back over to the bed to feed Cedric. She lifted the spoon to his lips but, much to her annoyance, he refused to open his mouth. "You need to eat."

"It's probably poisoned." Cedric said, turning his head from his wife. "I'm not eating."

"Cedric, you haven't had anything to eat since the day Abigail captured us." Sofia said sternly.

"That was only yesterday." Cedric replied, managing a shrug.

Sofia's eyes widened and she lowered the bowl of gruel onto the bedside table. "W-was it really only yesterday? It feels like it's been so much longer than that."

Cedric glanced out the window at the light coming in. "Judging by the position of the sun I'd say it's been a little over twenty-four hours since you stormed into my throne room and accused me of murdering your sister. I had lunch shortly before that."

Sofia pulled her knees up to her chest and stared out the window in disbelief. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, it was hard to believe only a day had passed. Tears began to trickle down her face and she found she could do nothing to stop them. "When is this nightmare going to end?"

Cedric stared at Sofia, her words striking through him with a painful bolt of guilt. He wanted to reach for her and comfort her but he knew that all of her sorrow had been his fault and that even if he tried, he would never be able to make up for all the trouble he'd caused her. "Sofia, I'm... so sorry."

"Don't, Cedric. Please." Sofia said, wrapping her arms tighter around herself. "Don't say it if you don't mean it."

"I do mean it." Cedric offered softly. "I'm sorry."

Sofia shook her head and stood slowly. "The only thing you're sorry about is that it led to this. But taking over the kingdom, forcing me to become your wife, ruling over everyone with an iron fist... you're not a bit sorry about that."

"You're right, I'm not." Cedric replied, averting his gaze from his wife.

Sofia let out a huff of disgust and clenched her fists at her sides. "I knew as much."

"I'm glad I took over the kingdom." Cedric said a bit hesitantly. "I-I couldn't stand another day in the life I had before I brought the royal family crumbling down. I was miserable. I was a failure amongst my peers, a black sheep in my family and a laughing stock amongst the entire kingdom. It was enough to make me want to end my wretched existence. But, as you can well imagine, I managed to fail miserably at that as well."

Sofia's gaze flew to Cedric and she stared at him with wide, horrified eyes. "Cedric, you..."

"Of all the different ways there are to kill oneself you would think that at least one of them would've stuck." Cedric said with a derisive laugh. "I guess not even death himself wanted me around."

"Cedric, why didn't you say something?" Sofia asked sadly. "If I had known-"

"Yes, because that's something you speak to a child about; hating your miserable life and wanting to end it all." Cedric shook his head and stared down at his free hand. "It wouldn't have mattered. I gave up trying to take my own life long before I met you. Dying just wasn't in my cards at that time. Instead I resolved that the only thing that would truly give my life meaning would be to become king. People might not have liked me but they were damn well going to respect me and the only way to ensure that was to become king. So... I did. And I don't regret it. Perhaps I regret the means by which I accomplished my goal, but the goal itself was all that gave my life purpose. And then, of course, there's you."

Sofia blinked at Cedric in confusion as he finally returned his eyes to hers. "Me?"

"There is not a single part of me that regrets taking you as my wife. I don't even regret the circumstances because I know there was no other way under these conditions that you would have agreed to become my wife." Cedric replied. "I do love you, Sofia. I'm just sorry it isn't in the way you deserve."

Sofia stared at Cedric in silent thought for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. She plopped back down on the bed beside him and reached out to clasp his free hand. "Thank you, Cedric."

Cedric's brow crinkled at his wife. He glanced down at his hand in hers before returning his gaze to her face. "What are you thanking me for?"

"For being honest. And... for sharing a part of yourself that I'm sure you would've preferred to have kept buried." Sofia said, leaning forward to press her lips to Cedric's cheek. She pulled back from him, taking a moment to admire the slightly dumbfounded expression on his face before she reached for the bowl of gruel and brought the spoon back to his mouth. "Now say ah!"

"Sofia, for the love of all that is sane, get that tripe away from me!"