Sofia sat in her tower with Winifred sitting across from her while Goodwin rested in their guest chambers, old age really taking its toll and him wanting to sleep off the fatigue that traveling had caused. Sofia stared at her teacup, stirring the slightly pink liquid by tilting the cup this way and that.

"Sofia… You look pale, have you been eating and sleeping well?" She asked and Sofia just nodded. "Are you sure? You look like you committed murder."

"Yes, I have been doing just… Just fine." She said not looking up at her teacup and the old sorceress reached out and patted her hand. The look she gave was knowing and Sofia sighed as she set the cup aside. "I'm so tired… It's becoming so difficult to recognize the good and the bad choices and to know what is best for myself and others!" She said and laid her head on the table.

"Choices like that, at times, can be the hardest to make… The best we can do when faced with such things is to choose the lesser evil, even if it leads to a bad outcome… Because the other choice could lead to an even worst outcome." Winifred said as she squeezed Sofia's hand.

"That doesn't make me feel better," Sofia mumbled and the elder woman smiled at her.

"That's a good thing Sofia… The moment you fail to feel such things you are no longer a human… You become a monster."

Sofia sat up and stared at her blinking.

"Is that what your fear for Cedric?" Sofia asked, heart pounding.

"… My son has become cruel and his hands are stained yes, but he hasn't lost all feeling. Many people look at him now and feel disgusted, angry… They only see his mistakes and damn him as a despicable creature. But I can see he struggles with what he had done… As long as he still feels regret and remorse for his actions, he will never truly be a monster…" Winifred watched Sofia process this and she smiled. "Incidentally, judging by the letters you send I feel he has made improvements in how he handles his emotions and it's all thanks to you… WELL until he drugged himself with that elixir but that won't be a problem for much longer… Any moment he will experience the downsides to that particular brew." Winifred said as she released Sofia's hand.

Sofia frowned at her and looked down at the table then back up.

"What's going to happen?" She asked and the old sorceress shrugged.

"Mild hallucinations to start… Then vertigo, nausea, dry mouth, paranoia, and the general feeling of having severe illness." She said and Sofia laughed weakly.

"He already has hallucinations and paranoia without the elixir."

"Good so you know how to handle it… He will be right as rain by tomorrow so no need to worry."

The laugh Sofia gave was filled with stress and worry but still, she was happy for Winifred's company as they continued to enjoy the tea and some sandwiches the elder magic weaver had conjured.

It was three hours later when Sofia was summoned by a maid and a guard.

When she arrived in Cedric's chambers she found him hunched over the once clean chamber pot, miserable and emptying his stomach. Sofia ordered for water to be brought and a new chamber pot as she knelt to rub Cedric's back in a comforting manner.

He flinched away from her and looked up, skin grey looking and the whites of his eye's red. He was obviously feeling a lot of things at the moment and misery was the leading emotion. She slowly placed her hand on his back once more and he lowered his head to retch into the pot once more. She just sat and rubbed his back, looking off into space and trying not to listen to the sound of him being sick.

Cordelia came in sometime later after Sofia got Cedric into bed.
She looked at the sight before her. Her little brother lying in bed drenched in sweat greyed skin and shaking with a string of rapid muttering falling from his lips; while Sofia sat by dabbing his skin with a clean cloth and a maid taking away the soaked rags to replace them with fresh ones.

"How is he doing?" She asked and Sofia was quick to latch onto Cedric as he went to sit straight up, a fearful yelp leaving him as he tried to sit up. When he calmed and laid still Sofia looked at Cordelia and put her finger to her lips before speaking in a hushed tone.

"He is doing pretty well now… Just trying to keep him from soaking his sheets through." She said looking back to Cedric who started shaking once more.

"Any luck with that?"

Sofia shrugged as she drew his covers up higher to try and warm him up, knowing she would have to pull them back down when he got too hot again.

"The maid only needed to change the sheets once so far… I used one of my personal concoctions to lessen the discomfort in his muscles but that doesn't stop the hot and cold flashes…" She said looking to the sister of the King with a weak smile.

"Well… Father was wondering how he was doing, granted I don't see why he didn't just come himself instead of sending me… I guess he still loves Cedric, but he is finding it difficult to forgive him."

"Have you?"

There was an awkward silence following Sofia's question and Cordelia sighed before sitting on the edge of the bed and touching her hair.

"It is complicated Sofia… I can't say I have but he is still my brother and through all odds… He has become King. If anything, he will need the guidance of his family now more than ever as he really establishes his… OUR bloodline as the Kingdoms royal family…"

Sofia frowned but nodded falling into a tense silence only broken by Cedrics breathing and muttering. Sofia took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, watching as his muttering stopped and feeling him squeeze her hand back before resuming his muttering.

"So, he is awake?" Cordelia said with a raised brow and Sofia tilted her head this way and that.

"Kind of… He can hear us and feel things around him, but I think he is so absorbed in the sickness that he isn't processing what's being said around him." Sofia answered and to her surprise, Cordelia smiled.

"Excellent… Then I must know Sofia… Is he naked under there?"

Sofia stared at her with eyes growing wide as the question sunk in and then her cheeks flushed as she quickly looked away. Cordelia laughed and stood to move closer to Sofia.

"Oh, come now Sofia! I'm his sister! I have every right to any little tidbit that I can hold over him and tease him with… Is the bare as the day he was born?"

"No, he is not… He is still wearing his breaches if you must know!" Sofia snapped in a hushed tone.

"Then… Have you?" Cordelia pressed with a little wiggle of her eyebrows and Sofia glared.

"No, I have not. Why would I ever?" Sofia asked still red-faced and a little appalled by the turn of the conversation. The elder sorceress smiled at her in a teasing manner. "Oh, come now Corbillia this is your brother! This is most inappropriate."

Sofia turned away with her nose turned up a little and she heard the nosy sorceress laugh quietly.

"I am only playing Sofia… Honestly, you are too good to him after everything, and even if he doesn't really show it, I know he is grateful for your kindness and patience."

"How would you know that, Cordelia?" Sofia said in a huffy tone. She could feel Cedric's grip on her hand tighten for a moment and the muttering stopped. Only for his grip to relax and the muttering to continue.

"Because Father, Mother, and I are all grateful… Even if Father doesn't show it, stubborn old man that he is…"

Sofia gave a weak smile as she focused back on Cedric who started to groan and sit up. Sofia was quick to snatch up the clean chamber pot and put it in front of him, just in time for him to retch water and stomach acid into it. Siting there breathing heavily he finally was able to focus on the two women who had been talking over him. His eyes locked onto his sister and he groaned loudly before lying back down and rolling over.

"Get out of my room Cordelia." He groaned and his sister laughed before making her way toward the door.

"As you wish 'little Cedikins'." She teased on her way out.