It had been two days and Cedric was on edge.

Sofia would do her job as usual but as soon as she was able, she would leave for the village and not be back till late in the evening. This displeased him because it wasn't the normal routine and when the routine was broken it made him anxious and angry.

This led to Cedric watching her leave from a window and when she was no longer in sight he rushed to her tower and stormed in, waking up the old raven who hissed at him. But this didn't stop Cedric from going after the bird and chasing it around the room, much like he used to when he needed a test subject for a spell or potion.

"Come here you infernal bird! You may live with her now, but you are still MINE! I brought you to life from a stone and I could undo it if I wanted!" He snarled and to his glee this convinced Wormwood to land on Sofia's desk and hiss again, fluffing his feathers in displeasure. "I need your eyes."

Wormwood took flight again and Cedric yelled in frustration.

"NO, you damned bird! I don't want your eyes in the literal sense! I need you to BE my eyes!" He said pulling a frog leg that had obviously been soaked in something that gave it a teal hue and held it up for the bird to see. Wormwood fluttered to him and landed on Cedrics arm, taking the morsel from his fingers and swallowing it. From there Cedric pulled a vial from his other pocket and pulled a cork and poured the little bit of teal liquid into his right eye. His breathing became heavy as he endured the burning and pressed his hand to his eye as he looked at Wormwood with his left eye.

"Go to the village and see what Sofia is doing… I will see everything as well for the next hour... Don't waste that time you rat with wings."

With that, the raven was flying away, and sure enough when Cedric covered his left eye, so he could better focus on what he was seeing with his right, he saw the ground and the trees flying past far below and the castle moving away. To see the world from above was an amazing thing, but he couldn't bring himself to enjoy it as the raven continued onward and down to the village below. Many of the citizens were working, as usual, children still too young to be at the schoolhouse ran around laughing and screaming at each other or clung to their mother's skirts.

The one thing out of place was the grown man, or rather Elf, running around with the playing children. He entertained and told stories and made them laugh and Cedric watched with a knot twisting in his stomach. Wormwood landed beside a small bunch of sparrows roosting on a rooftop. They startled but settled back in when it became evident the black-feathered scavenger wasn't going to do anything. The bird watched Sofia who sat on a bench with a few small sacks that she slowly sifted through and studying each object she pulled out. She would say something, and the elf would pause long enough to answer her before becoming distracted once more with the children's game.

Cedric cursed Wormwood for not going closer so he could hear what was being said between the two of them. One of the children, a young boy, went to Sofia and joined her on the bench and watched what she was doing, seeming to ask a question about what she was doing or what she was looking at. With a smile, Sofia pulled a round polished white stone from one sack and handed it to the boy who lit up. He liked the polished white stone and sat in silence watching it sparkle.

The elf finally joined Sofia, huffing and puffing out of air. He smiled weakly at Sofia who just laughed at him and patted his arm. It was here Wormwood decided to glide down and land on Sofia's knee and she blinked at him in surprise.

"Oh, hello Wormwood… Out for a fly, I guess." She said and used her finger to scratch his neck.

"Ooooh, he is a big one… Pretty bird." Elfonso laughed and reached to pet Wormwood too, only to have the bird bite him. He yelped and pulled his finger back to see the skin on his knuckle was torn a little but nothing bad. "Angry bird!"

Sofia shrugged and turned her eyes back to the goods before her.

"He has always been like this… Anyways, all this is just a sample of what we would get through trade?" She asked looking through the sack of polished stones and gems.

"Yes, yes! A slew of new items that can be used for many things! Rare stones for alchemists and samples of wood that can be used for carriages, furniture or even… Wands!" He said as he pulled a hand full of sticks as thick as his fingers. They sparkled and Sofia gasped when she saw them and snatched one to study.

"Are these from the tree?!" She asked and he smiled nodding.

"We have taken a few of the older branches down and brought them into Elvenmoor to be cut and rooted to grow more trees! Sadly, they do have some magic properties but do not create a door like the parent tree." He sighed placing the sticks back in the sack and Sofia twirled the one in her hand, watching the silver bark shimmer.

"Oh, a wand from this would be so lovely…" She sighed an Elfonso smiled at her. "With all this, I am sure you can convince Cedric to agree with the trade negotiations! All I need to do is finish the summary and give it to him…"

Elfonso's smile fell and he looked at her with wide eyes.

"You mean to say he hasn't even seen the negotiations! It has been two days Sofia I leave the morning after tomorrow!" He shouted and Sofia huffed.

"I KNOW… But he has been… Difficult as of late and I can't present it to him till I have all the information needed." She said and folded her hands.

"How has he been difficult?" He asked watching her with interest and Sofia's head dropped back as she sighed.

"It's… A little hard to explain. Lord Cedric has a sensitive ego and if something doesn't go his way, he will either sulk, or become violent, or complain and moan and make it known that this is his territory… No one really pays him attention anymore when he does that." Sofia said and the wide-eyed look and she smiled at him. "Right now, he is shifting between sulking and complaining."

"Do you know what has caused his ill mood if I may ask?" Elfonso asked watching her and Wormwood fluffed up.

"… No, I do not."

It was a lie… She knew deep down that it was because she had rebuffed his advance on her.

Cedric laid in his bed, eyes closed and a frown on his face.