For Princess Amber's eleventh birthday, she had asked her father to allow her to sit in on his official meetings and audiences.
Prince James, her twin, had asked to be squire to his uncle, Sir Bartleby, and travel with him and Duchess Matilda as he learned to be a proper knight.
These were easy things to give, easy promises to make. As usual, Princess Sofia had over complicated matters as her birthday approached. The most precocious of the royal children had asked for an adventure, one that only she could take.
So Cedric, Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia, found himself in his tower, brewing one of the most complicated potions he had ever made. He still wasn't sure why he'd selected this, of all the options he could have chosen, but given Sofia was half-a-sorceress herself, he knew it was the one. Sofia's wish had been the King's command, so he gathered ingredients (at what would have been great expense if the King hadn't been footing the bill) and began to work.
A familiar knock at the door heralded the Princess bursting in, her wide smile brightening the room immeasurably as she raced over to watch the beakers. "Mr. Cedric, are you sure you can't tell me what it is?"
She had asked this question every day since he'd begun working, and it had taken most of his ingenuity to keep her from sniffing out his secrets, given her uncanny perception where he was concerned. Even now Sofia was examining all the books stacked on the table as if they might give her a clue.
"Now, Princess, birthday presents are supposed to be a surprise," he chided lightly. "You don't want to ruin that, do you?"
Her only response was to sigh dramatically and flop into one of his chairs. She'd been doing more of that of late, and he tried to remind himself it was typical of her age, and she would only become worse over the next few years when she matured from a child to a proper teenager. He wasn't looking forward to that.
"Technically, the potion is a gift from the King," she said, and he heard the toes of her slippers scrape the stone floor. When had she gotten tall enough for her feet to even brush the ground? "What will you be giving me, Mr. Cedric?"
He laughed at the audacity, even if he should have been used to it by now. "What did I just say about birthday presents, Your Highness?" As if to emphasize the point, he looked at her over one shoulder.
Rather than respond, she stuck her tongue out at him petulantly.
"Keep sticking that tongue out and I'll turn it into a frog. At least then it will be more amusing to look at."
Sofia laughed in spite of herself. "You're being mean."
"Hardly," he scoffed. "I'm just trying to lighten your mood." A few beats of silence passed between them before he finally asked, "Is everything all right?"
She scratched her arm and wouldn't look at him as she spoke. "I'm just… nervous." Sofia sighed. "I don't know what this adventure will be. I don't know how to prepare. I don't know if I can do it, if it will be worth it. I don't know if I'm ready to leave. I'm-"
"Princess," Cedric said gently, leaving the alchemical set up aside for a few minutes as he approached and knelt on the floor in front of her so they were at eye level. "You have defeated Vor. You're a Protector of the EverRealm. And while you may not yet know what this quest will entail - and frankly, neither do your father and I - we will not send you out into the world unprepared for it. Arrangements have already been made to ensure you will have adequate supplies, and the ability to get whatever else you need."
Sofia hunched her shoulders and looked away, but said nothing.
"If you truly do not want to go, I will sabotage the potion, if you ask it of me." He knew Roland would give him hell for it, but he would be lying if he said he was looking forward to the Princess being gone - or what the potion would lead her to. Still, she deserved happiness. She deserved this.
"No," she said and leaned forward, so her nose was almost touching his. "If you think I can do it, then I will. I trust you to be honest with me."
He smiled and stood, giving her hair an affectionate ruffle. "You should leave me to my work, Princess, if it's to be ready in time for your birthday."
"Okay, Mr. Cedric," she said, slipping out of the chair and throwing her arms around his waist. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet, your Highness. The potion isn't finished."
Letting him go, she headed for the door. "I'm not thanking you for the potion," she said, before leaving him alone.
Three days later, Cedric stood with the rest of the King's advisors as they presented their gifts to Sophia. Most were simple things, but she delighted in the travel pouch full of spices Chef Andre gave her, the compass from Admiral Hornpipe, and the pocket watch from Baileywick.
When it came to Cedric's turn to present his gift, he permitted himself the quiet observation that she seemed more eager than she had been with the other members of the palace staff. It was no secret that they shared a special bond through her apprenticeship; though he had not always been the best influence, their continued relationship had made him feel the pull to be a better man.
Sofia tore the paper back with a giggle that turned to a curious chirr when she saw the two books: one old and tattered, the other stuff with newness. Neither had a title or any other indications toward the contents, so the Princess opened the newer tome before furrowing her brow in confusion and looking up at him. "It's blank?"
Cedric nodded. "Every young sorceress requires a grimoire. Now you have your own." Smiling nervously, he gestured to the tattered book beside it. "And that is my own grimoire, from when I was your age. Just because we will be apart is no excuse to be lax when it comes to your studies." No one else present understood the significance of the gift - a sorcerer's grimoire was exceedingly personal, often serving as a diary just as much as a compendium of their magical knowledge. But Sofia understood, so much so that she left both books on her throne and ran to Cedric, wrapping her arms around his waist and crying into his robe.
"Now, now, Princess," he said, patting her gently. No need for tears in the middle of your party."
"Thank you, Mr. Cedric," she blubbered.
"You're quite welcome, your Highness." He tugged a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her. "Now, I believe there are other gifts you have yet to open."
She released him and took a few steps back, burying her face in his handkerchief as she climbed back on the throne. He offered Queen Miranda an apologetic glance and returned to the rest of the crowd.
When at last it came time for the King and Queen's gift, Roland motioned to Cedric, and he stepped forward, offering the princess a crystal vial filled with a gold liquid. She looked up at him, then over to her parents. "A potion? What does it do?"
Queen Miranda approached her daughter and reached out, brushing her hair from her face. "You asked the King and I for an adventure only you could take. After conferring with Cedric, this is the best answer to that request we could give - this potion will create a magic trail that leads you to your soulmate."
"My soulmate?" Sofia's eyebrows furrowed together. "But I thought those were made up, from fairy tales."
"For most people, they are," Cedric explained, "but it has been found that those who work extensively with magic are much more likely to have one - even moreso if they also work with magical artifacts or spend a significant amount of time in the Mystic Isles."
Roland smiled indulgently at the youngest princess. "None of us know where this adventure will take you - it might only go as far as Dunwiddie, it might take you to the other side of the EverRealm. But since you're only eleven, once you know who it is, you'll have time to adjust to the idea."
Sofia still looked dubious, but fixed Cedric with an earnest expression. "Do you have a soulmate?"
He blushed and scratched the back of his neck. "Aah. No. It's something of a tradition in more magically inclined families to make or purchase the potion for children when they're about your age. My parents did, but it fizzled out."
"Oh," she flinched slightly. "That must have been disappointing."
"It is the risk," Cedric shrugged. "There are no guarantees in life, even less so in love."
He caught the queen's gaze, and she nodded, picking up where he left off. "All having a soulmate means is this is the person with whom you will find the most happiness. It doesn't mean you get out of the hard work."
"How do I use it?" Sofia asked. "Do I pour it on myself, drink it, what?"
"Just throw it on the ground at your feet, then follow the path it makes." He made a shooing motion with his hand and everyone backed away, giving Princess Sofia both space and a clear path to the castle gates.
The Princess stood quietly for a few minutes, lost in thought as she stared at the vial; Cedric found himself suddenly gripped with doubt. Maybe this had been the wrong thing to do. What if he was wrong? What if she didn't have a soulmate? He remembered how inconsolable he had been for weeks after learning he didn't; but shook off the feeling. The universe could not be so cruel as to deny Sofia this happiness. She gave of herself so readily for others, she deserved this one thing, far more than many others he could name.
"Here I go!" she said abruptly, and the vial tumbled from her grasp to the marble floor, shattering in a spray of gold. Smoke of the same color rose from the mess, swirling around Sofia before plunging back into the potion itself. The liquid came alive, sliding over the floor as if the whole palace had been tipped, heading not towards the gates, but towards the crowd of castle servants. Cedric and Baileywick motioned the servants apart to clear a path in that direction so the path could go unimpeded.
Turning back to the Princess, Cedric noticed her looking at him in confusion. He glanced down to the quickly forming path, and saw it was still heading in his direction. With an exasperated sigh, he motioned for the group with him to keep moving, only for the trail to stop at his feet, the gold trying to crawl up his boots.
"Oh, Fafnir's flames," he said. "Forgive me, Your Highness. I must have made a mistake with the potion." Cedric laughed nervously and began heading toward the stairs. "I have the ingredients to make a few more doses. I'll just whip another up and we can try again." Swallowing thickly, he flicked his wand towards the gold that had curved around and begun sliding toward him. "Revers-O!"
As the liquid stopped moving and grew dull, Cedric turned on his heel and bolted toward his tower.
Seven.
Cedric had made seven different vials of the soulmate potion since coming upstairs, but every one turned out identical to the first - a warm gold fluid that looked like someone had managed to capture joy and summer sunlight in a bottle. It was a brilliant source of light in the dark room - the sun had long since set, but he'd continued working by candlelight.
Which meant the mistake had to be elsewhere. Maybe the Dragon's Breath was actually Drake's Breath, and he'd been scammed by the seller? Maybe he'd gotten the incantation wrong or -
"Ceddykins?" His mother's voice called from the painting of his parents on the wall and they both slipped from it to appear in his work room. "We heard you had a little mix-up with the potion for the Princess. I hope everything's all right?"
"Yes," he sighed and leaned against the nearest bookcase, scowling at the smudge of gold still on his boot. "I can't seem to find where it went wrong. I've replicated the instructions, again and again, and every potion comes out identical." He gestured toward the pile of vials on the work bench. "I was about to start cross referencing descriptions of the rarer ingredients to see if I had something wrong there, but -"
"I'll take a look," Goodwyn grumbled, snatching up a potion and holding it up to the light. Cedric watched his father's face grow stoic before the older man asked him, "What exactly happened when the princess tried to use it?"
"It did as the books said - started moving over the floor of it's own accord. But it moved toward me. I moved out of the way, thinking it was just moving in my direction, but it followed me." He ran a hand through his hair, but his bangs insisted on falling back in his face. "So I know something is wrong with it, given we already know I don't have one."
Goodwyn and Winnifred exchanged an unreadable look, and his mother opened her mouth to speak, but the door opened just then to admit Queen Miranda.
The surprise of her unexpected entry made Goodwyn drop the vial in his hand - it shattered at his feet, producing the same effect the potion had earlier that day. The smoke receded, the liquid began to move, sliding between the uneven stones straight to Cedric's mother.
Winnifred began to titter nervously, glancing between the queen and Cedric. "W-well… we know the potion works."
"Now. The potion works now," he said weakly before bowing respectfully to the queen and her two honor guards. "We still don't know what caused the problem earlier with Princess Sofia."
The queen blinked slowly, as if considering. "But you have faith in this new batch of potions, Cedric?"
He laughed nervously - the same laugh he'd given in the throne room earlier today. "As much faith as I have in any of my own work, your majesty," he said.
Queen Miranda folded her hands in front of her stomach. "Use one," she commanded.
"W-what?" Cedric blinked twice and his nervous laughter became near hysterical. "You can't be serious. A-As I said before, I don't have a soulmate; when I tried the potion it fizzled out."
"Yes, and you tried it when you were eleven, yes?" She set her jaw with the same stubbornness that he both despised and admired in her daughter. "It makes perfect sense that the potion would have fizzled if your soulmate hadn't been born yet."
His laughter finally died at the queen's implication, and he looked at the six remaining vials like a nest of vipers waiting to bite him.
"I'm waiting," Queen Miranda said.
He looked to his parents as if they could give him some escape, but they just clutched each other's hands and watched him with more than a little concern.
"Your majesty," he demurred, "These potions are wildly expensive. Why, to waste one on me when I already know the result is -"
"You're the royal sorcerer, aren't you?" Miranda interrupted.
He sighed in defeat, already knowing where this line of reasoning was going. The last thing he needed was Roland to be dragged out of bed and up here. Still, he hesitated with his hand over the pile of vials as the queen's other implication began to claw it's way through his mind. What if he and the youngest princess were -
Cedric snapped his mind down like a vice over that line of thought. Sofia was nearly thirty years his junior, his friend, and his apprentice. It would be the grossest kind of villainy to entertain thoughts of her like this, as she was now, as a child. Maybe in the future it could be considered but he would not suffer the indignities of the suggestion he might have groomed her.
A warm hand touched his shoulder, and he looked back to see his father giving him a sympathetic look. "Sometimes, it's better to just get these things over with." Goodwyn reached over and picked up a vial, pressing it into his son's grip.
Meeting Queen Miranda's expectant stare, Cedric threw the vial to the floor.
When he had been eleven, and tried the potion, the smoke that billowed up had smelled of the ingredients to the potion and a little burnt before it blew away on the wind. That was what he expected now, but instead he found it carried the scent of lilacs and vanilla and left the taste of lemonade on his tongue.
Cedric wasn't sure if he wanted to sob or scream as the smoke fell back into the potion just before it started moving across the floor, toward the door to his rooms.
The queen stepped aside, watching it pass, then nodded to her guards as it slipped under his door. "Bring him."
He didn't fight it, instead choosing to follow the queen of his own free will down the stairs and into the palace proper; he was far too focused on how the knot in his stomach was being transmuted to solid lead and sinking fast. His shoulder's hunched more with every step they took into the children's wing, until at last they came to a stop, watching as the gold vanished beneath Sofia's bedroom door.
"Revers-O," he whispered dully, flicking his wand again to end the potion's effect.
He and Miranda stared at each other for a few minutes, processing the truth that neither of them could deny, until he licked his lips and said, "I'm sorry, your majesty. I had no idea, or I would never have suggested -"
"I know," she said softly. "It is just an adjustment. When I imagined the person she might end up with, it was never anyone like you."
"Yes," he looked down at his hands. "I expected it to be someone far better than me as well. Some foreign Prince or Princess… maybe a fairy. Not a mediocre sorcerer who struggles to do the right thing."
He was glad Queen Miranda didn't argue with his self-assessment. Instead, she brushed her hair over her shoulder and asked, "What will you do now?"
"I will leave the castle before dawn, and Enchancia on the first ship out," he said.
"But… Why?" To his surprise, the Queen wasn't threatening him, and seemed genuinely shocked at his decision. "It's obvious your place is here. You are Sofia's sorcery instructor and her dearest friend. This potion only confirms that you two belong together. Besides, you're the Royal Sorcerer. You are a valued member of this court."
"Because it will be near impossible to keep this secret for long if I am still here," he answered simply. "Because she is a princess and I am a servant. Because she is eleven and I am forty. Because if there is any chance for us to have anything together, then I absolutely cannot have a hand in her upbringing from this point on, and I need emotional distance from her as a literal child." Cedric pressed a hand over his eyes and took a shuddering breath. "I need to go pack."
She didn't stop him as he walked away.
Back in his rooms, his parents didn't ask. Cedric could only assume the expression on his face told them all they needed to know, but his mother still cried when he announced he was going to be travelling outside of Enchancia for the foreseeable future.
"Have you been banished?" Goodwyn asked seriously. "I can speak to Roland, and -"
"No, Father," Cedric shook his head and climbed the steps up to his bedroom. "The Queen wanted me to stay, but…" He froze, halfway up, gripping the banister so tightly his knuckles went white. "I cannot in good conscience remain here. For all that she is my soulmate she is still a child, and I need distance from that if I am to…" His voice trailed off. "Princess Sofia deserves every happiness. I may not have faith in myself, but I do have faith in magic. They say your soulmate is the fastest way to find that happiness, though it involves all the work of any other relationship. I will not deny her that chance forever, but I will not stay here and snuff out her ability to make that decision before she realizes it's one she should have been free to make."
"For what it's worth," his father replied. "I think you're doing the right thing."
Winnifred nodded and came to her husband's side. "We'll start packing things away down here. You gather what you need up there."
Cedric nodded silently, but stopped again at the top of the stairs. "Thank you both," he said, "for everything."
"Of course, dear," his mother said. "You're our precious boy."
The moment his bedroom door shut behind him, Cedric allowed himself to finally feel everything he'd been putting off that day, and wept into his hands.
Two hours later, Cedric descended the stairs, all the personal possessions he thought he might need packed away and magically shrunk down to fit into a single over-the shoulder satchel. The leather robes for travel were heavy over the more comfortable silks he'd become accustomed to as Royal Sorcerer, but he hadn't really decided where he was going yet, mostly just focusing on putting distance between himself and Sofia before his resolve faltered and he started making excuses to himself. For all that he wasn't interested in her romantically at the moment, he felt it better to not tempt fate when all it asked of him was some patience.
"Leave the books," he said, abruptly, and his mother turned to look at him in confusion. "Sorry, Mummy," he sighed. "Princess Sofia is still studying magic, and so I was planning to leave anything other than the bare essentials." Looking around, he raised an eyebrow. "Where's father?"
"Speaking with Baileywick," Winnifred said, and went to the top of the stairs that led down into the storage room. "Baileywick, Dearest! Cedric's come down."
Both men trudged up the stairs, and Cedric tilted his head to Baileywick. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I came to deliver some essentials from their Majesties," the castle steward said. "And to discuss arrangements with Goodwyn."
His father nodded. "I will be coming out of retirement to serve as an interim Royal Sorcerer in your absence," he explained. "Though you will still officially hold the position."
"I will?" Cedric was baffled. "But… I thought I was lucky to be leaving with my head. I didn't think the job was even a possi-"
"I don't know what you and the queen talked about," Baileywick interrupted, "but after she spoke to King Roland the instructions I was given were very clear." The steward reached into his suit coat and pulled out three envelopes, offering them to Cedric. "You are officially on sabbatical until you choose to return."
Cedric opened the first envelope, and sure enough, it was a letter of writ naming him as the Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia and a travelling dignitary under orders from King Roland II. The second envelope was more surprising - a letter to the bank in Dunwiddie commanding them to give him ten years advance on his salary. He went for the third envelope, but Baileywick reached out, touching his hand to stop him. "The Queen asked that you wait to read her letter until you've set sail."
"Of course," he mumbled, tucking the letters away.
"Speaking of letters," Goodwyn interjected. "Since we won't be able to reliably send post the traditional way, I dug out my old Post Portal." He hung the device, looking something like an empty quiver for an archer, off one of the bookcases. "I was hoping you'd let us key it to your bag so we can write reliably."
"And you had better write back!" Winnifred said as Cedric passed his bag to his father. "I will be beside myself with worry if I don't hear from you regularly."
"I will, Mummy." Cedric chuckled. "I can't very well claim to be the Royal Sorcerer if I'm not at least available for the King to speak with."
"Not to mention Princess Sofia." Baileywick's mention of her name made Cedric freeze up. He wasn't sure how much the steward had been told. "She's going to be heartbroken. You should write to her, too."
"I will as much as I can," he said, not bothering to describe what might prevent him - namely, his need for distance - mental, emotional, and physical - from the child. He would be gone for years, not returning until she had grown up and he felt ready to meet her as a woman.
"Here," his father said, offering his satchel back, the whole thing still tingling with the recent spells. "The letters should appear in the front pocket, and you can tuck your responses in there as well. Now, you should head out. A prolonged goodbye will just grieve your mother."
As if recognizing her cue, Winnifred began to cry, and Cedric hugged both her and his father tightly. "I'll write often. Please take care of things here for me, and -"
"Don't worry, Ceddykins," his mother said, patting his cheek. "We'll watch over Princess Sofia."
He sighed. "Thank you, Mummy." Then he released them both and headed out of his tower.
Baileywick followed him out of the castle like a silent shadow, summoning a carriage and climbing in with him as they rode first to the bank in Dunwiddie so Cedric could deal with his financial matters, then on to the docks. The Steward had served the Enchancian royal family since long before Cedric was appointed Royal Sorcerer, and had mastered the art most important when working with nobility: the ability to read the people around him. Though Baileywick did cast Cedric concerned looks occasionally, he left the sorcerer to his silent contemplation until they stood on the dock beside the ship that would take Cedric away.
"You didn't make a mistake with Sofia's potion, did you, Cedric?"
"No," he confirmed, "I didn't."
The two men watched the sun rise over the sea while sailors loaded the last of the cargo onto the ship Cedric would take, bound for Isleworth.
"For what it's worth," Baileywick added, "I think you're doing the right thing. So long as you do come back, eventually."
"Enchancia is my home," Cedric said. "And for all that I do not think myself worthy of her, I will not deny Princess Sofia her chance at the happiness the potion was supposed to provide. Just not right now."
"She's going to be heartbroken when she learns you've left," he said. Whether it was an attempt to gut him or reassure him, Cedric wasn't able to tell. "And we really do expect you to write, Cedric."
"Hecate's horseradish, Baileywick, you're as bad as my mother." He swallowed. "Really though, promise me you'll look after them?"
"I'll do my best. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to send word. I'll post it as soon as I am a-"
"Mr. Cedric!"
They both turned to see Sofia riding Minimus towards the dock, already throwing herself from the saddle to the ground before he'd even had a chance to land.
"Princess!" Cedric winced. "W-what are you doing out of bed? Does your mother know you're here?"
She ignored his question, running forward and throwing her arms around him as she cried into his chest. "Are you really leaving?"
He gave Baileywick a pained look, as he had hoped to be gone before she woke specifically to avoid this goodbye. Seeing that the Royal Steward had no interest in saving him, Cedric brushed the hair, still tousled from sleep, out of Sofia's face. "I am. I know it's sudden, but something has come up and I am honor-bound to go."
"I can go, too!" she insisted. "I'm a Protector! Whatever it is I'm sure I can help and -"
"Sofia." His use of her name, without titles or honorifics, silenced her, and the Princess bit her lip. "You are a princess of Enchancia, and for all that you are a Protector of the EverRealm and Story-keeper, you are still a child. Your place is here, with your family. There are things in this world you are still too young to deal with or understand." She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. "It is not an insult or a knock against your maturity, but ignorance and innocence go hand in hand. It is a door which only opens one way - there are some truths that, once understood, cannot be forgotten. I want you to have as much of a childhood as you can, which means you cannot come with me now, as much as I would enjoy your company."
"Will you come back?"
"For you? Always." It was the only promise he could offer her right now, but given honestly. "It may just be a very long time until I do. But, Gods willing, this will be the longest absence you'll have to endure. And you can write to me. Baileywick will show you how to use the Post Portal. Won't you, Baileywick?"
"I will," the steward said, stepping forward and offering to take her hand. "Cedric's ship is about to leave, and we should get you back to the castle before breakfast, Princess."
Sofia glanced between the two men dubiously. "You had better write back, Mr. Cedric."
"I will as often as I am able," he said, "though it will probably not be as often as you would like. Please, help Baileywick look after everyone for me, won't you?"
"I will," she nodded, and stepped back from him.
Her mouth opened like she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words, so he just smiled affectionately and patted her shoulder. "Until I see you again, Princess."
She watched him climb the gangplank up to the ship, and refused to get in the carriage with Baileywick and return home until Cedric's ship had vanished into the horizon.