Chapter 6

The Flight

When Hugo and Sofia came to the secret door, and Hugo pulled the torch, Sofia looked back over her shoulder, but Cedric was already gone. She felt bad for leaving him behind, or any of them for that matter, and as the door appeared in the wall and they walked down a long and dark path Sofia was thinking in silence.

What was the purpose of it all? What was supposed to happen now that they were free? What if she couldn't figure it out? What if they wouldn't let her back in, now that she had run away. What if Amber or James thought that she had let them down? And Hugo, what did he think, she didn't have any plan, what if he expected her to?

"Sofia?" Hugo had stopped walking and was standing a few feet behind her. "Are you alright?" She looked back at him: He was still wearing the kitchen clothes, though they were looking very dirty after he had spent a few hours on the cell floor. He was holding a torch, and except for that, there was no light. His face was the most lit up in the tunnel and he looked worried.

Sofia didn't know what to say to him, for she was very much not alright, but she didn't want him to know that. But then again, she had given up everything to be here with him right now, shouldn't she be able to trust him? She really wanted to trust him, but after the thing he said about her father, she wasn't so sure, but maybe he was right. Sofia felt her eyes watering, and soon she would have to fight to keep the tears back. It somehow felt like all her decisions came down to this moment; it wasn't too late to go back, to beg for forgiveness, yet again the end of the tunnel seemed so near. She could even hear the breeze in the trees. And with Hugo there, there seemed only to be one option, to keep going. And that was when she couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

"I don't know what I'm doing." She cried, and put her face in her hands, "I don't know what the right thing to do is." She could hear that he was walking up to her, and she felt his arm around her, "I don't know if I'm supposed to be here or with my family." She looked up at him, he was smiling kindly, " and you; what if I have let you to a fate that is far worse than sitting in a cell?" He pulled her into a hug, and she cried silently on his shoulder until it was completely wet, while he didn't say anything, but just stroked her hair, and rocked her like he was putting a child to sleep.

"Sofia," Hugo whispered after a little while, "you know, you don't have to please everybody. Sometimes, it's alright to just do what you want, or do what you feel is the best." He whispered soothingly in her ear.

She pulled away from him a bit, while he nodded and dried her eyes.

"Besides, I wouldn't want it any other way, as long as you are with me." He smiled at her, and she felt the sincereness of his words calm her down. "We can do this. We can figure this out, together." Said Hugo, and looked over her shoulder towards the sound of nature. "Come on, let's go." He smiled at her excitedly, and took her hand. Sofia felt a warmth inside her, and decided that Hugo was probably right. She squeezed his hand gently and smiled up at him. And together they walked towards the end of the tunnel, Sofia's heart getting lighter and lighter the closer they came to the smell of fresh air.

When they stepped out the end of the tunnel it was twilight, and Sofia could feel the dew slowly falling on her skin. It was a nice feeling, and she stood there and smelled the fresh night air while still holding Hugo's hand. Sofia closed her eyes, and even though she wasn't looking at Hugo she could sense his mood. It was nice to stand there for a moment. But Sofia didn't know if it was because of the nice air going in and out of her nostrils or if it was because, as long as she stood there she wouldn't have to face the fact that she didn't have any kind of plan whatsoever.

"Uuhm, Sofia?" said Hugo, sounding weird. "Your amulet. It's glowing" Sofia opened her eyes to find Hugo's face looking startled and bathed in blue light. The light was coming from the amulet around her neck.

"Oh, uhm this?" Sofia began, "it's nothing." But she realised that she couldn't hide her secret from him anymore. "Hugo, there is something I need to tell you." Said Sofia. And then she told him about the amulet's magic, and the secret library. She told him that she was the Storykeeper and what that meant. Hugo's face quickly went from Scared to pleased as Sofia told him her secret. And when she was finally finished with the story, his smile stretched from ear to ear.

"Sofia, that's amazing." He said with an excited expression. "I always knew you were magical, but I didn't know that you persessed actual magic." He was looking very happy, but then his face changed. "But why is the amulet glowing now?" He looked all confused. Sofia smiled at him. "Oh. This means that I as Storykeeper have been summoned to the secret library to finish a story." Sofia explained. "We have to get there as soon as possible." Sofia felt the feeling of purpose fill her up. Hugo on the other hand was still looking a bit confused. Sofia laughed and went on: "Well we need a place to hide while we figure out what to do." Sofia looked at Hugo, who was still looking a bit weird. "And maybe there is some information there that can help us figure out how to stop this war. It's a library after all." Sofia said with a smile, and now Hugo looked more convinced, and with a hint of excitement in there Sofia noticed.

"Alright, sounds like a plan. But how do we get there?" Hugo said, still looking excited but waiting for her answer. Sofia raised a hand to her chin, as if that would make her think better. She began walking around in circles, while she was thinking things through.

"Well, usually I follow a pathway from inside my room that goes under the castle." She said while still walking in circles. Hugo was watching her but keeping silent so that she could think. "But that option is definitely out of the picture." Sofia said, with a frown on her face. "And even if we could get there on foot, how would we get in?" She said walking a few steps more, and then she finally stopped. She looked up at Hugo in amazement, as though she had just gotten an amazing idea. "We Fly there of course." Sofia said with eagerness in her voice. "We just have to get to the stables and find Minimus. And when we get to the secret library, he can fly us to the opening at the top."

A couple minutes later Sofia and Hugo were hiding behind the stables. A cloud that had been hiding the moon was now gone, and the moon lit up the area. Sofia looked up at Hugo's moonlit face. He was very handsome with his green eyes and dark hair. Sofia found it hard to believe that a beautiful prince like him could ever love her. She felt so grateful that she had become a princess all those years ago. And even though there was a war between the kingdoms at the moment. Even if in the end it meant that she had to marry Jin, it would have been worth it just to have met Hugo.

"Sofia, are you ready?" Asked Hugo, pulling Sofia out of her trance. "Ohm…yeah…I mean yes I am ready!" Said Sofia feeling like she had just woken up from a dream. "What were you doing? Were you daydreaming?" Said Hugo laughing. "Or am I just THAT handsome?" He said with a big cheeky smile, but looking right into her eyes, as if it was a genuine question. Sofia felt her cheeks getting warm, and she looked down at the ground.

"No I don't… I mean yes you are very handsome," Sofia started, looking up at Hugo, "But i wasn't…I mean." She looked down again.

"Hey, it's alright." Said Hugo, taking Sofia's face in his hands. "I often catch myself staring at you." Said Hugo, while letting one hand slide to the backside of Sofia's neck. "Really?" Asked Sofia. "It's honestly hard not to. You are so beautiful and amazing, it's hard to resist." Almost whispered Hugo, his face being only a few inches from her's. Hugo bent down and kissed Sofia on the forehead. Sofia felt a warmth and something else from the spot on her forehead that had been touched by Hugo's lips. It felt a little like the feeling she would get when her amulet was glowing. Only this was a thousand times stronger, and the warmth that she had been feeling in her cheeks was spreading to her whole face and her neck. Especially the places that Hugo was holding his hands. She looked up and into his beautiful eyes and thought to herself that she could stare at them forever. But then she remembered where they were. They had to get to Minimus, so they could fly to the library. She broke eye contact and looked around them.

"We have to get going," Said Sofia, turning away from Hugo to make an estimate of their surroundings. "Yes, you're right." Said Hugo, his tone sounding a bit flat. Sofia turned around again, to look at Him.

"There is one guard guarding the stables. I will distract him while you get in there and get Minimus. You can't let him see you, or he will realise that you are not in the dungeon anymore." Explained Sofia, trying to keep her thoughts on the task at hand. Hugo looked like He was trying to do the same thing. Sofia thought that that was for the best. They didn't have time to fool around. "Right." Said Hugo. Sofia Sent him an awkward smile, turned around and walked right out to the guard.

"Hello there, my good guard." Said Sofia, trying hard to sound natural. "Who goes there?" Yelled the guard, while turning on the spot. "Oh Princess Sofia, it's only you." said the guard, looking relieved. "Wait a minute. What are you doing out so late? Should you not be in your bed sleeping?" Said the guard, giving Sofia a suspicious look. "Uhm well no..I mean yes, but it's just such a magnificent night. Don't you think so?" Said Sofia, thinking that the guard must have been able to hear her heartbeat. For it was so loud that she found it hard to think over the noise.

"Look at the moon tonight. It is so beautiful, and almost full." Said Sofia, has she pointed at the moon, so that the guard's eyes would follow her hand. He turned to the moon, and looked up. "Oh, yeah. You're right. It is really beautiful." Said the guard facing the moon and looking awestruck. Sofia waved a hand behind her back at Hugo, so that he would know that the coast was clear. "Yes." Sofia went on. "I think it might be full tomorrow night." She said, hardly believing that they were pulling this off.

Suddenly there was a loud noise behind them, coming from inside the stable.

"What was that?!" Said the guard, turning around. Sofia tried to stop him but it was too late. "Hey, you what are you doing" Hugo was down by Minimus' stall, which he was trying to open. "Stay here Sofia." Said the guard, and began walking towards the stall. Hugo had gotten the stall open now, and was running inside to Minimus. But the guard was running too, and Hugo wouldn't get away in time. What was she going to do? It had been her job to distract the guard and she had failed. The guard was almost at the stall. She would have to think fast, if they were going to succeed. "NO!" Yelled Sofia, knowing that there probably were thousands of better ways she could have solved her problem. But it didn't matter; the guard was turning around, and staring at her in horror. "What's wrong princess?" He yelled back at her, looking down right mortified.

"Don't…uhmm…Don't do the prince.." but she didn't have to finish her sentence. Because Hugo had used his time well, and was already on top of Minimus and riding out of the stall knocking the guard over. Hugo rode towards Sofia, and left the guard on the Stable floor. "Grab my hand Sofia." Yelled Hugo, as he stretched a hand out in her direction. The guard got to his feet and began running after Hugo, after realising that the princess and the thief were working together. The guard was running fast, despite his heavy armour, but not fast enough. Hugo was almost out of the stables, and still with his hand outstretched. Minimus began flapping his wings, and that was when Sofia grabbed Hugo's hand, and swung up on the back of the flying horse behind Hugo. Minimus shot up in the air and they were off. Sofia looked back at the stables and the guard who looked utterly bewildered. She didn't blame him. The prince and princess from fighting kingdoms doing crime together. It did seem a fair bit out of the ordinary.

Sofia turned back to Hugo. "Hey, it's my horse, shouldn't I be the one to fly him?" Said Sofia teasingly into Hugo's ear. "Right. Whatever you want my lady." He answered, looking back over his shoulder. Sofia was so used to Minimus, that it didn't take long before she and Hugo had switched places.

"Hello Minimus" Said Sofia, as she bent down to speak into the horse's ear. "Hello Sofia." Said Minimus back. "What exactly are we doing and where are we going?" He asked, sounding a bit drowsy and confused. Almost like he had just been sleeping, which Sofia realised might very well be precisely what he had been doing. "I'm Sorry if we woke you up." Said Sofia apologetically. "We are going to the secret library." She explained.

"Wait a minute." Said Hugo, from behind Sofia. "Can you talk to Minimus? As in actually understanding what he is saying and he understanding you back?" Asked Hugo. Sofia couldn't see his face, but he didn't sound frightened or freaked out. He sounded amazed. "Uhm, yeah. Just another gift from the amulet I guess." Said Sofia, not looking over her shoulder. "You just keep on amazing me. How have I not known this about you before?" Said Hugo. She could feel him leaning back on the horse. And he was probably looking at her, she thought. The whole situation made her uncomfortable for some reason. And that's when she remembered.

"Hugo?" She said, still not looking back at him. "Yes, my princess." He said, leaning forward again. Putting his hands around her and laying his head on her shoulder. " What did you mean down in the dungeon when you said it was nice to see that not all great men in Enchancia had been driven mad with power? Who is the great man that has been driven mad with power that you were talking about?" Hugo slowly lifted his head from Sofia's shoulder. "Sofia, I didn't mean…" Hugo started. "It's not like…Allright what i mean is, that both our fathers have been driven mad with power. Don't you see that?" Hugo explained. "All I see is that your father has been driven mad. He attacked my fathers men for no reason. My father is n.." Sofia started, but Hugo interrupted her: "What?! No, no, no. Your father's men, who I might add were soldiers, had no business in our kingdom. Of course my father wouldn't look the other way at such behaviour." Hugo said, raising his voice. "I was willing to say that both kings are stupid for starting a war. After all, it takes two to fight. But I'm not so sure anymore." Huga said, a little quieter now, but the words still hurt. Sofia felt a weird pain in her stomach.

"My father would never send soldiers to your home. Or at least not without a reason." Sofia said, trying to stay calm. "You weren't there, you don't know what happened." said Hugo, shifting behind her.

"No I wasn't but I know that my father would never… Wait a minute. Were you there?" Asked Sofia. "No, but I'm sure.." Hugo tried.

"See, none of us were even there. So we don't know what happened." Said Sofia, feeling defeated. "But…" Hugo began. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." Said Sofia, trying not to sound too mad. But it proved to be difficult.

"Fine." Said Hugo, sounding furious. "Fine." Said Sofia, giving in to her rage.

It was very silent, as they flew over the forest. And even though it was very beautiful, Sofia found it beyond her to enjoy it. She was too mad. He was right there behind her, and the silence was almost deafening. How could he say such things? Sofia decided it best not to dwell on. They would hopefully soon find out what actually had happened. And so, she spent the rest of the flight talking to Minimus, and explaining to him what was going on. It was hard to ignore Hugo. Especially because he was right behind her, and he kept making small irritated noises.