"Hey! Let go of me!"

Sofia kicked her legs furiously as she squirmed in Boswell's arms.

Biting him hadn't worked nor had clawing the magician with her fingers.

So all she could do was kick, feeling a sweaty hand cover her mouth.

With muffled screams of protests, Sofia used a free hand to throw her riding hat as far as she could.

All because she had threatened Boswell. Clover was her rabbit, not his!

She was a princess. She was a little girl.

Who in their right mind would steal a rabbit from royalty?

Sofia wished she hadn't known, going into unconsciousness upon hitting a wall of the wagon.

...

When she awoke, it was dark. The crickets outside were chirping away as she groaned at the noise.

"Easy kid," Clover shushed. "You've been out for hours. Boswell just left for the night."

"He just left us here?" Sofia groaned, feeling a bump on her head. "Ow. If I was home, Mr. Ceedric could heal this."

"Too bad you're not," the dove scoffed. "The four kingdoms tour's for weeks."

"Weeks? Oh no! Dad's probably sent out guards by now!"

...

Back at the castle, servants were rushing around, sticking their heads in every door and checking every bedroom that lined the castle.

All hands were on deck searching for the missing princess. Even Violet and the other maids were helping out, the former sticking her head under Sofia's bed.

The only guards that remained without moving were the ones at the door in hopes that Sofia would return if she was outside the castle.

This was the third time they had searched for the princess since the royal family had came to dinner, but Roland had told them to keep looking.

Inside the dining hall, the royal family sat anxiously.

Miranda was playing with her fork, absentmindedly pushing the mashed potatoes that had been sitting untouched on her plate, but put it down upon remembering she needed to be proper regardless of the situation.

"Daddy?" Amber spoke, her voice full of worry, "why haven't they found Sofia yet?"

"I'm not sure, Amber, but I'm sure they'll find her," he tried to sound confident, but his eyes were dark and uncertain. It wasn't like his daughter to not come home.

"Your majesty?" Baileywick's voice was cautious as he came through the doorway. He held something in his hands as he approached the king.

Roland turned to him hopefully, "yes, Baileywick?"

Miranda looked up from her plate, staring at the steward, while James unstacked the empty cups he had been using to distract himself, Amber grabbing hers as soon as he sat it down, and holding it in her hand as she turned back to the steward.

Baileywick took a deep breath, "someone from Summerset Village showed up to the castle. They brought this." He handed Roland a purple hat. Sofia's riding hat.

Miranda's eyes widened as she looked at it, "Sofia?" Her voice broke, tears welling up in her eyes.

The cup Amber was holding slipped from her hands, shattering onto the floor. The noise echoed across the room as she stared at the hat.

"Sof?" James' voice was small and full of worry.

Roland didn't take his eyes off of the hat as he spoke, "Baileywick, get all of the guards to go search for Sofia. I don't care how long it takes," his voice was slowly filling with anger, becoming a growl.

"Yes, your majesty." As Baileywick left the room, his eyes betrayed the same anger, as well as worry for the missing princess.

"Amber, James, go up to your rooms, we will let you know when your sister is found tonight." Roland handed the hat to James, "and put this in Sofia's room."

Both of the children nodded quietly, worry still evident in their features.

They left the dining hall, going up the stairs, though James went into his room. Amber chose not to question it. Her brother needed time, as did she. She passed up the door to her room, heading straight for Sofia's.

The doors had been left open, and Amber went inside, seeing her covers out of place from where the servants had been searching for Sofia.

Reality hit her like a bag of bricks as she realized her sister truly wasn't home. Oh, how scared Sofia must be. It wasn't long before Amber felt tears stream down her own face.

Who would take her sister and why?

She wished she knew. All she wanted at this point was to have her sister home safe.

No matter the cost.

…

Sofia yawned, nibbling on what carrots Clover managed to save before looking out one of the wagon's windows.

She'd normally loved looking at the night sky but all that reminded her of was home.

Home was a sorrowful thought.

She wondered if her family was worried about her. She hoped her being missing wouldn't stress them out too much.

She sighed, putting her knees to her chest.

Clover noticed her somber expression, nuzzling her gently. It was his fault for what happened and now a scared princess was his consequence.

That thought was a lot for the rabbit to take on. His princess, his best friend, hurt and scared because of his actions.

"Clover, it's not your fault," Sofia smiled weakly, feeling tears in her eyes.

He smiled back, though he didn't necessarily agree. Though all he cared about for the moment was keeping his kid safe.

He snuggled closer to her in an attempt to comfort her.

Tears went down her cheeks as Sofia's body shook with sobs before she eventually went to sleep.

"Goodnight, kid," as her sobs subsided to sniffles in her sleep, Clover laid his head on top of her leg. Boswell had given him a bed, but he wasn't using it, not tonight.

Sofia was more important.

Her groans of pain filled the air the next morning as Clover heard her whimpering softly.

Clover was slow to wake up before realizing what he was hearing and jumping up, suddenly very alert as he glanced around.

Sofia was awake and instead of the smile that greeted the rabbit every morning, she looked terrified.

The fear in her eyes was enough to concern Clover. He had seen her upset and he had seen her scared, but it had never been this bad before.

"Kid are you alright?" Clover asked, hopping over towards her.

Sofia looked at him, petting his fur to calm herself down.

"Boswell hit me," she muttered quietly. "He found you asleep by me and before I could say anything, I felt his hand slap my cheek."

Clover's eyes widened in shock and he moved closer to her, "Sof..."

It wasn't long before that shock turned to anger and he began muttering under his breath about giving that magician a piece of his mind.

Sofia, not noticing his anger, began to write on a piece of scrap paper Boswell had given her before showing it to the rabbit.

"Since I can't be in the magic show itself, I thought of this," Sofia smiled warmly. "I give this to you before a show and once you're out of Mr. Boswell's hat, give it to someone that's trustworthy. Like a guard."

Clover nodded, looking down at it, "I'll try my best."

He hoped Sofia's idea would work, but he wasn't going to voice his uncertainty. Sofia needed something to hold onto.

Even if what she was holding onto was written in her handwriting.

The moment Sofia heard Boswell's footsteps, she handed the scrap of paper to Clover.

"Ah Mr. Cuddles! I see you slept well!" Boswell chuckled, taking Clover in his arms before glancing at Sofia. "As for you Princess, I unlocked the back door of the wagon for you to do any personal business. Anything else and that privilege is taken away. Understand?"

Sofia nodded, not wanting a repeat of what happened hours earlier. "Yes sir."

Clover glanced at Sofia, hoping she wouldn't do anything irrational, though from her face it looked like she agreed.

She still seemed to be in pain, but there was nothing Clover or anyone else, other than Boswell, could do about that.

She seemed fearful of the magician but forced a smile upon his and Clover's departure.

Clover peeked from under the hat noticing her expression before looking down at what she had written.

The note was hard for the rabbit to read, having been scribbled out as quickly as it had been, but he was trying his hardest to make sense of it.

All Clover could make out was help but that was enough for him. He wasn't about to give up on his kid.

Not today, and not ever.

Sofia was in this mess because of him, and he was going to help her get out of it so that they could both get back to the castle.

Sofia placed some water on her cheek, biting her lip to keep herself from screaming in pain.

Upon her escape from the wagon, she found herself sprinting until she had reached a woodland area.

After completing her business, she had found a lake to bathe herself in as she laid her clothes a few steps towards the lake.

She was relieved to be able to clean herself off, but she was still in quite a bit of pain.

Tears were pricking her eyes as she cleaned up around her cheek.

The stinging seemed to lessen once she got out of the lake as she combed her wet curls so if Clover got lucky and got her help, she wanted to look her best.

She could only hope that he could get it to someone without Boswell finding out.

Her heart raced with fear at the thought of that man finding out she was trying to get help.

Sofia was at least thankful she wasn't a part of Boswell's magic act.

She hoped Clover could use the act to his advantage, and get help for both of them.

If he couldn't then at least they still had each other.

Always.

She realized she had been caught up in her thoughts for a while and she didn't want to accidentally stay away from the wagon too long and risk Boswell getting angry at her.

In a hurry, she put back on her clothes with her hair dripping water as she sprinted back to the wagon.

Just as Boswell and Clover had returned.

She nodded to the two as they came inside, though her nod was more at Clover, waiting for confirmation on whether or not the note had been delivered. She just wanted to seem respectful to Boswell in order to avoid his anger.

Unfortunately he seemed to notice her dripping wet hair, frowning at her in dismay.

"It's just lake water Mr. Boswell. It'll dry," Sofia smiled sheepishly, hoping the magician would be understanding.

She was watching his expressions closely, preparing for any form of anger, though she stopped for a moment as she glanced at Clover once more.

Boswell slowly placed Clover on the table before turning back to Sofia.

"Clearly you didn't listen. I allowed you freedom and thought that included bathing?" The magician scoffed.

"There was nowhere else for me to go! It's not like I could get cleaned in here!" Sofia snapped.

Boswell took a step towards her, seeming to tower over her.

Instinctively she shrunk back, her eyes widening.

She didn't think the magician would be angry over her bathing. Would he have preferred her to smell?

Would he have preferred her to be like an animal? To be cooped up alone by herself with nowhere to go?

Sofia tried to keep her tears at bay as Boswell got to her level.

She wasn't sure how to react. It wasn't like there was any way to get away if he decided to swing.

She heard Clover behind him, but couldn't make out what the rabbit was saying as she tried to keep herself from shaking.

Boswell said nothing which relieved Sofia for a few minutes, thinking that his anger over her bathing was temporary.

She glanced behind him to look at Clover, hoping to find out whether or not the note had made it to someone.

The rabbit gave her a smile in satisfaction, having Sofia giggle softly.

Boswell looked curious at her giggle, and so did his dove.

Sofia stopped her giggling upon seeing them glance at her.

Just as Boswell left the wagon and locked the back door much to her horror.

She let out a groan. She didn't know that bathing would get her in trouble.

Once she was sure that Boswell was gone, she walked over to the table, where Clover was still sitting.

"Now what am I going to do?" Sofia grumbled.

"Don't worry kid. Boswell didn't see the scrap of paper," Clover smiled, nuzzling her gently. "In fact I managed to give it to a guard."

Sofia's face brightened up a little. "That must've been risky. I'm sorry I had you do that."

Clover shook his head, "we got it out to someone and that's all that matters," his voice was nonchalant as he nuzzled her once again.

Sofia smiled at him, his reassurance was always nice.