As a follow-up to chapter 31, following Sofia's rescue, I thought it would be nice if, following her first night back in the castle, the family re-introduced her to Cedric, just to show her that all magicians are not like Boswell. Cedric gives her a special magic show, and everyone tells her that they're happy that they're all together again. She even spends quality time with Amber and James as they make more plans together. If anyone is interested in the berry bread/muffin recipe, PM me, and I'll send you the recipe. Thanks to theblindwriter95 for helping with the story. Gordon Lightfoot's music is not mine.

Sofia was feeling much better after a good night's sleep in her own bed following her rescue. Of course, she had to get hungry in the middle of the night, but James was there to help lead her to the kitchen, and Baileywick had been nice enough to give her a cookie or two. She was slowly starting to trust the castle steward again, and James had even sung the pretty song that he had sung before as they were going home to help her get back to sleep.

She looked over at her windowseat and giggled when she saw James sleeping there. James had been tempted to go back to his room, but he had changed his mind and slept on the windowseat, just in case Sofia might need something, or if she needed comfort from a nightmare. She went over and kissed his forehead.

"Sof?" James asked as he sat up.

"Morning!" Sofia giggled, giving him a hug.

"Morning to you too, Sof," James smiled. "You feel better after last night?"

Sofia nodded. "Thank you," She twirled her hair nervously. "Castle? Camp-out? You promise."

James looked blank for a moment, then he realized what Sofia was saying. "Oh, right! We didn't give you a readjusting tour of the castle yesterday because we didn't want you overwhelmed with everything."

Sofia looked puzzled. "What that mean?" she asked.

"We thought we should let you get a good night's sleep in your own bed first," James explained. "We didn't want you to take everything in at once, since we thought it might be too much for you to handle. We're going to take it slowly, one day at a time."

Sofia smiled. "Okay!" She looked at Clover, who was still curled up in his bed, sleeping soundly. "Clover too?"

James smiled and shook his head. "Let's let sleeping bunnies lie for now, Sof," he suggested. "We can take you around the castle first, then you can tell Clover all about it when he's ready."

"Camp-out?" Sofia asked.

"We'll talk to Dad about that too," James promised. "but I promise, Sof, even if it's a sibling sleep-over like you and I had last night, or one with you, me, and Amber, you will get your family camp-out before too long."

Sofia nodded excitedly at his words, realizing that he was being truthful and not lying to her like Boswell had done. Thinking of the magician made her shiver before James squeezed her hand. Kindness was an emotion she was slowly getting used to. "Daddy sure Mr. Boswell in jail?" she asked.

"He's sure, Sof," James assured her, "I remember that Mom, Amber, and I brought you into the castle first so you wouldn't have to see him anymore as Dad and the guards took him to the dungeon, and Mom and Amber took you and Clover to your room."

"Mr. Boswell still there?" Sofia asked.

"Yes, Sof, he's still there," James nodded, "I watched as the guards took him to the dungeon and locked him up before Dad told me to help take care of you."

Sofia sighed in relief, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. With help from James, she had gotten dressed before looking at herself in the mirror and frowned. The burns from Boswell's cigar were still on her arms.

"Are you ready to see everyone?" James asked. He stopped, seeing her crestfallen expression. "Sof, no one will say anything about your burns. They know what happened to you, and before you say that it was your fault, it was Boswell's. Everything that monster put you through is why he's currently in the dungeon. His reputation has been shattered to the point where he isn't known for his magic anymore, but is now known for kidnapping and torturing you."

"I bad girl?" Sofia asked.

"That's not true and you know it," James murmured, reaching out to her, and smiling when Sofia took his hand, "You didn't do anything wrong. Boswell was the one who did this to you, and he's going to pay for it."

Sofia smiled as she felt James give her a hug. "I good girl!"

"You're not just a good girl, Sof," James smiled, "You're a brilliant girl!"

Sofia giggled. She never thought she would be considered brilliant for what she went through.

When they went downstairs to breakfast, Sofia hid behind James. Hiding behind him made her less able to see the servants moving around them.

"Sofia?" Amber asked. Her voice was gentle as she held out her hand, hoping her sister would take it willingly.

"Amber!" Sofia smiled as she took it.

"Did you have a good night?" Amber asked, "I saw you and James going to the kitchen last night, then he was in your room with you."

"Only to help her go back to sleep after a late night snack," James explained, "I stayed with her after that just in case she needed me."

"We have camp-out tonight?" Sofia asked.

"That's a wonderful idea," Amber smiled. "We can take you around the castle today, and we'll spend the night with you tonight."

"Would you like that, sweetheart?" Miranda smiled.

Sofia nodded. Amber and James lead her to her seat, watching as she stared at the food on her plate.

It wasn't carrots or scraps to her relief, having Sofia slowly reach out for the food and nibbled a piece of fruit. Tasting nothing stale, she giggled.

"Does that taste good?" Miranda smiled.

"Yummy!" Sofia smiled as she took another bite. She never thought she'd get to taste her mommy's yummy berry bread or muffins again while she had been Boswell's prisoner, but now that she was back, she could eat as much of any food as she wanted.

Carrots, however, were another story. She had only eaten carrots or any scraps of food she could find for two weeks, and the thought of eating or seeing the orange vegetable again terrified her. She knew that her daddy had told her that carrots would not be served until further notice, but someone had forgotten and served them for dinner, and after she had a panic attack, Sofia learned that Roland had fired them.

She didn't like the thought of someone getting fired but when Roland had explained that he did it for her, she felt less remorseful about it.

"Easy, Sofia. Don't eat too much or you'll get sick," Roland cautioned.

Miranda chuckled, nudging him playfully. "Rollie, she can have as much food as she wants. Don't you see how happy she is?"

"I know, but we don't want to see Sofia get a tummy ache before we start showing her around the castle again," Roland smiled.

"But if that does happen, we'll let her rest until she feels better," Amber suggested.

When Sofia had finished eating, without getting a tummy ache much to Roland's relief, she watched her family smile while Baileywick held out a handkerchief and began to wipe her face.

Seeing their sister shake her head in protest against the handkerchief, Amber and James held back their laughter.

"It's okay, Sof," James smiled. "Baileywick's not going to hurt you; he just wants to help clean you up. It's going to be all right."

"Where have I seen an attitude like this before?" Roland chuckled. "Someone would get food all over his face when he was younger, and fight Baileywick as he tried to clean him up!"

"Dad! Don't talk about Amber like that when she's standing right next to you!" James smiled innocently.

"Daddy kept saying 'him', not 'her,'" Amber giggled.

Even Sofia giggled at the playful bantering, which gave Baileywick the opportunity to help clean her up. It felt wonderful to watch this again. He'd never seen the family this ecstatic in two weeks. Even if Sofia was putting up a fight over being cleaned up, her giggles warmed the steward's heart.

They were pure and innocent, having Baileywick smile as Sofia squirmed at the touch of the handkerchief.

"The sooner you get cleaned up, the sooner you can see the butterflies," Baileywick bribed, seeing her eyes widen.

"Butterfly?" Sofia gasped.

"That's right," Miranda smiled. "You let Baileywick help you get cleaned up, and we'll take you to see the butterflies."

Sofia smiled at the thought. She tried to stay still so Baileywick could get her cleaned up, and in a short time, Baileywick let her go.

Seeing the butterflies made her twirl in excitement before feeling Amber take her hand.

"Butterfly?" Sofia frowned.

"We'll get to them," Amber promised, squeezing her hand. "You just need to calm down."

"We don't want you to go boom like a cannon, Sof," James smirked.

"That silly! James silly!" Sofia giggled.

"Well, we all need a little silly break now and then, don't we?" Miranda smiled.

After Sofia calmed down, she took Miranda's hand and followed the family to the butterfly garden.

As she watched the butterflies fluttering around them, Sofia smiled and giggled as she tried to catch them. She always thought she had one, but it flew away before she could show everyone. That made her feel disappointed, but she knew that butterflies, like herself, needed to be free.

"Are you enjoying the butterflies, Sofia?" Amber asked.

"I catch them, but they fly away," Sofia frowned. "Why they fly away? I wanna show you, Mommy, Daddy, and James butterfly."

"Don't worry about it, Sofia," Roland smiled, "We can see them just fine right here. And you can see them whenever you like. But we were thinking about something as we watched you just now. Would you like to visit Cedric? We'd talked about you seeing him, but if you're not up to it right now..."

"Mister Cee-drick does good magic!" Sofia smiled. "He not bad like Mister Boswell!"

"That's right, Sofia," Miranda smiled, "and you know we'll stay right by your side when we visit him."

"Mister Cee-drick make his sparkle spell?" Sofia asked.

"I'm sure he'd love to," Roland smiled as he led the way to Cedric's tower.

As Sofia watched Roland lead the way, she wondered if Cedric would remember her after two weeks. Worrying that he would be furious over her disappearance, she stayed close to Miranda. She understood that Cedric wasn't like Boswell but she still felt uneasy.

When Roland had knocked on the door to Cedric's tower, Sofia could see the sorcerer's look of annoyance before his face softened upon seeing her cling to Miranda's dress.

"Sofia?" Cedric gasped when he saw her. Everyone smiled when they saw his face light up when he saw his apprentice. "Sofia!" He started to go toward her, but stopped when he saw how she shrank back. "Sofia, my dear, I do apologize for frightening you, but you had me so worried! I tried everything I could think of to find you, but my seeking spells weren't working!"

"It's not your fault, Cedric," Roland assured him, "Boswell kept moving their location so your spell couldn't keep track of him."

"Dad told us that too, Cedric," James agreed.

"Well, no matter. But now that you're back, Sofia, I never want to lose you again!" Cedric continued as he carefully reached out to her, since he had been told about Sofia's feelings toward other men, and especially magicians. "But first, I'm going to the dungeons where that accursed magician is and I'm going to curse him into the next century!"

"Cedric, if Dad won't let me shoot Boswell out of a cannon, what makes you think he'll let you curse him?" James smirked. "He wouldn't even agree with Amber's idea of skipping the trial and executing him right then and there!"

"I'm sure your father would allow me to curse that magician in a heartbeat Prince James," Cedric smirked.

Sofia slowly walked up to her mentor, touching his robe. She never thought she'd see him again while in the wagon, watching Cedric kneel down to her level. "Mr. Cee-drick, you not mad at me?"

"I could never be mad at you, my dear," Cedric smiled. "I tried to use my magic to find you, but that sorry excuse for a magician kept changing your location and that made it difficult for my spells to work." Sofia looked sad, but Cedric smiled and waved his wand. "But that's all in the past now. You're back home where you belong, and you can start recovering. And if I may direct your attention upwards..."

Sofia smiled when she looked up and saw a small shower of sparkles raining down. "Sparkles!" she squealed, clapping her hands. "Pretty!"

"They are pretty," Miranda smiled. "I sometimes watched him shoot those sparkles into Amber and James' rooms at night to help keep them calm."

"And they always worked. Didn't they, Amber?" James grinned.

"They did," Amber smiled. Hearing Sofia's squeals, her smile widened. "I've never seen her this happy."

"After everything she went through, Princess Amber, happiness is all she needs," Cedric smiled. He found himself caught off guard as Sofia hugged him, unfazed by the burns on her arms coming in contact with the fabric of his robe. "Sofia, would you like me to give you a healing potion for those burns?"

Sofia flinched upon hearing the word potion. To her it sounded like a source of bad magic as she started to tear up, backing away from her mentor. "No! No magic!" she sobbed.

"Sofia? It's okay, sweetheart," Miranda shushed, taking her in her arms.

"I don't understand. Sofia didn't flinch over the sparkles, so why is she frightened now?" Cedric growled.

"Sofia spent so much time with Boswell that she thinks that some types of magic are scary," Roland sighed. "We've managed to convince her that you do good magic, but we forgot to tell her that sometimes you work with potions as well."

"Oh, Sofia, you have nothing to fear from my potions," Cedric murmured, "I use my potions to help people. I'd never dream of using them to hurt or scare you. I was only suggesting a potion to help heal your injuries, but I won't do that if you don't want me to." As he spoke, he made some more sparkles appear.

"Mister Cee-drick not hurt me with potions?" Sofia asked, calming down as she tried to catch one of the pretty lights.

"Of course not," Miranda smiled, "Cedric just wants to help you with one."

Sofia smiled. "Mister Cee-drick does good magic!"

"Yes he does," James smiled.

"Do you want Cedric to use a healing potion for your burns, Sofia?" Roland asked. Getting a shake of her head as an answer, he knelt beside her. "Oh, I see; you want them to heal on their own."

Sofia nodded, looking up at Cedric with tears in her eyes. "I sorry Mr. Cee-drick. You must think I bad girl for not taking potion."

"I could never think that way, Sofia," Cedric assured her, "I just wanted to help you get better. But if you don't want to use one, then you certainly don't have to."

Sofia smiled. "Thank you, Mister Cee-drick!"

"You're very welcome, my dear," Cedric smiled, "Now, why don't I take you to either the throne room or the ballroom, and I'll show you another trick?"

Sofia lit up at the thought of getting another trick, and unable to wait for Cedric, sprinted out of the tower before Miranda and Roland caught up to her. She giggled as Miranda picked her up, holding her close.

"Where do you think you're going?" Roland laughed.

Sofia shrugged. "Don't know."

"Why don't you come with us, then?" Amber suggested, taking her hand.

Sofia smiled and let her lead the way to the ballroom. Her smile widened when she saw Cedric producing more pretty sparkles from his wand. "Pretty!"

"That's right, now how would you like me to give you your own personal magic show?" Cedric suggested. "Just a few simple tricks to show you that not all magic is bad, and not all people who do magic are talentless amateurs."

"Okay!" Sofia smiled.

"Talentless amateur. Boswell definitely was one," James smirked.

"It's improper of me to think this, but I have to agree with you, James," Amber confessed. "After what he did to Sofia, it'd be no surprise that his reputation is shattered by now."

Sofia observed the conversation before giggling as Cedric preformed the floral spell, reminiscing fondly about the first time she saw it. "Pretty rose petals, Mr. Cee-drick!" She cheered.

"And it's going to get better," Cedric agreed. "There was a song that I heard King Roland sing to your siblings when they were younger, and it would go rather well with this little magic show, don't you think?"

"Okay!" Sofia smiled.

"Music does make everything better!" James agreed.

"Yes, and we need a song like this," Cedric agreed, "Something fun for all of you to enjoy."

"Well, let's hear it," Miranda agreed. "Something fun is definitely what Sofia needs."

Cedric smiled as he waved his wand and made the words appear so everyone could sing along with them.

As he remembered dancing to this song with Tilly when they were younger, Roland gently lifted Sofia in his arms and carefully spun her as he sang, I climbed the Redwood Hill
'Twas on a rainy day
To rise above the throng
And talk with Mother Nature for a while

Sofia's eyes followed the magic as she clapped her hands to the music. Miranda was right. She did need something fun to recover from Boswell's wagon of horrors.

Neither James nor Amber needed to ask if she was enjoying herself, for her clapping and squeals provided their answer, as the trauma Sofia had seemed to disappear for a moment, slowly bringing back her innocence that Boswell destroyed.

As he watched Sofia smiling, Cedric made a few more sparkles and rose petals as he joined in the song, She told me of her love
For the children in her trust
And of her grave concern
For the likes of you and me and us

"Fun song!" Sofia smiled as James carefully and gently spun her around.

"It is a fun song," Miranda grinned as she intercepted Sofia and gave her a hug. "We all needed something like this."

"Indeed," Roland smiled as he lifted Amber up, "This is exactly what we need right now; a fun activity as a family."

As he spun Amber around, he remembered how he used to dance with her and James when they were younger as he continued, Crying though she was
She did speak these tender words
The things that I am
I could not change for any man

Cedric felt his heart melt hearing his apprentice giggling as she danced with her family. Two weeks ago he feared that it would never happen due to Boswell changing his location so frequently.

He was wrong, looking down to see Sofia tugging at his robe. "Mr. Cee-drick dance too!" she pleaded.

"I'd love to," Cedric smiled as he took her in his arms. He led her in a dance with one hand and made another shower of sparkles with the other.

As he carefully twirled her around, he continued the song, I tried to comfort her
Ah, but she would not be still
And how the rain did fall
As I found my way back down the Redwood Hill

Sofia gave him a hug as he spun her around. "Sparkle spell good! Flower spell good!"

"Sofia good too!" James grinned as he hugged her.

"I not good, I bril-lant!" Sofia giggled.

"You certainly are, Sofia," Amber smiled.

"Does biting and scratching Boswell also count of her being brilliant?" Roland chuckled.

"In Sof's case, it was self-defense, so it has to count as her being brilliant," James smirked.

"That's right," Miranda smiled. "Sofia was only trying to protect herself and Clover, so she had no other choice but to bite and scratch Boswell."

"Clover safe too!" Sofia smiled.

"That's right, and we'll tell him all about this little celebration later, if you want," Roland agreed.

"Okay!" Sofia smiled. "He come to camp-out too?"

"Camp-out..." Roland trailed off, but then he looked up. "Of course, Sofia, we promised you a family camp-out, but we thought we'd take it one step at a time. However, James did tell us about the sibling sleep-over you two had last night."

"And Clover should be at the camp-out," Miranda agreed. "After all, he's part of the family too!"

Sofia giggled in agreement, watching Cedric shoot more sparkles from his wand. Trying to catch one, she squealed as the sorcerer took her in his arms once again.

Cedric smiled as he continued the song, Crying though she was
She did speak these tender words
The things that I am
I would not change for any man

"Mr. Cee-drick silly!" Sofia smiled. "You miss me?"

"More than you can possibly imagine, my dear," Cedric said as he hugged her.

He shot a few more sparkles in the air as he sang, I tried to comfort her
Ah, but she would not be still
I'll not forget that day
When Mother Nature cried on Redwood Hill

Everyone joined in the song as they collected Sofia in a big group hug, I'll not forget that day
When Mother Nature cried on Redwood Hill

"I haven't had so much fun in a long time," Amber smiled as she gave Sofia another hug.

"We most certainly needed this," Cedric agreed as he felt Sofia tugging on his sleeve again.

"You come to camp-out tonight?" Sofia asked.

"If it's all right with King Roland," Cedric nodded, "but this camp-out of yours should be for you and your family."

"You family!" Sofia smiled.

"Not by blood, but to Sofia you're family," Amber explained, seeing the baffled expression on the sorcerer's face over her sister's partial sentence.

"Maybe another night, Sofia. Let Cedric get over how you're here and allow him to visit Boswell," Roland smiled. "I'll personally allow him to curse that magician if necessary."

"Thank you your majesty. But if I may ask, without sounding insensitive to my apprentice's recovery, upon her arrival, I've been noticing her partial sentencing, and while it hasn't bothered me, I couldn't help but wonder how it came to be. Two weeks ago, Sofia was speaking like a normal eight-year-old. How could her speech pattern change within that time frame?" Cedric wondered as Sofia, fearing he was furious with her, buried her face in his chest. "It's all right, Sofia, I'm not angry that you're speaking like this; I'm just curious," Cedric assured her. "And before you say anything, you are not a bad girl. I repeat, you are not now, nor have you ever been, a bad girl."

Sofia nodded, looking up at him with a smile. She was slowly trusting him again and not just for his magic.

"To be honest, Cedric, we have no idea when Sofia started speaking in broken sentences, but Rollie and I believe it started after her last night with Boswell," Miranda confessed.

"The sooner that monster is executed, the better!" Cedric grumbled. "However, I'm not sure which of my curses would be good enough for him for what he's done!"

"Maybe try all of them and see which one does the most damage?" James suggested.

"I like the way you think, Prince James, and I'll certainly take that under consideration," Cedric smirked.

"But before you curse him, perhaps you could help us paint the wagon for Sofia before she goes in it one last time, and then we're going to burn it," Roland agreed.

"Burn wagon?" Sofia gasped. "Why?"

Roland, Miranda, and Cedric looked at each other before Miranda knelt down to Sofia's level. Amber and James already knew why, but trying to explain it to a little girl who'd been through so much in two weeks in that very wagon was going to be difficult.

"Well, Sofia, we decided to paint the wagon and then have you go inside it one last time-and don't worry; we'll go in it with you-so you can see that's all it really is, just a wagon, and nothing connected to it can hurt you anymore," Miranda said at last.

"You stay with me?" Sofia asked.

"Of course we will," Amber smiled.

"Then you can watch it burn to the ground," James smirked. "It may not take away your memories of what happened, Sof, but it'll be a step in your healing process."

"Just like all the love and support you're getting, Sofia. That's part of your healing process," Roland added.

"What if Mr. Boswell escape jail before we burn wagon?" Sofia whimpered.

"He won't escape," Roland assured her, "We had all his magic things confiscated, and he's going to be under constant surveillance, so there's no possible way he could escape."

"You sure?" Sofia asked.

"Constable Miles gives me hourly updates on him," Roland replied. "Before we came to the ballroom for Cedric's magic show, he was informing me that Boswell was still secured, and he wasn't trying to escape."

Sofia sighed in relief. The thought of having to face Boswell again made her uneasy, smiling as Cedric shot some sparkles to calm her. Trying to catch one, she jumped up and down before tripping on the back of her gown. As Cedric and Roland helped her up, she turned away from them. She recalled Boswell calling her a fool and a vulgar word whenever she had been clumsy in his presence, backing away from her father and mentor. "I sorry! I bad girl!" Sofia cried, running to Miranda, who gave her a hug.

"Sofia, don't think for one minute that you're a bad girl," Roland said as he reached out to her, "It's all right if you trip...of course we don't want you to get hurt, but one moment of clumsiness doesn't make you a bad girl."

"Mister Boswell say I bad girl and clumsy bitch if I trip..." Sofia admitted.

"Sof! Do you kiss Mom and Dad with that mouth?" James pretend to scold her, but he smiled as he gave her a hug.

"How else I kiss Mommy and Daddy?" Sofia asked.

"Well played, Sofia," James smirked as he hugged her.

"The word you used isn't proper, Sofia. You can't help it because that monster said it to you," Amber sighed. She joined James in hugging her close. "Probably more than once."

Sofia nodded before feeling Roland take her in his arms. Realizing that his touch was gentle, she didn't flinch, but feared punishment for using vulgar language.

"Don't worry, Sofia, you're not in trouble for using that word," he assured her, "We know you were only repeating what he said and can't always help yourself. But you're not a bad girl or a clumsy you-know-what. You never have been and you never will be."

Sofia smiled a little. "I good girl?"

"You certainly are," Roland smiled.

Sofia giggled, hearing her stomach growl as she reached out to Cedric, who took her in his arms.

"One more sparkle spell then you have to eat," The sorcerer smiled. He laughed, watching Sofia pout in response. "Sofia, my dear, how are you enjoying your night-light?"

"Night-light good. No more dark," Sofia smiled. "Mr. Boswell leave me in dark during his show so it got scary."

"You never have to worry about him again, Sofia," Miranda said as she hugged her. "You can use your night-light as long as you need it. You also know that we'll be there to help you if you need us."

"You there for me! You love me! I good girl!" Sofia cheered.

"That's right, Sofia," Cedric smiled, "Now, first, here's your sparkle spell..." He shot some more sparkles in the air, "And here's a treat for you." He waved his wand again, and produced a platter of fly cakes.

Sofia smiled as she took one. "Yummy! Thank you, Mister Cee-drick!"

"Do we have to get Baileywick to wipe your face again, Sof?" James laughed.

"James, let her eat!" Amber scolded but she couldn't help but giggle at Sofia's frosting covered face.

"James, no teasing your sister," Roland smiled.

"You're right, Dad," James smiled, "But we all that when Sof gets into her snacks, she really gets into her snacks!"

Sofia giggled as she watched Roland put James in a headlock and muss his hair. "James and Daddy silly!"

Yes they are," Miranda smiled, "but we love them anyway!"

When she finished her snack, Sofia yawned as she rubbed her eyes.

"Looks like someone's little tired," Amber smiled.

"Not tired! Wanna see throne!" Sofia pouted.

"You will," Miranda promised. "But if you get a little sleepy, you're taking a nap."

"We'll stay with you if you want, Sofia," Amber suggested, motioning toward James as Roland let him go.

"Sib-ling sleep-over?" Sofia asked.

"Well, we can stay with you while you're sleeping, and get you anything if you need it," James agreed, "and if we fall asleep, you'll have someone to take care of you in your dreams. And of course we'll get Clover anything if he needs something and take care of him in his dreams too."

Sofia giggled, knowing that Amber nor James wouldn't understand Clover like she could before looking around for the throne room.

"No, Sof. It's not in the ballroom," James smiled, taking her hand

"Mommy and Daddy keep throne?" Sofia asked.

"Yes we did," Miranda smiled. She led the way to the throne room. "It's right here, where it always was since the day you and I came here."

Sofia smiled as she ran her hands over her throne. "My throne!" she cheered. "I princess! I good girl!"

"Actually, Sofia, you're a wonderful girl," Miranda smiled.

"Won-ner-full like bril-lant?" Sofia asked.

"Yes, you're wonderfully brilliant, or brilliantly wonderful, whichever you like better," James grinned.

"I like both!" Sofia giggled.

"Well, you are wonderfully brilliant," Amber smiled. "You're one of the strongest princesses I know."

"Really?" Sofia gasped, now sitting on her throne.

Amber thought of her as strong. She liked the sound of that.

All too soon, Sofia fell asleep on her throne. Roland motioned for Cedric to help pick her up, and he let him carry her to her room.

Cedric smiled as he laid her on her bed. "There you go, my dear," he murmured as he watched Roland and Miranda tuck her in. "You're back where you belong, surrounded by people who love you."

"Well said, Cedric," Roland smiled. He turned to Amber and James, who were checking on Clover at the same time. "I think we'll let you two stay with them while they rest. And you'll tell us if anything happens?"

"No problem, Dad," James agreed.

"We will, Daddy," Amber nodded.

As they left, the twins watched as Clover hopped onto Sofia's bed. James was about to grab him until seeing the rabbit fall sleep, knowing that Clover was hostile towards men.

"I think he's protective of Sofia," Amber smiled. "They spent two weeks alone with no one else but each other. Most of the time, he was stuck with that monster, so I don't blame Clover for being hostile."

"I don't blame him either," James agreed. "You think Constable Miles would allow Clover to be with Sof while she testifies?"

"We'll have to ask him, but I'm hoping he'll say yes," Amber said as she watched Clover cuddle up with Sofia.

"We'll have to work with Clover and try to tell him that most men are okay," James agreed. "I know, he seems to understand Sof more than us, but there should be a way that we can help him too." He knelt by the rabbit's side and murmured, "I know you probably can't understand me like you can with Sof, but we're happy you were with her and took care of her. Most men and boys aren't like Boswell, and I'm happy she had such a brilliant little bunny friend with her."

Clover actually looked up at James' words and sniffed his hand. He actually smiled and nuzzled his hand before cuddling up with Sofia again.

"He's finally getting used to you again," Amber smiled. "Just like it took Sofia to get used to you, Daddy, Baileywick, and Cedric again."

"It's okay, Sof. Amber and I are here," James murmured, hearing Sofia whimper in her sleep. "Clover's here too."

"It's okay, Sof," Clover murmured, "We can both trust James, your dad, Baileywick, even Cedric. We don't have to think about Boswell anymore."

Sofia smiled in her sleep. "Thank you, Clover...love you..." she murmured.

"Clover must be able to talk in her dreams," Amber smiled. "We always said that about our plush friends."

"True. We have," James agreed. "Shall we let sleeping bunnies and sisters lie?"

Amber looked doubtful. "James, we promised Daddy we would watch them."

"We will, Amber, but they have each other, they're safe from Boswell, and Sofia will call us if she needs us," James started.

"We should still stay close, just to be on the safe side," Amber reasoned, "Sofia and Clover might like waking up to friendly and familiar faces."

"You're right," James smiled. "I'm just going to have Baileywick bring us some of my story folders. Sof might like to hear one if she wakes up."

"I know none of your stories are scary or violent, but I don't want Sofia scared. She's been through so much because of a certain magician and I don't want her traumatized."

James nodded in agreement. "All right, I'll ask Baileywick to bring up non-magical story folders, but knowing Sof, she'll went something with butterflies in it."

"Can you blame her?" Amber laughed. "She wouldn't stop chasing them earlier."

"Well, it's a good thing that my earlier stories had our plush friends going on adventures with butterflies and finding flowers," James smirked. "I'll even make some stories like that for Sof while she's recovering, and I'll put Clover in them too!"

"I think they'll love that," Amber smiled.

When Sofia awoke from her nap, she saw Amber and James beside her. As she smiled at them, she whimpered in pain as she felt her burns.

"It's okay, Sof. Baileywick came in a few minutes ago and gave us cream for your arms," James assured her.

"How did you sleep?" Amber asked.

"Sleep good," Sofia smiled. She giggled as James began to put the cream on her arms. "I dream that we, Mommy, and Daddy had picnic."

"Maybe we could do something like that the day after tomorrow," James suggested. "Baileywick said Mom and Dad only had a few things to do tomorrow, but the next day their schedule's clear. Maybe we could ask them if we could go on a family picnic."

"That's a wonderful idea, James!" Amber smiled. "We could even have it in the butterfly garden."

"Butterflies!" Sofia smiled.

"We'll even bring Clover with us," Amber continued, "I'm sure he'd like to have a change of scenery too."

Seeing Clover nod, Sofia giggled. "He say he like change of scenery."

"We'll make sure there'll be no carrots this time, Sof," James promised. "I don't think Dad wants to fire anyone else over a vegetable."

"James, he did that for Sofia," Amber smirked.

"I know, but I don't think she even wants to see carrots again," James murmured. "We'll just have to find something else Clover will like."

"Clover likes veg-ta-bles!" Sofia smiled.

"Okay, we'll get him a whole lot of veggies, and we won't put carrots in with them, since he might be sick of them too," James suggested.

"I don't say no to food, but I'll take a break from carrots for you, Sof," Clover murmured.

"Thank you, Clover," Sofia whispered.

"Look who's awake," Miranda smiled. She turned to Amber and James. "How did she sleep?"

"She whimpered for a little bit," James confessed.

"But she calmed down after a minute," Amber continued. "We kept an eye on her and Clover, and speaking of which, he looks like he's going to be able to trust James again."

"That's good," Miranda smiled.

"We were also talking about going on a picnic in a few days," James added. "We thought Clover would want a change of scenery too, and we thought of taking him and Sof on a picnic in the butterfly garden."

"I'm sure they'd love that," Miranda agreed.

"We will, Mommy," Sofia smiled.

Miranda chuckled, taking her in her arms. "How's my little girl after her nap?"

"Good. Camp-out?" Sofia asked.

"Patience, sweetheart. You have to wait until tonight," Miranda smiled.

"That a long time," Sofia frowned. She brightened, recalling the books that Boswell, despite his cruelty and the Corinthia guards leaving them in the wagon on accident during her rescue, had given her. "Castle lie-merry?"

"Library," Amber corrected.

"That's a wonderful idea," Miranda agreed, "you can go to the library, and we can read some of your favorite stories. We'll even bring them with us on the camp-out."

Sofia smiled at the idea. "James bring story too? He not make scary stories."

"If he wants to, but that's a nice idea," Miranda agreed.

"Don't worry Sof. I won't bring anything scary with me to our camp out," James promised. "My stories are never graphic, violent, or scary. They're just for fun."

Sofia giggled as he spun her around when Miranda had put her down on the ground. She was slowly getting used to the opposite sex again though her healing process would take one day at a time.

Despite that, she knew that she had the love and support she needed and that was okay with her.