Give Me Your Riches: Chapter Four

Cedric had rarely known Sofia to be this quiet for this long, at least not without a book in her hand. Their meandering walk back to the castle was nearly halfway through and she had yet to utter a sound. She seemed a touch fatigued, but mostly stunned by her success. It wasn't an entirely unpleasant silence that they shared, but Cedric surprised himself in admitting that he missed the lilting tone of Sofia's voice peppering the space between them with questions.

Sofia's work with the spell had been stunning. It had been a raw artistry befitting her. The melody of her magic had encapsulated him as she worked on the injured man. Cedric's admiration for Sofia competed with his feelings of pride towards her. Healing magic was challenging even for the most accomplished of sorcerers. Few bothered attempting it beyond the proficiency to treat minor maladies. It was an incredibly difficult school of magic for Cedric to successfully cast (though his healing potions were a different matter). Sofia's strength in something nearly unreachable to him gave her an allure that Cedric was finding harder and harder to ignore.

Healing required empathy: a feeling Cedric often struggled with due to his lack of trust in others. His sister Cordelia had indoctrinated mistrust into Cedric at a young age. Cordelia's cruel and selfish work while they were children in combination with his mother's more nefarious intentions had encouraged him to betray the trust of others in search of personal gain. During her childhood, Cedric had often tried to take advantage of Sofia's trust in him. Cedric couldn't pinpoint when, but somewhere along the line Sofia had successfully chipped away at his protective walls and gained his trust. Sofia had even gained his mother's trust, causing her to forbid Cedric from continuing his quest to steal the Amulet of Avalor (regardless of the fact that Cedric had vowed before the king to, essentially, cease the search months prior to his mother's insistence).

Empathy and trust were, however, two of Sofia's defining characteristics. For better or worse, she assumed everyone she met to be virtuous. And her optimism and sunny disposition usually proved her right by bringing out the best in the people around her. Cedric couldn't begin to comprehend the trust Sofia so easily came by. He certainly couldn't begrudge her upbringing for shaping her in this way; it's simply who she was. Even if she had never become a princess, Cedric believed Sofia would have still found the positivity in every situation. It had taken him years to understand that she wasn't blindly innocent and wholesome. She just choose to see the good in people, himself included. She made him want to be a better man.

"A better teacher." Cedric quickly corrected his train of thought. "Sofia makes me want to be a better teacher."

Cedric looked down at Sofia. Her head bobbed along beside his shoulder, her eyes staring off into the distance. He found himself caught up in staring down at her, her delicately pink lips starting to curl into the hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth.

"Thank you." Sofia's voice shook Cedric from a potentially dangerous train of thoughts.

He waved his hand in the air dismissively. Sofia grabbed it with both of her hands before he could speak, causing them to stop walking. Earnest eyes beamed up into his. Cedric fought back a pang of longing: two short years ago, if Sofia had looked at him like that she would have swept him up into a hug moments later that he would have begrudgingly accepted. Now a grown woman, that kind of affection was no longer appropriate between Sofia and Cedric. Her clinging to his hand like this wasn't exactly appropriate, either, but he wouldn't be the one to rebuff her.

"No, don't dismiss it. Thank you. I want you to take me at my word when I say this: I would never have been able to accomplish that spell without you. And I finally understand! I can finally see where I might fit in the world. Everyone around me had always seemed to know what they wanted to do. Amber and James knew exactly what paths they wanted to take. I only ever knew that I wanted to help people, but I never knew how I could do it in any meaningful way."

Sofia's grip around his hand tightened. Cedric didn't mind. His stiff exterior was wavering under her attention.

"You changed all that. You took me on as your apprentice even though my obligations mean I can't be as dedicated as another student might be. You've never refused my visits to your tower over all these years. You encouraged the magic inside me from the very beginning. I know I have more to learn, but I finally feel like I know where I'm going and it's because of you." Her torrent of words ceased and she paused so that he would focus on the earnesty of her final words. "Thank you, Cedric."

Cedric could only stare back down at her, astounded that he had done so much for someone else.

"M-master, I mean," Sofia corrected, putting the tiniest blemish on their connection. Cedric noticed how her face lacked any blemishes, though she had the lightest speckling of freckles across her nose. Had he ever noticed them before? Cedric opened his mouth to speak but found it dry. He had to clear his throat before he could say anything.

"Y-yes, well. You're w-welcome." He favored her with a rare, genuine smile. It seemed only Sofia's sincerity could bring him to stutter, now. A slight tint of red joined the freckles on her face.

"Oh, Morgana's music," Cedric thought as realization dawned over him. That look in her eyes was beyond the beaming admiration between Master and Apprentice. The blush across her cheeks was not embarrassment from such an honest speech of thanks. Whether or not Sofia realized it, and Cedric didn't think she did, the affection she was showing him was more than just platonic fondness. He wriggled his hand free from her grip, handed the basket to her, and started walking forward. He engaged a great amount of self control to continue at their usual, measured pace rather than speed back to the castle to extricate himself from her presence as soon as possible. Sofia hesitated a moment before joining him.

"Now tell me," Cedric said, brokering a strict change of subject from emotions to education, "what kind of potion would have yielded the same results as your spell today, if it had already been brewed?"

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Upon arrival at the castle, Sofia returned to her room to wash up for the mid-day meal. She couldn't stop smiling. It was undoubtedly caused by her magical success, finally getting Cedric to accept heartfelt thanks from her, and thinking about his smile looking down on her. Her stomach kept doing little flips of glee. It was a potent, thrilling combination that left her rushing to get to the Great Hall to share it with her family.

Sofia was the last one into the Great Hall. Amber and her mother were sitting side by side, pouring over a seating chart. Her mother was, and always would be, the most beautiful woman Sofia had ever seen. Queen Miranda still appeared youthful; she gave birth to Sofia at a young age. She had grown into a mature, dark-haired beauty that Sofia could only hope to mature into, herself.

Amber's golden locks fell with deliberate precision over her shoulders. The ignorant outsider would see her and think her only vain and vapid: Amber looked the part of the pampered princess, with a closet full of at least 365 dresses so she would never be caught in the same ensemble twice in a year. But hidden behind her perfectly applied powders was a sharp and calculating mind accented by tender care for her loved ones. Amber would be the consummate queen when their father stepped down.

Their father sat at the head of the table, a pair of spectacles balanced on the end of his nose as he stared down at a list in his hands. Baileywick was standing beside him with a second scroll also in need of review. King Roland still looked like the man who called Sofia "daughter" without hesitation so many years ago. The physical differences from then to now could only be found in the white wings of hair at his temples and deeper laugh lines etched around his mouth and eyes. Baileywick looked equally unchanged, his age only showing through a slightly receding hairline and an aversion to bending his knees. There were a few rumors running around the castle about his retirement, but Sofia hoped they weren't true. She could no sooner imagine the castle without Baileywick as she could imagine a pocketwatch without its hour hand.

Across from Amber and Queen Miranda sat Cedric and an empty chair for Sofia. She still felt pleased with herself for convincing Cedric to join the mid-day meals. It was a meal reserved for family and, the way Sofia saw it, Cedric was a part of her family. He was integral to the success and safety of Enchancia. Yes, some people saw him as a servant and perhaps at some level he was. But didn't a king serve his people? As far as Sofia was concerned, Cedric served the people of Enchancia just as her father did, making them courtly equals in her eyes.

Cedric had been accepted by the family with one exception. Despite her strongest efforts, Sofia could only get her father and Cedric to tolerate one another. They performed their duties to Enchancia without conflict. But there was no reason behind their quiet animosity, at least none she could understand. They were like oil and water: the two men simply didn't mix. They most often sat in civil silence, one respectfully ignoring the other until matters of state required them to converse.

Sofia took her seat, a physical buffer between Cedric and her father. She eyed the vegetable soup in front of her, purposefully ignoring the more carnivorous choices of her table-fellows. The thought of eating someone she could talk to had turned Sofia to a strictly vegetarian lifestyle.

"I'm sorry I'm late, but you wouldn't believe wha-"

"Sofia," Amber didn't look up from the seating chart as she spoke, impatiently tapping her quill as she spoke, "do you think that Vivian would be alright sitting beside Hildegard? The last time they saw each other it wasn't particularly pleasant for anyone."

Sofia didn't bother responding. She knew her sister well enough to know she was about to answer her own question.

"Oh, what am I saying?! Of course not. This just throws everything off, Mother! I don't know what to do!" Amber threw her arms up into the air.

Miranda clicked her tongue once like a mother hen before shaking her head sympathetically and slowly pulling the seating chart away from Amber. "Oh darling, we'll work it out. But I think it's time for a break." She cleared her throat and looked across the table at her husband.

"Hm…?" Roland said absently. "Yes, what your mother said, Amber." Sofia nudged his foot under the table with her own. Roland looked over at Sofia, confused. Sofia raised her eyebrows and very subtly inclined her head towards her mother who was staring pointedly at him.

"Ah!" Roland caught sight of her stare and gave his queen a sheepish grin, removing his glasses and handing them to Baileywick. Baileywick smoothly took the glasses and scrolls and backed away, barely accompanied by the sounds of his shoes on the marble floor. Roland gave her a broad smile. "I'm sorry, darling. I'm here. All yours."

A sociable silence fell over the table as everyone ate. Amber mostly pushed her food around with her fork instead of eating as she was want to do when stressed.

"When does James get back?" Miranda asked, breaking the silence.

"The day of Amber's Annunciation Ball." Delight gleamed from Roland. He was proud of his son, the First Prince of the Sword of Enchancia. "About a week."

"A week too soon," Amber groaned. She looked up from her plate to her family staring back at her. "For the ball," She corrected. "Not for James."

Sofia could see the real cause of Amber's melancholy. She missed her twin just as much as Sofia missed him. She often heard Amber absently humming their famed twin song when he was gone.

The silence returned, broken only by the clink of silverware on plates.

"I was saying before that the most amazing thing happened at the village today," Sofia added, her voice the music of the meal-time minuet.

Miranda looked up from her plate. "You went to the village today?"

"Yes. Which reminds me, Mother, I need a batch of your shortbread biscuits tomorrow afternoon for tea with Lucinda. Is that alright?"

"Of course, that's fine. There should be a full tin in the kitchens that was baked yesterday. Now what happened while you were there?"

Sofia spared a glance to Cedric. He was generally quiet during these meals, occasionally chiming in here or there. Today, however, he was absolutely button-lipped and extremely focused on his water goblet.

"Well, just as we were leaving Lucinda's shop, a horse and cart crashed into a fruit vendor. It completely destroyed the stall and cart and it all fell on top of the poor man. I ran over and calmed the horse and Cedric effortlessly lifted the cart off of the man."

Sofia paused, her trailing tone implying that she expected Cedric to add to the story. Her Master, however, didn't react. He didn't even respond to her small compliment to his skills.

"Um," Sofia recovered, "anyway, the man was okay, except that he had a compound fracture of the shin-"

"Oh, ew, Sofia. Really? At the table?" Amber made a disgusted face. Sofia stifled a need to roll her eyes.

"Is the man alright?" Roland asked, genuine concern coloring his features. He looked intently at Cedric, expecting an answer.

Realizing all eyes were on him and he couldn't avoid the direct question, Cedric reluctantly joined the conversation. "Yes, he's fine. Thanks to Princess Sofia." He did a poor job at hiding emotion from his tone. A hint of pride edged its way out into the open. "She healed him."

Sofia seemed to glow with contentment at the pride in his tone, small though it was. "I did!" She exclaimed. "He's going to be fine because of my healing!"

Her parents took a moment to shower her with compliments while Amber clapped both politely and indifferently.

"Thank you! But I couldn't have done it without Master Cedric. And you, Father, for letting me pursue my sorceress studies with him, You won't be disappointed with my work, I promise. I'm learning all of these different means to help people, to help the kingdom. All from Cedric. He's an incredible teacher." Sofia looked over to Cedric, her expression nearly matching the one she had given him on their walk.

This unadulterated look of affection did not go unnoticed by Amber. "Yes, I'm sure he gives you lots of...confidence," she said with a wry smile and a teasing lilt to her voice.

Cedric's eyes snapped from Sofia to Amber. "Yes, well, she's very naturally gifted. But she still has much to learn." His pride evaporated, replaced with a cold detachment. "I mean, she could barely stand by the time she finished. I dare say, if the wound had been any more serious, she would have fallen unconscious from the effort."

"I suppose if that had been the case, you would have been forced to carry her back to the castle, Cedric." Amber had found an entertaining distraction from her seating-chart plight in Cedric's reactions. "And that would be so inconvenient and embarrassing."

The light pink of satisfaction across Sofia's cheeks deepened to crimson as she looked across the table to Amber, annoyance and hurt playing across her face.

Cedric nearly choked on his next sip of water and he began to sputter. "W-w-well yes, of course. D-d-do excuse me, your majesties, I have a potion in my tower that requires my constant attention." The scrape of his chair echoed in the large chamber as Cedric pushed away from the table. His bow to the royal family was low and curt. He spun on his heels and walked away with a quick stride.

Amber dabbed her mouth with her napkin, hiding a smirk. Miranda looked consolingly to Sofia. Roland barely noticed the conversation, focused instead on a scroll he had subtly waved over from Baileywick during the exchange.

"Amber, that was mean!" Sofia shot at her sister.

"Oh, Sofia, really. You and your "Master" both need a thicker skin." Smugly satisfied, Amber finally took a dainty bite of her meal.

Sofia pushed her bowl forward and set her spoon beside it. "May I be excused?" she asked her mother quickly, her polite question smothering the frustration she felt. Miranda nodded and Sofia left the table, her heels clicking evenly as she left by means of the door Cedric hadn't used in his exit.

Door safely closed behind her, Sofia hurried down the path to Cedric's tower. She had to apologize for Amber's behavior. Cedric could be sensitive and the smallest things could set him off and nothing with Amber was ever small.

Sofia made it to the tower in record time. The door didn't open for her. That was unusual. She knocked.

"No." came a muffled voice from the other side.

Sofia knocked again, more determinedly this time.

No response.

Sofia lifted her hand to knock a third, more insistent, time and her hand hit air instead of wood as the door opened. Cedric stood before her, tall and surprisingly imposing. Amber eyes the color of killer bee honey glared down at her.

"You don't have lessons again until tomorrow morning. What do you want?" His voice was a terse, annoyed monotone. Startled by his radical change in demeanor from their last one-on-one conversation, Sofia almost forgot her purpose in standing before him.

"I-I-"

"You, you?"

Sofia felt her mouth gape open. He was using that aloof, holier-than-thou tone he reserved for the imbeciles he enjoyed making jokes about during state events, usually to make her laugh. She set her jaw and crossed her arms under her bust.

"I came to apologize for Amber's rude behavior, but now I think you're the one who owes me the apology."

Cedric scoffed. "Oh that's rich, Princess. And why would I owe you an apology?"

"Your tone just now. It's the tone you reserve for people you think are idiots. And what you said about me at lunch - that was cruel. I know I have more work to do, but you didn't have to present me to my family as a wilting flower. Especially not when I was in the middle of complimenting you!" While she spoke, Cedric presented her with an exaggerated rolling of the eyes.

"I'm so sorry to have hurt the little Princess Sofia's feelings. Silly me to think I was dealing with an apprentice, prepared to deal with criticism on the path to making you a better sorceress. I apologize for treating you like an adult, not a child." His words were biting.

"I am not a child!" Sofia, somewhat childishly, yelled back at him.

Cedric let the echo of her exclamation resonate, rebounding against the walls around her, a self-satisfied smirk across his face. Sofia suppressed her embarrassment and opened her mouth to speak again, but Cedric beat her to it.

"If you're interested in a hobby for party tricks and a master to praise your most mundane accomplishments, I have not the time for you, Princess."

"That's not - were you even listening to what I sa-"

"If you are a serious sorceress, and not simply a spoiled girl, I expect to see you in the morning. Though, admittedly, I wouldn't be surprised to spend the morning alone." It wasn't a challenge. His tone relayed an insinuation that she would fail him.

The door slammed soundly in Sofia's face, the whirlwind of their confrontation leaving her dumbfounded. The door opened seconds later and Cedric shoved Sofia's basket, now empty of potion supplies and pastry, into her hands before giving the door a second slam.

Sofia clung to the basket. It was the only thing about this moment that was tangible to her. She felt, for certain, that her relationship with Cedric extended beyond Master and Apprentice. She thought of him as her friend and had thought of him that way long before she stopped calling him Mister and started calling him Master. Cedric had changed her life today in pushing her to heal that man's shin. While, no, it wasn't the grandest accomplishment in the world, it certainly didn't feel mundane to her.

Her mind still spinning, Sofia made her way back down the tower steps. She took them all the way down to the ground level, to the door that lead to the castle exterior. Cedric's beratement had confused her, but she walked away with one clear message: Cedric didn't think she was serious about sorcery. That was the farthest thing from the truth, especially after a day like today. Stepping out of the tower into the mid-afternoon light, Sofia made the decision to show up to her lesson tomorrow morning prepared to impress. And that meant showing up with spells memorized, wand in hand, and a basket full of potion ingredients Cedric hated to collect. Once she was back in his good graces, today's off-color admonition would be have to be addressed. But first she had to weasel her way back in. Heading into the castle gardens, Sofia set herself into its depths to find her peace offerings.

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A/N:

Read and review, please. Hearing from readers is practically life sustaining. Thank you for taking the time!

Updated: 7/20/17