6.

Sofia and Cedric excused themselves after eating. She wanted to discuss her new plan with Cedric. It should have been easy to go to her father by herself, but she felt awkward. She knew Cedric would ease her mind.

When they reached Cedric's workshop he slumped down into a chair next to a stack of books. Wormwood was snoozing at his favorite perch, happy to be back in the castle. Sofia noticed that the portrait of his parents was still missing, she hadn't noticed that before. She supposed she should have though. That was another thing she would have to discuss with him, but later. One thing at a time, she reminded herself.

"I think I have a plan," she said.

"You do?" He asked, perking up. "You always do," he grinned at her, arching an eyebrow slightly.

"I think I need to get Dad alone, and just talk to him. I think that would help." She said slowly. "But, I don't really know what to say."

"Do you think he'll reveal something if it's just the two of you?" he asked her.

She shook her head, "I don't know. But, things are not the same between him and me, and I feel like we should work that out." She kicked at the ground and looked at Cedric. "I was hoping you'd give me some encouragement."

"Oh," he stood up straighter. "You can do it!"

Sofia sighed, "That's not exactly what I meant."

"He's your father, Sofia. I'm sure you can talk to him about anything. Maybe that will shed light on this curse." He said, hands resting on his knees.

"That's what I was looking for," she said smiling. She turned to leave, but then stopped. She rushed back over to Cedric and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then, because she couldn't stop herself, she whispered into his ear, "Thank you, Prince Cedric."

Cedric pushed back in the chair and fell out of it, landing hard on the floor. The chair fell on its side and skidded across the floor "D-d-don't say that, I hate that. It sounds so awkward. And that isn't how it works." He was blushing and remained on the floor, looking up at her. She winked at him.

"ok, ok. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm going to go try to talk to him now."

She left and walked out to find her father. She had to ask around, but was finally told that he was sitting by the hedge maze. It didn't take long to find him then. He was sitting with her mother on a bench, looking out at what had once been the hedges but was now a jumble of dried out weeds and branches.

"Mom, Dad." She said carefully. She felt nervous, but they turned to see her.

"Hello, Sofia. Did you and Cedric figure something out?" Her mother asked.

"Maybe," she said, looking instead at her Dad. "Could I talk to Dad, alone?" she asked her mother. Queen Miranda stood, smiling, and nodded.

"Of course, Sofia. I'll be inside if either of you need me." She left and then it was only Sofia and her father.

"Yes, Sofia?" he said. And she saw her father, really saw him. He was aging, and looked so tired. Even though he wasn't her birth father, he had always done his best to make her feel like she was his daughter.

"I thought we should talk." She said, and he waved her to sit down next to him on the bench. He didn't say anything, and waited for her to continue. "I think the first thing I want to say is that I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes, for leaving, and keeping things between me and Cedric a secret in the first place. I feel like if I had told you sooner, none of this would have happened." She said, looking down at her hands.

"Well, we don't know that." King Roland said, "And I'm sorry too. I should have discussed everything with you before making my judgment. If I had done that, you wouldn't have had to leave." He frowned and looked out at the devastation around them, but then a purple light caught both of their gazes. Sofia looked down to see her amulet brightly glowing, and then looked back up when she heard her father gasp. The hedges began to regrown, the grass sprouted through the dry dirt, and it started to gently sprinkle. She looked up, but the rain clouds weren't Cedric's

"The curse," Sofia gasped. The curse was broken.

"Apparently, all we needed to do to was apologize to each other," King Roland said, smiling. "And mean it," he added.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" She hugged her dad. And then they watched the lands around them return to normal.

After a while they went to tell everyone else, but everyone had noticed the changes and had come outside. In the gardens they all stood, celebrating. Her entire family, and most of the staff. Cedric was there too, smiling at her. Baileywick was wiping away a single tear, the emotional steward made Sofia smile. When everyone had finally calmed down a bit, Amber was still clapping her hands together and cheering.

"Amber?" Sofia asked. She didn't think her sister would be so happy to see the curse lifted.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes." She said.

"Are you alright?" her brother asked her. Prince James looked at King Zander, but they both shrugged.

"Of course I'm alright!" her eyes were bright, and she looked at Sofia. "We can finally plan your wedding now!" she squealed.

Ok, now on to what seems to be the last installment of this series, which makes me a little sad lol. It'll be posted soon, stay tuned. and as always check my profile to see what I'm working on :)