Summary: Sophie wakes up the morning after she has handed her life over to the Wizard. At last, she enjoys a little reprieve with Markl and Calcifer.
Rating: T for this chapter.
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8: Sunbeams
Misted curlicues spiraled upwards and hissed from the glowing hearth. Hot steam whistled from a blackened kettle's spout, pulling Sophie from her curled ball of sleep. She fluttered her lids and bristled under the blanket, as shafts of sunlight broke through her darkened vision of sleep. She yawned under her ragged blanket and wriggled, trying to adjust and find a comfortable position on her bed.
"La la la la laaaa! I'm not listening!" a piercing voice echoed off the rafters.
"Calcifer! You promised you would boil water for Sophie's tea!" Markl huffed and stomped his feet, hurt a promise made had been broken. He pouted his lips in disapproval, and locked his hands on his hips, ready to battle the haughty fire demon.
"Yeah, and? As I keep reminding you short stuff, I boil the water! I put the kettle on myself! Nyahhh!" Calcifer poked out his forked tongue, lashing it around facetiously. He spat a lemon-sized ball of soot (magically conjured) at Markl. "Now get! Go on! Shoo, before I boil you, too!" Calcifer blustered and cackled. He took the kettle off the edge of the stone hearth, placing it over his undulating body of flames.
"Good morning, Markl. Good morning, Calcifer," Sophie croaked, her throat parched from sleep, sitting up to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She reached the tips of her fingers above her in leisurely stretch. How domestic her captivity had become.
"Now look what you've done! You woke Sophie up, Calcifer!" Markl spat indignantly, dodging the fire demons soot ball. He bounded over, peeped between the curtains and hugged Sophie. "Good morning, Sophie!" he bubbled, burrowing his nose into the crook of her arm.
"Right, as if your feet stomping action didn't already accomplish that!" Calcifer defended, winking at Sophie. "I'd be over there in a heartbeat for huggles too, Sophie, but ya' know…the flame-engulf-singe-you-to-a-cinder thingy and all…."
"Your smile is enough to engulf any girl in flames, Cal!" Sophie grinned sheepishly, ruffling Markl's hair. More than a little self-conscious of the state of her undress and arid scent exuding from her clothes. "Markl, how about you and Calcifer make some Honey Suckle tea, then? I'll wash up and prepare breakfast?"
Markl clapped his hands, over the moon at the prospect of yet another hot breakfast! For him, a hot meal was as far-fetched as a fairy tale where a Princess lost the Prince's heart to a wicked witch! This would be six days in a row – more cooked meals than he'd had in two years at the castle!
"Why don't you set the table too, sweetie?" Sophie suggested, buying more time to make herself presentable.
Markl bolted away. He scrambled onto a stool by the kitchen counter. He reached for the newly stacked cracked dishes on the windowsill, grabbing a handful of bent crockery from the draw.
Sophie tidied her bed – the creaky divan under the cubby hole- with care. She folded the scratchy drab brown blanket and tucked it under a worn out embroidered cushion. She then closed the tattered maroon curtain, closing the door to her 'bedroom'. A string of tiny white lilac and white periwinkles intertwined with dried baby breath flowers —lovingly hand made by Markl—jingled from it as she did so. Her back ached, her muscles groaned from another fitful night, punctuated with sinister dreams.
Since the morning Sophie had fled from the Wizards bed and room, she had sealed the upstairs and the turn of events from her splintered mind. It would have been insufferable, otherwise.
For Sophie, the week creaked by. She toiled and scrubbed every inch of the living room and kitchen - floor to ceiling –working through her bitterness by scouring a few centimeters from the surfaces. Sophie had asked Markl to air out the castle everyday by opening all doors and windows, allowing the castle to regal in fresh air, as the magical home idled over the Wastes. The down stairs of the castle was verging on being fit for living.
It was at the age stained tiled kitchen counter Sophie washed her face. She scooped the mint crisp cool water from the washbasin – Markl prepared for her each morning -with her hands, splashing away the unspeakable agony that knocked at her forethoughts. Ignorance would be bliss, denial would be peace and subjugation would be contentment. The vapid reflection rippling back at her resembled the former Sophie Hatter, she once, never really knew. Each morning, she ritually washed a part of her former life into yesterday, baptizing herself for a new tomorrow. Well, Sophie Hatter…we've made a promise…one that we must keep." She bundled her hair high over her head, into an unflattering ponytail. In her mind, the sun began to rise above the rain of malignant clouds cast by the Wizard.
"Morning Mrs. S, Mr. S…baby S," Sophie charily touched the tip of her index finger to the only family of furry brown spiders left in the castle. The trio scuttled further into their family web, hung over the corner of the kitchen. They were weary of the stranger who'd allowed them to stay on, while she'd washed the rest of their kind to purgatory during her purging rampage. All other able legged rodents and non-human occupants in the castle hot footed out any opening they could find, or were flooded off in hot soapy water.
"Now…," Sophie injected enthusiasm into her voice, donning a lemon-checkered apron she'd uncovered scrunched under the counter. She swiveled on bare feet, as modesty was a moot point for now. "Calcifer, if you're good I'll give you the egg shells with a pinch of salt…and I'll even burn some crackling exactly the way you like it!" Sophie enticed the fire demon, plucking the bacon from a wicker basket on the counter and dangled it over him. The way to Calcifer's heart was through his mouth and into his transparent wavering stomach.
"All right Sophie, you're taking advantage of my hungry nature, I tell you!" he chortled and reclined on his back, bearing his lilac streak red belly, squealing with mirth as Sophie fried eggs and bacon in the skillet. The fat dance and popped over the skillet, swamping the room with the lush piquant of crackling bacon and blistering eggs. Calcifer chuckled, rolling his eyes into the back of his head. "Oh the paaaainnn," he groused, playing dead, unfolding his tongue over the hearth edge in a crimson carpet of fire. "Ouch, oo, eee, Sophie…have mercy!"
"Well then, I'll have to give Markl your portion then, won't I?" Sophie goaded, raising one eyebrow at him. "I presume dead demons with a belly ache can't eat, correct?" Sophie played coy, wrapping the wooden spoon on the skillets edge, challenging the feisty Calcifer.
"OI! No fair!" Calcifer's spiked bows shot high in the hearth. He clamped his flames around the skillet, refusing to let Sophie steal his victuals from him.
Life in the castle had shifted from grim enslavement to morbid reality, from whence the Wizard swept out the door – after Sophie had renounced her colorless existence. What her kiss goodbye to her world and sisters entailed, she was yet to realize. She'd fainted, as if his toxic embrace had sapped her of all she knew. Sophie had slept way into noon the next day. Her mind was on edge awake and asleep, brittle and frail like eggshells. She existed in a paranoid state of psychosis. Jumping every time the door to opened, shrinking with every breeze that hushed by the windows, her pulse hammering when patrons came knocking at the castle door. Indeed, for the first few days Sophie truly was a skittish, frightened mouse, trying to blend into any shadowy recess, every time someone appeared at the door.
Markl watched over the castle, selling pre-made concoctions and simple spells to customers. Sophie observed with macabre fascination whenever the doorknob turned. Calcifer would announce a name of a shire, each corresponded to a specific colour of a disc hanging over the top of the door. Markl would trot to the cupboard and drag out a muted silver hooded cloak. She was doubly astounded whenever Markl drew the hood over his face, a ginger beard instantly sprouted from his jaw line, crow's feet spread from the corner of his eyes and his nose grew bulbous- giving him an aged, gnome-like face.
Calcifer kept the nomadic castle roving over the wastes- with no apparent destination that Sophie knew of. The only destination Sophie foresaw was to the Wizard's perdition. She did not dare to venture outside, unsure of the parameters of her confines, mindful to evade any contrivance the Wizard could conjure to torment her. However, asthe hours, days, passed, and the castle door closed and opened with no sign of the Wizard, Sophie's paranoia of their reunion regressed.
A washbasin was a poor substitute for bathing- and the living room afforded scant privacy even deep into the night. Sophie's nose had died a painful death, whiffing the odor oozing under the cracks of wooden bathroom door upstairs. Her nose remained permanently traumatized for its experience. Lord knew what the Wizard did in there; brew a cauldron of girls' hearts? Pickled his ego in flamboyant perfume bottles? The stench warned Sophie from the room. Nor did she wish to associate herself with anything in which he extolled. Thank heavens the latrine was a separate room.
Today, Calcifer promised Sophie a special surprise. "Humans and their bathing! Cleanliness is over rated I tell you!" Calcifer had exhorted, shooting a haughty stare at Sophie, when she inquired about a bathroom that was not the Wizard's domain of vanity. "But seeing you've charred to perfection the most divine meals, how can I refuse you?" Calcifer had developed more than a few spongy spots, holes and mushy points for Sophie. His logs splintered and snapped with anticipation – eager to reveal his surprise for Sophie. "We're here, Sophie!" His voice overflowed with an ardor to please. "Welcome. To. Star Lake. Please remain seated, keeping your arms and legs in the castle, until we arrive at our destination." He couldn't resist but finish like the exceptional host he was.
"Star Lake?" Sophie's ears perked, prickling at the darling nature of the nomenclature: the delicious name an impetus for her climb from her malaise. An familiar essence penetrated every orifice of the castle, weaving between the stagnant redolence of living area, and tickled her nose. The sunlight slanting through the windows erupted into mercurial starlight, sparkling in a sea of ultramarine. "Where are we?" Sophie rushed to peer out the window.
"Open the door for Sophie, Markl," Calcifer ushered impatiently to the boy, who shot past Sophie and down to the front door.
"We plan for you to spend the whole day here, Sophie!" Markl's eyes swam with joy, seeing the rapture blossoming over Sophie's face.
Sophie moved from the window, catching her breath as the door swung open. A verdant plateau stretched as far as the eyes could see. Knolls rose and ebbed across the cerise horizon. Moss grass danced in rhythm to the invigorating, aromatic breeze. Blushes of blue-violet, fuchsia and snowy snapdragons bobbed merrily, singing a welcoming melody to their home. The delicate floral bouquet flirted gaily with Sophie. Beyond the green tableau, a silk blanket of crystalline water surged to the hemline of the sky, twinkled a rainbow of refracted beauty. Pastel lilies unfurled their petals and skated over the surface. Star Lake was a magical body of water that resembled an oasis aloft between clouds and soaring birds. Her spirit soared with the birds and her lungs ballooned with the country air, filling her with a sea of hope.
For now, duty called first, and pedantic Sophie neatly folded her bliss to one side. In no time, she and Markl uncovered every single stitch of material from the castle – save the Wizard's domain. Sophie scoured every scrap on the washboard (three times over, her hands raw pink with exertion), rinsing the pile of clothes, curtains, sheets and all sorts until they were a respectable ecru. The garments later flapped in their pristine splendour from a temporary clothesline strung over the castle.
"Splendid! THAT was a job well done, Markl," Sophie spun around, her arms swinging out wide. She stopped, handed Markl the wash basket, precariously balanced with a tower of folded garments.
He giggled, his nose sniffing, twitching suspiciously at the laundry. The dewy freshness felt foreign to him. "Hehe. I wonder what Master Howl will think of all this?" Markl beamed up to her, bumping against her hips.
Sophie's expression darkened. She thrashed away every residue of the Wizard from her mind. She pursed her lips into a tight smile. "Markl, sweetie, would you mind putting away the washing for me? I'd really love to…," Her eyes strayed longingly back to inviting waters leaving her request left unfinished. The lad nodded obliging, fully appreciating Sophie's unspoken desire.
"Of course, Sophie, take your time," and he bounded off, waving before closing the door behind him.
Sophie examined the door for long minutes, considering what she was about to do. She ambled to the lake's edge, wading ankle deep in the lapping shore, the delightful chill wiggling right from her feet to her scalp. She found a tiny alcove that arched in a crescent shape hidden behind a knoll just beyond the castle. It afforded some privacy. After several bouts of hesitation, peering over her shoulders, Sophie slipped off her dress, petticoats and pantaloon. The length and curves of her body dusted with a red blush, caressed by the winds. Modesty reared and Sophie crossed her arms over her breast and between her thighs, mortified she was bearing herself in broad day light. "But what recourse is there, Sophie? Cleanliness before all else!" Her sense of decorum demanded. Carefully, she perched on a rock ledge that jutted over a pool of water. She washed her clothes, before laying them on nearby rocks scorched by noon to bake dry.
Gaining some security she was safe to bathe, Sophie swished her toes in a circular in the water, sucking a breath through her teeth at the snap biting over her skin. She waded to waist deep depth, squinting through the aqua clear liquid. She saw her feet undulated with the undercurrents, her toes sinking into the powder white sand. She sank down until the water was neck deep, running her hands over arms, chest, and further down using the balled bar of soap Markl had left for her. She winced, and clamped her eyes closed to the purple yellow fleshy shackles around her wrist, the burgundy teeth marks on her neck. A stream of salty tears trailed down her cheeks.
It was the same body, same skin. The fact that her body belonged to him swelled her chest with a white-hot despair. Again, she tore up the hurtful memory of her first night in the castle. Her ecstasy evaporated like water in blistering desert, her bliss snatched away by the absent Wizard. She fought through the waters, darting the lilies, hurriedly drying herself and dressing in her dried clothes.
She upturned her whiskey shimmering eyes to the sky. Judging by the position of the sun, she guessed it was about noon. She reclined in the blanket of piquant grass away from the water, sliding her lids shut. She forgot herself, her debt and her mother abandoning her. I never had much of a life to lose, did I? The winds stirred the blades of grass and tickled her exposed skin. The sun basked her in heated nirvana. She snuggled further into the mattress of grass, planting her palms behind her neck. She began to pick out the clouds in the sky, dreaming what it would be to fly onto one of the passing clouds, sink into the airy downy, to drift off, unshackled. However, too burdensome were her emotions and obligations, she would have simply sent the clouds crashing to the ground. How long would she have to remain with the Wizard? What did her bond to him entail? As much as Sophie resisted, images of the courtly, august man from May Day, strayed uncontrolled through the maze of her dreams. She bolted upright, hugging her knees to her chest, disturbed by her train of thoughts. Why, despite his brutality, did her mind cling to those moments, yet pass over the junctures where he manipulated her life into his corrupt machinations?
What would happen when he returned to the castle? The questions riddled her brain like icy hailstones. "Oh, Sophie Hatter! What are you doing to yourself?" She was terrified… but of whom? She tugged at her splayed mass of lustrous, henna tinged hair that shone in gentle curves, as it often did when unleashed from her ponytail.
"Sophie! Master Howl's home!" Markl's voice carried from the castle vicinity.
Her time was up. Sophie's heart fossilized, tumbling through her ribs and on to grass with a thud. "Oh, Father…," Sophie's lips trembled with foreboding. She pressed her palms together, pressing her hands to her forehead. "…Father, I know you'll always watch over me. Please, please give me strength to endure…," she beseeched to her dearly missed and beloved, departed father. The glorious brilliant afternoon transformed into a cloak of black storm throbbing with angry clouds, the air thickening with oppression.
There was no choice, but to return. She was a stubborn student who had learnt her lesson by heart, from an equally harsh and unyielding teacher, who did not seem to possess one. Her limbs hung as marble, threatening to fall from her body, as she moved herself through the grass. Her footfalls stalled at the sight of the castle. Her confidence rallied to her aid, pushing her onward to battle. Her hands chorded white, strangling the doorknob. She swung the door open in one angry swoop. She armoured every part of her mind, body and spirit with animosity. Her grim expression chiseled in deep, etched lines over her face.
AN: Hi all. I'm so sorry it's taken a while to update but life has been nuts, and I'm very tired. This chapter is long'ish and the next one is 3/4 quarter done. Saotoshi my aweome beta THANK YOU for getting the chapter back to me sooo quickly. :) Thank you to everyone to reviewed for the story since I last updated. I'm sure I replied to everyone but if FF ate any of my PMs or you did not receive a review reply please let me know. As always, love any feed back good or not so good. In case you are not familiar with the movie, 'Star Lake' features in the movie. Calcifer takes Sophie there, and there she does laundry with Markl, and she starts to settle into the castle life.
Have a good one everyone.