Utopia – Within Temptation

Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than my own random ramblings. This chapter starts off where the last one left off. I'm not exactly happy with it but I'm putting it out there anyway. I couldn't seem to get it where I wanted. Oh well. Hope it's good enough. Lol. Enjoy!

Cedric had left moments ago binding Sofia's magic so she couldn't follow after him while he investigated what was going on above, leaving her lying on the floor crying. When he appeared in his office Baileywick was obviously upset and began to speak instantly.

"Thank goodness you're here your majesty. We just received this. Took a look." He said shoving a note into Cedric's hands anxiously. He read over it and could feel his veins begin to boil with rage. Closing his eyes as if the words on the sheet caused him physical pain, Cedric crumpled the paper, and with trembling hands he flung it across the room before kicking a chair next to him.

"What should we do?" Baileywick asked in a forced calm, quiet voice.

Leaning over his desk, he told him, "Increase security around all perimeters, hire more guards to accommodate if necessary, have around the clock lookouts stationed outside and inside the castle as well as undercover lookouts stationed throughout the village to listen and keep an eye out for anything suspicious." Cedric replied. "And whatever you do, never let Sofia out of our sights."

"Should we inform the guards of why we are increasing security?" Baileywick inquired.

Thinking for a moment, he finally said, "We might as well. No need to keep it a secret. I will notify Sofia myself when I return to her."

Cedric then went into detail explaining to Baileywick what had happened earlier in the village and how it had raised his suspicions so they left early, returning to the castle. Once finished with the story, they both felt they shouldn't waste any more time and hurried to the guards' headquarters within the castle where they held an emergency meeting.

Holding up the crumpled note, Cedric gathered their attention; he unfolded it and let them read the contents of the note. Immediately they began to fume, turning red and wanting to take action, demanding to know who wrote the letter threatening the life of their dear Princess Sofia.

"Settle down, settle down, gentleman." Baileywick called out. "Listen up. King Cedric will speak."

"We don't know who wrote this threatening letter. But I assure you, we will find out and we will bring them to proper justice. However, until that time we need you to protect her and our castle. So we're going to increase security…" He began going into detail of techniques and procedures. The men were getting worked up and antsy, ready to get to work and go protect their princess. Finally, Cedric sent them off to get to work. He had to praise them for being loyal, faithful guards always ready to protect and guard their royal family even at the cost of their own life.

Leaving the guard's tower and heading back to his office he met up with Baileywick. "I had a thought, your majesty…" The butler began.

"Oh bother…" Cedric rolled his eyes as he continued to walk down the long hallway.

"No, just hear me out. If we were to put out notices or flyers for more guards, who is to stop the one who sent the letter from applying and gaining entrance to our castle. We have no idea who this person is. We need to be extra cautious. Maybe we should ask to borrow guards from a fellow kingdom for the time being. Or only hire people who we know to be trustworthy." Baileywick explained to him as they entered the office and sat down.

"Hmmm… I knew we kept you around for a reason. Good thinking Baileywick. Will you send a message to a few friendly neighboring kingdoms asking for ten noble guards they could spare?" Cedric asked, putting his feet on the desk, knowing it irritated Baileywick.

Baileywick, mostly used to Cedric's usual antics by now barely flinched seeing his feet on the desk and continued on as if nothing was the matter, "Of course your majesty," He said as he bowed slightly, exiting the room.

Meanwhile, below the castle Sofia had been left on the floor crying when Cedric restricted her magic use so she couldn't follow after him. To her a few minutes felt like a few hours worrying about Cedric and if he was alright. She wasn't sure whether to be more worried, hurt or angry at him at the moment. Feeling helpless Sofia stood up and began to pace back and forth, not knowing what to do.

She tried to transport above just to see if she could and found she was unable to. Stomping her feet in frustration she continued to pace around the house. Eventually she sat by the fireplace in the living room where she stared into the flames until her eyes grew tired from crying. Sometime later she fell asleep.

Later that evening, Sofia was awoken to arms around her lifting her up and carrying her. Her first response was to throw her arms around Cedric and cry into his neck that he was back and safe.

"You're okay. I was so worried…" She whispered quietly. However, as she gathered her bearings and woke up more it quickly changed to hurt and anger that he'd left her like that for so long.

Her eyes widened and she looked up at his face. "What took you so long? Is everything alright?" She asked.

Cedric sighed and set her down on her bed, settling her under the covers before he began to explain, he told her about the note, threatening her life and how he had to deal with it and gather the guards to hash out the details of it with them. Looking at Sofia, he noticed moisture growing in her eyes.

"Sofia, you don't need to worry, we will keep you safe. I won't ever let anyone hurt you." He reassured her.

Flinging the blankets off, Sofia stood on the floor and looked at him as if he'd slapped her, tears now falling down her cheeks.

"What's the matter?" He asked, feeling uneasy.

In a trembling, vulnerable voice Sofia asked, "You mean to tell me, it wasn't an immediate threat on the castle and yet it took you hours, HOURS Cedric, to come back to me and reassure me, that you are alright while you just left me here sick with worry."

Slowly turning away from him, Sofia walked out of the room and away from Cedric. He reached a hand out towards her and said her name softly but she put both her hands up stopping him. Not wanting to fight with her, he let her walk out of the room. In the living room, Sofia climbed back into the warm chair by the fire and under the blankets. She let the tears fall as she stared into the flames again.

Still standing inside the bedroom, Cedric could hear Sofia's cries. He wasn't sure if she was crying because he had hurt her so deeply or because she was also scared due to the death threat. She didn't even respond about the threat against her life so he had to assume it was because of his own actions, or lack of. Cedric wanted to apologize but Sofia didn't want to hear it or even be near him at the moment. So he gave her space for the time being.

Soon Sofia's cries died down and she was quiet. Cedric made his way out to the living room and found Sofia asleep in the chair again, tear stains down her cheeks. His heart clenched in his chest knowing he was the cause. He bent down and kissed each tear stained cheek and apologized so quietly he couldn't even hear his own voice. Then with as much gentleness as he could he lifted her up and carried her to her bed and lay her down again, pulling her blankets up around her. Lying down beside her, Cedric pulled her into his arms and fell asleep.

The following morning, Sofia awoke feeling warm and secure. She snuggled deeper and inhaled. Feeling arms tighten around her, Sofia's eyes opened and she looked up. Cedric was looking at her, waiting for her reaction to see if she was still upset with him.

Rolling over and turning away from him, Sofia closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Cedric felt remorse and hurt; she had never turned her back on him before.

"Sofia, please, talk to me. I'm sorry." He spoke gently, reaching a hand out touching her shoulder gently.

Not receiving any response, Cedric sighed and stared at the ceiling for a moment before continuing to speak. "You don't have to talk, but, please at least listen. I am sorry, Sofia. I didn't think yesterday. My main concern was getting the guards set up first to ensure your safety. I didn't even think about returning to you to let you know it wasn't an imminent danger. As soon as I read the note I became so enraged and angry I immediately took action. In hindsight, I should have come back right away to let you know not to worry, especially with our past history and the last attack on the castle. I know how worried you were when I left. I should have considered how it was impacting you with me being away so long. And for that I'm truly sorry Sofia."

After a few moments of no response, Cedric presumed she was not going to and so he prepared to get up for the day. He heard Sofia sniffle then she slowly turned over and grabbed him, burying her face in the chest of his pajamas, snuggling closer. Cedric smiled and wrapped his arms around her. Though she didn't speak, it let him know she was on her way to forgiving him. It was a start.

Later that morning, Sofia attended a meeting with Cedric, Baileywick and head of security. She was still upset with him but they had to move on with life. Baileywick noticed some tension between them but didn't say anything in front of the other man in the room. Once they had a plan in place and the other man left he turned to Sofia and asked, "Is everything alright Princess Sofia?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She said tersely and then went back to pretending to examine her nails. Both Cedric and Baileywick looked at each other. Cedric chuckled at him for attempting to speak to her when she very clearly was in no mood to deal with pleasantries today.

"Very well. Good day your majesties." Baileywick bowed and exited the room, awkwardly.

"Way to make him feel uncomfortable, Sofia." Cedric smirked.

"Well I felt uncomfortable being in a meeting where three men sat around discussing me." Sofia retorted.

"Point taken. But it had to be done." He told her.

"Can't I just go stay at your parent's cottage?" She asked. "I stayed there before, I like it there."

Cedric sighed and sat down, "No, that won't work this time because someone is specifically targeting you and following you. If you go there they could still follow you to my parent's house. The safest place for you is here at the castle."

Standing and pacing, Sofia began to chew her lip. "We were just starting to get the hang of things and get our lives back on track and now this." She said mournfully.

"I know. And we'll get this taken care of. Nobody will hurt you. We'll find who sent the letter and take care of them." Cedric promised. Sofia looked into his eyes and nodded then walked to the window to look outside.

"So now I'm pretty much a prisoner here until it's over." She mumbled to herself.

"You're not a prisoner, Sofia. We're just being extra cautious. And to prove you're not a prisoner in the castle I'll take you flying tonight." He told her with a smile.

Sofia turned and looked at him expressionless. Finally, her face broke out into a wide grin. He always seemed to know how to get through to her to break her gloomy moods and make her feel better.