Chapter III: The Aftermath

Rebecca sniffled as she walked down the spiral steps, attempting to quell the tears. It was bad enough she got soaked every time she stepped outside, she did not need it inside as well. Besides, it would be so embarrassing if someone asked her what was wrong, and she did not want to get Cedric in trouble. Even if he was a jerk, and completely discarded their friendship like scrap paper.

The thought started up a new wave of tears.

"No, no, no!" she angrily berated herself. "That's enough crying! Knock it off!"

She scrubbed her face free of tears, and brushed her hair out of her face. She grimaced as she felt how filthy her hair was, and wished she could have the time for a bath. Instead, she conjured a purple flower hair comb, and did her best to smooth her hair down before gathering it in a rather messy bun and pinning it back, and, of course, keeping her ears covered. Her mother would be horrified, but it would have to do.

Now, the next course of action would have to be finding a different sorcerer she was comfortable with. Maybe Greylock? He, at least, had kept his promise to keep in touch, and she knew exactly where he was. He also already knew some of the details, even if he did not realize it. But, could she trust him to take this seriously? Even in their letters, his prankster ways from childhood shined through. And besides, she never felt as close to him when they were children as she did with Cedric…

Well, look at how that ended up. Maybe their closeness was all in her head.

"Oh! You're new! What's your name?"

Rebecca snapped out of her zoning, and searched for the speaker. She did not have to look far; standing directly in front of her was a sweet-looking little girl, with soft brown hair, adorned with a pretty tiara, large, innocent, blue eyes, and wearing a light purple dress, decorated with pearls.

It was quite clear that this child was one of the princesses of the castle.

"Oh, your highness, forgive me, I wasn't looking where I was going!" Rebecca quickly said, curtsying deeply.

"Why are you apologizing?" the princess asked. "You've done nothing wrong."

"I didn't?"

"Not that I saw." The child peered at the sorceress more closely. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine, your highness," Rebecca hurriedly assured. "No need to worry about me."

"Okay, if you're sure," the girl said. "I'm Sofia. Who are you?"

The sorceress smiled. "Rebecca."

"Did you just come down from seeing Mr. Cedric?"

At the name of the sorcerer, Rebecca's smile faltered. "Y-yeah, I did."

Sofia's face lit up. "Is he up right now? I wanted to ask him something."

"Um, I'm not sure if that's a good idea right now, princess. He might not be in the best of moods at the moment."

The child winced a bit. "Yeah, I was afraid of that. He didn't seem happy when I was up there earlier. I was hoping that he'd be better by now."

"Well, after our conversation, I don't think that's going to happen tonight," the sorceress informed.

"Oh no," Sofia cried, raising her hands to her face. "Did you two get in a fight?"

"Something like that," Rebecca said wryly. "He might be in a better mood tomorrow, if you want to try then."

Sofia looked a little crestfallen. "I suppose, then."

Rebecca's heart went out to the little princess. "Unless I can help you with something. I'm not as powerful a sorceress as Cedric is a sorcerer, but I can still do some things."

"You're a sorceress?" Sofia excitedly asked. "Are you going to work with Mr. Cedric?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No, nothing like that. We used to be classmates. Is there something I could help you with?"

"Oh, it wasn't so much a magic thing," Sofia explained. "I just wanted to know if he knew why it suddenly started raining, and if he knows when it will stop."

Rebecca nearly started crying again. Instead, she gave the princess her brightest smile, and said, "Well, luckily for you, I can answer that second question. I can promise you that tomorrow, you will have a bright, sunshiny day."

"Really? That's great! Thanks, Miss Rebecca!" Sofia gave the woman a tight hug around her waist. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Rebecca continued to smile as Princess Sofia skipped up the hall, until she turned the corner. "No, you won't, your highness." She probably thought that she was staying with Cedric.

The sorceress morosely walked down the hall, opposite to where the princess had gone, looking for the kitchens again.

"Ah, Miss Rebecca."

Rebecca halted, and looked around. Baileywick was walking briskly toward her.

"I hope that Cedric was able to assist you," he said.

Rebecca smiled. "Yes, he was most helpful," she lied. No way was she going to make Ced look bad. "And since I'm not certain if he would tell you, I feel you should know, he's looking after Rowena for a while."

The tall man's face paled, and Rebecca quickly added, "She'll probably stay up in his tower, for the most part. She's used to that. And as long as no one startles her, she's harmless."

"And if she's startled?" the steward asked faintly.

"I left an antidote to her venom with Cedric, just in case, but it should not come to that," she said firmly. "I'll try to be back for her before long."

"Are you leaving again?"

Rebecca nodded. "Yes, I have quite a way to travel. And this weather usually slows me down."

"Surely, you can wait until it subsides," he insisted.

The sorceress firmly shook her head. "No, trust me, that is quite impossible. Thank you, again, for last night, and for directing me to Cedric's, but I should go now." She curtsied to the steward, and resumed walking toward her exit.

"Wait, Miss Rebecca!"

She turned back around, feeling more than a little irked. Honestly, could she not just leave? The sooner she was outside, the sooner the rain could mask her feelings.

"If you will not wait for the storm to pass, then perhaps you can wait until after you've eaten?"

Rebecca thought about it, but her stomach answered for her, with a loud growl. Blushing fiercely, she said, "That would be most appreciated, thank you, sir."

"Well, it is the least I could do," Baileywick smiled kindly, gently leading her to the kitchens.

WWW

Cedric had been pacing around his tower, still clutching the vial Rebecca had tossed him, and muttering incoherently for nearly ten minutes now. Wormwood and Rowena watched him go about in circles, one in indifference, and the other in disapproval and growing impatience.

"Yes, we get it! You've messed up!" the krait yelled out in exasperation. "Now instead of chasing your own tail, why don't you chase her and beg for forgiveness? Judging by the storm cloud, she's probably still in the castle."

"Listen here, you reptile," Cedric turned on the snake, "I am a great sorcerer! I do not beg! And why would I ask for that?"

"Are you serious?" Rowena asked. "You do realize that you've seriously hurt Becca, right? She was actually looking forward to seeing you again, if anything to assure herself that you were still alive. Add to that the fact that she was absolutely certain that you'd help her with her curse-"

"Yes, about that," Cedric interrupted. "How in all the realms did Rebecca, of all people, get a curse placed on her? She's never been one to upset people, and a curse of this magnitude, she must have seriously pi-"

"If you want to know what happened," Rowena cut in, "you'll have to ask her yourself. The circumstances were rather personal, and I'm not telling you anything."

"Well, blast it all, how am I supposed to help if I don't know what's going on?" the sorcerer angrily uttered.

Wormwood rolled his eyes. "And now we're back where we started. Your turn, scales."

Rowena scowled at the raven. "You keep out of this, feather head, unless you plan to be helpful. And as for that ridiculous question, human, you ask her. Viper's Venom, how can I not stress this enough?"

"And just how would I do that?" Cedric threw his hands in the air. "I've messed up so badly, she practically fled from me! I'm probably the last person she'd want to see right now. Plus, why on earth would she expect me to be able to break her curse?"

"It's a fair question," Wormwood added. "Surely there were other options?"

"Because she trusted you!" yelled Rowena. "I've already said, the circumstances are very personal, and it's hard for her to talk about. Before this all happened, she'd gush about you and Greylock, saying that you guys told each other everything when you were children-"

"Greylock?!" Cedric spluttered. "She'd mention him?"

"Of course she would! She'd write to him, too. And he always replied!"

Cedric felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Rebecca's earlier accusation was dead on: he had recognized the insignia used on the scroll as the symbol of Castcraft College, and such betrayal had filled him, that he promptly threw the letter into a fire. After that, any scroll sent by Rebecca was ignored and unanswered, until he had moved away from the Hexley dormitories to live in the castle. Since then, he had heard nothing of his former classmate.

"I told her that it'd be easier to just ask him," Rowena was saying, irritably rubbing her scales, "but the foolish woman refused to talk to anyone but you, saying you'd take it all more seriously, that your power had always been greater than his, the two of you were closer than they." She hissed angrily. "Well, she must be feeling absolutely disgusted with herself, now, only imagining the bond you two had."

Wormwood cawed a bit, ruffling his wings. Rowena nodded in agreement. "Yes, that's possible, too. She could be feeling disappointed at how easily you discarded that trust."

Cedric clenched his fists and threw whatever was in his hands into the fireplace. He angrily resumed his pacing, threading his fingers in his mismatched hair, barely registering that Wormwood had sped across the room for some reason.

Was it his fault that Rebecca got cursed? Certainly not! Nor could he be blamed for her traveling all across the lands to find him. Surely, one would have normally taken the hint that he did not wish to see her? After all, she had betrayed him first! Even if she had not actually been invited to study at Castcraft, she could have told him that she would be staying there before she left!

Of course, if he had just read the scroll in the first place, maybe he would have been more aware of what was going on in her life… And maybe could have given her advice to avoid getting cursed, or at least let her know where he would be residing…

No. No, this was certainly not his fault, and he was not going to pretend it was just to insincerely apologize to see if he could possibly help an old friend!

"I am going to bed," he declared darkly.

Rowena lifted her head high. "And what about Rebecca?" she shrieked.

"She knows where Greylock is, she can ask him, since they seem to be so close."

Cedric practically stomped down to the lower level of his tower, where his bed was.

Rowena furiously rubbed her scales, tucking her head underneath her coils. "Foolish humans, and their foolish pride!" she hissed.

Wormwood shook his head. "Foolish, indeed."