Chapter IV: A Ray of Hope
Princess Sofia blinked open her eyes, and stretched in the rays of sunlight pouring through her window. Miss Rebecca was right; it seemed that today would be a bright, sunshiny day. She laid back on her pillows and thought about the stranger she met in the tower's stairwell. Even though Miss Rebecca had insisted that she was fine, Sofia still felt like she should have done something, because, clearly, she was not fine. With a nod of determination, Sofia shoved aside her covers, and quickly walked to her wash basin.
"Good morning, Sofia!" Robin and Mia chirped, flying into the room.
"Good morning, Robin, Mia!" Sofia cheerfully replied as she prepared her toothbrush.
As the two birds flew into Sofia's giant closet, Sofia brushed her teeth, before rinsing her mouth to wash out the morning taste. She gargled loudly as her avian friends returned with her favorite dress.
"Thanks, guys," Sofia said, taking the heavy garment from them.
"Do you have anything special planned for the day, Sofia?" Robin asked.
"Not particularly," was the answer. "I know that Amber has a ball planned for tonight, but she hadn't decided the theme yet. As soon as she knows, I was going to ask Miss Rebecca if she would like to help out."
"Who?" Mia inquired.
"Miss Rebecca. I met her last night. She's a sorceress, and an old classmate of Mr. Cedric's." Sofia bit her lip, and looked sad as she remembered their encounter. "It looked like she'd been crying. I think she and Mr. Cedric had a fight. I thought I'd cheer her up today, since I didn't last night and now I kinda feel terrible about it."
"If she and Cedric had a fight, then are you sure that she'd still be staying here?" Robin asked.
Sofia paused in slipping her dress on. "Oh. I hadn't thought of that. I guess I just assumed that she'd be staying in Mr. Cedric's tower."
"Well," Mia began, "it's still possible, right? I mean, aren't grown-ups usually more mature about fights? Maybe they've already made up."
Sofia beamed. "Maybe. I'll go see right now! Thanks, girls!"
Sofia cheerfully skipped to Cedric's tower. Even if Miss Rebecca was not staying there, maybe Mr. Cedric would know where she was. Actually, maybe she could get him out of his tower! The royal sorcerer spent far too much time holed up in there. And Wormwood was not the best of company, even on his good days. Mr. Cedric definitely needed more human time.
Once she trekked up the spiral staircase, she smartly rapped upon the door at the top before walking straight in, not even thinking about whether or not the occupant would be awake.
The sunlight streamed cheerfully through the large windows, giving the lair a bright look, despite the 'organized chaos' about the desks and bookshelves. Sofia saw no sorcerer or sorceress in the room, only a dozing Woodworm on his perch.
The princess gave a sigh, before starting slightly; her sigh seemed to have echoed into a rasping sound! Glancing about the tower again, she saw a black and white snake, coiled up in the sunlight pouring in from Cedric's ground floor window, giving the black scales a blue sheen. It was rubbing its scales together, and looking very disgruntled. Suddenly, it zipped to the glass pane, and started repeatedly banging its head against it.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sofia cried. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" She kept her distance from the snake a little, unsure whether or not it was venomous, or even friendly.
The little black head swiveled to face the princess. "Tell me," a feminine voice began, angrily, "how am I supposed to enjoy this sunshine if she's not here to enjoy it with me?! Oh, it is just like her to be so selfless that it makes it near impossible to be grateful for the sun that I haven't even seen for months! I don't even like the sun as much as she does! Honestly, Becca, how am I supposed to be happy here if you're not here and happy with me?! And you're not freaking out about the fact that I can talk, what is wrong with you?!"
Sofia was certain that at any other time, she would have giggled at the last bit of rant, but at the moment, she was far too worried to find the scene comical. "Talking to animals is nothing new to me," she hastily explained. "But are you okay? Can I help with anything? Are you lost or something?"
The snake huffed. "I am not okay, I don't think you can help, and I'm not the one who's lost."
Sofia fidgeted a little, not sure what to say. "I'm Sofia. What's your name?"
"Rowena," was the curt reply. Beady eyes glanced towards the princess. "I gotta say, you're the first princess I've met to not overreact to a venomous snake speaking Common."
"You mean, you're actually speaking Common right now?" Sofia excitedly asked. "So, anyone would be able to understand you? How did that happen? Did Mr. Cedric have a hand in it?"
"Wait… It sounds like you're saying that even if I wasn't hit with that spell, you'd understand me… How did that happen?" Rowena asked incredulously.
Sofia placed a hand on the purple jewel on her chest. "It's my amulet," she explained. "It's blessed me with the gift of speaking to animals."
"Huh. Well, that's rather… convenient."
"'Convenient?'"
"Yeah, not many princesses can actually hear animals," Rowena explained. "At most, they can just know what we're saying, but not really hearing our voices. At the top of my head I can only think of two, and even they couldn't hear all animals, just a few species."
A rustle of feathers distracted the princess from asking for more information. "Oh, joy," the sarcastic drawl began. "Waking up to the wonderful prattle of chit-chatting females. I cannot imagine a more pleasant way to start the day."
"Yeah, yeah, good morning to you, too, Sleeping Beauty," the snake snapped. "How long is that sorcerer of yours going to lollygag in bed?"
"Oh, it is far too early to tell," Wormwood replied. "And he went to bed angry last night, so he will definitely not wake up in the best of moods." He eyed the princess. "You had best leave before he wakes. I don't know how he will react to your… trespassing."
Sofia bit her lip. "Well, then maybe you can help me? Do you know where Miss Rebecca is staying?"
The blue krait suddenly resumed bashing her head against the glass. "That. Stupid. Sorceress! With. Her. Foolish! Pride! And. Stubborn. Ness!" she uttered with each knock.
"Whoa, Rowena, stop! You'll seriously hurt yourself!" Sofia cried.
"Or break the glass," the raven muttered.
The snake shook her head a bit, before laying back, dazed. "I'm sorry. I'm just so upset… with her, with her situation… I don't even know!" she finished, frustrated.
"What happened?" Sofia gently pressed.
The reptile looked up at the princess. After seeming to have a mental debate with herself, she finally blurted, "Rebecca needs help, and she's left me here, even though I promised to stick with her through everything, and I don't know how to help her if I'm not with her! And after all, just because I prefer warmer weather, it does not mean that I'm not willing to put up with the cold for her sake!" She finished her rant, gasping heavily.
"Wow. Is it that bad?" Sofia asked timidly, not even completely sure what was wrong.
"Little princess, you, quite literally, don't even know the half of it! And I really can't tell you for two reasons. One, it's not my story to tell. The whole thing is very personal for Rebecca, and plus the fact, I wasn't even there when it happened, so I actually can't tell you! Two, from what little I know, you might be too young to fully comprehend what happened!" She paused a moment in her venting, before a determined glint showed in her beady eyes. "You know what? I'm gonna do it. I'm going to go bite that jerk of a sorcerer. Or at least bug him until he agrees to help her."
"Wait!" Sofia cried, raising a hand. The snake halted, and turned to the little human. "Why did Miss Rebecca come here?"
The krait huffed. "Because she thought that her dear friend, Cedric, could help her with her problem."
"Well, then surely, he can, right?" Sofia asked. "Mr. Cedric is a sensational sorcerer, and if it's a magic problem, I'm sure he can fix it."
Rowena shook her head with a scoff. "I have my doubts, little princess. I've yet to see proof of his sensational-ness, or even the greatness Rebecca promised me. In fact, all I saw was a nest full of foolish, human pride and obstinance! Before he can help her, he needs to listen to her, and that certainly didn't happen last night. 'Course, it didn't help that Rebecca was suddenly unwilling to talk, and after all that we've gone through. Because of her own, stupid, unreasonable…" She took a deep breath, and seemed to mentally count before continuing, in a much calmer voice, "All in all, last night was full of stupid mistakes and proud actions that could have easily been avoided if the two idiot sorcerers just sat and talked!"
Sofia tried to wrap her head around what the snake was saying. "So, Miss Rebecca needs Mr. Cedric's help, but neither of them are even speaking to each other right now?" she summed up.
"That's putting it very simply, but yes," Rowena said.
"So, maybe the best way you can help Miss Rebecca is to remind Mr. Cedric that there is someone he knows that needs his help. But gently," she added. "If you only irritate him, he'd be too stubborn to actually want to help."
The krait looked at the princess skeptically. "And how sure are you that that would work?"
Sofia smiled. "Mr. Cedric is a great person, and he really is a sensational sorcerer. But he's also rather… um, I can't really put a word to it, but… Sometimes, he doesn't like to show that he can help, even though it'd be really easy for him."
"Childish," Wormwood supplied.
"Ridiculous," Rowena added.
"Ornery."
"Downright stupid."
"Yes, well," Sofia interrupted. "The thing is, maybe he just got too caught up in his 'tough-love sorcerer' act, and so he didn't actually think about how he might be hurting his friend. And I'm sure he's thinking of ways to help her as we speak."
Sofia glanced outside, and noticed that the sun had crept rather high in the sky. "Oh no!" she cried. "I'm going to be late for breakfast! And Amber said she'd reveal the theme to her party then!"
Gathering up her skirts, she dashed out of the sorcerer's tower, leaving the two animals to ponder her words.
"I think the little princess is rather naïvely optimistic," Rowena commented.
"You have no idea," Wormwood deadpanned.
"There's no way he could be thinking of ways to break Becca's curse. Not without knowing how it happened."
"Oh, you'd be surprised."
Rowena glanced curiously at the raven.
"Yes, Princess Sofia is ridiculously optimistic, but she's amazingly mature for her years, as well," he admitted. "And she actually knows Cedric rather well. It's astounding how easily she can get into his head. I would not be surprised if Cedric is actually looking up weather curses now. Because he is very stubborn, and is probably going to see how much he can do about Lady Rebecca's curse without speaking to her." He chuckled a bit. "It's probably the only way he can think of to save face without apologizing."
Rowena hissed. "Oh, no. That sorcerer will apologize to her, one way or another."
But for the first time in many months, the krait had hope. Perhaps, soon, Rebecca will enjoy the sunshine with her.
A/N: Thanks everyone, for all the reviews and faves and follows! Now that Sofia and Rowena have met, how will this help Rebecca? What is Cedric thinking? And what happened to Rebecca?