Chapter V: Clouds of Gloom
Cedric was pouring through enormous volumes, dusty from disuse. He had never thought he would have to study these old textbooks again, at least not until he was much older and more senile. But then, he also had never thought he would see Rebecca again.
Thinking about the ginger lady caused a wave of regret to fill him. Seeing Rebecca angry was one thing, but seeing her cry was another matter entirely. He silently cursed his actions from last night. The serpent was right: his foolish pride took hold of him, and it had probably cost him a friend. One of the few he had.
He could not bring himself to chase after her last night. After what he had said and done, he did not deserve her forgiveness, and he could not find it in him to even ask for it. But perhaps he could figure out her curse with what little he knew, and the next time he saw her… if he ever did… he could break it, and then ask for forgiveness.
But it was proving very difficult. True, not many curses held the specific result of a storm cloud cast over the cursed for an eternity, but it did not help that he had no idea whether it was a spell specifically targeting Rebecca or a cursed object she touched, or even something she ate. Another possibility was that the curse, if cast, was a custom made one, in which case, it could be very simple to break, or extremely difficult, depending on the magical abilities of the caster.
A loud crash resounded throughout the palace, causing the sorcerer to jump and drop his huge book. As the echo faded away, another wave of misery swept over him, as he was reminded of the crashing thunder that now followed Rebecca wherever she went.
Cedric let out a sigh, as the clouds of his gloom filled the room. It did not look like he would be seeing the warmth of Rebecca's smile any time soon.
A/N: Don't worry, I didn't write this after months of inactivity, and I'm not going to leave you hanging with all this. I actually wrote this shortly after I published the last chapter, but I didn't want to leave you hanging… Cuz it's short. Anyhoo, in a couple hours, there's going to be another chapter.