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Despite what his sister might believe, Cedric did have an organization system in his workshop. Perhaps not the one that Cordelia would have personally chosen but it was effective for his needs, thank you very much. Especially when older sisters weren’t rearranging everything without asking first. Apparently the bad habit of taking his stuff as children never really disappeared; she simply moved out to serve as a sorceress at a different castle and wasn’t around enough to bother him directly afterwards.
But Cedric’s relationship with her had improved of late. And she wasn’t completely wrong about his tower needing some straightening up. There was a reason why his apprentice’s first duties when he took her on was helping to clean. Sometimes he let things slide a bit too far when he was busy. And Cedric had to admit that he was becoming a bit of a packrat.
Which was why on that particular bright and sunny day where everyone would want to enjoy the lovely weather and were unlikely to need his immediate services, Cedric was going through all of his drawers, shelves, boxes, jars, and various corners of his workshop. Sorting, organizing, throwing out expired spell ingredients, locating misplaced spare wands, and generally getting the place looking better. It might be the wrong season for spring cleaning, but better late than never.
Besides, Cedric needed to clean out some of Wormwood’s old things like his perch. It made his heart ache to think about his old familiar and confidant. The raven had been his only companion for a very long time. He still kept expecting to hear his throaty croaks and caws.
But Wormwood was gone and wouldn’t be coming back. Not after betraying and abandoning Cedric, allying himself with Prisma and then Vor, and deciding that evil and scheming meant more to him than their years of shared history. In the end, Wormwood thought power was more important than friendship; Cedric had come to a very different conclusion when faced with that choice. And while Cedric made his own mistakes and was only offered a second chance due to the kindness and faith of a child, Wormwood didn’t seem to regret his actions. Merely their failure. He would be remaining in his cage within the dungeon for the foreseeable future.
Cedric dumped a heavy stack of books from his arms, rattling the newly-cleaned glassware on the worktable and stirring up enough dust from the pages to make him cough briefly. His old textbooks from Hexley Hall, covering the time from when he was a tiny child barely able to carry one of the thick tomes until his graduation fifteen years later. He had plenty of other spell books, both inherited from his parents when he took on the role of Royal Sorcerer and those he acquired for himself. But he kept a hold of these mementos of his school days. Sometimes it was still useful to have them for reference since several of the later books did have some more obscure spells that he didn’t use often or when he needed to study the exact mechanism for how a piece of magic worked in order to figure out how he’d bungled it.
Almost everyone had at least the tiniest spark of potential when it came to magic and royalty tended to at least get taught the basics to give them a well-rounded education, even if most of them didn’t have much talent for it. But the stronger sorcerers and sorceresses tended to run in families. Like Cedric’s entire family line going back several generations, all of them very powerful and impressive sorcerers who served various rulers. And unlike the average person or even members of royalty who might take a few classes in magic, sorcerers learned more than a few simple spells and potions. Their education tended to be far more in depth and thorough. Cedric learned the different methods of using magic, the benefits and costs of those methods, and the theories and mechanisms of how different pieces of magic worked and interacted with each other. And how to use that knowledge to craft new spells if necessary.
Most types of magic that humans could use could be broken down into four main categories. There were plenty of subtypes for the categories like conjuring and specialties that didn’t quite fit neatly like alchemy. Not to mention that magic involved with enchanted or mystical creatures had a completely different system involved. But for all practical purposes, a sorcerer would be dealing with four main categories of magic: general spellcasting, potions, enchanted objects, and rituals. A good sorcerer could adapt to use any of them and his lessons at Hexley Hall and from his dusty old textbooks covered them thoroughly.
General spellcasting was what most people pictured when it came to a sorcerer using magic. Waving a wand, saying a few words, and getting instant results. Spellcasting was reliable and relatively simple, so most sorcerers preferred it. It was certainly the fastest and most versatile method. No preparations ahead of time or excessive materials required. Very useful in emergencies or when facing sudden unforeseen problems. But it was also the most energy-intensive method for the person using it.
A good wand could help, but the power from the spell was primarily coming from the one performing it. Smaller or simpler spells weren’t a problem and part of the years spent studying and practicing was building up enough strength and stamina to be able to perform larger pieces of magic without getting worn out in the process. And despite his issues, Cedric was actually a fairly powerful sorcerer overall. But it was still more effort than brewing potions. And he certainly slept deeply at night after larger feats of magic.
Potions depended less on the magical stamina and strength of the sorcerer and more on the magical potential of the materials used to brew them. The potency of the ingredients and how they interacted with each other in order to produce the desired results. Potions took more time, but could be easily stored and saved for later use. And as long as every step was done carefully, patiently, and exactly as described, they would produce the correct results every time. While not impossible, potions were harder to bungle if he was paying attention. He liked that predictability and reliability. But sometimes ingredients were rare or hard to obtain and relying on potions did require a certain level of forethought in order to have what you needed ahead of time.
Enchanted objects, whether newly crafted ones or more ancient artifacts like the Amulet of Avalor, were extremely powerful items that generally contained more magical potential than most people who weren’t Merlin could ever possibly match. Most served as their own power source for whatever magical effects that they produced and physical objects could generally contain and channel more magic than the human body could handle. Granted, there was some variation depending on the exact object. A few objects did draw on the inherent power of whoever was using it instead, but focusing and boosting the magic beyond what they might achieve via more straightforward spellcasting. Regardless, using an enchanted object was generally more energy efficient and more powerful than most other forms of magic. And in many cases, even the least magically-talented person could use one at least to an extent.
Of course, enchanted objects tended to be limited in some way or another. They might only be able to perform a few or even a single purpose. There might be restrictions or limitations on how it could be used or who could use it. There might be unpleasant side effects, ranging from curses from an amulet to a wishing well taking advantage of poorly-worded requests. Enchanted objects could provide greater power at the cost of versatility.
Then there were rituals. It could be similar to general spellcasting, but there tended to be far more components involved. Rituals might require them to be performed on a certain day or time or in a specific location. They might need a variety of relics, longer incantations, or the assistance of multiple people. No two rituals were exactly alike with their requirements. But all rituals were based on the idea of incorporating a variety of components in order to help take the load off of the main sorcerer and spread it out. Because while rituals might need more components in order to work, they tended to be used for much bigger pieces of magic than the other categories. Most rituals were used for magic that required great deals of power far beyond what most sorcerers could produce on their own, but would also produce greater results than most people could ever imagine. The type of large-scale magic that a single person wouldn’t be able to achieve by any other method.
Such as freeing two people from being trapped within the depths of a very powerful magical object by channeling the energy from every magic-user that he could gather quickly and even the potential for magic from everyone else.
Cedric shook his head sharply. He didn’t want to think about that moment a couple of weeks ago too closely. Yes, it worked. And yes, that success had given him the gratitude and respect from King Roland that he’d always wanted. And yes, it did feel good to hear the words “Cedric the Great” and know that the person truly meant it.
But even with everyone’s help, even channeling all that magical potential far beyond anything he could ever produce on his own, and even using everything that he’d learned about the amulet and various magical objects over the last few years when his intentions were less noble, it almost didn’t work. It was the most difficult piece of magic that he’d ever performed and even when he could see that it was trying to bring them back, it almost didn’t feel like it would be enough. He had felt the magic straining against something far stronger than he could ever match. He’d nearly collapsed when it was over and he still ended up leaving the children’s graduation party early when exhaustion won out over stubbornness, Cedric practically dragging himself off to bed and not waking up until almost a day later and barely able to perform the smallest spells for a few more days.
He brought them back… He brought her back. But he knew how very close he came to failure. Not from any bungling mistake on his part, but simply because he was attempting the near impossible. The last time that someone was trapped in the Amulet of Avalor, it apparently took several decades and a very specific set of circumstances that would not be easy to duplicate in order to free her. History could have easily repeated itself and Cedric didn’t want to think about how close they all came to losing someone so treasured.
Dragging his thoughts away from that trail of thought, he also dragged himself away from his worktable. He should check on his supply of moat moss. While it stored better when it was dried, it was more effective when it was fresh and had a tendency to lose its potency after a while. Sometimes he had to adjust the amounts that he used when it started going stale in order to compensate. And that could lead to mistakes and ruined potions. If he needed to throw out his current batch and restock his supplies, now would be the time to check.
He also had to admit that hiding a whole stash of potion supplies behind the books on a shelf was a good way to forget about them. Especially his old textbooks since he only pulled them down occasionally. Maybe he should reconsider his organization system at least a little.
Cedric was reaching for the jar on one of his shelves when he heard the knock at his door. And there was only a handful of people who would seek him out in his tower. A small handful. It didn’t take a genius to guess who it probably was from that very narrow list of possibilities. Especially since he knew that knock quite well. Though it was nice that she finally learned to knock before barging in. It caused few accidents that way.
“Mr. Cedric?”
He smiled slightly to himself, not surprised that she couldn’t resist letting herself even if she was polite enough to try knocking first. Not that he would have denied her entry by this point. It was hard to believe that there was a time where he wanted to roll his eyes at her cheerful greetings and grit his teeth as she mangled his name in those early days. Back when he saw her more as an obstacle to his goal of obtaining the Amulet of Avalor rather than the one person who always had faith in him even when Cedric lost it in himself.
But that was the thing about her. She had a way of burrowing her way into anyone’s heart once she put her mind to it. She didn’t follow everyone else’s example, mirroring their views and treatment of him. She hadn’t seen a useless bungler who couldn’t be trusted to do anything right. Instead, she saw him as an amazing sorcerer who just needed someone to believe in him and to believe in himself as well. And she worked hard to make the rest of the world see him the way that she did. He’d thought that he wanted power, but Cedric had just wanted someone to respect him. To see him as more than a disappointment, a failure, and a joke. He didn’t need to take over a kingdom and rub everyone’s faces in his accomplishments. He just needed a young princess who refused to give up on him.
It was strange to think about it. Despite how his relationship with King Roland had improved recently, a few hints of their childhood friendship from before everything went wrong creeping back in, Cedric had to admit that his best friend (and for a while, only friend) was a child young enough to be his daughter.
You know, if he actually ever got around to that sort of thing. His parents might have gotten married and had children later in life, but eventually he’d be hearing his mother commenting about wanting more grandchildren and suggesting that he should hurry up. Though she might end up disappointed. He’d never had much success in the friendship department, let alone romantic relationships.
“Be careful, Princess,” he said with just a hint of teasing, turning towards the door. “If you’re looking to enjoy the rest of your summer before starting at the Ever Realm Academy, you seemed to have taken a wrong turn somewhere. You’ll get ‘volunteered’ for chores if you stay here too long.”
Part of him honestly thought that Princess Sofia looked exactly the same standing there at the door to his workshop as she did when about a month after moving into the castle, asking him to help her with her sorcery homework. But Cedric knew that wasn’t quite true. Three years had changed her in subtle ways. She was a little older and taller now, though still a child. Eleven wasn’t quite that different from eight, but she seemed more confident and certain than when she first arrived at the palace.
But what else could he expect? She had taken on a variety of responsibilities that would overwhelm an adult, let alone a young girl like her. Responsibilities that no one suspected until Vor’s attack brought everything to the surface. But she was not one to shy away from difficult tasks or anyone who might need her help. Even if her need to help others might put her in danger or attract the attention of someone who might want the power that she’d been gifted.
Someone like Cedric not so long ago.
Today, she wasn’t wearing one of her normal dresses. Instead, she was wearing the pointy hat and robes that she wore when she was serving as his apprentice. Which meant she didn’t intend for this to be a short visit before she hurried off to visit her other friends or spend time with her family.
“I didn’t know you were busy today, Mr. Cedric,” she said, hands tucking briefly behind her back as she stepped in further. “What are you doing?”
“A little long overdue cleaning and straightening. My apprentice who usually helps with that has been a little busy with her graduation and other various responsibilities.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault, Princess Sofia,” he said immediately. “You’re trying to juggle quite a few jobs now. The Royal Sorcerer’s apprentice. Princess of Enchancia and clearly future advisor to the future queen. Storykeeper of the Secret Library. Protector of the Ever Realm. Current bearer of the Amulet of Avalor.”
Ducking her head slightly, Sofia said, “Don’t forget Buttercup Scout.”
“Oh, yes, I can’t forget that very time-consuming and important role. But that’s a lot of responsibility for a young girl to take on. A few things like sweeping out the workshop were bound to slip through the cracks.”
And that was assuming that she wasn’t hiding anything else from her friends and family. The reason that they knew about all of those responsibilities now was because the encounter with Vor brought a lot of revelations on what exactly their youngest princess was involved in. They’d already known that she has a tendency to get involved in complicated, troubling, and dangerous situations because she wanted to help fix things. But the exact scope of what she’d been doing had apparently only been fully known to Amber, with her Aunt Tilly knowing about half of it. Sofia’s parents were still trying to wrap their heads around it and get used to the idea.
And Cedric knew her well enough to suspect that she might have downplayed the exact danger involved in some of the stories that she’d eventually shared with them. It wouldn’t surprise him if it turned out that she had yet another secret responsibility that she hadn’t revealed yet. And if she didn’t already have one, then she probably would within a few months.
“Well, I did have a favor to ask you,” she said slowly, “but if you’re busy cleaning today, I could help you first.”
“What sort of favor?”
A favor for Sofia could be anything, ranging from the mundanity of a school assignment to a magical conundrum like investigating a new quirk with her amulet. And with his new awareness of the exact scope of her current responsibilities, Cedric couldn’t rule out the possibilities related to the Secret Library that she had access to or the Mystic Isles.
Pulling out her wand and fiddling with it in her hands slightly, she said carefully, “You see, it sort of has to do with when I was trying to stop Vor…”
“Did something else happen when she pulled you into the amulet?”
Cedric’s thoughts raced. Did she hurt Sofia somehow? A delayed reaction of some kind that was only now activating? A curse or something similar? He knew he should have check her over better. Sofia had seemed fine and assured them that Vor was gone, but what if he missed something? He did not go to all that trouble freeing her from the Amulet of Avalor just for Sofia to end up as another princess cursed to eternal sleep or whatever delayed revenge that Vor left behind. He would raid Hexley Hall’s library or send a message to Merlin if that’s what it took.
“No, nothing like that,” said Sofia, bringing his impulsive plans to a screeching halt. “It’s just…” She twisted her wand as she stared at the ground. “I tried everything I could think of to stop her. My Enchantlet. Most of my amulet’s powers. But it wasn’t enough. Not until I trapped her inside the amulet and then drove her out of Prisma.”
“With a Bright Light of Goodness," said Cedric remembering the exact phrase that she used to describe the confrontation.
Nodding, she said, “Right. And it worked. But I don’t know if that would work when I’m not inside the amulet. And if someone like Vor showed up in Enchancia again or if I need to face someone that powerful with the other Protectors, I need to be able to stop them without having to trap them in the amulet. It’s dangerous and should only be a last resort.”
“I think everyone agrees that you shouldn’t try it again,” he said, trying not to think about attempting that a second time.
“So I was hoping you might be able to teach me a few new spells that I could use instead. I’m sure you know some really good ones to help stop someone dangerous or to protect someone. Just in case.”
Honestly, that wasn’t a bad idea. Improving her knowledge of magic certainly couldn’t hurt. And even if there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t lose her wand in the heat of the moment, a common problem that Cedric had faced repeatedly when handling a threat, it would still give her another possible tool at her disposal. Another way to keep herself safe.
Besides, Cedric had discovered that he rather enjoyed teaching in general and Sofia specifically. She was so bright, clever, curious, and excited to learn. And she had a natural talent for magic. Not merely using the Amulet of Avalor, but her own power as well. He’d already taught her a few things that Royal Prep never would. They only focused on the simplest and most basic magic. Enough to give the future rulers and their various royal siblings a general understanding of magic, but most would never need to use it past that point.
If circumstances were different, Sofia would have flourished at Hexley Hall and become a powerful sorceress. But Cedric knew that life would have been far too limiting. She would have never reached her full potential as a person. Sofia could be so much more than just a sorceress or just a shoemaker’s daughter. Being the youngest princess who was not destined for the throne gave her far more opportunities, including learning magic as his apprentice.
And if she’d gone to Hexley Hall at the proper age for it, a scenario that would not happen if she was royalty, then Cedric might have never met her. That was not a life he wanted to imagine for himself.
But if Sofia wanted to continue her education on magic, Cedric would always be happy to oblige. That was what he agreed to when he made Sofia his apprentice. Well, the second time that he did. The first time was more of an opportunity to attempt stealing the amulet, but that was back when he didn’t know her properly yet. Now he was proud to call Sofia his apprentice.
Not to mention that it gave him a good excuse to finish cleaning another day.
“Well, you’re in luck. I just found my old textbooks from my school days.” He gestured towards the stack of dusty tomes. “Why don’t you look through them for any spells that you might want to try while I at least finish working on this shelf? It shouldn’t take long and then we’ll have a proper lesson. Though don’t be discouraged if these spells take longer to learn than the ones from class. They’re from Hexley Hall’s curriculum. They are much more advanced than what you’ve learned before.”
Smiling her bright and infectious smile, Sofia said, “I won’t be. It’s like you taught me. A good sorcerer keeps trying and never gives up until they get it right.”
The tall stack of books was a little intimidating. Sofia didn’t expect Cedric to offer up that many options immediately and then have her choose. But she wasn’t one to give up easily. She needed a stool in order to reach high enough to deal with the, but Sofia had spent enough time in the tower to know where to find one.
She had to admit that when she first moved into the castle, Cedric wasn’t the friendliest person to greet her. He wasn’t like Baileywick, ready to encourage her and reassure her that she did belong there. And now she knew that he’d wanted the Amulet of Avalor and the throne. Or at least, that’s what Cedric thought that he wanted. And she knew that no one had seemed that impressed by him and that he made several mistakes. He grumbled and glared at her, like a particularly grumpy scarecrow with white hair framing his face and a sarcastic raven occasionally perching on his shoulder. Sofia had every reason to avoid him back then.
But he knew magic. That would have been enough to draw her towards the sorcerer. The chance to see more magic had been exciting and amazing. That fascination was later tempered with respect and awareness that bad things could happen when it went wrong or was misused, but she never fully lost that appreciation. And even if it wasn’t always perfect, Sofia always loved seeing him perform magic. She’d barely experienced magic back in her village.
And so she’d kept coming back to Cedric. Meeting his grouchiness with cheerful enthusiasm. And the more time that she’d spent around him, the more that she’d learned. Like how most of his magical mistakes were because he got flustered or interrupted. Or how he’d get nervous in front of her dad or other rulers, which caused more mistakes, which would make her dad think that Cedric couldn’t do anything right, which would make him even more upset and nervous about performing magic. It just kept making things worse and worse. She also learned that while Cedric’s mother doted on him and his niece adored him, his father and sister hadn’t trusted him to get a single spell right. And they’d made certain that he knew it. Finally, his reputation as a bungler had all started from one incident that turned out not to even be his fault, destroying his confidence over the years and causing all of the other problems. None of it was fair. It was like everything kept stealing his chances to do better and no one ever helped him.
She could understand how all of that could make someone grouchy. Some people get angry and lash out when they were hurting. Of course, that didn’t make trying to steal her amulet or take over the kingdom the right thing to do. But Cedric had apologized and did his best to make up for what he’d done. He did the right thing in the end because he had a good heart. And he always helped when she needed him. Sofia was right to have faith in both her friend and his magic.
And once she’d helped build up his confidence, repaired his relationships with his family members, encouraged her dad to give Cedric another chance to show that he’d changed, and made other people see the great sorcerer that Sofia always did, Cedric started seeming happier and his magic didn’t mess up as much anymore. Their friendship might have taken a lot of work, but it was worth it in the end.
Stool retrieved and pushed over to the worktable, Sofia climbed up enough to properly see the textbooks. There really were a lot of them, the dusty tower looming over the empty glassware surrounding it. There was enough that there might be books from his entire time at school. Unlike how she graduated from Royal Prep and would be attending another school that would focus on more specific futures for everyone, especially the various younger royal siblings since they wouldn’t be inheriting the thrones, sorcerers stayed in the same school the entire time until they were grown. There could be spells that Cedric learned when he was younger than Sofia and other spells from when he was older than Elena.
And while Sofia was taught to never judge a book by its cover, there were a surprising variety with the only real similarity between them being the dust. Some looked like fairly ordinary textbooks. Others had fancy filigree and small gemstones imbedded in the surface. And a few of the thicker ones looked dark, ominous, and like they were waiting to curse the first person to touch them without permission. But that didn’t worry Sofia. A sorcerer’s reputation was everything to them and creepy books could help build a reputation like a pointy hat and fancy robes. And she suspected the creepy textbooks had the more interesting spells. So Sofia grabbed the thickest one with the black leather cover and a clasp that looked like a dragon’s claws.
Sofia knew that she needed some new and powerful spells. Not all problems could be easily solved with a little determination, patience, understanding, and friendship. Sometimes she could convince someone to stop. It certainly worked with Cedric. And both Miss Nettle and Princess Ivy came around eventually when given a good enough reason not to cause more trouble. Even Prisma surrendered peacefully at the end, too horrified with what her actions caused and at being used like that. But sometimes she had to be clever and beat them. And then there were some people too dangerous and evil for Sofia to easily handle alone.
She didn’t want to admit it, but Vor had scared her. That ancient and cruel spirit was too strong and clever. She’d made Sofia feel helpless repeatedly. She’d managed to stop Vor in the end and even gathered her courage by remembering the love and support of those who were always there for her, but it wasn’t easy. And no amount of sunny thoughts could erase that fear or change the fact that she’d spent the entire time facing Vor in over her head. She’d run out of ideas and was left with Amber’s dangerous suggestion on how to trap Vor.
Sofia needed options for the future. She needed better ways to protect herself, the kingdom, and everyone. Just in case someone like Vor ever showed up again.
Pulling the chosen book from the stack and trying to find space to open it among the numerous empty jars, vials, and bottles that Cedric had crowded on his worktable, Sofia tried to decide what kind of magic that she needed. Nothing that her amulet or Enchantlet could already do. And if she needed it in a hurry, that would probably rule out any potions or anything that needed a bunch of ingredients. She needed a spell that only needed a wand. That wouldn’t be hard to take with her when she went to help the Protectors or when she needed to do something in the Secret Library.
As for what the spell would do, Sofia had a few ideas. Some type of shield or protective charm would be useful. And it might make her parents worry less about her. Another possibility would be something to trap someone. She could do that with her Enchantlet, but Vor proved that it wasn’t foolproof. And her third idea was something to disrupt someone else’s magic. Like what she used to break the spell that Vor used to control her family, but maybe something that could also keep them from casting new spells for a while afterwards too. She might spot something better while looking through the textbook, but at least Sofia had a starting point.
While Cedric worked on sorting out bottles of old potions and ingredients on the nearby shelf, glass clinking quietly while he occasionally muttered to himself, Sofia opened the thick tome. And immediately realized that the spells inside were far more advanced than what she expected.
Cedric once described the spells that she learned at Royal Prep as “more forgiving” than others. As long as the words and general wand movements were correct, the spells would usually work. But more advanced spells needed more precision. And the ones that she was looking at now were very specific. There were instructions on how fast to say the words, how loud, which syllables to stress, wand angles for each syllable, and what looked like half a dozen other requirements. There would a lot to remember. But she wouldn’t give up. Sofia would just need to find a good spell and practice until she had it memorized.
Sofia spent the next few minutes quietly flipping through the pages and reading the descriptions of the spells. But while they all sounded impressive, none of them seemed to be what she was looking for. Though a couple sounded a bit evil. Or at least scary. But before she could give up and check a different book, something caught her eye.
The text described it as a combative spell best suited for facing overwhelming odds or a more powerful magical opponent such as another sorcerer. And it said the spell was used to “break through physical and magical obstacles” that the opponent might possess “for defensive or offensive purposes” before “annihilating any threat posed.”
A spell to use against powerful evil sorcerer or other magical threats? That could break through their magic and make them not dangerous anymore? That was almost exactly what Sofia needed.
Just like the other spells in the book, it was more complicated. Certainly more complicated than when she was learning to transform rocks into rubies. But learning it required the same patience and caution that she used back then. There was no rush to get it right.
Sofia glanced over where Cedric was still preoccupied with the cluttered shelf that was apparently taking longer than he expected. At the moment, he was sniffing the contents of a jar suspiciously. He really had a lot of cleaning to do. Especially if he hadn’t touched the rest of the tower yet, drawers of supplies and shelves of books following the spiral staircase up.
Maybe she should get started while she waited for him to finish. Sofia wouldn’t try casting the spell yet. Not before Cedric could help supervise. But she could practice. That might give her a head start and make things simpler for everyone.
The motions seemed like the easiest to start with. Sofia adjusted her grip on her wand as she leaned over the book. The incantation was a little longer, so the wand moved more. A small circle counterclockwise with the first word, a medium swish to the right with the second word, a quick downward flick of the wrist with the short third word, tilting up and drawing back with the fourth word until the wand pointing almost behind her, and then stabbing it forward sharply like she was trying to land a hit during fencing. At least this spell wasn’t as particular about the angles as one of the previous spells that she saw in the book. Sofia wasn’t completely certain that she would be able to tell what “seventy-one degrees above parallel with the ground” would look like without tools to measure it.
The first few times, Sofia tried it nice and slow. Trying to get it exactly right. But then she sped up as the movement became more natural. Becoming smoother and more fluid. She would have to doublecheck with Cedric, but she thought it looked right.
For the next part, Sofia set down her wand. She didn’t want to accidentally cast a spell while practicing the words. Since she was still learning the spell, she might say it wrong. And if she got the words wrong, the magic would go wrong. Cedric wouldn’t blame her for any mistakes, but she didn’t want to fill the tower with jellybeans either.
Sofia silently read the incantation: Totalis magicae et corporis annihilatio. There were other details about which syllable to stress and to give the final word an upward inflection at the end. But it seemed manageable. There were certainly worse incantations. It would be horrible if the spell was a tongue-twister. But she was in luck. The words shouldn’t be too hard with some practice. The trickiest part would be memorizing it.
She read through the incantation a few more times, rolling the words around in her head. She might have to go slow the first couple of attempts, but she felt confident that she could get it right. So with her wand still on the worktable instead of in her hand, Sofia decided she was ready to try it out and hope that she didn’t stumble over the words too much.
“Totalis magicae et corporis annihila—”
“No!”
She heard glass breaking as something slammed into Sofia hard, knocking her off the stool. She hit the floor hard, driving the wind out of her as more glass shattered, books tumbled all around her like a hailstorm, something large nearly squished her as it pressed against her back, and a sharp pain sliced through her palms. Sofia would have yelped from the unexpected chaos and the surprise pain if the fall hadn’t already driven the air out of her lungs. Not that anyone would have noticed over the cacophony of everything on the worktable crashing. She could only press her eyes closed and duck her head to protect her face from the shards of shattering glassware raining down. Though the heavy weight above her was doing a good job of shielding her too.
Most of the noise was starting to die off when Sofia was suddenly yanked back upright and twisted around. Which was when she discovered that not only was it Cedric that had been squishing her and was now half-holding her in his lap as he sat on the floor with her, but that he looked absolutely terrified. His eyes were wide and he looked pale as he frantically looked her over, breathing far too fast like he’d tried running the entire length of the castle first. One hand was trying to brush her hair out of her face enough for him to see while Cedric was speaking in a frantic and breathless panic.
“Sofia? No, no, no. Please, Sofia. This is not happening. Please be all right.” When he finally seemed to recognize that she was looking back at him and was fine other than being confused and her hands hurting, Cedric abruptly pulled her tight against his chest. “Merlin’s mushrooms. You’re all right. It’s fine. You’re fine. Everything is fine.”
A lot had happened in a very short span of time. Cedric interrupting by tackling her off the stool, knocking off a bunch of glassware and the stack of books in the process. Him calling her simply by her name with no hint of her title, a very rare occurrence from the sorcerer. And him initiating a hug rather than just accepting one from her, though Sofia had to admit it was a little too desperately tight to be normal hug.
And he was shaking. Badly. She couldn’t miss how badly he was shaking as he clung to her. Just like Sofia couldn’t miss how she could feel his racing heart since she was held tight against his ribcage.
All of this told her a very important fact. Something had just scared Cedric far beyond anything she’d ever seen. Whatever it was, it terrified him. All the reassurances that he was whispering now seemed directed more towards trying to calm himself rather than her. Sofia didn’t know exactly what had happened to cause his reaction, but she was fairly certain that it involved her. Which meant she should probably try to fix it.
“Mr. Cedric?” she said carefully, her voice slightly muffled from her face being buried into the fabric of his sorcerer’s robe. “Are you all right?”
He gave a short rough sound that could have been a laugh or could have been a sob, but was definitely slightly hysterical. But at least his breathing was starting to slow down a bit, even if the trembling hadn’t.
“Your parents would have killed me,” he muttered, not really answering her question. “Just sliced off my head like they did back in King Gideon the First’s day.”
“Mom and Dad wouldn’t do that.”
“If anything had happened to you, I would have suggested it.” Cedric took a deep and shaky breath before letting it out slowly. “I’m so sorry. That was completely irresponsible of me.”
None of this was really clarifying what the problem was. But Sofia was clever enough to make a few guesses. Cedric didn’t do anything until she was reading the spell out loud. And he kept acting worried and now he was talking about being irresponsible, blaming himself for something. If she had to guess, Sofia suspected it had something to do with the spell that she found.
Shifting her head enough that her face wasn’t buried in his chest, Sofia said, “I wasn’t using magic, Mr. Cedric. I wasn’t even holding my wand. I was only practicing the words.”
She felt another shaky breath. Then his hand briefly moved to stroke her hair reassuringly before the desperate grip loosened enough for Sofia to pull back and look up at him. Cedric still looked far too pale and unnerved. Less terrified, but not exactly back to normal.
“No, you’re too smart to risk that, aren’t you?” He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, Princess. When I heard you saying… I’m afraid I might have panicked a bit.”
“It’s all right, Mr. Cedric.”
She reached for his arm to try comforting him since she couldn’t hold his hand. But partway through the movement, Sofia couldn’t hide the tiniest hiss of pain. Her hands were still throbbing and stinging. Sofia was used to getting a little banged up when she played Dazzleball, went on assignments for the Secret Library, or faced another dangerous foe. But that didn’t make it stop hurting. It just meant that she could manage anyway.
Except the small sound of pain was enough to make Cedric frown and grab her arms. And when he turned her hands over, her palms were sticky and red with blood. More than she expected. Somehow seeing the damage made them hurt worse.
“Ow,” she said quietly, blinking a few times.
“Neptune’s nettles. The glass on the floor.” Cedric shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’ve made a mess of everything. Give me a moment.”
In a move that surprised her, Cedric wrapped an arm around her and picked her up as he climbed to his feet. It gave Sofia a decent view of everything. The floor was covered in broken glass around the worktable where the tower of books collapsed and knocked them crashing down. But the thin trail of shards that led to the bookshelf told Sofia that Cedric had also dropped everything in his hurry to reach her. Most of the containers were empty at the time that they broke, but there were a few places where potion ingredients smeared the floor or stained the scattered textbooks.
Using the draping fabric of his robe for protection, Cedric used his free arm to swipe away a clear section on his worktable. Then he set Sofia down with a small groan of effort. She was growing up and wasn’t as light as she used to be. Not to mention that physical strength wasn’t exactly his strong suit. But he didn’t drop her before setting Sofia on the edge of the worktable, her legs dangling over the edge. That was all that mattered.
He fumbled slightly as he straightened up the stool to sit on in front of her, but he managed without too much trouble. He also pulled out a pair of tiny forceps from a drawer and a beaker of water that he normally kept for diluting certain ingredients. Sofia knew that he could do all of it with magic quite easily; she’d seen him summon tools from all over the tower when he wanted. But with how shaken he still seemed, Cedric might be too anxious to risk using magic at the moment.
“All right,” said Cedric. “I’m going to see about taking care of your hands. I have a potion that should help, but I need to make sure there isn’t any glass left in the cuts.” He sounded like he was trying to be calm and soothing, but he couldn’t hide the guilt in his voice. “I’m sorry. I promise to be careful, but you might not want to watch.”
She immediately pulled her eyes up. Sofia didn’t want to look at her cut up palms any longer anyway. But looking at Cedric instead made her feel bad for him. His shoulders were hunched over and he wouldn’t meet her eyes. He just looked absolutely miserable as he poured a little water on her hands before picking back up the forceps.
“Why did the spell scare you so badly, Mr. Cedric?” she asked gently. “It was from one of your old schoolbooks.”
Shaking his head, he said, “That was careless of me. I should have doublechecked what books were there before letting you go through them.”
“Why?” asked Sofia, trying to ignore the sensations of him picking at her wounds.
“Because that book… We don’t receive it until our final year at Hexley Hall. When we’re hopefully old enough to be rational and not as impulsive. The spells in that book are spells that they tell us to never use.”
“If you can’t use them, then why do they give you the book?”
“For the same reason that they teach the Buttercups what poison ivy looks like. So we don’t stumble into something dangerous without recognizing the threat.” Cedric glanced towards her face briefly before turning his attention back to the task at hand. “You were on the Royal Prep Flying Derby Team. And there were certain plays that you could try that would get you hurt if you did them wrong. Especially when you attempt something far beyond your current abilities. Some spells can carry similar risk.”
“So the spells in the book are the ones that could hurt someone if they make a mistake? Like how someone playing sports could get bruised or even break an arm if they try something risky to win?”
Was the magic that Cedric used to free her from the amulet like that? It was a powerful piece of magic. Freeing Elena from the amulet required the wand that was used to attack her originally and an ancient temple from a lost civilization. And he did the same thing to pull her and Prisma out, but using all her friends and family instead. Could Cedric have gotten hurt saving her? Sofia remembered that he’d left the party early and she didn’t see him the next day, but he seemed fine.
“It’s a bit more serious than that. We learned spells that could hurt us if we weren’t careful. Several that could knock you out for a while and a few others that could cause other problems if you aren’t paying attention to what you’re doing, though I tend to avoid those in the past due to… Well, my usual track record.” Cedric shook his head, as if trying to banish the memories of his old blunders. “But the spells in that book? They are more like attempting the flying slingshot play, except the Flying Derby is taking place somewhere higher up than the tallest towers of the palace and without a pegasus there to carry you afterwards. It might work if you’re lucky and you might accomplish your goal of crossing the finish line, but either way will end with you falling a very long way down. Far enough that…”
He trailed off awkwardly, but his point was made. Sofia didn’t know how to respond.
On the one hand, Sofia hadn’t known that Cedric knew that much about Flying Derby. She’d talked to him about it a few times when she visited. But she didn’t expect him to remember much since he would often try to hurry her to the point. It was nice to know that he’d paid attention.
Unfortunately, the example that he was describing was painting a very grim and vivid picture.
“When they gave us those textbooks,” he continued, “our teacher told us that at least one of us wouldn’t make it to graduation. Because no matter how much they warned of the danger or explained the consequences, there was always someone every year that thought that they’ll be the exception. That somehow, they’ll be the one person who could use one of the spells without paying for it.” He paused, pouring some more water across her hand. “And our teacher was right. There’s always one. She was a young sorceress. Black hair. Talented, powerful, and confident. We weren’t close and I didn’t even like her. She tended to make snide comments about my mistakes and I… I was in the middle of plotting and scheming ways to make them all regret doubting me. But she didn’t survive to graduation because she shrugged off those warnings. She thought she was smarter and stronger than everyone else… And it cost her.”
“I’m sorry,” said Sofia. “Was it the same spell?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see it happen.” Cedric didn’t seem to be shaking anymore, his face wasn’t as pale, and his voice was steady. “The spell that you were reading, an annihilation spell, is certainly an effective one for a duel. Effective, but difficult. Unlike some spells, it doesn’t stop because you’ve run out of energy or pass out. It keeps going until there’s nothing left or the spell ends. If you had a powerful enough wand and enough strength to fuel that spell, you would be able to beat any foe that you might face… before dying afterwards. Even then, you’d have to be at Merlin’s level to maintain it for more than a second or two. For most people, it would just kill you before the spell would have a chance to do anything else.” He shook his head briefly. “Maybe if you managed to find an alternate source of magic to fuel the spell, you could pull it off, but no one has figured out what might do the trick. Otherwise, the only time that someone would try the spell is if they were desperate, were out of options, and were on the verge of dying regardless. The cost is too high in most cases to risk it.”
“And that’s why hearing the words scared you that badly,” said Sofia, “and you knocked me down to stop me.”
“An overreaction, I’ll admit. I should have realized that you wouldn’t try an unknown spell without checking with me first. But if anything had happened to you because I didn’t notice that book with the others…”
“I understand, Mr. Cedric. You were worried and just trying to protect me.”
Cedric looked up at her again and even managed the smallest smile. Sofia returned it, happy that he was looking closer to his old self again. He was certainly calmer than before.
“I swear that hearing you read that spell cut a few decades off my life,” he muttered. “You’re giving me gray hair, Princess.”
“Don’t you already have some?” asked Sofia, trying to gesture towards the front of his hair, causing Cedric to catch her wrist to stop her.
“Keep still. And those are white, not gray. That’s completely different. And they may or may not be the result of my sister’s revenge for what everyone thought that I did to her hair. Father might have helped her with it because she was his favorite and I doubt she was good enough back then to find such a permanent spell on her own.”
He set aside the forceps and opened a drawer, pulling out a tiny round bottle. Inside was a green and faintly glowing liquid. He swirled it around a little before pulling out the stopper.
“Healing potions are tricky to brew and the ingredients are rare, but I try to keep a few batches around for emergencies,” he explained. “You never know what kind of mishaps might come up. If you ever need them and I’m not here, I keep the bottles in here.”
He poured the cool liquid on her palms. The pain gave way to a slight tingling as the cuts and scratches vanished. Healing in seconds until there was no trace of the injuries.
“Thanks, Mr. Cedric,” she said with a smile. “But if healing potions are that hard to make, I could have just bandaged my hands instead. They weren’t too bad.”
“Please indulge my overprotectiveness for a bit, Princess Sofia. Between today’s misadventures and your encounter with Vor, I’ve had more than enough reason to worry over you lately. Besides,” he said, tugging one of his fingerless gloves off, “I know how annoying it is trying to do anything with your hands like that.”
Sofia couldn’t help the small gasp that slipped out. Across his palm was a pale patch of scar tissue. It was mostly flat and almost looked like a splatter of paint. There was even a separate little droplet mark on his wrist next to the main patch. The scars looked old and long since healed, but it must have hurt when it happened. And Sofia immediately wondered if there were similar scars on his other hand.
“What happened, Mr. Cedric?”
“A careless mistake when I was young. One that had nothing to do with my usual issues with magic,” he said. “I was brewing a potion for… no particular reason.”
His tone suggested otherwise. Sofia suspected that he had either been trying to prank someone who made fun of him or he wanted to show off in order to prove something.
“At one point, I needed to heat the potion,” he continued, “but it would need to cool back off before I added the next ingredient. Unfortunately, I was impatient and a little overconfident since I usually do better with potions than spellcasting. I tried to hurry it along by moving the flask directly from the flames to a bowl of ice to cool it faster. I forgot that changing temperatures too suddenly could crack the glassware. Or in that case, make the flask shatter and splash boiling-hot liquid everywhere. Thank goodness I got my hands up in time to shield my face.”
Hands going for her mouth in horror, Sofia said, “That’s terrible.”
‘And since I didn’t want to admit to such a foolish mistake, because it’s bad enough getting mocked for my usual blunders without making myself look even worse,” he muttered darkly, some of that old pain and hurt seeping into his voice, “I decided it would be better to hide what happened rather than telling anyone. And I unfortunately didn’t know any healing spells at that point. Believe me when I tell you that it isn’t easy doing your schoolwork with your hands scalded and trying to hide the bandages. Of course, Mummy eventually found out and fretted over me, but the burns were mostly healed by then. Father did scold me and give me a rather long lecture about proper safety techniques while brewing potions though. And I was left with an effective reminder about the importance of patience and not letting pride get in the way of taking care of myself.”
Whatever past memories were darkening his mood immediately lightened when Sofia reached for his hand. It was a little strange not to feel the familiar glove and she could tell where the slightly raised scar was by touch, but it still caused a small smile from him. And that’s what she was hoping for. Cedric briefly patted the top of her hand with his gloved one. Then he reluctantly pulled free and put his other glove on, turning to face the rest of the room.
Pulling out his wand from his sleeve, he gave a sharp wave and said, “Reparare vitrum.”
Shattered shards that had been scattered across the floor pulled back together, mending the broken glassware. The occasional splattered ingredients weren’t cleaned up and they didn’t return to the restored jars, but at least the vials and bottles were intact again. And she didn’t have to worry about the broken glass cutting either of them anymore.
Another flick of the wand sent the repaired containers and scattered books floating over to the staircase where they lined up in neat piles on the steps. Not their usual spot, but at least they were out of the way for the moment.
“I think that’s enough spring cleaning for today,” said Cedric. “Not to mention the unexpected trips down memory lane.” Turning his attention back towards Sofia, he said, “I know that I told you could pick the spell for me to teach you, Princess. But would you mind if I make a recommendation?”
Shaking her head, she asked, “What were you thinking of?”
“We’ll figure out some better defensive spells for you later, but I know a minor healing spell that might be helpful. A little more difficult than some of the spells that you’ve learned previously and it is mostly for minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises. It won’t regrow a limb or anything like that. But it should be suitable for more everyday problems and I’m confident that you can pick it up in an afternoon.”
He was right. It wasn’t the kind of spell that Sofia had come there looking for. It wouldn’t have done her any good when she was facing Vor. It wouldn’t have helped stopped her attack on Sofia’s friends and family or captured the sorceress.
But even a minor healing spell might be useful in other circumstances. And after she accidentally scared Cedric so badly and he ended up revealing all of that to her, he deserved a break. If he wanted to teach a safe spell instead and work on finding a better option on another day, Sofia wouldn’t complain. She knew he would find a good protective spell for her eventually.
Sofia knew that she could depend on Cedric.
Hopping back down to the floor, Sofia said, “We can try it. How do we get started?”
“First, I’ll need some paper,” he said.
“Why?”
“If you’re learning a healing spell, you’ll need something to practice on. I’m fairly certain that I can endure a few papercuts for a good cause.”