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"Does no one know the true meaning of peace and quiet even if they have it screamed into their own ear?" Cedric whined muffledly, he had come to be able to tolerate the familiar knock on his door and indulge the young princess in whatever she needed him for, but today was not the day.
The door swung open anyway as the sorcerer knew it would, and he removed his head from his hands before turning around in his chair to face his visitor.
"Hi Mr. Cedric! Are you ready to go?" Sofia chirped, her voice cheerful as ever whilst Cedric was taken out of his worse than usual thoughts and blinked, completely and utterly confused.
"What? Go where?"
"To Rudistan! King Magnus invited my dad over and we're all going! You'll get to see Mr. Greylock too!"
Cedric swallowed, the color draining from his face as the child brought up the other sorcerer. Oh, if only she knew.
For perhaps the first time, he
wanted
to accompany the royal family on their trip, but he knew he couldn't. Not after the oh so wonderfully wise decision he'd made that cost him the best few months of his life and the one that made it so. His father and Cordelia would have a field day when they heard about it, he could hardly cast his spells right let alone be a good boyfriend...
"Oh... I'm afraid I won't be going with you, Princess Sofia."
Sofia's excited smile diminished quickly, a worried frown on her face as she heard her mentor's words.
"What? Why not?"
Merlin's mushrooms...
"Because, I'm...ill! Yes, and I just couldn't risk contaminating any of you, I will be fine right here." Cedric thought fast, faking a cough and stretching as if it gave him pain to do so, which it admittedly did from how numb his body and mind felt.
Sofia hummed at the response, Cedric certainly didn't seem to be in too high of spirits, (He rarely did, but especially not now.) but he didn't appear truly sick either.
"I'm sorry you don't feel well, Mr. Cedric...I'll tell Mr. Greylock you say hello, then." The girl replied, her suspicion proving correct at Cedric's posture stiffening within seconds, his eyes rounding as he turned back around.
"Th-that wouldn't be necessary, princess..."
"Why not?" Sofia asked, the situation becoming more tricky by the minute.
"Him and that foolish clown have decided to end things, that's why." Wormwood drawled from where he rested on his perch, rolling his eyes irritably as Sofia gasped at the revelation.
"What!?"
"What?" Cedric raised an eyebrow, he had not the time nor energy for this yet he was taken aback by the princess's sudden exclamation.
"You and Mr. Greylock aren't together anymore!?" Sofia asked in bewilderment.
"Wha- How did you know that!?" Cedric yelped, his raising voice cracking as he looked down at the girl in shock.
Sofia frowned, thankfully able to come up with half lies as she kept her amulet's ability in the dark.
"You look really upset Mr. Cedric...And you keep acting strange when I mention Mr. Greylock." Sofia pointed out, coming to stand next to her friend's chair.
"They're more insufferable broken up than they were when they were together." Wormwood grumbled, Sofia shooting the raven a look before turning her attention back to the sorcerer who now looked properly miserable.
"What happened?" She asked softly.
Cedric swallowed. How was he supposed to explain to a nine year old that the idea of Greylock going from the most intolerable jester he had to put up with to the love of his life so bizarrely and so suddenly was something he couldn't have looked himself in the mirror and tell his reflection it would genuinely last?
"We...fell apart." He said lamely, inwardly facepalming at how ridiculous that sounded.
Sofia frowned. That was far from enough for her to work with, and she knew that if there was any chance presented to her to save her friend's relationship, this was it.
"Well, I think you should still come with us...you could talk about it when you see each other or at least talk about something, you'll have to see him some time." She reasoned.
If there was one thing Cedric felt pathetic about that stood out among many, it was how a mere child knew how to handle his problems better than he did. Damn the soft spot he had for this infuriatingly perceptive princess...
"G'oh, if you insist..." He croaked, Sofia smiling a bit as she helped him up.
"Great! Let's go then, we don't want to be late!" She skipped out of the room, Cedric waiting until she was gone with an extremely fake smile before letting out a loud groan into his hands.
Wormwood cawed dryly from his perch, kicking off it to be next to Cedric.
"I am going merely because Sofia asked me to." Cedric deadpanned.
"Caw."
"Well, it- it IS my fault about what happened, there!" Cedric growled, hiding his face in his hands whilst Wormwood stared at him.
"I ruined the one thing that brought me joy, and I can't get it back. He won't want me again if he ever wanted me at all." Cedric snorted humorlessly, Wormwood cawing more softly as he put himself atop his master's shoulder.
The sorcerer sighed, his lips curving into as much of a smile as they could go.
"Oh, at least I have you, Wormy...Come along, we don't want to keep the princess waiting."
Cedric felt his familiar move form his shoulder to his arm, bracing himself before heading out the door.
He and the royal family boarded a coach and were off to Rudistan, the journey quite a long one before it landed in front of an extremely elegant and charming castle that could only belong to King Magnus.
And there the King of Rudistan came, carrying himself with the same obnoxious proud and arrogant aura as always while behind him stood servants and a very uncharacteristically forlorn looking Greylock.
Sofia sighed inaudibly as the kings spoke yet the sorcerers didn't interact at all. Cedric's tense and meek behavior did not go unnoticed by the princess, neither did the fact that for once, Greylock did not go to Cedric.
No silly quips of endearment, no nicknames, the usual spark that lit up the Rudistani's hazel eyes was nowhere to be found, Sofia could barely see anything in those eyes that were firmly cast at the ground and anywhere but at Cedric who looked like he wanted the royal family to get back in the coach and run him over.
They just weren't meant to be this way...
"My dad and King Magnus are talking, go talk to Mr. Greylock," Sofia whispered encouragingly to Cedric, the sorcerer barely stopping a whimper from coming out of his mouth. How pray tell was he supposed to handle this?
Cedric swallowed, sneaking glances at his ex partner who looked so hurt it felt like a blow to the face. He looked as if he didn't even know what he was doing there, he had lost a bit of weight and his monocle was very noticeably foggy with his eyes dull and swollen.
He was weeping before you arrived. You reduced him to tears. This is all your fault.
Cedric hadn't even thought Greylock could be put into such a state. He was always so positive and carefree, he couldn't recall one moment he saw the brunette even remotely near tears. And he had to break that record. Of course.
"Mr. Cedric?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Cedric caught Sofia's expectant look while they were still strictly drawn to Greylock who at last looked at him, looking expectant himself though it was more questioning. The other man made no move toward him, his posture and overall body language remained as it was before Cedric's gut won the battle and forced him to look up at the sky. Greylock's gaze returned to the ground as he shrunk back to Magnus' side silently as his king proceeded to brag on and on about the wonders of his kingdom.
Sofia sighed silently, biting her lip. This was going to be harder than she thought...
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Sofia's eyes rotated between the two sorcerers throughout the tour of the castle that seemed like it would never end, King Magnus' rambling about his castle and how divine everything in it was falling dead on her ears.
Cedric wasn't making any effort to appear interested in anything that was going on, he instead hung back at the princess's side whilst longingly looking at Greylock's back profile. The other mage had stayed beside Magnus for the duration of the tour, forcing an uncomfortable smile or nodding at Magnus' remarks whilst keeping his gaze on the floor. He would usually want to be as far away from the King as he could manage, trailing behind with Cedric and snickering to him quietly whilst Magnus boasted on and on, able to make the other truly laugh and grin easier than anything else could.
Cedric wished he could do the same, he wished the plastered smiles on Greylock's face could be real and actually aimed at him, for him to give him any acknowledgement at all, though in truth he wasn't sure just how well he would be able to handle that. He lacked the bravery to make a move himself, Sofia's eyes were as trackable as ever, looking at him sympathetically yet encouragingly as if it were so easy to just undo the situation Cedric had expertly landed him and Greylock in by bungling their relationship as he did everything.
"There has to be some way the two of you can make up," Sofia sighed softly beside him, Cedric wasn't sure just what miracles the child believed she could come up with in that young yet at times irritatingly clever mind of hers, but he didn't share nearly half of her optimism.
"Oh, and that's not the half of it! I hope you're prepared to taste the finest food you'll ever have, Roland, my chef has made plenty of Rudistani cuisines, along with the best recipe for jiggly wiggly pudding."
King Roland's hushed whispers with Queen Miranda to pass time during the other king's ranting came to an end abruptly, trying to keep his excitement level at the mention of his known favorite meal.
"Why, that sounds delightful!" He smiled brightly.
"And my royal sorcerer Greylock the Grand will be entertaining us with his great feats of magic as we eat!" Magnus added proudly, the named sorcerer at his side bowing respectfully as he adjusted his monocle and attempted to widen his smile.
Cedric was too ensnared in his tortured mind to miss the look of clear opportunity on Princess Sofia's face and her murmuring something to her father that he couldn't make out.
Right as he thought he might have had a chance to retreat to guest quarters while the royal family enjoyed the festivities, Greylock was going to be displaying his superior spells and abilities. Watching would be just as painful as the inevitable retelling of how marvelous it would surely be from Sofia, oh this was going to be-"Cedric?"
Cedric shot up instantly, swallowing back a startled yelp as Wormwood discreetly nudged him with his wing to bring his attention to King Roland.
"Y-yes, your majesty?" He squeaked.
"Perhaps you should do the magic show with Greylock, it'll give you something to do and the two of you have shown plenty of times how well you work together."
Poseidon's pumpkins, now he knew what Sofia had up her sleeve...
Cedric gulped, his hands fumbling at his sides as he wracked his throat for words and mentally implored the urge to cry to go away.
"O-Oh, I-I-"
"Oh, that would be wonderful! Wouldn't it, Greylock?" King Magnus beamed.
Greylock looked just as much if he'd been struck as Cedric, nodding swiftly as he cleared his throat, the taller sorcerer's heart clenching at how intent he seemed on not looking at him.
"Y-yes sire, I'll take my- Cedric to my workshop so we can prepare."
"Well done with that save, Greylock." Cedric thought helplessly to himself with a timid smile of agreement, the last thing they needed was for their own troubles to make their performance end in a debacle. Which, with the two of them the way they were and the fact the Enchancian just couldn't do anything right, it was more than likely to.
"Splendid! You never disappoint, my good man." King Magnus clapped his sorcerer on the shoulder.
Greylock was smiling so tightly and so falsely it was as if his lips had been sewn that way, bowing with a awkward giggle that sounded too short and nervous it shouldn't have belonged to the one who emitted it.
:"Great." King Roland grinned, following King Magnus with Queen Miranda and the children behind him, except for Sofia who was smiling ear to ear.
"Now you and Mr. Greylock can do the magic show together and patch things up in the meantime!" She chirped.
Yes, how lovely that would be, if the dear girl in her torturous determination to ensure everyone was happy would have remembered how much magic shows doomed the sorcerer to succumb to his anxiety and make a fool of himself! And with Greylock? They would have to actually face each other now, and Cedric dreaded how that would turn out.
"This is going to be a disaster!" Cedric protested meekly.
"No it won't! Mr. Greylock cares about you Mr. Cedric, and you care about him. You have to at least do the magic show together, and isn't fixing everything else worth a try?" Sofia argued, her torturous persuasiveness shining through.
"Yes, well..."
"Mr. Cedric. Do you want things to go back to the way they were with him?" Sofia questioned seriously, taking the older man's gloved hands in hers.
'More than you know, child, more than you know.'
"Yes..."
"Then you have to show him. You have to try to get there. It's the only way you'll have a chance." Sofia said softly, turning around at the sound of her mother calling for her before calling back that she was coming.
"I suppose you're right..." Cedric sighed softly.
"I'd better get back to my mom and dad...Good luck Mr. Cedric." Sofia smiled gently, waving to Greylock who had been waiting for the two to finish their conversation by a portrait of King Magnus. (Which there were an uncountable amount of.)
Greylock mustered up as much of a smile as he could for the girl, waving and bowing to her before his eyes finally locked with Cedric's. Wormwood's feet perched on the latter's arm helped ground him somewhat, the brief feeling of comfort leaving as Greylock walked to him.
There was so much Cedric wanted to say, that he needed to say...none of it made it out of his mouth. And for once, Greylock was in the same boat.
He could start with a simple greeting, or a much needed apology, or a desperate request for reassurance they would at least survive the performance tonight...Cedric wasn't sure just how brave enough for any of them, but they would all suffice just to have said something...
"I-I-Is that a n-new p-portrait?"
Wormwood cawed in annoyance, and Cedric was sure he deserved the raven's wing across his cheek for how sudden and random that was. Greylock's eyes had widened, following the other sorcerer's eyes to the portrait in question. In the center was King Magnus, a sword in one of his hands with a scepter in the other while beside him was Greylock. A Greylock who looked exactly the way Cedric was used to seeing him. Proud, radiant, smug, not out of place and dormant.
"Y-Y-Yes, w-well, it was made l-last week." Greylock was stammering as much as he was, Cedric didn't know if he should be relieved or frightened more by that.
"O-Oh." Cedric gulped.
They were both fidgeting awkwardly, neither apparently too knowledgeable on what to say as Cedric took a breath.
"Greylock, I..."
"We should start preparing, King Magnus is going to want the best of the best as always." Greylock cut him off too breezily to be convincing, the younger sorcerer desperate for a pillow to scream into to save him from all this.
"R-Right..." Cedric croaked, following Greylock to his workshop in rare silence.G'oh, this was going to be torture..