Chapter Text
“And when we-”
Sofia dropped her quill, startled out of her focus. She looked down at the small smear of ink on her paper, then reached up to hold her glowing amulet. It had a habit of calling her for stories when she was in the middle of class. “Sofia, you spilt ink all over your paper, here,” Amber passed her another piece of paper, smiling at her.
“Thanks, Amber,” Sofia took the piece of paper from Amber with a smile, holding her still-glowing amulet with the other. Sometimes she wished her protector and storykeeper duties would wait until the weekends, or at least until after school. It isn’t like she has much time off anyway. Gauging how much free time she had was like a juggling act. It was tough sometimes, a lot of the time, actually, but she felt she’d been blessed with these jobs, getting to save and protect people.
It was stressful of course, very stressful, having the safety of so many beings on your shoulders on top of being a good princess to the kingdom and so on, but what was that to the lives of nearly every species? Not much.
Sofia looked up at the clock on the wall before picking her quill back up. There was only about an hour or so left of the school day. She’d just have to run to the library when she got home. Surely it could wait until then.
~˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗~
Sofia breathed a sigh of relief as the carriage halted to a stop in front of the castle. “Secret library,” she mumbled to herself, picking up her book bag and pulling it over her shoulder. Amber was at a ball one of her friends was hosting, so that left Sofia in the carriage alone.
Thanking the coachman like always, Sofia hopped out of the carriage, her amulet still a bright blue, she swears it gets worse the longer she takes. It must get impatient.
Walking up to the large castle doors, Sofia started to wonder what this new story could be. Was there a new villain? Or just a disagreement of sorts? Or a villain she’s fought before and hasn’t been reformed? There were a lot of those. Morgana, Grimtrix, Mamanu, just to name a few. She’s seen almost everything, not much surprises her anymore, and not much scared her either. She’d even made friends with many of her enemies, most notably her Mr Cedric, he was the best friend she’d ever had. And the best mentor. He was always considerate of her busy schedules, he never got irritated when she had to cancel one of her lessons last minute, and she’s learnt so much from him over the years.
Sofia perked up as she remembered she had a lesson with Mr Cedric after dinner, that was if this story didn’t take too long. He was teaching her how to turn a tadpole into a full-grown frog!
She smiled as she looked up at Cedric’s workshop, giving a wave to him, even though she knew he wouldn’t see her. Sometimes he greeted her after school, but he was probably busy preparing for her lesson. He always made sure to have everything set up so neither of them had to turn his workshop upside down trying to find that one thing he’d misplaced and take time away from her lesson. He always wanted to give her all his time and attention, pushing everything else away for her. He truly wanted her to reach her full potential, she was his prized student. That’s what he said anyway, then again, she was his only student.
Soon, Sofia reached the large castle doors, pushing them open. She saw her amulet start to flash, so she picked up her pace, running along the stone floor and up to the grand staircase. Her feet bounded up every step, making a quiet thud each time her heel hit the red carpet. She was glad Baileywick wasn’t here to reprimand her for running up the stairs so fast, or Cedric, for that matter! He’d scolded her a few times for belting it up to his workshop, calling her impatient and saying she was a hazard to herself, but she could hear the loving tone in his voice. He didn’t have it in him to be mean to her anymore.
Her feet going faster than her mind, Sofia stared only at the top of the stairway, leading to one of the several halls which led to her bedroom, where she’d find the secret library.
Sofia barely had time to blink as her foot slipped on the soft carpet, sending her body forward and her leg back, her forehead crashing against something hard. She faintly heard her tiara clinking as it hit the floor.
The rubies of her tiara turned fuzzy and blotched in front of her, her vision faded in and out slowly, making the rubies look more and more obscure to her eyes.
Her amulet still glowed around her neck.
~˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗~
James grinned as he opened the castle doors, his school bag haphazardly slung over his shoulder as he stepped into the castle.
He pulled it off, instead holding it by his arm to ease his shoulder, only for him to drop it completely as he saw his younger sister lying on top of the stairs, her purple bag still held loose in her limp hand.
“Sofia?!”
James rushed up the staircase, his heart now pounding. As he put a hand on her shoulder, he looked around for anyone near, or god forbid anyone who had pushed her. “Sof?” James pulled Sofia to himself, finding her eyes were shut, and a sore-looking bump was beginning to develop on her head.
“Baileywick!”
It took less than a minute for Baileywick to appear from up the stairs, equally as shocked and horrified as James. “What happened, James?” he asked, kneeling down to him and Sofia, his eyebrows furrowed in worry. “I came home and she was like this,” James explained as Baileywick took Sofia into his arms. He pressed a hand to her forehead, closely inspecting the swelling by her hairline. He could tell her breathing was calm and even, she wasn’t bleeding either, he was hoping she just had a rough fall. But he couldn’t be sure. He had a fair bit of medical training and knowledge, but not nearly enough to diagnose such things, especially not something that could be so serious. “James, I want you to go and find your parents, tell them to bring the royal doctor.” James looked at Sofia, then at Bailywick, as though he was weighing his options. “I’ll stay here with her, I promise,” Baileywick assured, holding Sofia to himself with great care.
James nodded, standing up from his spot on the step. “Okay.”
Baileywick watched James run past him, before turning his focus to the princess in his arms. “It’s going to be okay, Sofia,” he told her, despite knowing she couldn’t hear him.
It didn’t take long for Miranda to arrive, James and the royal doctor following close behind her. “Baileywick, what happened?” she asked, her despair evident in her voice as she kneeled down, placing a loving hand on her daughter. “I don’t know, Your Majesty,” Baileywick answered weakly.
Baileywick carefully passed Sofia to Miranda, who held her to her chest, combing a hand through her hair. “I’m right here, Sofia, I’m right here.”
Miranda still holding Sofia in her arms, they made their way to the great chamber to be seen by the Royal Doctor, all trying to assure themselves it was only a bad fall.
Only a bad fall, right?