#cedlockweek2024

I'm sure Cedric would make life impossible for everyone who mocked him. He would have unfrozen them just for that. And maybe because he couldn’t handle the castle with no one around lol.

The morning of the jubilee, as with every major event at the castle, was quite a spectacle. The hallways bustled with servants hurrying back and forth, ensuring that every detail was nothing less than perfect, ferrying items from the kitchen to the great hall.

Two nervous sorcerers

This year’s celebration was planned to be even grander than the last. Neighboring kingdoms, both near and far, were invited to celebrate Enchancia's anniversary with a day of attractions, dancing, and feasting. Naturally, the amount of preparation for a party of such magnitude had the staff a bit unsettled.

Even for Sofia, the morning was hectic; she had to get up early to get ready and join her family in welcoming the hundreds of guests expected that day. Still, Sofia was very excited to see her friends and spend an afternoon playing with them, as she had missed the last one. She wondered if Cedric would offer to join in again.

Smiling and greeting the staff she passed, the princess snuck through the corridors toward a certain sorcerer's tower. Her small heels echoed against the endless stairs until she finally reached the top. Pushing the door slightly open, Sofia found Cedric gazing into a mirror, muttering nonsensical things to Wormwood.

"Mr. Cedric?" she called, snapping the man out of his reverie. Cedric gave a small jump of surprise and sighed with relief upon seeing her.

“Princess Sofia! Shouldn’t you be with your family?”

Sofia was about to respond but paused as she noticed Cedric’s unusual appearance. It was rare to see him look any different from his usual violet robe and tousled bangs; however, this morning his hair was slicked back, and his robe, though only noticeable to someone paying close attention, was different, brighter than usual.

"Sofia?"

"Why is your hair styled like that?"

Cedric hesitated. During that moment of hesitation, Sofia couldn’t help but think of how much the sorcerer reminded her of Baileywick, although, of course, the steward wore his hairstyle with far more elegance and tidiness than Cedric, whose rebellious strands were already starting to escape the wax’s hold.

“Does it look bad?” he asked nervously, quickly raising his hands to his hair.

“No! It looks nice on you, Mr. Cedric!” she assured him, watching the sorcerer undid the entire hairstyle in frustration.

With Cedric back in front of the mirror, trying to fix his hair, Wormwood sighed from his perch, covering his face with his wings in exasperation.

"For Merlin’s sake, how many times are we going to do this" the raven muttered under his breath.

“What’s going on?” she whispered back.

“Ugh. He’s gone crazy over that jester from Rudistan” Wormwood grumbled.

“Jester?”

“Yes, that clown who calls himself a sorcerer” he replied disdainfully. “He’s been fussing over his hair all morning to impress him. I don’t get it; he was our sworn enemy, and now he’s acting all... like this” he said, gesturing with his wing at the nervous Cedric fussing over his hair in the mirror.

Sofia raised an eyebrow, and Wormwood sighed.

“He’s worse than when that Sasha farce happened. I swear, if I have to hear one more minute of his babbling about him, I’ll fly off and never look back.”

“Wormwood, don’t bother the princess” Cedric interrupted upon hearing the bird’s squawks, silencing him as he turned around. His hair was now back in its usual style, though it looked sleeker than usual.

“Good luck spending the whole day with him” the raven grumbled before flying to the top of the tower, visibly annoyed.

Sofia watched him go, puzzled and thinking about what he had said. Was Mr. Cedric trying to impress someone? The sorcerer from Rudistan? She searched her memory. Last year’s jubilee had been memorable, though not necessarily for the right reasons. The worry over losing her friend still lingered in her mind; for a moment, she truly believed Baileywick would leave the castle. And Slickwell... that steward. So much had happened that day that she could barely recall anything beyond her mission to stop Slickwell from succeeding.

However, she still remembered Amber’s and the others’ stories about their games during the banquet that night. The sorcerer from Rudistan certainly sounded like a fun and skilled magician; Sofia remembered clearly how he had lifted the ship with Cedric to save everyone from the collision.

Cedric and Greylock seemed to be good friends, something the princess couldn’t often say about the people around the sorcerer. Perhaps Cedric was nervous about seeing him again; but Sofia couldn’t quite understand why.

As they descended the stairs to join her family at the castle entrance, his nerves became more evident. Somehow, Sofia knew that these nerves were different from the ones Cedric felt when he had to present himself to the king. No, this was something else. Something that seemed far more important and crucial than that.

This is Sofia uniting people who love each other like in "The Silent Knight"

Seriously, what I had written was better and it's a shame I can't find it. Full page now.