Chapter Text
"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...