The Lost Legacy

Chapter 13: The Day of the Ball

The morning of the ball had arrived, and so had the Professor. It had taken him longer than he had assumed but he was glad to be back before the ball. It was an important day for Caspian and Cornelius wouldn't have missed it under any circumstance, not even to fulfill his curiosity. "I am one step closer to this, Your Majesty." He told the inner circle that had gathered inside the library for a conversation. "We have the words of the prophecy with us. The mystery of 'The Lost Legacy' will be revealed soon. But I must hurry to Glenstorm and decipher it with him."

"You can't leave before the ball," said Trumpkin, crossing his arms across his chest. "It will seem suspicious. The Council is already extremely snobbish. We don't want to give them another reason to pry on us. We've just restored peace with the Fae."

"What I think Trumpkin is trying to say is that," started Reepicheep. "Is that you can leave while we tell the Council that you never arrived in the first place. All of us need answers."

"And you need to take rest as well," spoke Caspian. "Deciphering the words couldn't have been easy. It was a mix of old Narnian and Starverse. Only a descendant of the oldest families could have done it, which means that you travelled far."

Right then, the door of the library opened and an exclamation broke through the tension inside. "Professor!"

The inner circle turned their heads to look at the young girl lingering by the entrance, holding the door with one hand as she had opened it. "Sophie, my dear." The Professor smiled as he made his way towards her and hugged her.

"How are you?" Nobody had told her that the Professor was back but she was extremely happy that he was! It had been a silent few days without hid guidance, and it finally felt right to talk to him. "It feels like it has been years since I saw you."

"My sincere apologies for leaving without giving you any sort of information, Sophie. The situation was an urgent one. I had to leave as soon as I received the letter that I had been expecting."

"Is everything okay?"

"Everything is wonderful." He smiled, his eyes twinkling in the morning sunlight.

What's going on, Sophie thought. The Professor had never looked that happy in the many months that she had spent in Narnia. "Have I interrupted something?" 

Caspian said 'no' at the same time that Trumpkin said 'yes', which made the dwarf glare at his King, who then cleared his throat. "We were just talking," informed Reepicheep, trying to walk around the awkward silence that they would face later.

"Yeah, talking about strategies," said Trumpkin.

"I can come back later." Sophie opened the door behind her and walked out.

"I'll come with you," said the Professor, following her out.

Sophie held her forehead, distressed that she had interrupted them. "I should have knocked but I thought that the library would be empty. I only wanted to take new books to read. I didn't think that anyone would be present there."

"You didn't know, dear. It wasn't your fault at all." He assured her as they started walking towards his study.

"Professor, can I talk to you?"

Both of them entered his room and Sophie wondered if this was how a psychologist would have helped her back in the Other World, because the Professor was always open-minded and ready to listen to her thoughts. That's what made it so easy for her to talk to him. "Why do you think I'm here?" She asked him after they took their usual seats. "It's been bothering me ever since I came here. I think there is a reason for everyone to be somewhere. Why am I here?"