The young girl's eyes fluttered open to find herself wrapped up in a protective cocoon of blankets curled up on a canopy king sized bed with blood red sheets. At first she was confused as to where she was as she looked around at the stone chamber, bookcases lining one wall full of fairytale stories, and a white stone table in the corner. A spindle like pen hovered over a single closed storybook with a cherry red binding and a title reading, The tale of Sophie and Agatha. The storian had sealed the end to her and Agatha's storybook a few days ago after Rafal and her had broken the shield over Gavoldon, her old town, and declared their love by destroying Agatha, Tedros and even her own father, Stefan, for good.
It'd been a dark night when evil's queen had proved her unwavering loyalty to evil and her true love himself by slicing her own father's Throat open in the name of love. She'd felt the blood of the man whom had showed her no ounce of love whatsoever stain her hands, and watched her former friend's heads roll across the ground. She remembered Rafal's smirk as he pulled her in for a kiss and the instant his lips touched hers she felt a sudden swell of warmth blossom inside her as if a sudden weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
It'd been about five days since then and evil had been victorious with Ever kingdoms beginning to fall to dust. Rafal seemed more or less passionate towards his queen with him bringing her new dresses when she had grown tired of her old pink attire, and his struggles to comfort her when she would jolt awake from terrible nightmares she suffered from at night since her old friends' and father's deaths. He was nurturing just as a true love could be, but although he was no prince, he was a powerful immortal sorcerer whom had defied death just to be with her of all people. He was no Prince Charming, she knew this, but he was evil. And someone evil seemed far more better than a good prince. Because of these reasons and more, the young girl was content despite the nightmares that had begun to trouble her most nights.
But the particular night last night had been different, for she had no dream unlike the nights she'd had dreams before. She guessed it could be because her mind had been far too empty to conjure up anymore bloody images of her father's blank eyed gaze staring up at her and the two decapitated heads of a bug eyed black helmeted girl and a handsome blonde prince. This could be one conclusion but another could be the fact that she had arms wrapped around her, holding her close, her head resting on not a pillow, but a bare chest. Craning her neck up to see, her emerald eyes met glacier blue ones peering down on her as long glacier fingers ran themselves through her blonde hair soothingly.
Rafal's alabaster skin and Snow White hair along with his winnowing blue eyes made him appear mysterious and handsome, and the sleepy girl couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at the very sight of him. She'd fallen asleep cradled in his arms last night, so warm and safe how could she of had any trace of a single nightmare when she fell into unconscious?
He smiled back at her as if they were two lovebirds snuggling in bed in the morning, but it was far from that.
"Good morning, Sophie," he murmured in her ear, his hot breathe fanning her neck and sending a tingle of pleasure down her spine. "You took long enough to wake up."
Sophie sat up in bed, her blonde hair a long curtain hanging down her back, and peered out at the window to find morning sunlight fluttering in and bathing the stone chamber in its glow.
"How long was I asleep for?" She asked, stretching her arms over her head to relieve her aching muscles.
"Only about twenty minutes after the first classes at the school for evil started," Rafal replied in a matter of fact tone, but it had a hint of teasing in it.
Sophie swung her head around to stare at him, her eyes wide in alarm at his words.
"Twenty minutes?" She garbled. "Twenty minutes! I'm supposed to be in class by now. Why didn't you wake me?"
"I wanted you to get your beauty sleep, my love," Rafal simpered, a smile spreading across his face at her reaction. "I had Pollux take over your class, and I also got a replacement evil history teacher, so that way we can spend the day together without the weight of things like teaching getting in the way."
Sophie sighed, and entwined her fingers with his, resting her forehead against his as if she had become defeated by his words.
"Don't overreact so much, my dear," Rafal told her softly. "You can finally relax now, alright? You've got nothing to worry about. We've fought our way to Never After and now that we have it, we can do whatever we please, so today we aren't going to go teach classes. Today, I'm gonna show you a surprise."
Sophie felt a prickle of curiosity as she studied her true love's face for any signs that might give his so called surprise he had in store for her away, but his blue eyes were suddenly full of dark pleasure as if he couldn't await to show his queen the surprise. Sophie didn't push him though, despite her curiosity, and instead reached up to brush her lips across his in a chaste kiss.
Sophie had never felt a love so strong. Never shared love with anyone whom had seen the storms raging in her heart and the loneliness in her soul. She'd never felt so happy in her entire life than she had ever been before. Her life in Gavoldan had been miserable with a father whom didn't appreciate her, until she and Agatha were kidnapped by the school master and taken to the school for good and evil. Sophie had been distraught at being dumped into the school for evil, for she had always dreamed of becoming a princess and having a happy fairytale of her own, but than she realized she was meant to be evil. She was a witch inside and out and nobody could ever love an evil witch, but the school master had proved that wrong. Evils love was the strongest love of all and Sophie shared it with the beautiful frost haired boy before her. He was her other half. Her soulmate. Her Never After.
That's why she didn't do it. That's why she didn't destroy Rafal's ring because she loved him, and because of this love, she had chosen to betray her friends. She had made the choice to save Rafal's life over Tedros and Agatha's, because if she'd chosen her friends than she would only become their sidekick, and who could possibly want that? She remembered how Agatha had pleaded with her to see this through. How the princess had persisted that the school master was evil and if she chose him then everything would be lost, but Sophie hadn't listened. And that was why the youthful school master was sitting in front of her now, his lips interlocked with hers, and she gripped onto him, afraid to let him go in fear that he might vanish right before her very eyes.
"I love you," his chilly voice whispered in her ear as her lips floated off his, and a smile spread across his handsome face.
"I love you too," Sophie told him softly, nuzzling once agin into his cold chest and breathing in his perfect teenage scent.
She caught sight of the golden ring resting below the knuckle of the ring finger on her left hand which Rafal had given her, and the faintest of smiles traced her lips. Rafal too had a gold band wrapped around his finger on the same hand, matching hers. The two rings were a symbolism of unity between them. A symbolism of the unbreakable love they shared with one another. They were together now, and nothing could change that. And the best part was that Sophie was for once undeniably unconditionally happy, and for the very first time in her life she wasn't alone.
Rafal somehow found a way to untangle himself from Sophie's grasp, and she watched as he magically conjured a black dress in his hand. Sophie gasped in wonderment as she gazed at the floor length gown made of satin with a billowing skirt with long lace sleeves and a slit in the dress. It was beautiful. Far more beautiful than the tight cat skin suit Sophie had worn in the war where she'd slain her best friends, and Sophie felt a surge of love at the mere sight of the dress itself.
"I'd insist you wear this custom made gown I had made just for you, my love, but if you don't like it feel free to try something else on," Rafal told her, lying the gorgeous dress on the bed before her. "I'll be back in a bit. I except you to be ready soon. I'll be waiting until then."
With these words, he walked smoothly across the stone chamber to the window in only snug black breeches and leaped out, disappearing from view. Sophie clutched the blankets around her, instantly missing his presence, but reminded herself he would be back, and got up to try on the beautiful dress. She stripped her baggy black nightgown she'd worn the previous night, and stepped into the velvety soft satined dress, pulling it on and brushing her blonde hair out of the way to study the gown which hugged every inch of her body. It was tight, but not tight enough to be uncomfortable, and the fabric was soft and the dress hugged her every curve. It fit perfectly.
Oh if only Aggie could see her now; so beautiful and completely in love like a well known princess living happily with the prince of her dreams. If only her deceased friend had understood what Sophie had wanted most of all. Maybe then Sophie wouldn't have had to kill her and her beloved prince, but it was too late for that now.
Evil was finally winning all thanks to her and Rafal, and it was finally time to relax and forget her troubles. Perhaps she would never be done fighting for evil and for love, but for now it was time to get ready for the surprise Rafal had in store for her.
After making sure she'd scrubbed her face clean and used magic to style her hair the way she saw fit, Rafal arrived back in the tower, this time dressed fully in a new pair of clean black trousers and a button up vest. He'd wrapped her in his arms like he'd done last night and dove out of the window with her clutched to his chest. She'd gotten used to flying in Rafal's arms so it was nothing new, but Sophie felt adrenaline course through her veins at the ground zipping by beneath her as her true love flew her over the blue forest and away from the schools.
Soon they landed in the middle of the woods in a dusty darkened clearing where Sophie gasped in shock to find a black picnic blanket lying on the ground. A woven basket sat on top of it along with two clear glasses of what looked like greenish clear liquid. It was obviously a picnic, and Sophie felt her lips curl upwards in a smile as Rafal took her hand and began to lead her forward.
Sophie remembered the time Rafal had first asked her on a date, but it'd never happened since at that time Agatha and Tedros had broken into the schools to save her disguised as two people named Edgar and Essa. Their date would've happened then if only her two friends hadn't been there to ruin it, but now there was no Agatha and Tedros because they were dead. And if they were dead then that'd mean they wouldn't be able to interrupt this date.
Finally, Sophie was on her first date with the boy of her dreams, and nothing would ruin it.
She found it generous of Rafal to find time to make a lunch of cucumber salad, roast chicken, and cucumber juice. She'd also found it surprising that Rafal even knew she liked cucumbers considering they hadn't been together for very long, but she shook it off as she took a sip of juice, feeling his placid stare on her.
"I'm sorry we didn't get to do this sooner," Rafal told her, running a hand through his spiked white hair. "And I know we haven't spent much time together since the war, but I wanted to say that for once in my lifetime I'm happy, Sophie. I've found Never After with you and our love has changed evil for the better. I'd never thought I could ever find actual love since my brother, but I have — with you, and I couldn't ask for anyone better to be my bride."
Sophie's eyes widened as she stared into Rafal's tantalizing icy blue eyes, feeling the chill of his stare as it bore into her soul. Then deja Vu overcame her as she watched Rafal reach towards her, his cold fingers finding their way to her waist as he drew her towards him, his breath fanning her face as he leant towards her and captured her mouth with his. She closed her eyes as if imprinting this memory into her brain for a lifetime as their lips floated off each other, and Rafal smiled widely at her.
"Will you marry me?" He asked, clutching her hand tightly in his own as Sophie felt a sliver of newfound emotions tug at her heartstrings.
How could she say no? He'd already showed her unwavering love in defying death and time to be with her. He'd made her his queen, and loved her inside and out when no one else would. They'd gone through so much together and proven that evil could love, just as good could. She'd already taken his ring he'd entrusted her with but that'd only been a deep act of commitment between the two of them. Marriage would be stronger and would deepen that commitment so it would be unbreakable. Their love would be stronger and they could lead evil to the greatest glory it'd ever seen. Sophie never loved Rafal at first, for she'd always been too afraid to admit her feelings like the time she'd rejected his kiss her first year at the school for evil, and the other time when she'd first refused to take his ring because she'd been frightened of admitting the truth. But now Sophie wasn't scared anymore. She wasn't scared to admit her feelings for Rafal, and she wasn't afraid to admit she was a witch. Without Rafal she had nothing. Without Rafal she was alone and unwanted, and it was time to change that.
"Yes."
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Hope anyone reading this enjoyed the chapter and sorry it was so dark. I'm pretty morbid, but this is just an idea I had of Sophie and Rafal's relationship if Rafal hadn't died. Sorry to any of you Tagatha shippers out there, but if you guys liked it I'll try to continue it. Be sure to comment and vote! Happy late Easter!
-Alexis Peters