It was a bright and sunny day as Marcia Overstrand left the Wizard Tower.
She wobbled a bit, nearly losing her balance and sending all the Wizard apparatus she was carrying crashing to the ground. "Alther! Wait up!" she cried, trying to both regain her composure and catch up to her master at the same time.
The ExtraOrdinary Wizard slowed very minimally and winked back at his apprentice. "Hurry up, dear! We can't be late for the ceremony!"
"We're the ones conducting the ceremony!" Marcia called back. "It's not like they can start without us!"
"True, true, m'dear, but all the more reason to get there as swiftly as possible," Alther replied.
Marcia shook her head. Usually, Alther would have shut her up in the Tower and told her to "study; it's important!" since she was still just a newly-appointed Ordinary Wizard. However, he was getting increasingly forgetful, and as such, wasn't very reliable in performing such a long, complicated spell. That was where Marcia came in; she would be there to gently nudge her master in the right direction while not actually performing the spell and pretending she hadn't done anything at all, so as to maintain Alther's pride. He would never in a million years admit that he was bringing her along for help; it was "merely an educational opportunity."
There was a light blanket of snow on the ground, Marcia's shoes leaving indents deeper than the pitiful height it had accumulated. She had to blink snowflakes off her eyelashes as the precipitation continued its solemn dance before they reached the Ramblings, leaving the open courtyard and its winter waltzer behind. Marcia stopped for a moment to wrinkle her nose at the smell of sweat and people the Ramblings always had, which assaulted her as if she'd been struck by a wave of the stench. Then she had to hurry up to catch up to Alther again.
"Tsk, tsk," Alther shook his head. "Can't keep up? It's those new dratted pointy shoes of yours. They're quite fashionable, I commend you for that, but quite impractical."
Marcia grinned in response. "It's the nature of magyk and the world to never live up to expectations," she retorted.
Alther chuckled. "I doubt that the old saying is referring to shoes, dear."
Then they were off, the sea of people parting automatically for them. Marcia thought she'd caught sight of Silas Heap, who lived near that portion of the Ramblings, but she wasn't sure. What did it matter, anyway? Silas didn't like her. As a result, Marcia rarely came a-calling to visit.
The dim lighting in the Ramblings, alleviated by magykal lanterns hung at regular, orderly intervals, reflected off of Alther's sparkling emerald Wizard eyes as Marcia hurried along him. And it probably reflected off of hers too, she mused. She wondered if it complimented her look.
Out into another portion of the courtyard.
By now, the snow had really picked up, but Marcia wasn't paying attention. She was right in front of several Custodians, the newly-appointed bodyguards of the Queen. She loathed them, as she was sure they loathed all Wizards. She didn't know why the Queen had appointed them, and Alther, when asked, responded that he had no idea either.
"What do you require, ExtraOrdinary Wizard?" one of the Custodians asked, ignoring Marcia completely. She memorized his face, making sure to store it away for future reference. No one ignored her.
"My Apprentice and I are to perform the welcoming ceremony for the baby Princess," Alther replied calmly. His tone indicated his hurry.
"Is the Apprentice necessary? The Queen is not well. Too many visitors may prove... stressful," the Custodian said in a flat, dull monotone.
Marcia hated him.
"I'm not here to add to the scenery!" she snapped.
"Marcia, that's not how to respond," Alther said, flashing her a warning glance. "I'm a bit befuddled nowadays as to the longer spells and orders. My Apprentice is to aide me, and not to, as she said, add to the scenery."
"Whatever. Nice shoes," the Custodian shrugged, standing past to allow them through the giant double doors to enter the Castle. Technically, the Ramblings and Courtyard was part of the Castle as well, but in Marcia's mind, only the dwelling of the Queen was truly the ornate, magykal, magnificent building that struck awe in all who heard its name. Only this center portion, the true heart of the vast complex, was the Castle to her. Though perhaps the Wizard Tower counted, since it was quite splendid, magykal, and amazing as well.
Marcia ignored the compliment and strode after Alter. The heels of her shoes made clicking noises as they struck the marble floor of the interior of the Castle, a shiny surface so polished it was like standing on a perfect mirror. Maybe she was, and it was a glass with the properties of marble. Or marble with the properties of glass. In a magykal Castle, one never knew.
Marcia did her best to not gawk at the tapestries, paintings, or statues that lined the hallways she and Alther took. Living in the Wizard Tower, luxury was no stranger to her, but luxury of this magnitude, wealth of this scale, was beyond her. So she stared at her new shoes instead. The Castle was humbling, and Marcia was a person who did not appreciate being humbled, on any circumstance. No exceptions.
At last, they reached a large, oak door that towered above them. It had a million intricate carvings on its panels, and Marcia found herself tracing them with her gaze, until Alther pinched her sleeve.
"Ow!"
"Careful. Some say you'll go crazy, looking too long."
"That's hogwash," she retorted. "It's a door." But when she looked again, the carvings had changed. Okay, so its magykal. My bad.
"This leads to the Queen's Chambers," Alther told her.
"Then where are the Custodians?" Marcia asked. "You'd think they'd guard the entrance."
Alther frowned. "You may have a point there. But there's no point dwelling on them. Let's just get this over with and get back to the Tower. I'm starving, and I'm sure you could use some more studying. In fact, you've yet to master that cooking spell I gave you over a month ago."
Marcia shrugged. That spell was not exactly on the top of her priority list, but since dinner was one of her principle responsibilities and Alther could barely tolerate eating her cooking much longer, he wished it was.
"Do I have to knock?"
"Yes."
Marcia knocked seven times, merely because seven was her favorite number, and since it had some magykal power in it. The door shuddered and then swung open, and Marcia stepped inside. There was carpet beneath her feet now instead of the glass-marble or marble-glass or whatever it was. She was standing in some sort of sitting room, and she could see another door, this one regularly-sized, across from her. Marcia strode to it and tried turning the golden doorknob, but a voice cut out and complained, "What now?"
Marcia drew her hand away, turning to Alther. "What?"
"I didn't say anything," he replied.
"I did," the door scoffed. "What'dya want?"
"We're here to perform the welcoming ceremony for the baby Princess," Marcia answered.
The door made a raspberry sound and swung open.
Across from the door was a four-poster bed with curtains that were drawn. Sitting in the bed was the Queen. She was beautiful, with long, flowing black hair and knowing indigo eyes. Marcia felt her jaw drop, then closed her mouth in a hurry as she heard something that sounded suspiciously like the door laughing.
"Hello, dear," the Queen said. "Come in, come in!"
Marcia nodded, stepped aside to let Alther in first, and then followed. The door shut behind her with what sounded like the snitch of a lock. A Custodian frowned at Marcia's puzzled look when she turned to look at the shut door. "Precautions, ma'am," he said. "The Queen locks all doors."
The Queen frowned, as if she didn't, but didn't say anything in the contrary.
"Set down the apparatus there, Marcia," Alther said, pointing to a table. Marcia complied, just noticing the yew crib in the corner. Why the Queen had chosen yew was beyond her. Marcia was a fan of cherry wood.
"Pick up the Princess for me, please," Alther added.
"She's in the crib," the Queen said unnecessarily.
"Yes, Your Highness," Marcia replied, walking over to it. The baby was very cute, with large eyes like her mother's. Maybe she'd even grow up to look like the Queen. Not for the first time, Marcia wished she could see the future, so she would've known.
Marcia gently scooped the baby up into her arms and cradled her in the position she heard you were supposed to hold infants in. Marcia was not good with babies, and couldn't stand children, so she wasn't sure if she got it exactly right, but it would have to do.
The Princess immediately began to cry.
"Oh, come on!" Marcia muttered under her breath, then said, louder, "Don't cry, sweetie."
"It's all right, poppet," the Queen called. "I know she's not Mommy, but Mommy's right here-" The Queen stopped. "What are you doing?"
Marcia turned. The Custodian by the door was holding it wide open for a man in a strange uniform Marcia had never seen before.
A man holding a gun straight at the Queen.
"Mommy won't be here long," he said, and pulled the trigger.
The next moments of Marcia's life seemed to be painfully, laboriously slow, in a disjointed, fragmented way that made later recollection difficult.
She saw the bullet strike the Queen.
The Princess started to cry again.
Alther was trying to cast a diamond of protection, and Marcia mumbled something akin to a protection charm, but she was dazed and knew she wasn't getting it right.
The assassin loaded another bullet, silver like the one that pierced the dead Monarch, and pointed it straight at Marcia- or rather, the Princess Marcia held.
Marcia screamed.
Alther stopped his casting and jumped.
The bullet hit him.
Somehow, she was holding the Akhu Amulet in one hand, clutching the baby Princess to her chest, and running. It was dark out, the snow falling heavily, and her panicked breaths formed clouds in front of her as her mind struggled to make sense of what had just occurred. The Queen was dead. Alther was dead. She had the Princess. She had the Akhu Amulet, and that made her the ExtraOrdinary Wizard.
Ever since Marcia completed her first spell, she had known that she would settle for nothing less. Her apprenticeship with Alther brought her closer to that dream, though it, of course, made no guarantees. But now that dream was a reality.
She hadn't expected it to come about in such a way.
Marcia stopped inside the Wizard Tower, collapsing onto the floor with the baby on her chest. The baby had fallen asleep somehow, which was good, Marcia decided. She wouldn't cry, and wouldn't attract attention. Good.
Marcia noticed there was blood splattered on her cloak, which was no longer her Apprentice cloak, but had transformed into the rich purple of the ExtraOrdinary WIzard. Normally, she would've cared- after all, to her the cloak was a symbol of status and power, not just clothing- but she was too tired to be her usual, jerk self. It was all her brain could do to comprehend she wanted to stand up, to hold the baby as dozens of Wizards started to collect around her.
So Marcia decided now as a good a time as any to state the obvious.
"Alther's dead. I'm the ExtraOrdinary Wizard."
There was some scattered applause at this, for two reasons: mainly, half the Tower couldn't stand Marcia, and the other being that it was a bit of a shock. No one quite expected Alther to be dead.
Marcia held up the bundle of blankets she was holding that was the baby. "This is the Princess."
Now there was bowing.
"Quit it!" she snapped. "Now is not the time for formalities and niceties!"
There was some grumbling at this, and something that sounded a lot like, "Pompous witch," but Marcia chose to ignore it. At least they stopped bowing.
"The Queen is dead," Marcia said. "I think... I think the Custodians have something to do with this coup. Anyway... um, we have to protect the Princess. She can't stay in the Tower forever."
"And why not?" challenged someone in the back.
Marcia groaned.
"We can't defend the Tower forever!" Marcia called in return. "Sure, we're Wizards. But we'll get tired eventually. We won't be able to use magyk for all eternity. And when we fail, the Custodians or the Assassins- whoever!- will storm in here and kill the Princess."
"So what do you suggest we do?" asked another.
"I... I don't know," she answered truthfully. Marcia was loathing her position increasingly with every passing second. She hated not knowing, and she hated admitting it. "We will have to keep her here for a little while, at least..."
The Custodians did try to swarm the Tower, but the Wizards kept them at bay. As Marcia foretold, however, they wouldn't last forever.
"We have got to get the Princess to safety," said Peirus, a senior Wizard.
"I know!" Marcia sighed, running her fingers through her curly black hair. The Princess was wailing, and Marcia wished she'd shut up. Not that she had anything against babies crying, but she needed peace and quiet to concentrate. "Wait- Sarah."
"Sarah?" Endor, one of Marcia's few friends, repeated.
"Yes, Sarah Heap. Silas's wife. Remember Silas?"
Nods and murmurs. Silas was Alther's previous Apprentice, before he got married to Sarah, had children, and quit his Wizard studies to move to the Ramblings and be a father. Marcia was struck with the thought that perhaps most of the Wizards would prefer Silas to be the next ExtraOrdinary Wizard, even though they knew he was not even a particularly good Ordinary Wizard, while Marcia was... well, anyone would admit she was immense magykal abilities. It was one of the reasons Alther had chosen her.
Marcia shook her head. Now was not the time for the old superiority complex and rivalry to rise up.
"What about Sarah and Silas?" Endor asked.
"They just had a child. They should have her," Marcia answered. "I'm sure they won't mind one more. They could pass them off as twins or something."
"But you can't just march over in the Ramblings and give her to them! Someone would definitely see you!" Peirus protested.
Marcia groaned. Too young. I'm too young for this! I just passed my exams, darn it!
"I'll have to smuggle her out of the castle," Marcia said slowly, beginning to mentally rehearse the speech she'd give Silas upon "discovery." She'd have to plant the baby someplace he could find her, but he and no one else. And she'd have to make sure he understood the gravity of the situation. Tell no one you found her. She was born to you, understand? It seemed to be powerful enough to convey her meaning, so she settled on that particular choice of words. Hopefully, she would be able to feign the arrogant manner that was normally second-nature and hide the shaking her voice had taken on that night- shock, and she wished it'd go away already. She couldn't have her voice shake and betray her doubts, now that she was the ExtraOrdinary Wizard.
She had just another moment of self-pity, lamenting that she was far too young, but then pushed it out of her mind. It was what she always wanted.
But not like this! a part of her whined.
Okay, me, shut up! I have work to do, she told herself sternly.
Marcia wrapped the baby in her cloak, carefully concealing the Princess. She had a moment of panic, however, when a Custodian outside stopped her. "What are you doing, miss?"
She hoped he didn't know enough about Wizards to surmise where she must have been and who she must be to have the purple cloak on her shoulders, billowing in the wind. "For- for a walk," she stammered. Drat it all! Control yourself, Marcia!
To her surprise, he let her pass.
Marcia quickly made her way to the gates, stopping outside the Castle Walls to look up at the sky. The snow was still coming down, now much deeper, but other than that, the landscape looked exactly the same as it had that morning.
Even now, it was a bright and sunny day as Marcia left the Castle and hid the baby in a blanket of fresh, cold snow.