Disclaimer: I do not own this! I'm very tired of saying this.
Author's Note: Yep, that's right, I'm already back. I bet you're all thinking, oh great, not her again. But I promise this is a good idea. I bet my regular readers know what this chapter is going to be: my introduction! I always write one. I guess I should put a warning on this story. It's going to be darker than my last few and now that I am writing a sequel, I can kill people off again. *laughs evilly* Anyway, I hope everyone likes this. I have a lot of ideas for it. Oh yes, and I have to answer a very good question someone asked me this morning. She asked me why I didn't kill Clarissa in Forgotten. My answer to that is that I still needed her. She is still very dangerous. I hope this answers that person's question about Clarissa. If you are going to read this story, I recommend that you read Guilty Pleasures and Forgotten first, as they both play a role in this. In this chapter, I am going to introduce some odd side plots. I am pretty sure one of these side plots is not going to be popular at all with my readers, but please, bear with me. Those of you who have read my stories know that I have a way of making things work out in the end, it just takes time. This is for Izanami, Artemsia, and Iluvcatz, as usual. Especially for Izanami though because she asked me to write about Romulus. I am proud to say that he plays a very large role in all of this. I am very pleased with him as a character.
New Author's Note: Hey guys, when I was trying to update the fic I am currently writing for this category, I got distracted and accidently ended chapter thirteen of A Heart of Stone onto the end of this fic because it is at the top of the list of "my stories" in my account. I was being a total ditz. I am really tired but hey, chapter thirteen of my current fic is up. I didn't mean to update this. It was an accident. I'm so sorry for any confusion this may have caused.
Chapter One
Romulus Pye stared out the window of the Wizard Tower library. He was almost done cleaning it, but he was getting distracted. It was Friday and he was getting ready to go to his parents house for the weekend. Romulus had just passed his eighth birthday and therefore, he was still a little young to be living at the Tower all of the time. But all the same, Romulus enjoyed his days with his tutor, Septimus Heap, very much. Septimus was incredibly patient and kind. Sometimes, he even allowed Romulus to invite a friend or two over to spend the night, as long as they were gone before it was time for Romulus to begin his daily lessons. Romulus was learning the art of magyk fairly quickly, though not quite as quickly as Septimus himself had. Romulus's mother was the ex- ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Marcia Overstrand, who had been Septimus's mentor when he was a child. Marcia had retired to marry Marcellus Pye, the last alchemist, whom she had tried to hate, but found she could not. Romulus had inherited his mother's magykal gift but still, it wasn't much compared with the power of a seventh son. But all the same, Romulus was a hard worker and was becoming a skilled Wizard.
Septimus was extremely grateful for Romulus's presence in his life. It distracted him from thinking about things he no longer had any desire to think about. And yet, whenever Romulus wasn't there to keep him occupied, Septimus couldn't help these thoughts from flooding his head. Many of his thoughts revolved around a single person: Queen Jenna. Septimus was frustrated with himself when he thought of Jenna. He knew he should be over her by now, but he just couldn't help it. He still thought about her all the time. He didn't visit the Palace often because he realized that that would only fuel his obsession with Jenna. Septimus recognized that Jenna was angry with him for not visiting on a regular basis. She wanted Septimus to spend more time with her daughter, Delilah, who was barely three years old. Septimus was Delilah's godfather and he did love her very much. But, she was so much like Jenna in appearance that Septimus had trouble being around her. But of course, he loved Delilah very much. Almost anyone who encountered Delilah ended up loving her. She was one of those toddlers who does nothing but smile and laugh. Delilah's radiant, personality tended to rub off on all who were near her. Hardly a day passed when Septimus didn't wish Delilah was his own child, and not the child of his friend, Beetle, who had ended up marrying Jenna. Septimus had always liked and respected Beetle, but he had become more and more cordial toward him over the years and less and less friendly. It was hard to him to think about Beetle's relationship with Jenna. Even though he knew it wasn't the case, sometimes Septimus felt as though Beetle had stolen Jenna from him. Whenever Septimus had these types of thoughts, he tried his best to push them from his mind. He knew they weren't fair. He and Jenna never would have been accepted as a couple anyway.
Late that Friday afternoon, Septimus heard a tentative knocking on his door. "Come in, Marcellus."
Marcellus Pye entered the room, followed by his four year old daughter, Celesta. "Hello Septimus." he said, in that odd accent of his that Septimus had always found unique and quite a bit funny. "Is Romulus ready?"
"He should be." Septimus replied with a laugh. "He worked very hard this week and he deserves a break."
As if on cue, Romulus walked into the room. At the sight of her brother, Celesta cried, "Romulus!" Ceslesta missed her brother during the weeks. Her parents were good to her, but she missed having the company of another child with her.
"Hey Celesta, guess what I have for you?"
"What?" asked Celesta excitedly, she loved gifts. Marcia was always telling Romulus not to give Celsesta too many surprises because it might spoil her, but Romulus didn't think it would be possible to spoil his sweet sister.
"Okay." Romulus said authoritatively, "In order for me to give you the surprise, you have to give me something of yours."
Celesta fumbled around in her pocket and found part of an old rag doll which had more or less fallen apart. "Romulus, what about this?"
"Perfect." He responded, taking it into his hands. He rolled it around in his palm and muttered a small incantation and the remains of the rag doll were transformed into a large piece of chocolate. Celesta squealed with glee. Her mother never let her have chocolate. Ever.
"Here you go." Romulus said, obviously proud that he had been able to make his sister happy.
Celesta took the chocolate into her hands and was just about to bite into it, when she stopped, turned to Marcellus and said, "Don't tell Mummy."
Both Septimus and Marcellus chuckled a little at this. But Marcellus reassured his troubled daughter. "No, I won't tell your mother."
"Promise?"
Marcellus smiled. "I promise. Romulus, are you ready to go now?"
"Yes. Good bye, Septimus. I'll see you Monday."
Septimus smiled. Then he turned to Marcellus and said, "Make sure to give Marcia my love when you see her."
"I will Septimus, I will. She mentioned that she might drop in on you sometime next week, just to see how you're doing."
"That would be great. I haven't seen her in so long." Marcellus nodded his head. He didn't want to say it, but it felt a long time since he had seen Marcia too, the real Marcia anyway. He could tell something was bothering her now, but he couldn't tell what it was. Whenever he tried to ask her about it, she told him to stay out of her business. It was too peculiar for words. She was his wife, they were supposed to share their problems with one another. At one point, it had seemed like Marcia told him everything. He loved being the one person she could share her insecurities with. Everyone else saw Marcia a tough and stubborn, while only Marcellus saw who she really was. Now, even he wasn't sure what went through her head anymore.
As Septimus closed the door to his rooms, his heart was filled with dread. He knew that, like every other weekend, thoughts of Jenna would consume him. It was inevitable. Septimus sighed and threw himself down onto the couch. Sure enough, it wasn't five minutes before memories of his happier days filled his head and he was lost in his thoughts of the past.
In the Palace, Jenna and Beetle were in Jenna's favorite sitting room. Jenna was taking an advantage of the few hours Delilah was sleeping to talk quietly with her husband. Every year, Jenna loved Beetle more. His dry sense of humor, his kindly expression, the way he looked at her as if she were something truly special. Beetle was a stabilizing presence in her life. Lately, Jenna had been feeling like she needed one. Off and on for the past two weeks, while she was lying in her bed at night, she had been hearing strange sounds from the Palace Gardens. At first, she had tried to ignore them, but finally, they had frightened her to the point of shaking Beetle awake and begging him to send one of the Palace guards to go and see what it was. Beetle insisted that there was no need to send a guard, he wanted to go himself. Jenna tried to stop him, but he went anyway. But when he searched the gardens, he could find no one. Not long after that, Beetle began to hear noises coming from the garden too, but every time he went down to see what it was, there was nobody around. Jenna didn't see how this was possible. She was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe she had a stalker. That thought had always been too terrifying for her to mention, until this particular day, when she could contain her worries no longer. "Beetle." She started, "I think there's someone who comes to the gardens every night and they are trying to stalk me and possibly Delilah as well. I'm just nervous, I can't help it. I thought I was out of danger when the war ended nine years ago."
"Oh don't worry, Jenna, dear. No one's trying to stalk you, not seriously anyway. It's probably some pathetic secret admirer or something. Besides, you'll never have to worry about anything as long as I'm here." To reassure her, Beetle grasped Jenna's hand in his own and kissed it. Jenna beamed at him. He seemed so confident. She wanted to believe him, she truly did, but somehow she still couldn't shake the feeling that things were about to get very difficult again.
Nicko had just finished a hard day's work in the boatyard. He was eager to get home to Snorri and his son, Theo. Nicko loved working with boats, but today, for whatever reasons, he just didn't feel like it. On his way home from work, Nicko noticed something really…peculiar. From a far distance, Nicko saw a boy who looked like the spitting image of Merrin Meredith, who he had to finish off nine years ago when he had caught him doing some very unpleasant things to his sister, Jenna. Nicko shook his head to clear it. He was obviously very tired. Merrin was beyond dead. Nicko had killed him. Nicko was a sensible man and he didn't believe in people returning from the dead and so he decided he was letting his imagination run away with him and he trudged on toward his house. But still, for the rest of the evening, he couldn't shake a feeling of despair that was following him everywhere he went, no matter how much he tried to stop it.
Back at the Pye home, Marcia was in pensive mood. She had for the third time that week, dreamt of Peter O'Malley a man whom she had give very little thought over the last few years. In her youth, Marcia had adored Peter. But in the end, Peter had abandoned her just when she had needed him most. If she were honest with herself, she would have to admit that she had still thought of Peter on a regular basis until Marcellus had come into her life. Now out of the blue, she was thinking of him again and much, like her ex apprentice, she couldn't control her thoughts. Marcia hated not being in charge of anything, but not being of her own thoughts was one of Marcia's absolute worst nightmares. Now, instead of dreaming of Marcellus, she dreamt of Peter. She hated herself for it when she woke up in the morning and saw her beautiful children. She wondered what they would think if they knew their mother was dreaming of another man. She shuddered at the thought. The thing was, Marcia, didn't want to have thoughts of passion for anyone other than Marcellus. She knew she still loved him, but she believed she had lost that love somehow or another. It was still there because she could feel it when she looked at him. It was if something was messing with Marcia's mind, causing her to dream of Peter at night. Once, during one of her deeper dreams, Marcia had whispered Peter's name into the darkness. Marcia was sure Marcellus had heard her because the next day, he looked utterly crestfallen. Marcia felt guilty, but she was having trouble pushing the dreams from her mind, no matter how hard she tried to. Marcia had spent much time hoping that the dreams would go away, but instead, they only grew stronger. Images of her time with Peter now flashed across her mind during the day as well. Marcia was becoming a bit afraid of her memories. They were distracting her from her daily life. But still, Marcia couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if she ever saw Peter again. Of course, at first, she would ask him why on Earth he left her, but then, she would forgive him. Originally, she had never thought she would be capable of forgiving him for doing something like that to her, but now that feelings for him were beginning to dance around in her mind, she knew that she would have trouble not forgiving him. In her calmer moments, Marcia was glad Peter was no longer a part of her life. Having him in the Castle would only complicate things and her relationship with Marcellus was rocky enough without anymore complications.
Meanwhile, Septimus decided he was tired of sitting around the Wizard Tower, waiting for Romulus to return. He decided to go visit his Aunt Zelda and his twin nephews, Mike and James. Overtime, Septimus had become more fond of Mike and James. They couldn't help who their parents were and Aunt Zelda was raising them to be fine gentleman. They were nearly eleven years old now and Septimus found them very pleasant to be around. Little did Septimus know, he was going to find some pretty gruesome sights at Aunt Zelda's, very gruesome indeed. He wouldn't sleep at all that evening.
At the same time, Marcellus had just awoken from his slumber only to find that Marcia was not beside him. He panicked even though he knew it wasn't logical. She had probably gone to get some water or something like that. Marcellus was correct in this assumption. Marcia returned from the bathroom, just in time to see Marcellus starring out into the darkness at her.
"Marcellus!" she exclaimed, "My God, you nearly scared me to death. Go to sleep. Why are you up anyway?"
"Well, I was just wondering where you were." He said quietly.
Marcia looked exasperated. "Marcellus, it's three o'clock in the morning. I'm not going to leave the house at this hour. What made you think a thing like that?"
Marcellus didn't know what to say. He didn't want to admit that he didn't trust Marcia all of the time anymore. "I don't know." Marcellus tried to make his tone, playful, but it sounded flat to him.
"Marcellus?" Marcia asked, her voice a little concerned and a little suspicious. Marcellus recognized it as the same tone of voice that Marcia used when Romulus or Celesta got into trouble. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
"No." Marcellus lied, "there isn't. I'm fine I really am."
"Good. I'm glad to hear it." Marcia replied, even though she didn't believe Marcellus at all. She knew she'd manage to push the truth out of him, it would just take some time.
Not far away, a certain darke man was watching the Queen as she slept. He was unseen but he saw her squirm in her sleep, almost as if she knew he was there. He smiled to himself. It wouldn't be long before he would have his chance to make this girl and all who loved her suffer and he was very much looking forward to it. "Sleep well, my Queen." He whispered, "Enjoy peace while it lasts." Poor Jenna heard his words in her dreams all night long after he had left her bed chambers. Sadly, this darke fiend was quite right when said that peace wouldn't last much longer.
