Disclaimer: Septimus is one of the many things I wish I owned.
Author's Note: All right, thanks to all who reviewed my first chapter. Thanks for your support. I don't have a lot to say other than that I am totally excited to be writing anther Septimus Heap story and that, if everything goes according to plan, this one will very….. interesting. I just realized that this chapter is mostly narration. It doesn't have a lot of dialogue at all. But don't worry, I'll be better about that.
Chapter Two
It was the seven year anniversary of the death of Queen Elena's consort, David. In the years since he had died, Princess Cerys had become a very quiet, withdrawn girl. She and David had been very close, much closer than Cerys and her mother were. Of course, Cerys loved her mother, but sometimes she was intimidated by her. Elena had a tendency to be very strict. David, on the other hand, was fun loving and just a bit goofy, but that was what Cerys had loved most about him. Sometimes, she wondered what made someone as serious as her mother marry someone as happy as David. But then again, opposites attract.
Elena had only become more irritable after David's death. She barely spent any time with Cerys anymore and as a result, Cerys spent much time alone. She passed many hours walking aimlessly through the Palace, bored and lonely. At fifteen years of age, Cerys was still obedient and respectful of her mother, but she was beginning to be rather angry with her too. Cerys's mother had forbidden her to leave the Palace or associate with anyone other than the Palace servants and it was driving Cerys crazy. Occasionally, Cerys wished she wasn't a Princess. If she were just a normal girl, at least she would get to have a group of friends.
Cerys's luck was in. The ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Alther Mella, was having a huge celebration in the Hall of the Wizard Tower and she was invited. Usually, her mother didn't allow her to go to parties, but the ExtraOrdinary Wizard's party was an exception. Alther had just taken on his first apprentice, Silas Heap, and the entire city was invited to come to the Apprentice Supper. Cerys had no memory of Silas. It had been years since she had last seen him and some of her childhood memories weren't very clear. Elena probably would have remembered Silas, but she refused to go to the Apprentice Supper. The Queen didn't like to attend public events and was becoming more and more antisocial as she got older. But Cerys wasn't about to let her mother spoil her fun. She intended to go to the party and have a good time. After all, it was one of the few occasions she could leave the Palace and she intended to make the most of it.
Meanwhile, Silas Heap was ecstatic. He couldn't believe he was getting ready to be the ExtraOrdinary Wizard's apprentice. He had been amazed when Alther had asked him to do it, and he still couldn't quite figure out what it was he had done to impress Alther in first place. So even thought Silas had no idea why he was chosen, he spent much of the days leading up to the Apprentice Supper bragging on himself to his older brothers, all of whom were getting rather tired of Silas's obnoxious behavior. They too were perplexed by Alther's decision. Silas was practically talentless.
Life had been hard on all of the Heap boys recently. Their father had decided to shape-shift into a tree for the rest of his life and the boys had no idea what tree was their father. Silas had been particularly close to his father and when he left, Silas had taken up some pretty terrible habits. His mother had let Silas do whatever he wanted to do because she felt sorry for him, maybe even more than she felt sorry for her other sons. They were all grown men and, although it was hard for them to lose their father, she thought it would be harder for Silas. He was only sixteen, still an adolescent really. His mother felt angry with her husband for abandoning the family so she pampered Silas to make up for it. What she didn't realize was that a successful shape-shifter couldn't help when they became their final shape. Silas's father had chosen his final shape years earlier and now, he would be happy. Even if Silas had known this, he still would have been upset. He hated his father for leaving him and his family.
Not long after his father left, Silas became involved with Tiffany Warken. Tiffany was the kind of girl that no self-respecting guy wanted to be seen with, but Silas had stopped caring what others thought about him a long time ago. Silas knew he didn't love Tiffany, he didn't even like her all of the time, but she did give him what he wanted. Silas was no different from other teenage boys when it came to his desires. He enjoyed the company of women, especially naughty ones. Silas was interested in the kind of girls who lacked morals. Of course, Silas knew it was unbecoming to court a fallen woman, but he knew he wouldn't get any fun evenings if he courted a true lady. Thus Silas thought ladies were incredibly overrated.
Many people disagreed with Silas's opinion of ladies. Galen, the physik woman certainly did. She had been raising her ward, Sarah Willow, to be a lady for the past seven years Sarah had spent with her. Sarah's mother, Lillian, had never returned for her. Much like Silas resented his father, Sarah felt angry with her mother. But unlike Silas, Sarah didn't make any rash decisions. She tried not to think of her mother, but it was harder on some days than it was others. Galen never brought the subject up because she didn't want to offend Sarah. Over the years, Sarah had grown to love Galen very much, nearly as much as she had loved her mother. Galen was her support, she had helped mold Sarah into the person she was now. Sarah had become a lady, no two ways about it. She was just the kind of girl who would be caught dead with Silas Heap.
Sarah was planning to attend to the Apprentice Supper and she was actually excited. She and Galen didn't get out very often, so very much like Princess Cerys, they made the most of their outings. Sarah really didn't mind staying at home with Galen in the tree house, though. Galen's company was enough to satisfy her.
A large crowd turned out for the Apprentice Supper. Sadly, however, only one of Silas's brothers attended the event. All of the others were too tired of his attitude to want to support him. Louis was the only Heap other than Jenna, Silas's mother, who came. Jenna was quite exasperated with her sons. She couldn't believe they would blow off something as important as Silas's Apprentice Supper. But then again, Jenna couldn't really see the bad in her youngest son. She was blinded by her love for him.
When Cerys walked into the Wizard Tower, she was, as ever, completely overawed by it. She had never felt completely comfortable in the Tower. It was like a living being, filled with spells and incantations that she knew were there, but she couldn't hear or understand them. When she walked into the room, the floor said, "Welcome Princess!" Cerys still remembered the first time she had come to see Alther Mella when she was a very small child. The first time the floor moved right before her eyes, she had been fascinated and amazed. But now, she was used to it. She was also used to having crowds turn and look at her when she walked into a room. Cerys didn't really like having others stare at her, but over time she had become more used to it. Crowds were one of the parts of being of royal blood that Cerys hated very much.
Cerys heard the people in the Great Hall whispering amongst themselves as she passed them. She felt extremely awkward and was eager to sit down where she wouldn't feel quite so exposed. What Cerys didn't know was that many of the men in the room were admiring how beautiful she had become. Most of the women, though, were jealous. Among these jealous women was Cassandra and Mitchell Overstrand's daughter, Marcia. Cassandra and Mitchell had been a very popular couple in their youth, and both of them were a bit ashamed of the way their daughter had turned out. She was so studious and she had a very stern disposition, especially for a girl of eighteen. Marcia had grown tired of living with her mother and father and had decided to attend a boarding school in the Castle. The school she was attending specifically trained Wizards. That was what Marcia wanted to do with the rest of her life. She had always gotten magyk, it just made sense to her. On this evening of the Apprentice Supper, Marcia was one of the few women in the room who did not envy Cerys because of her beauty. Marcia envied the attention Cerys was getting from the crowd. As Marcia had gotten older, she had remained studious, but she lost all of the shyness she had possessed as a child. Now, Marcia was bold and she desired, if not to be adored, to be respected by her peers. That didn't seem to be too much to ask for in her opinion.
Beside Marcia was a tall, dark haired boy who appeared to be a few years older than she was. The boy wore a kindly expression on his face and he too was observing Cerys with ample interest. Marcia looked annoyed by the young man's behavior. It was pretty obvious to anyone who was watching this strange pair that Marcia was very interested in this dark, handsome boy. Only Milo didn't notice this, he only had eyes for the Princess.
"Milo," Marcia snapped, bringing the boy back to reality. "Stop it, you're making a fool of yourself! Staring is most unbecoming. Did your family never teach you that?"
Milo smiled a little and said, "Of course they did, Marcia. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." His voice was low and soft. Marcia always felt a little shiver shoot up her spine when she heard it. Marcia usually tried to ignore this shiver. If she didn't acknowledge it, maybe it would go away.
Marcia was about to say something else to Milo when Alther Mella and his new apprentice came to the front of the room to make a few speeches. Secretly, Marcia was a little sad. She had always wanted to be ExtraOrdinary Wizard and she knew that because this Silas boy had managed to land the apprenticeship, he would probably end up getting to take over for Alther. Marcia sighed, trying not to show what she was feeling.
Milo sensed Marcia's discomfort, and squeezed her arm affectionately. Marcia felt as though a bolt of electricity had shot up her arm. Once again, she tried to calm her feelings. She knew that Milo's touch didn't really mean anything. Milo and Marcia's families had known one another for ages and they were very close. Milo saw Marcia as the little sister he had never had. Marcia knew that she had to act as though she saw Milo as a sibling, but it was getting harder and harder every day. She had a feeling that her mother knew how she truly felt about Milo. She didn't know how her mother knew, but she did. Marcia's mother was one of the few people who could see straight right through her lies.
Marcia had been so busy thinking of Milo that she had barely noticed that Alther Mella had finished making his speech. Now it was the apprentice's turn to talk. Marcia was very interested to see just what this lucky boy was like.
Silas was getting major stage fright. He didn't know exactly what he was going to say. He was going to have to wing it. But that wasn't a strange thing for Silas. He usually put everything off until the last minute and when he finally got around to doing them, he never did them as well as he could have done them. Silas didn't put much effort into anything.
Silas began to speak, He stuttered a little, but suddenly, he stopped talking altogether. Silas had just noticed Marcia Overstrand for the first time. Of course, he had noticed the Princess too when she had walked into the room, but she had not captured his attention as Marcia now was. He made a mental note to see if she was "available" after his speech. Silas knew that if he could get Marcia, he wouldn't have to screw around with Tiffany anymore. Silas would be happy about that. Although he liked Tiffany, he was somewhat bored with her company now and wouldn't mind having a new lover around to jazz things up a bit.
A few hours later, everyone was returning to their homes. Almost everyone who had come to the Apprentice Supper left happy. It had been an extremely pleasurable event. For Sarah, it had been a very wonderful evening indeed. She had spent most of it meeting new people. She met a girl just a bit older than her and the two hit it off almost immediately. Sarah's new friend was called Sally Mullin. Her father was a bartender and her mother had died when she was very young. Sarah had automatically felt a connection to Sally after she had admitted that. Ever since Sarah's mother had left her, Sarah had almost felt as though she was mourning her, even though there was a chance she wasn't even dead. Sally was the first person Sarah had opened up to about her mother in seven years and it felt good to let the truth come out. Sally had understood her feelings and it had made Sarah feel wonderful. That night, she was really joyful for the first time in years. Sarah was having such a grand time with Sally that she barely even thought about the apprentice boy. Although she didn't know him personally, she mentally thanked him for being the cause of such a great evening.
Milo Banda had had a glorious evening as well. However, he had not done a lot of socializing. Instead he had been content to pass the moments staring at Princess Cerys, who seemed to grow lovelier every second. He noticed that the young apprentice had taken a avid interest in Marcia and had spent all night trying to flirt with her, much to her obvious annoyance. But for once, Milo was glad not to have Marcia with him. Marcia would have talked his ear off and Milo really just wanted to be quiet and take in every detail of Cerys. He did not manage to work up the courage to speak with her that evening, but he vowed to himself that at least someday, hopefully someday soon, he would have a talk with the gorgeous Princess. Later, long after he had left the Wizard Tower, he was still imagining her face, radiant and exotic as he drifted off to sleep.
Silas had just had the most enjoyable night of his life. He had been the center of everyone attention and he had loved every minute of it. He still didn't know if he was talented enough to do some of the things he would have to do as apprentice, but he didn't really care. He knew that the entire Castle would know his name. He would be famous and popular and eventually, even snotty Marcia Overstrand would want to sleep with him. Silas had learned that evening that Marcia was not at all impressed with him and that he was going to have to work very hard to win her over. She was a stubborn as him. Silas knew that he would love to fool around with Marcia, but he didn't know if winning her would be worth the effort he would have to put into it. Silas hated working hard on anything he didn't have to work hard on.
Only Marcia had had a dreadful night. She had spent most of it trying to avoid the obnoxious, unqualified, lazy Silas Heap who was hitting on her and watching Milo Banda fall head over heels for the Princess just because of the way she looked. Silas had also managed to spill punch all over her party dress, which he insisted was an accident but Marcia knew it couldn't possibly be one because of the way her smirked at her after he did it. It was like he was making fun of her. Then, when she and Milo were walking home, all he had done was talk about Princess Cerys which had secretly torn Marcia up inside. By the end of the night, two of Marcia's biggest dreams had practically been crushed. One was her desire to become the next ExtraOrdinary Wizard and the other was to get Milo Banda to notice her as something other than a friend. Maybe her mother was right, maybe no man would ever take her seriously. Her mother had always told Marcia that boys didn't marry women with controlling personalities. Marcia's mother had never hesitated to tell her how controlling she was, how bossy, how unpleasant. That was one of the many reasons Marcia had left for boarding school she had only been able to take so much of her mother.
Just as Marcia was arriving home, Cerys was walking through the doors of the Palace. She knew that Queen Elena would most likely be in the master bedroom, which was one of the nicest rooms in the Palace. Cerys wanted to say goodnight to her mother before she went to sleep. She still felt guilty for leaving her mother alone at the Palace and she wanted to make it up to her. However, when Cerys entered her mother's chambers, she realized that something was terribly wrong.
The middle of the room was covered in blood and in the center of the blood was a round object. Terrified, Cerys bent down to see what it was. It only took her a moment to recognize the object. She knew it nearly as well as she knew her own name. It was the severed head of Queen Elena.
Cerys screamed and felt herself losing consciousness. At the sound of her scream, the Palace servants, none of whom were allowed to be anywhere near the Queen's rooms at night, came running as fast as they could. When they found this gruesome sight, they too became sick, but they managed to get Cerys to her own chambers and lay her down on her bed before trying to figure out what had happened.
There was no sign of a body anywhere. Whoever had murdered the Queen had obviously disposed of the corpse somewhere and left the head as a menacing threat. Everyone was puzzled by the Queen's death. They couldn't figure out who would do this to a woman who had always been kind to her subjects. Cerys was in a despair. She had now lost both her parents whom she had loved dearly. But the Castle had to have a Queen. And so, even though Cerys was very young, three days after her mother's mysterious murder, Cerys was crowned Queen. Guards were placed outside Cerys's bedroom now, just for safe keeping.
Cerys grieved for her mother a very long time, but after a while she began to get angry. She couldn't believe that some had had the nerve to come and steal her mother from her. She was determined to bring the person who had killed her mother to justice. What Cerys didn't realize was that the same group of people who had murdered her mother had murdered David, her father, as well. Sadly, Cerys's parents were simply the first deaths in a long list of deaths and injuries that would take place during Cerys's reign. The most difficult years for the Castle residents were still to come.
