Chapter Three

Jenna Marie Heap was having the most shocking birthday she had ever had. While she had been in the middle of a family breakfast that morning, the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Madam Marcia Overstrand, had strode into the Heap family's room in the Ramblings and informed Jenna that she was the Princess, the heir to the throne and that the man who was responsible for the deaths of both her mother and the previous ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Alther Mella, was sending an assassin to murder her. Most of the Heap family had fled to the Forest to stay with Galen. Sarah Heap's old tutor, but Jenna was required to remain with Marcia. According to the ghost of Alther Mella, only Marcia could give Jenna the protection she would need. Jenna was awestruck in the presence of Marcia. In the entire decade she had been alive, Jenna had never seen anyone as clean, expensive looking, and intimidating as Marcia Overstrand. Jenna now knew that Marcia was the one who had rescued her from sharing the same fate as her mother on the day she had been born. That made it even more difficult to talk to Marcia. Jenna didn't know if she should thank her for saving her life even though the event had occurred many years earlier.

Marcia had taken Jenna to the Wizard Tower and on their way, they had come across one of the Young Army sentry boys who guarded the Tower. The boy poor was already covered by the bluish tinge of death and his body was somewhat hard and frozen. The child was halfway buried in a voluminous pile of snow. His dark brown, almost black hair and ridiculous sentry uniform had made him visible to Marcia when she had passed him. Although the young army irked her, Marcia had decided to rescue the boy. Jenna guessed that Marcia secretly felt sorry for the poor boy. Marcia and Jenna made their way across the impressive Wizard Tower Great Hall and up the spiral stairs to Marcia's rooms. They lay the sleeping sentry on Marcia's sofa and waited for him to awaken.

There were many awkward silences between Jenna and Marcia during Jenna's afternoon with her at the Wizard Tower. She had no idea what to say. Marcia continuously asked her what Jenna liked to call "uncomfortable questions" and Jenna didn't know how to answer them. If Jenna had managed to learn one thing about Marcia that afternoon, it was that she did not know how to behave around children at all. It was quite clear to Jenna that Marcia had never had any of her own. She had guessed as much. Marcia didn't seem to be that old and realistically, if she had had children, they would have been relatively young still, perhaps close to Jenna's age.

Marcia eventually recognized that Jenna was uneasy and gave her a few magyk picture books she could read. Not long after Jenna had begun the first book though, they were interrupted by Silas Heap and Jenna's adoptive brother Nicko, who had come to drop off Jenna's birthday present. They had brought with them Maxie, the Heap family's slobbering enormous wolfhound. Moments after Silas and NIcko arrived, the young army boy had awoken.

The boy sat up, obviously startled but he didn't appear to be upset or even worried. In fact, he seemed relieved. He had begun at once to ramble. He informed Jenna that he was called Boy 412 and that he had known nothing but the Young Army his entire life. "You have freed me! You have freed me!" he repeated again and again and actually embraced Nicko, Jenna, Silas, Maxie, and even attempted to embrace Marcia but she pushed him off of her. Silas wasn't surprised. Marcia didn't like being touched, that was nothing new to him. Not that he had ever bothered wasting his time on her. He found Sarah more physically attractive anyway.

Silas, in his haste to reach Jenna, had left the door to the Wizard Tower open behind him when he had come inside. As a result, the assassin that had been tracking Jenna was able to enter the Tower with ease. Marcia had had to strike the assassin down with a thunderflash in order for everyone to escape. They had left the Tower by way of the rubbish chute and finally, they left the Castle using a boat called Muriel, which belonged to Sally Mullin, a dear friend of Sarah Heap's. And now, they were attempting to reach the Marram Marshes, where Silas's Aunt Zelda lived.

The cottage was enchanted so Silas guessed they would be safe there for the moment. However, even with Nicko's superior skills as a skipper, Muriel wasn't moving anywhere quickly. The wind had died and Muriel, a sail boat, had nearly stopped moving all together. Boy 412 beginning to sob, exclaiming that he would have to return to the Young Army, seeing as there was no way they would be able to escape now. He was interrupted by Marcia telling him to shut up. Boy 412 obeyed. He, like any person in the Castle with a head full of sense, feared Marcia, at least a little bit. Just when Jenna thought things couldn't get any worse, they did.

A powerful searchlight shone from out of the darkness. Jenna gulped loudly and then found that her mouth was dry. "Dad," she said quietly, "Dad, it's the Hunter isn't it?" she could feel her palms getting sweaty.

"I don't think so, poppet. It could be anyone, anything. I wouldn't worry too-"

"Don't be an idiot, Silas! Of course it's the Hunter. He's in a fast pursuit bullet boat if I'm not mistaken. Nicko, can't you get this wretched boat moving?"

Nicko was insulted. "In case you didn't notice, Madam Marcia, the wind died. We can't move until the wind picks up again. Can't you do anything? Can't you rustle up some wind for us?"

"I can't just 'rustle up some wind' as you put it. There's nowhere near enough time." Marcia was anxious. She started to say something else, but Jenna stopped her.

"Marcia," she pleaded, her tone polite, "Marcia, please do something. You've got to help us."

Marcia was surprised. Jenna had seemed so shy, so girlish. Marcia hadn't expected her to begin speaking so directly to her elders so soon. Marcia approved of it though. Jenna sounded respectful and, in spite of herself, Marcia was a tad bit impressed. "All right, I believe I could do a fog. It takes fifty-three seconds if it's cold and damp enough." Jenna said a silent prayer that they had enough time and left Marcia to her magyk.

Meanwhile, not two minutes distance from Muriel, the Hunter, Septimus Heap, and the Hunter's oarsmen were quickly approaching. Septimus, who could detect human heartbeat, had already pinpointed exactly where Muriel was located. The sudden fog that rose around the spot where Septimus had guessed Muriel would be just further gave Muriel and her occupants away.

"That's a hexed fog." Septimus said certainly. "I bet the ExtraOrdinary Wizard thinks she is being clever." Septimus chuckled, as if he had just said something truly funny. The Hunter laughed along with him, thankful for the presence of the boy. Without him, it would not have been so easy to locate his prey.

"She will not be thinking much at all in a few moments, my boy." was the Hunter's reply. "So let her think herself clever. She will not think so much of herself in a few moments time. " The Hunter and Septimus laughed a bit in unison, but not so loudly that the occupants of the Muriel would be able to hear them. Septimus was attempting to appear calm and confident, but his hands were shaking. He was incredibly nervous. His master, DomDaniel, had promised him a huge reward if he succeeded in this endeavor. He couldn't help but wonder what the endeavor was. Would it be worth killing someone? Septimus shook these types of thoughts from his brain. Of course it would. DomDaniel had told him time and time again that strong men killed. Septimus was strong, he knew he was. He took a deep breath and focused on the hexed fog once.

Back in the Castle, DomDaniel had just arrived, surrounded by the Custodian Guards. Now that both the ExtraOrdinary Wizard and the Princess were gone at last, he could take back the Wizard Tower. By his side were the Supreme Custodian, the captain of the guard, and Syrah Syara. The people of the Castle were shocked by the sight of DomDaniel. The Wizards shrunk away from him. He reeked of darke magyk and carried with him a frightening presence. Endor, deputy to Marcia Overstrand, recognized that DomDaniel was a threat. The plump little woman had just emerged from one of the local cafes when she noticed DomDaniel standing in the Wizard Tower courtyard. She rushed forward, pushing her way through the crowd of onlookers that had stopped to watch DomDaniel. She reached the tall, silver doors that led to the Tower and attempted to barr them. Her endeavor was not a success. DomDaniel struck Endor down with a thunderflash before she could manage to complete her spell. She hit the ground with a loud thud and blood oozed out of her forehead. People gasped and shrieked. Some buried their faces in their hands. In spite of herself, Syrah caught her breath. DomDaniel didn't notice. He entered the Wizard Tower with confidence. Syrah had no choice but to follow him.

It took an extremely long time to reach Marcia's rooms. All of the magyk had left the Tower and DomDaniel and his quarry were forced to walk up all of the flights of stairs that led to them. Once they had finally arrived, DomDaniel had passed out on Marcia's sofa in exhaustion, leaving Syrah to explore the room. Syrah looked the sleeping DomDaniel. He was drooling, like a disgusting child. She sighed. She directed her attention away from the necromancer and found herself looking at the pictures that were all over the ExtraOrdinary Wizard's walls. Most of them depicted an attractive woman with glossy curly dark hair, emerald eyes, and a nice figure. Syrah was slightly surprised. She supposed that this was Marcia Overstrand. DomDaniel had described her so negatively that Syrah had automatically imagined her as a horrid looking old woman with bat like eyes and an unpleasant expression on her face at all times. Instead, Syrah actually found her rather beautiful, not as beautiful as Princess Esmeralda had been in her own time, of course, but still beautiful. Syrah shivered when she thought of Esmeralda….and of Esmeralda's brother. She wondered how they had died, whether it had been peaceful or not. She also wondered what they would think if they knew that their royal line was at last ending.

Jenna was the last member of the ruler family. Syrah had no doubt that the Hunter would track her down and kill her. Syrah had to admit, that distressed her. What if the Princess resembled Esmeralda? Syrah's darling Esmeralda! Syrah knew she wouldn't be able to bear it if this Jenna looked like the girl she had adored so unconditionally years before. Syrah attempted to shake the thoughts of her old object of affection from her mind. She directed her attention, once more, to the pictures on Marcia's wall. There was one that depicted Marcia in a party dress with a plunging neckline. Syrah couldn't help but stare for a moment. She approached the picture and started to remove it from the wall. As she did so, she realized, to her immense shock, that there was a hole in the wall.

Syrah reached her hand into the hole and pulled out a small glass bottle. Syrah had known Marcellus Pye long enough to recognize what the liquid was inside the bottle. Arsenic.

It took the Hunter a mere few seconds to reach the fog surrounding Muriel. He started to speak, but Septimus shook his head. Instead, he pointed to the Hunter's silver pistol and the Hunter, understanding what Septimus meant, picked up the weapon and aimed it where Septimus pointed: directly at Jenna. Septimus gulped. This was it. He had to do this. There could be no turning back now.

Without warning, Septimus jumped from the deck of the bullet boat to the deck of the Muriel. He landed successfully on the small sailboat, causing it to rock back and forth violently. Once inside the fog, Septimus could see clearly the people inside. He had found the right boat. There, sitting in the middle, was the Queenling. He shot her a nasty look but didn't attempt to harm her. He knew what his task was. Quick as a wink, he flung himself at the tall figure of Marcia Overstrand. Everyone on the the little sailboat were shocked by the sight of Septimus. Jenna found his nearly black eyes particularity unsettling. She shuddered and took Nicko's hand. She then felt someone else grab her other hand. It was Boy 412.

Unfortunately for Septimus, Marcia was ready for him. She hit him full force with a thunderflash which to her dismay, he rebounded with ease, as if he had been expecting it.. It came back with twice the power of Marcia's original thunderflash, and hit her in her abdomen. Marcia fell backward into the icy water. Jenna screamed and fainted, never before had she been in such a traumatic situation. She was sure her end was near. Marcia appeared to be unconscious as well and Septimus knew that it would only be a matter of time before she drowned. He smiled grimly to himself. His job was over. Well, all but one part. Septimus began to reverse the fog so that Muriel would be perfectly visible to the Hunter and his oarsmen, but in the process of doing so, Nicko gave him a hefty shove and Septimus lost his balance and fell into the water below.

One of the oarsmen noticed Septimus and shouted, "Help the boy! The boy has fallen! Help him!" The Hunter rushed forward in a panic and helped the shivering Septimus back into the boat. Ironically enough, at the same time, Silas Heap was pulling the unconscious Marcia back into their boat behind the veil of the fog and attempting to remember a spell Alther had taught him years ago. He could recall how to do a basic revive. He guessed that, because Marcia was an adult and a powerful Wizard, it would be enough to get her back on her feet. If they had ever needed her, it was now.

Remarkably, Silas's revive was a success. Marcia awoke, chocking and spluttering ,her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. She attempted to speak, but her teeth were chattering so incessantly that she couldn't manage it. Silas put his arm around Marcia, in an effort to keep her warm. Marcia made no objections. Normally, the thought of Silas Heap even attempting to touch her body would have repulsed her, but now that she was freezing to death, it was an entirely different story. After a few minutes, Marcia began to seem more like herself. She shook Silas's arm off of her and closed her eyes. Silas could tell she was getting ready to begin a projection of Muriel escaping. He was right.

"Sir! They're trying to outrun us!" cried one of the oarsmen.

"Follow them, you idiots!" the Hunter demanded. Septimus didn't look up. He was still freezing in the back of the boat. For nearly thirty minutes, the Hunter and his men tracked the Muriel but the boat seemed to be moving very quickly and the Hunter couldn't seem to get close enough to fire his pistol. At last, Septimus managed to pull himself together enough to look at Muriel. After starring for a second, a kind of rage took him over.

"That's a projection!" Septimus yelled furiously. "You've fallen for their trick! And worse, that means that she's still alive! I forgot to take the amulet of her neck, you were supposed to remind me to do that! You're so stupid!"

The Hunter did not like being called stupid. Not at all. Quickly, he penned Septimus to the deck of the bullet boat and placed a well deserved punch on his face. Septimus suddenly felt queasy. He attempted to hit the Hunter with a stun spell, but his aim was off. Then, one of the oarsmen shouted, "If you two don't stop fighting amongst yourselves, you'll never catch them."

Septimus groaned, but he knew that this oarsmen spoke the truth. "You're right. We've got to go back to where we first found them. They were close to Deppen Ditch. Let's try there."

Half an hour later, they had reached Deppen Ditch. Septimus could hear the human heartbeats of people hiding on grassy banks of the ditch. Septimus smirked. They thought they were safe. He grabbed the Hunter's wrist and pointed to a spot behind of one the sand dunes. They Hunter aimed his pistol where Septimus had pointed and slowly and deliberately took aim and fired it.

There was a blood curdling shriek and a body came tumbling down the side of the Deppen Ditch. The Hunter smiled. The first of his prey had expired.