Chapter Ten

Septimus had spent the day with his brothers in the Forest. They were so quiet and peaceful and that was exactly what Septimus felt like he needed. He spent much of the day fishing alongside Sam. Septimus couldn't help but wonder what his brothers would think if they knew he had knocked up Jenna. He knew he had to resolve his problem, but it was getting harder and harder to do. He almost wished Jenna would lose the baby, even though he knew that this kind of thinking was negative and horrible. Not having the baby would simplify his life quite a bit.

Jenna was feeling the same way as Septimus, though she had no way of knowing it. She too was wishing she had never conceived this child because if she hadn't, she wouldn't be having a completely uncomfortable conversation with Marcia Overstrand now. Jenna had just confirmed that she was pregnant. There was no point in beating around the bush. Obviously, Septimus had already blown her cover. Apparently, however, he hadn't told Marcia what his role in the whole thing was. That infuriated Jenna. He was just as responsible for her accident as she was! Yet, he was acting as if he had nothing to do with it!

Jenna was so busy trying to figure out what she could do to make Septimus really sorry for what he had done that she didn't even hear Marcia speaking to her. "Jenna? Jenna? I just want to know who you were involved with. I know it's personal, but I have to ask you this. You're going to have to marry whoever you were having an affair with. It's the right thing."

Jenna thought fast. The last thing she wanted to do now was marry Septimus, not after all the trouble he had caused her. If she had to marry someone now, she knew just who it would be. Of course, she didn't want to marry at all, but she didn't want the whole city to think badly of her either. She knew there was only one person who would adore her despite these circumstances. She didn't have a choice. She was going to lie to Marcia.

"Marcia," she said, attempting to make her voice as solemn as she could make it. "I know I made a terrible error. I spent a few days with my brothers in the Forest recently and they had a group of friends with them, travelers really. One of them was so, so attractive and wonderful. I was quite taken with him. He offered me some alcohol and I was so careless, I just took it from him." Jenna heard Marcia make a disapproving noise, but she continued on anyway. "I'm not going to get into the details, let's just say I made a very bad decision that evening. Now, I know I must marry, but I don't even know where that traveler is now. I don't even know his name. But I do know that I am truly fond of Beetle, the boy who works as a blacksmith. He fancies me, and I would love to take him as a husband."

Marcia was silent for a moment, allowing all of this to sink in. "In other words," she said, finally, "You want to marry this boy, this blacksmith, who isn't even the father of your child? Jenna, princesses don't ever marry someone of his class. He's beneath you. I've always like Beetle, don't get me wrong, but he's not worthy of marrying you."

Jenna exploded. "He is perfectly worthy of marrying me! I should get to choose who I marry. If I marry now, most people won't even notice that I got pregnant before my marriage. And anyway, what makes you think you can control who I marry? You're not and never have been in charge of me!"

"Jenna," Marcia's voice was softer now. "I just want to protect you."

"But Marcia, I'm a woman now. It's time for me to fix my own mistakes."

Marcia had to admit that Jenna was right. "So you want to marry Beetle now? You realize what that means, don't you?"

Jenna nodded. "I'll have to be crowned early. People will probably wonder why."

"Not necessarily." Marcia replied. "People around here seem to love celebrating more than anything else. They won't care when you get crowned, the sooner the better as far as they're concerned. I just never thought you'd do this, Jenna. I have to say, I am very disappointed in you. "

These words hurt Jenna more than she expected them too, and she felt herself tearing up. On top of it all, she also felt guilty for lying to Marcia, but there was nothing that could be done about that now. "I'm sorry, Marcia, I'm so sorry. Do you think if I got married, say, in the next couple of weeks, that we could stop my mother from becoming too suspicious?"

Marcia answered honestly. "Jenna, I don't know. I think most of the Castle inhabitants will guess what you've done, but they will probably try to accept you anyway, as long as you do the right thing and get married. For all they know, Beetle was your lover. You never have to tell them the truth about that. Your mother was a very popular Queen, and chances are, if you accept the crown now, the people won't even consider putting your first cousin on the throne."

"You mean Misty? But, Marcia, you know that whoever inherits the throne must be directly related to the previous Queen in some way. While Misty is directly related to me, she is not related to my mother. Therefore, she can't be Queen! Don't you see, Marcia? I have to be Queen. It's the only way. Whether the people here want it or not, I am going to be their Queen."

Marcia listened closely to what Jenna said, and recognized that she was correct. Zelda must have been wrong. Only Jenna could wear the crown. "Jenna, where did you-. Oh it doesn't matter, we just have to organize a wedding for you within the next few weeks. But I have to ask, do you really think you can spend the rest of your life with Beetle? You're very young. I know I didn't have any idea how I wanted to spend my life when I was your age."

"Marcia, I don't have a choice and Beetle adores me. He'll make me happy. I have to try."

Despite the fact that Jenna had made a very regrettable choice, Marcia still admired her strength. Somehow, it reminded her of herself. "You're a brave girl, Jenna. No matter what happens, you'll be a wonderful Queen."

All of a sudden, Jenna didn't feel like being brave anymore. "Marcia, I'm not brave, not really. I don't know if I can be a mother and a Queen and a wife at my age! The future looks dark, I'm afraid of it." Jenna knew she was beginning to cry again, only this time, she let her tears fall. "I'm scared, Marcia, I'm so scared."

Marcia sat beside Jenna on her sofa and pulled her into a comforting embrace. "Jenna, Jenna, it's all right."

"No it's not! I'm not ready to be Queen."

"You sound just like I did seventeen years ago. The day that...Alther and your mother were killed. I didn't think I could be ExtraOrdinary Wizard yet. I wanted to be, but at that moment, I couldn't have felt less qualified. I was so afraid…and upset. I couldn't believe that Alther was dead. It was a horrible tragedy. Eventually, though, I managed to pull through it. I have faith in you. You'll pull through this too."

Jenna was a bit overcome. She had never heard Marcia talk like this before. No wonder Septimus had loved having her as a teacher. She Marcia was going to support her as long as she didn't know that Septimus was the father of her child. "Marcia," Jenna said, "You said the people of the Castle love to celebrate. Well, maybe I could talk Beetle into marrying me the day after the ball. That would really give everyone something to celebrate. Of course, I'd have to talk to Beetle about it first. He doesn't even know I'm pregnant. Oh, I can't believe I got myself into this."

Marcia seemed confident. "That's actually a decent idea. You do realize that you have to be crowned before you can married, though, right? We could have the crowning ceremony at the end of this week, before the ball and we could tell the public that you're being crowned early because you wanted to get married very badly. The people here will go for that sort of thing, they'll think it's romantic. They can be so gullible at times, but in this case, that's quite helpful."

"I guess we'll have to try that." Jenna replied, "The hard part is going to be telling Beetle. I don't know how to start."

"You can do it. But go out and do it now. Get it over with. Beetle will probably still be at his uncle's shop. You'll have to hurry."

"All right." Jenna agreed. She was becoming just a tad bit nervous "I'll go. But, Marcia?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for listening to me." Jenna said, "It meant a lot."

"Certainly. You're human, Jenna. Humans make mistakes. Granted you made a pretty terrible one, but it's not beyond fixing."

Jenna smiled one last time at Marcia, and left the room.

Five days later, Jenna was getting ready to be crowned Queen of the Castle. The entire city had turned out to watch the event. The word had gotten out that she was going to marry Beetle. Sarah Heap was thrilled. She had always hoped her daughter would marry him. Silas was rather indifferent. He didn't think Jenna was old enough to be married anyway. There was only one person who did not come to the crowning of Jenna Heap and that was her adoptive brother, Septimus. Most of the citizens of the Castle had noticed how close Jenna and Septimus were and they were more than a little shocked by this turn of events. In any case, Marcia had been correct. The people of the Castle were thankful to have a reason to have a celebration.

Beetle, too, was offended by Septimus's absence. He had been so deliriously happy when Jenna had told him she wanted to marry him. Naturally, he was a little hurt that they were getting married under the circumstances that they were, but still, he would get to have Jenna for a whole lifetime. That was worth everything in the world. But he just couldn't understand why Septimus didn't want to come to the wedding. Or maybe he did, no one really knew because no one had seen Septimus in over a week. Sarah was secretly beginning to suspect that Simon might have had something to do with it, but she said nothing. After all, she didn't have any proof.

Marcia was terribly worried as well. She knew Septimus wouldn't just walk off and leave. There was something fishy about the whole thing.

Little did anyone know, Septimus was staying in the Port. He had rented a room in a cheap inn and was wondering what to do next. He had been residing in the Forest when his brother JoJo had told him that all of Camp Heap was going into the Castle to watch Jenna get crowned and then wed. Septimius had felt as though someone had ripped his heart out of his chest. Jenna was having his child! Why would she marry anyone else? Septimus knew the answer. She was angry with him, for one. But the main thing was, most people regarded Septimus and Jenna as a brother and sister. A marriage between the two of them never would have been permitted. He should have known that their relationship would be poisoned from the start. However, he didn't know if he ever wanted to return to the Castle. He knew he should, but he didn't know if he could bear watching Jenna raise his child with another man, even if it was his best friend. He knew Jenna had not told anyone that he was the one who had gotten her pregnant. In a way, that was very sweet of Jenna. Because she had told no one that he was responsible for her pregnancy, Septimus was free to carry on his life without burden. What Jenna didn't realize was that Septimus would always carry a burden because of this mistake. He felt as though he had ruined Jenna's life.

Septimus passed the day of Jenna's graduation in his rented room, thinking of the year he first met Jenna. It seemed like ages ago now. In some ways, Septimus wished he could return to those times, times when he and Jenna had been so innocent and trusting. Septimus's years in the young army had made him less naïve than Jenna had been, but somehow or another, her sweet, caring nature had led him to trust others again which was something he had never thought he would be able to do again. Jenna's pleasant demeanor had been just what he had needed. He still needed it, even more so now that it was gone. Septimus looked at his timepiece. It was twelve o'clock. At this time, Jenna's crowning would have just ended. She was officially the Queen of the Castle. Septimus couldn't believe he had missed that day that meant so much to Jenna. In that moment, he was lost in his sorrow. He buried his face in his hands and remained the way for much of the rest of the day.

Jenna couldn't really believe she was the Queen. She still felt the same. Beetle had held her in front of the crowd and kissed her after she was crowned, which had actually felt great. But she just felt like the same old Jenna. And, of course, she missed Septimus, even though she wouldn't admit that to anyone. She would have to wait for him to return. She was positive he would.

Exactly a week later, most of the Castle was preparing for the Ball, which started in a few hours. Marcellus Pye was particularly nervous. He was still overwhelmed. He had been so happy when Marcia had accepted his invitation, but he knew he would prefer spending a quiet evening with her. The Ball was not the kind of place Marcellus liked to be, but for Marcia, he was going to try and enjoy himself. He hadn't been able to stop thinking of her. Thinking about Marcia made him feel alive. He couldn't even remember the last time he had felt so wonderful. Oh yes, it was probably when he first met Broda. That was so very long ago. He was overdue for another dose of excitement in his life.

Misty and Cliff were also preparing. Misty still couldn't believe that Cliff had chosen her and didn't seem to miss Snorri at all. It had turned out for the better after all, because Snorri too seemed happier with her first love, Nicko. Misty was also completely happy that Jenna was Queen. This was the way things were supposed to be. All was right with the world. Sadly, by the end of that evening, nothing would be right with the world, but as Misty had no way of knowing this, she simply enjoyed herself and didn't worry at all.

Meanwhile, in the port, Septimus had just awoken from a very odd nightmare. It was of him walking back into the Castle, only to find it empty of any life. In his dream, the Castle was a ghost town and the residents were nowhere to be found. Septimus searched frantically for Jenna, Marcia, and his parents, but he never found them. This was the third time Septimus had had this nightmare in one week. He was beginning to believe it might mean something, though he couldn't imagine what. Though he trying not to become paranoid, it was becoming harder and harder. Finally, he gave up. He was going to return to the Castle. He needed to be there for the wedding anyway, even if it tore him up inside. And so, with many thoughts bouncing around in his head, Septimus Heap began his journey back to the Castle.