(sorry if I published this chapter late)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sat up in bed suddenly. "Oh no," I whispered. Xenia was shrieking and crying. Panicking, I picked her up and rocked her. "By the star of Alnitak, please stop crying!" I whispered, trying to shush her. All I received were screams. I knew Marcia was going to wake up any second. I tried telling you she was going to be a problem. Whatever. I checked my timepiece. It was 2:17 AM. Marcia would not take this well. I Transported us to the Wizard Tower courtyard and cursed for being stupid. Sound travelled very strangely here. In a fit of stress, I Transported to the Palace landing stage, where I knew that no one was there. I breathed a sigh of relief and tried to calm down Xenia. She was still sleeping. I swore. What was she dreaming of? I could only imagine the worst. I tried shaking her awake and gently tapping her forehead. Finally, I reached down to the river below and splashed water on her. She woke up crying, but she didn't seem as frightened as before. I muttered an apology because I knew the water was ice cold. I was scared to put Xenia back to bed, in fear she would have the same nightmare. What was it even? I stared at the mystery lying in my arms. The crying, tear-streaked mystery. I found I suddenly knew what her nightmare was. After a while of rocking and whispers, Xenia calmed down a bit but did not sleep. I Transported back to the Wizard Tower, trying to keep everything as silent as possible. The door to my bedroom creaked as I opened it and I cringed, and rather noisily closed it again. I leaned against the door and dropped down to the floor. "You're a really naughty baby, you know that right?" I muttered. I received a giggle in response. I shook my head and laid her down in the crib. To pass the time, I took square sheets of cloth and started sewing them together. Half an hour later I laid the quilt on Xenia. It suddenly came to me that this might happen every night. I groaned and stared at the stars on my ceiling. That's what I did for the rest of the night.

I woke up and went down to the kitchen. I decided I would do some work today, to pass some time. No one was at the table so I made breakfast for Marcia and Septimus. I sat on one of the chairs, waiting for them to come. Half an hour later, Marcia came. She had bags under her eyes and was barely opening them. I jumped to my feet. "Marcia, are you okay?" I asked, suddenly worried what Xenia might have actually done the previous night. "Yes, I am fine, thank you for asking, Elara," she said. "Just had a bad night's sleep is all." I kind of half smiled. "Um, I made breakfast."

"Thank you. That's really all I needed today. What is it?"

"French toast. That is your favorite, right?"

"Yes, it is."

I waved my hand and the toast flew over to the table. "Would you like some coffee?" I asked as I watched Marcia literally wolf down three slices of toast. "How could you tell?" she asked with her mouth full. I chuckled and asked the coffeepot nicely to make some coffee. It obliged. I heard Marcia swallow and turned my focus from the coffeepot to her. "I really must take note to be nicer to that pot." She chuckled, spitting out crumbs of toast. "Oh, I'm sorry Elara, I'm really not myself today." She took out a FizzBom from her pocket and popped it into her mouth. I looked at her, amused. "I thought you disapproved of those!" I laughed. "Shh, shh, don't be so loud! I just don't want Septimus to be high on sugar. I personally love them." My mouth gaped open. I closed it and it broke into a smile. I could only imagine what other secrets Marcia might have. Things suddenly became a lot more fun. I waved my hand and the coffeepot flew over. I poured some into Marcia's mug and a bit into mine too. Marcia sipped and suddenly looked more alive. "Could you do me a favor, Elara? Could you wake up Septimus?" I nodded. I went into Septimus's room and looked around. It was a mess. Papers were strewn all over the floor. The bed sheets were all crumpled and misshapen. I found the small trash bin on its side and its contents spilled. Finally I found Septimus lying on the floor with a pillow over his head and swaddled in his blanket. I took a moment to recollect myself and set off tidying up the place. To be honest, I didn't really need to do anything. I kept snapping my fingers and everything fell into place. Except for Septimus. What I did next might have been mean but it was of no concern to me. For some random reason, Septimus had balloons in his drawer. I blew one up and tied it. Then, next to his ear - I laughed to myself at this point - I took a pin and popped it. He jumped up and screamed. He ran to a corner of his room and there he stayed, shuddering. He saw me laughing and scowled.

"What the heck?! Couldn't you have just shook me awake?" I wiped a tear from my eye. This was priceless. "No," was my response as I collapsed, laughing. I couldn't breathe. Finally, after a couple of minutes, my laughing subsided and I took a lungful of air. "Anyway, you're going to have to come down for breakfast or else Marcia's going to eat all the toast."

"There's toast?"

"There won't be for long."

Septimus quickly put his robes on and raced to the kitchen. I followed him. I didn't actually get to eat yet. When we got around to the table, Marcia was strangely happy. I raised my eyebrow. "I know," she said, and retreated to her desk. What was that supposed to mean? Does she know that it's strange to see her happy? Or does she know about… Xenia? I ate and once Septimus left I made some food for Xenia. I raced to my room and groaned. She wasn't there. I sat on my bed and waited a while and then I saw a small bird perched on the windowsill. I snapped my fingers and caught her. I fed her and realized I would have to do a lot to keep her under control. I laid her down in her crib and got some sort of toy for her to play with. Then I went to Marcia. "Is there anything I can do, Marcia?" I asked. "Oh! Thank you for asking! Could you clean out the Pyramid Library for me, please?" I nodded and walked towards the Pyramid Library but stopped and turned around. The real reason I was there was to ask her something. "Marcia, by any chance, did you hear any shrieking last night?" She sighed, looked up from her paperwork and smiled. "I know about her, Elara. You should have told me. Bring her over, by the way. I want to see our new Princess." I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn't in any trouble. I brought over Xenia, who had refused to be separated from her toy. She brought it along with her. "She's a nice child," Marcia was saying as she held Xenia. "But, there's something you need to know. Elara, this child is the new Princess. And you are her mother. You know what that means."

"But Jenna's the Queen. I can't be."

"Traditionally, when she steps down you're going to be Queen, but seeing as you both are the same age, you have to rule side by side. And that is a must. You will also need someone to rule when you are performing your duties as ExtraOrdinary Wizard."

"I don't understand. There will be two ExtraOrdinary Wizards and two Queens?"

"It all plays out perfectly. You see, when you and Jenna are doing your duties as Queen, Septimus will be EOW. When Jenna cannot rule, you will. When you cannot rule, Jenna will. Since you will be EOW and Queen, you handle Palace work with Magyk and Septimus will handle conflicts in the Castle. When Septimus is unavailable, you will be EOW. You will have double the responsibilities, yes, seeing as you are the mother of a ShapeShifter and a Princess, but it will have to do. With this, the roles of the dignitaries will be much easier and balanced." I nodded. As I walked out with Xenia in my arms, she said, "Oh! And when you're done can you go over to the Palace? Jenna needs to know all this." I nodded again and went to sort all the Charms and books in the Pyramid Library that Septimus had not thought to put back on the shelves.