The story so far: Septimus and Jenna unwittingly enslaved themselves to a Mysterious Darke Force. It has created an army, and the Castle is on the edge of invasion. If she wants to stop it, Marcia may have to face one of her toughest challenges yet, and make the ultimate choice...

DISClAIMER: Septimus and co. belong to Angie Sage.

Alther wished bitterly that he could have accompanied Marcia, but he had not been into the Chambers in life so he would only be Returned. Instead, he watched her dissapear through the Black Door, and was left to wonder if he would see her come out again.

A sudden thought occurred to him. He couldn't go with Marcia, but he could aid her. If Septimus and Jenna's eyes were Petrifying, the eyes of whoever controlled them could easily be Fatal. But a Ghost could Cause things to happen...

Marcia felt something drop into her pocket. She pulled it out. It was one of her purple hankerchiefs. Of course, a blindfold would mean she couldn't look into any scarlet eyes. As the door opened, she tied it over her eyes. Bolstered by this defence, she strode inside.

"Miss Overstrand. A pleasure to meet you at last. But I insist you take off the blindfold."

"Why should I?" asked Marcia from the doorway. "One look form you could probably kill me. I'm not that stupid."

"True, true." sighed the Darke thing. "But then, so could a single touch of the Magyk at my fingertips. So take it off."

"Never."

"Miss Overstrand, it is lucky for you that I am in a good mood. I am willing to bargain. Say, the freedom of the Queenling and your Apprentice, and in return you witness the nerve center of the New Kingdom."

"And what's that then?"

Another sigh. "Miss Overstrand, you have a lot to learn. All in good time. So do we have a deal?"

"No. How do I know you'll Release them, instead of just killing me? What reason have I to trust you?"

"Well," replied the Darkeness, no longer patient and polite, "Let me put it another way. Miss Overstrand, remove your blindfold at once if you want to see your Apprentice alive again. You won't see anything unless you take it off."

Marcia could feel at least fifty pairs of scarlet eyes trained upon her. She thought of her own eyes connecting with any one of those pairs for a single instant. She thought of the creature beyond her vision, waiting for her to die.

And then she thought of Septimus, smiling with her, at her, running in the sun with Jenna, also smiling.

For the briefest moment, a smile played across her own lips. The it was gone. Slowly, deliberately, she removed the blindfold.

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

The sight of so many glowing scarlet eyes was enough to unsettle anyone. Marcia, who had braced herself for the shock, still found herself fighting the desire to curl up in a ball and cry. Instead she stood up straight and stared around, carefulnot to look directly into any of those awful scarlet eyes that lurked around the edges of the room.

She was at the edge of an enormous chamber. The ceiling rose impossibly high- she must be underground, but surely not that far. She took a few steps forward, and her footfalls echoed dully.

Directly in front of her, about ten metres away, was an enormous granite throne. And sitting on the throne was a colossal beast. If it had stood, it would easily have been twelve feet tall. Its skin was rough, dark grey, heavy-looking plates overlapping on its shoulders and across its chest. Although it was humanoid, its limbs were out of proportion. They were like tree trunks- gnarled and solid-looking. The legs were short and thick. The arms hung to the ground, ending in vicious talons.

Marcia chanced a look at the things face. She caught a glimpse of slit-like scarlet eyes sunk deep into the coarse flesh, like rubies set into unpolished silver. Two razor-sharp horns rose out of the scalp, twisting and flicking.

"Who are you?" breathed Marcia.

"I," said the thing, "Am a Mystery."

As it spoke it Marcia saw a gleam of curved fangs.

"I suppose," it continued, "I am a male, so I will be worshipped as a master. You may address me as sir." He chuckled.

"Never." Marcia declared.

"So be it." sighed the Mystery. "I say it again, Miss Overstrand. You have much to learn. Manners, for a start."

"You will teach me nothing." Marcia pointed out. "Because you are going to kill me."

"Miss Overstrand. Did you not think I would question you first? Dear me."

"I wouldn't put anything past you." Marcia stared upwards once more. Dying now wouldn't really help matters.

"Am I right in thinking that you do not trust me?"

"Of course I don't." snapped Marcia.

"I know everything," sighed the Mystery.

"There are things you will never know."

"Miss Overstrand, do no try to be clever. You will only embarrass yourself, and you are trying my patience." The Mystery shook its head. "Enough of this. There are things I must do, so let's make this quick."

"I have all the time in the world." replies Marcia. "I am in no hurry to die." She wanted to keep in control of herself, not betray her fear.

"Quite." said the Mystery. "But you can't avoid it forever. And I believe that you are defenceless, without that blindfold?"

"True." confirmed Marcia.
"Right again." The Mystery clapped its great claws together. The sound rang around the chamber and made Marcia feel nauseous. "My own brilliance amazes me."

"However." Marcia continued. "There is one more trick I have up my sleeve."

"Carry on, Miss Overstrand. It amuses me to watch you fail."

Marcia appeared unfazed by this remark. "I know you have Darke and Twisted intentions." she began.

The Mystery sighed. "Am I that obvious?"

"It's a character trait of a bad guy." replied Marcia calmly.

"You seem remarkably relaxed, considering you are going to die in a few minutes. But please, continue."

"I will." Marcia resumed her speech. "You have Darke and Twisted Intentions, yes. These most probably remain unchanged from when you first Plotted them. And, I might add, got them Halted by the Wizards, who guessed what was going on." she smiled humourlessly. "It's my turn to be right."

The Mystery raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"The Wizards halted you with three defences. Three pure, UnTainted defences. You have bypassed the Bronze Door, conquered the Silver Stairs. But there is one thing you have not yet Passed."

Scarlet eyes widened in fear and shock.

"The Gold Veil." said Marcia triumphantly. "No Darke Being can Pass Through it. So I am sorry to say, you will have to put your plans on hold for a bit, whilst you work that one out."

The Mystery screamed.

All around the edges of the chamber, the Ordinary Wizards returned to themselves. They shook their heads and stared around in utter bemusement.

"Marcia!"

Marcia turned. Septimus and Jenna were running towards her, eyes back to normal colours.

Marcia hugged them both tightly to her, then adressed the Mystery.

"I Condemn you!"

The Mystery stopped screaming abruptly. "That, Miss Overstrand, is where you are wrong."

"What?"

"You see, the lapse in concentration has lost me my Army, but that it all. I will repeat myself, you have much to learn. The first thing, and possibly the last, I teach you, is that I already know how to get around the Gold Veil. Oh yes. It is of course invisible, but those who have Passed Through it are touched with a trace. When the Possession was severed, I felt it upon the brats. And I remembered. There is a way round, after all."

Jenna whimpered. Septimus hung tighter onto Marcia's arm.

"The Gold Veil only falls when the ExtraOrdinary Wizard and the Queen or Princess are both within the Castle walls. It is one of the many Ancient ties, one that is almost Forgotten. But if the ExtraOrdinary Wizard and the Queenling"- his eyes lingered on Jenna, but did not Harm- "were both, say, involved in an accident, then the veil would lift. Just like that." He clapped his hands again. "Of course, the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice could be involved in the accident as well, just to be on the safe side."

The Mystery laughed, a low, rumbling cackle that echoed foully around the chamber.

Marcia knelt down, so she was at equal height to Septimus and Jenna. There was a brief spell of urgent whispering.

"Whisper all you want." laughed the Mystery. "I have trumped your trump card. Any last words?"

Think.

The answer hit like a bullet.

Septimus stepped forward. "What you didn't realise," he called out, "was that, when you got into our minds, you inadvertently let us into yours. The strength of my Magyk enabled me to witness your memories."

Jenna too stepped forward. "And the power of Royalty that runs in my blood enabled me to feel your emotions."

The Mystery was no longer laughing now. Curiosity etched the ancient, grisly features.

"We know what your Darke and Twisted Intentions are." said Septimus. "We know that you plan to build an army to take the Castle."

"From there you will send out ships," continued Jenna, "To conquer the Far Countries. And the best part is, Marcia can look at a map and find your final destination. Exactly."
"So?" There was no cockiness in the voice now.

"So." Marcia announced. "It means we have Solved the Mystery."

Hold on! It doesn't end there!