~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wizard Tower Courtyard is a really beautiful place. I ran outside, breathing in the fresh air that I hadn't seen in weeks. Thank goodness I was wearing a simple light blue tunic instead of my robes, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to run. Septimus, however, decided to stay in his robes, so he and Beetle chose to walk and let me run ahead. "Come on, you slowpokes!" I yelled over my shoulder. "Unlike you, we can't run!" Septimus shouted back, and fought the urge to run, which would only make him trip and fall. Beetle could only notice Septimus holding back. "Sep, can't you just Magykally change or something? Then you can get even with her."

"If I could, then wouldn't I have done it already?"

"We can wait. They're gonna be here in about thirty minutes."

"Then why in the world did you drag us out here?" Septimus asked irritably. "You and Sierra looked like you needed some air. Especially Sierra. She looked really tired, don't you think?"

"Yeah."

"Exactly. So why don't you just dress in a simple green tunic and get those heavy robes off?" Septimus nodded and headed back to the Wizard Tower. I saw him walk back, and gave Beetle a questioning look, but he shrugged and ran ahead. He wasn't wearing his Chief Hermetic Scribe robes, and walked with Septimus only so he wouldn't feel alone. "So, where exactly are we going to be having this picnic?" I asked. Beetle shrugged again. "Where is Rose? And Jenna?" Beetle shrugged again. I laughed and shook him. "I demand answers!" He shrugged once more. I finally understood the game he was playing. I decided to play back. "Beetle," I grinned evilly, "is it true you like Jenna?" Beetle turned beetroot red. He didn't shrug this time. I laughed my head off. "I knew it! I knew it!" I shouted in a sing-song voice with Beetle constantly shushing me. "I-I-I don't," he stammered. "It-I'm just…" He trailed off. "How did you know?"

"Whenever she is talking to us, you blush, especially when she's talking to you. You stammer. You show every aspect of being awkward. You smile a lot when she comes near. And you're asking me?" I laughed again. It was fun playing. "Shrug now, O. Beetle Beetle." At that moment, Septimus ran out of the Wizard Tower and caught up with us. "Race you guys!" he shouted at us and sprinted ahead. I assumed the finish line was the Great Arch, so me and Beetle dashed with him. I reached there first, leaving Septimus and Beetle panting for breath. "You guys are sooo slow!" I said as they finally reached the Great Arch. Septimus put a finger up while trying to catch his breath. At about that time, Rose came out of the Wizard Tower. She was smiling a lot. I ran to meet her. "What's up, Rose?" I said, her contagious smile creeping up on me. "I got promoted!" she said, smiling so much I thought that her jaw might stay that way forever. "That's great!" I exclaimed. "What was the promotion?"

"Charm Wizard Apprentice! I don't have to stay in the 'ick bay' anymore!" Septimus caught up with us. "Hey, Rose! What happened?"

"She got promoted to Charm Wizard Apprentice! Isn't that great?" I quickly said for her. I knew she didn't like repeating herself. "That is great! Is that why we're having lunch out here, Beetle? And, that reminds me, who's bringing the lunch?"

"Jen is. Coming in five minutes."

"Oooh, Beetle said Jen instead of Jenna, oooh."

"Sep, we all call her that!"

"It doesn't matter," I said. "We all know." Beetle turned red again, much to my amusement. "Rose, you know?!" he started freaking out. "Um, yeah. It was kind of obvious."

"Remember when you slept over at the Wizard Tower? Well I stayed up and you kept saying Jenna's name and making kissing noises. Honestly, you will not believe how hard it was to hold back my laughs," Septimus said. "I told Rose all about it." Beetle glared at him. "Why?!" he asked, looking at the sky and raising his hands as if asking god. Just then Jenna came through the Great Arch, carrying a basket and a plaid blanket. She saw me and enveloped me in a hug. "Happy birthday, Sierra!" She pulled away from me. "I don't understand. It's nothing special," I said. I turned to Beetle. "Is this why you brought us out here?" He nodded. "Honestly, Sierra. How can you not remember your own birthday?" Rose laughed. "I don't know," I said. "It was never important to me before. And, to be honest, no one told me." Their smiles turned upside down. I realized my mistake and put my hand up to my mouth. "What do you mean, no one told you?" Jenna asked, putting her hands on my shoulders. I looked to Septimus for help. He was the only one who knew I was an orphan. I told Rose that my parents were somewhere else, not that they were dead. Jenna caught my gaze.

"Sep, what happened?" she asked, eyeing him. I jumped up. "Nothing! Nothing happened! Let's just have lunch. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we're all pretty hungry." Jenna looked at me suspiciously and set down the blanket. She packed a lot of food. And I mean a lot. There had to be at least twelve sandwiches, four packs of cookies, five juice bottles, and I couldn't even count how much candy there was. And, to my surprise, she topped it off with a cake. And, she gave me the biggest slice. I had never known they cared so much. We ate and joked and laughed all throughout the afternoon. To my delight, no one had mentioned anything about my parents or me lying about what happened to them. I didn't want them to worry so much.

It was then Jenna invited us all to the Palace. I bent down to clean up our mess but Septimus grabbed my hand. "No, no, you're not cleaning up birthday girl," he said. He bent down and cleaned up. "Sep, you don't have to. Let me help," I said, but Septimus signaled me to stop. "You go with Jenna and the others. I'll catch up." Birthdays must be so strange, I thought, as I reluctantly walked with the others. I didn't know that you didn't have to do anything. I also didn't know that you could leave it up to other people to do stuff for you. I didn't particularly like this, but I said nothing. I didn't think it was right to upset everyone after we had such a great time.

We reached the Palace and went up to what used to be Sarah's sitting room. It was a lot neater than when I had last been there. We sat down and talked. At about 7:00 PM, Septimus Transported there. He handed the blanket and basket to Jenna, who got them and put them in a cabinet in the unreasonably large kitchen. We chatted for a while, but then it got too late too quick. Rose, Beetle, and Septimus got up to leave. I got up to go too when Jenna grabbed me and sat me back. I looked at her questioningly. Jenna took a deep breath, and when she was sure no one could hear them, she asked, "Sierra. What happened?" This was the question I was dreading. I hoped she forgot, but apparently not. I waited a few moments and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sierra, don't play dumb with me! You know perfectly well what I'm talking about."

"It's nothing you need to worry about."

"Yes, it is."

I found I could get nowhere with persistence, so I gave in. "My parents," was all I managed to say. "What happened to them?" Jenna asked, clearly not wanting me to keep anything from her. "They died."

"There's more than that."

"I know. I'm sure you're familiar with Una Brakket."

"Ugh, of course I know that awful woman!"

"Yes, well, she was the second Apprentice to D-DomDaniel."

Jenna gasped. "What?!"

"You heard. Well, she had to do DomDaniel's bidding. And what he demanded of her was that she torture and kill me. I'm not sure why. But she did. And, my Mum and Dad jumped in front of me and protected me." My voice was quavering, and I tried to suppress it. Success. Jenna put her hand on her mouth and hugged me. "I'm so sorry, Sierra," she whispered. "I'm really sorry." What I really wanted to do was get out of there. She noticed me tensing and let me go. "Bye," I said quietly and waved. She anxiously waved back, and when the Palace doors closed, I ran back to the Wizard Tower, not caring how much my feet hurt and how choked up my throat felt.