Syren

by Angie Sage

Chapter 4 Intended

  W hile Barney Pot was being mugged in the Long Walk, Aunt Zelda watched Septimus's departure from the little window at the top of the turret. She saw Spit Fyre rise high above the Palace, his big white belly blotting out the sun. She saw the shadows of the dragon's wings run across the Palace lawns as he headed toward the river, and she saw what seemed to be the precariously balanced tiny green figure of Septimus almost hidden behind the great muscled neck of the dragon. She watched Septimus fly Spit Fyre three times around the striped tent on the landing stage and saw Alther Mella emerge from the tent and wave him off. Then she strained her old eyes to follow Septimus and his dragon as they set off toward a bank of mist coming in from the Port. As dragon and rider became nothing more than a dark spot in the sky, finally disappearing from view, Aunt Zelda sighed and told herself that at least Septimus had the SafeCharm - a live SafeCharm, no less.

  Aunt Zelda stepped away from the window. She took a golden key from her pocket, pushed it into what appeared to be a solid wall and walked into the Queen's Room. As she stepped into the quiet sanctuary, she put aside her worries about Septimus and turned her thoughts to the boy who had once been Septimus's best friend. In the Young Army, Septimus and Wolf Boy had been inseparable - until the terrible night when Wolf Boy had fallen from the Young Army boat and disappeared into the dark waters of the river. At the sound of Aunt Zelda's rustling dress, Queen Cerys turned slowly in her chair and her deep violet eyes regarded her visitor vaguely. The ghost of the Queen rarely left the room, for she guarded the Queen's Way. It was a quiet, usually uneventful existence, and the ghost spent much of her time in a dreamlike state from which it was sometimes difficult to rouse herself.

  Aunt Zelda curtseyed once more and drew out the long silver tube from her pocket. The sight of the tube brought Queen Cerys out of her reverie, and she watched with interest as Aunt Zelda took out a piece of parchment, carefully unrolled it and placed it on the arm of the chair in which the ghost sat.

  "This is for a new Intended Keeper, if it please you, Your Grace," said Aunt Zelda, who did not hold with calling Queens the newfangled "Your Majesty. "

  Queen Cerys didn't care what anyone called her as long as they were polite. Like her daughter, Jenna, she had always thought that being called "Your Majesty" was somehow ridiculous, and she considered Aunt Zelda's use of "Your Grace" not much better. But she said nothing and looked with interest at the sheet of parchment before her.

  "I have not had the pleasure of seeing one of these before, Zelda," she said with a smile. "My mother saw none - although I believe my grandmother saw two or three. "

  "I believe so, Your Grace. That was a bad run. By the time Betty Crackle took over, it was chaos. Poor Betty. She did her best. "

  "I'm sure she did. But you have been Keeper for a long time now, Zelda?"

  "Indeed. For over fifty years, Your Grace. "

  "Oh, please, Zelda, just call me Cerys. Fifty years? Time goes so fast. . . and yet so slow. So who have you chosen? Not one of those Wendron Witches, I trust?"

  "Heavens, no!" exclaimed Aunt Zelda. "No, it is someone I have had living with me for a while now. A young person who has, I am pleased to say, a great feeling for the Marsh and for all things within it. Someone who will make a good Keeper, of that I am convinced. "

  Cerys smiled at Aunt Zelda. "I am very pleased. Who is it?"

  Aunt Zelda took a deep breath. "Um. . . Wolf Boy, Your Grace - Cerys. "

  "Wolf Boy?"

  "Yes. "

  "A strange name for a girl. But times change, I suppose. "

  "He's not a girl, Your - Cerys. He is a boy. Well, a young man, almost. "

  "A young man? Heavens. "

  "I believe he would make a wonderful Keeper, Queen Cerys. And nowhere in the Tenets of Keeping does it actually say that the Keeper must be a woman. "

  "Really? Goodness me. "

  "But of course the decision is yours, Queen Cerys. I can only advise and recommend. "

  Queen Cerys sat and gazed at the fire for so long that Aunt Zelda began to wonder whether she had fallen asleep, until her clear, slightly hollow voice began to speak.

  "Zelda," said the ghost of the Queen, "I realize that the duties of the Keeper have changed now that the Dragon Boat has returned to the Castle. "

  Aunt Zelda murmured, "That is true. " She sighed. Aunt Zelda missed the Dragon Boat badly. She worried about the boat lying unconscious in the Dragon House deep within the walls of the boatyard - even though that was the very place that had been built to keep the Dragon Boat safe. And while Aunt Zelda knew that this meant Jenna was now free to leave the Castle without exposing it to danger, Aunt Zelda still regretted the loss of her Dragon Boat.

  Queen Cerys continued. "So, it seems to me that, as the duties of the Keeper have changed, maybe the very nature of the Keeper should change too. If you recommend this Wolf Boy, I shall accept him. "

  Aunt Zelda smiled broadly. "I do recommend him, Queen Cerys. Highly recommend him, in fact. "

  "Then I accept Wolf Boy as the Intended Keeper. "

  Aunt Zelda clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh, that is wonderful, wonderful!"

  "Bring him to me, Zelda, so that I may see him. Bring him through the Queen's Way. We must see that he can go through the Way. "

  "Um. . . he already has. I, um, I had to bring him once before. In an emergency. "

  "Ah, well. He seems eminently suited. I look forward to meeting him. He has done the Task, I suppose?"

  A small butterfly of anxiety settled in Aunt Zelda's stomach. "He has embarked upon it as we speak, Cerys. "

  "Ah. So we shall await his return with interest. If he does return, then I shall indeed look forward to making his acquaintance. Good-bye, Zelda. Until the next time. "

  Her delight at the Queen's acceptance of her Apprentice was somewhat tempered by the Queen's mention of the Task, which Aunt Zelda had managed to put out of her mind for a while. Slowly she rolled up the parchment and replaced it in the tube. Then she curtseyed and went across the room to the UNSTABLE POTIONS AND PARTIKULAR

  POISONS cupboard. Cerys watched her open the door and struggle to squeeze inside.

  "Zelda?" Cerys called.

  "Yes?" puffed Aunt Zelda, poking her head out of the cupboard with some difficulty.

  "Is it possible to eat an Enlarging Spell without realizing it, do you suppose?"

  Aunt Zelda looked puzzled. "I shouldn't think so," she said. "Why?"

  "No reason. I just wondered. Safe journey. "

  "Oh. Thank you, Queen Cerys. " And she heaved the cupboard door closed behind her.