Septimus sat on the dusty landing watching the peeling plaster on the wall, wondering when Jenna was going to reappear. He tried to imagine what she was doing inside the Queen's Room, and what was taking her so long, but he did not mind waiting. There was something Septimus had been longing to take a closer look at ever since Jannit had fished it out of her toolbox and handed it to him, saying, "Looks like something you could use, Master Septimus." He put his hand into his tunic pocket and took out the Flyte Charm.
The Charm felt oddly familiar to him, as though he had known it somewhere before. It was a surprisingly simple Charm, considering the power that it possessed, and the old, yellowish gold was scratched, the flightssuch as they werebattered and bent.
As the arrow lay quietly in his palm, Septimus felt a tingle run through his hand, and something made him reach into his Apprentice Belt and take out his own silver winged Charm, the one that Marcia had given to him when she had asked him to be her Apprentice. Septimus loved this Charm. With itand a lot of concentrationhe could hover about ten feet off the ground, but he could not fly. Not as Simon had done. Septimus had often dreamed of flying, and indeed had frequently woken up convinced that he could, only to be disappointed.
Sitting on the cold stone floor, with no sign of Jenna's return, Septimus held out his open hands, one Charm in each. He thought they were both beautiful in different waysin his left hand he could feel the powerful spirit of the ancient golden arrow and in his right the delicate lightness of the silver wings. As he looked at them he could sense the Magyk from both Charms running over his skin and disturbing the air around him.
And thensomething shifted, something moved.
Suddenly the wings were sitting upright in the middle of his palm, wafting back and forth like a small butterfly warming up in the sunlight. Enthralled, Septimus watched them as they fluttered from his right hand over to his left, where they landed delicately on the Flyte Charm. There was a Magykal flash of light, and the silver and gold of the two Charms melded together as the wings settled down and resumed their rightful place as the Flyte Charm's original flights.
Septimus picked up the completed Flyte Charm and held it between finger and thumb. It was hotalmost too hotto the touch. A buzzing sensation ran through his fingers and Septimus suddenly found he had an overwhelming urge to fly. He leaped to his feet and went over the small turret window that looked out over the Palace gardens. He saw the long shadows of the midsummer evening and heard the rooks cawing in the trees, and all his dreams of flying came back to himhe imagined himself swooping across the lawns, scattering the rooks and skimming out low over the River ... with some effort, Septimus shook himself out of his reverie. He was busy putting the Flyte Charm into his Apprentice Beltout of temptation's waywhen Jenna stepped through the wall.
Septimus leaped to his feet. "Jen " he began, and then stopped in astonishment as Aunt Zelda and Wolf Boy followed her onto the landing.
"Oh, Septimus," said Aunt Zelda, as Septimus stared, open-mouthed. "It is so wonderful to see you safe ... but there is no time to lose. Follow me. We must get straight to the Dragon Boat." Aunt Zelda clattered down the narrow stairs, and Septimus heard a yell of surprise as Aunt Zelda bumped into Spit Fyre.
"Down, Spit Fyre. Yes, it's lovely to see you too. Now get off my foot, please."
Septimus had no need to untie Spit Fyre as the dragon had already chewed his way through the rope. They followed Aunt Zelda and Jenna out the side door at the foot of the turret and down to the Palace Gate. Aunt Zelda kept up a brisk pace. Showing a surprising knowledge of the Castle's narrow alleyways and sideslips, she hurtled along. Oncoming pedestrians were taken aback at the sight of the large patchwork tent approaching them at full speed. They flattened themselves against the walls, and, as the tent passed by with the Princess, the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice and a feral-looking boy with bandaged handsnot to mention a dragonin its wake, people rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
Soon Aunt Zelda and her retinue emerged from the tunnel that led under the Castle walls into the boatyard. They were met by the sound of Jannit's voice echoing across the upturned boats. "Heave ... heave ... heave..."
Aunt Zelda gave a scream of dismayfor slowly, very slowly, raised by a gang of yard-hands pulling rhythmically on a rope, the dripping, mud-caked hull of the Dragon Boat was rising from the water. The green tail with its golden barb hung down while the Dragon Boat's head was still slumped onto the side of the Cut. Nicko sat cross-legged, slowly stroking the dull green scales on the dragon's long nose.
Rupert Cringe was on the deck of the Dragon Boat. He was caked in mud and soaking wet, having just ped into the Moat and at last fixed the huge canvas slings in place beneath the keel. With his mask pushed up out of his eyes, Rupert darted from one side to the other, constantly checking the ropes.
Horrified, Aunt Zelda ran across the boatyard, dodging between the ropes and anchors, discarded masts and stays, and sat down with a bump beside Nicko.
"Aunt Zelda?" said Nicko, not quite believing his eyes.
"Yesit's me, dear," replied Aunt Zelda, breathless, reaching out to touch the dragon's motionless head. She rested her hand there for a moment, shaking her own head in disbelief. "Jenna, Septimusquick. Come and sit here beside me. All three of usthe Keeper, the Young Queen and the Dragon Mastermust do this," she said.
"Do what?" asked Jenna.
"The Transubstantiate Triple," said Aunt Zelda, ferreting through her many patchwork pockets.
"HeySep can do that," said Jenna, excited.
"No, I can't," said Septimus.
"Yes, you can. Well, you nearly can. I've heard you tell Godric."
"Only because when he first asked me I said no, I couldn't, and he got really upset and started wailing. Then all the other Ancients in the Palace began wailing too. It was awfuland they wouldn't stop. I had to go and get Marcia, and she told me to stop nitpicking and humor the old fool for goodness' sake. But I read about it anyway, just in case Godric asked me questions. It's the four elements, isn't it, Aunt Zelda?"
"It is indeed, Septimus," Aunt Zelda replied, taking an ancient-looking leather pouch from one of her pockets. "This has been handed down from Keeper to Keeper for longer than anyone can remember. We keep it in a Locked box called the Last Resort. Every Keeper hopes that she will not have to use it, but every Keeper knows that one day the Time will Come. There's a prophecy written on the box
The Time will Come, for it must be,When She will Fly with Two of ThreeFor Then must Ye full Ready be,And Keep the Triple Close to Thee.
"No one really knew what it meant, but when Septimus found the Dragon Ring, I realized that once again, for the first time since Hotep-Ra, we were Threethe Dragon Master, the Queen and the Keeper. And then when you and Jenna flew off with the Dragon Boat, I knew that the first part of the prophecy had happened, that the Time had Come. So I was ready for something, but when Jenna walked out of the potion cupboard, just as her dear mother used to do every MidSummer Day, Iwell, I nearly inhaled my cabbage sandwich. Now let's see what we have here."
Aunt Zelda tipped the leather pouch and three small hammered-gold bowls, with blue enameling around their rims, fell onto Jannit's muddy rug. She gave the leather pouch a shake but nothing else fell out. She put her hand inside the pouch and felt around, but it was empty. Aunt Zelda's face fell. "There must be more than this, surely," she said. "No instructionsnothing. It's that Betty Crackle, wretched woman. She was so careless. What can we possibly do with three empty bowls?"
"I think I know what to do with them," said Septimus slowly.
Aunt Zelda looked at him with new respect. "Do you?" she asked.