Colin Well: The Wizard

Chapter 14-Courtesy of the Queen

        The children raced along. In the distance, at the end of the street, they could see the long building of which was the Palace.
        The snow that had recently fallen crunched beneath their feet as they made their way. Finally, they reached the Palace Wall. Colin looked at Marston.
        "There's a way in right near here, I know. It close. Oh, bother," Marston mumbled.
        "What's wrong?" Eliza asked. Marston pointed down the Palace Wall. Near the end was a gate that led in, but the gate's iron bar doors were swung and locked shut.
        "We'll just have to go to the front. Hurry," said Colin.
        A few minutes later, the trio was racing up the Palace front lawn. Marston fell up the stairs. Embarrassed by the way Eliza looked at him, he opened the doors without looking at anyone.
        Inside, Marston hastily closed the doors and turned around. The Palace was freezing. Colin thought that it might be a little warmer than the winter chill, but it might have even been colder.
        "Where do you think she is?" Eliza asked, stepping forward.
        "We'll have to call out for her. Everyone start looking," Colin said.

While the children yelled "Queen Jenna!", echoing it around the Palace, Sarah Heap was upstairs, knitting. She found out yesterday when her husband, Silas had come home, that she wasn't the best knitter. He had come to find her knitting a sweater. Silas had asked who it was for—Silas thought maybe for their grandson, William.
        Sarah told him that no, it wasn't for anyone. It was for her duck, of course. Sarah had had a pet duck for some years now. The duck's name was Ethel.
        Silas had laughed when he saw that Sarah had forgotten to put in holes for Ethel's wings to go through.
        So, as Sarah sat in her chair by the fire in her sitting room, knitting yet another sweater for her duck—this time with holes for Ethel's wings—she heard shouting.
        It sounded as if they were children. Then Sarah listened closely and heard that they were calling for Jenna. Getting up, duck tucked under her arm, she walked out of the room towards the shouts.

Downstairs, the children were getting nowhere. They hadn't found Jenna, and they still hadn't even searched the upper floors.
        Colin watched as a woman with wild straw-colored hair came hurtling down the stairs with something in her arm. Colin looked closer and realized it was a duck.
        The woman, who looked much like Septimus Heap, walked up to him. "Just what do you think you're doing? Shouting out in the Palace?"
        "That's exactly what we're doing. Do you know where Queen Jenna is? We need her. It's urgent,' Colin said, beginning to worry. Eliza and Marston made their way over to Colin and Sarah.
        "She's in the Palace somewhere. Oh, look. Here she comes now," said Sarah, pointing. Jenna had just came through a door along the long hallway—called the Long Walk, running the length of the Palace.
        "Queen Jenna! Please, we need your help," Eliza pleaded.
        Jenna smiled. "Help" was a word that she could never resist. "What is it?"
        "The Knight. It's on its way to the Castle soon. We need to get the Port to stop it," Marston explained.
        "And we were wondering how you got to the Port that one night you saves Eliza and I," added Colin.
        "Oh. Mum, can you please give us a moment. I'm going to—to do something," Jenna said to her adoptive mother, Sarah.
        Sarah understood. She nodded and walked back to her sitting room.
        "Please follow me." Jenna turned and began walking east down the Long Walk.
        Soon, they passed through a door that led to a flight of steps. After a few minutes, Colin looked out a window on the winding steps and realized that they were in one of the turrets. Abruptly, Jenna stopped. She looked at the wall opposite a window. From inside her robes, she withdrew a gold key with a large green stone set into its bow. The air was so cold in the turret that Colin could see his breath misting as he watched Jenna. Surprising him, she pushed the key into what appeared to be a blank wall.
        "Get back!" she told the children as a thud sounded. "This way."
        Colin tried to ask her what she was doing when he saw her pass through the wall. His sentence turned into a splutter as he heard Jenna's voice telling them to do the same as she did, sticking her hand back through the wall. Eliza went first, grabbing her hand. She reached out for Marston's, about to sink through the wall as if it wasn't there. Marston shrugged at Colin and grabbed her hand. Shaking his head, Colin disappeared through the wall, clutching Marston's hand.
        He emerged into a small, but cozy room. It had a fireplace with red plush sofas surrounding it. On the opposite wall, Colin noticed, was a small cupboard, just like in the Keeper's Cottage. The children let go of each other's hands. Jenna walked silently across the threadbare carpet to the cupboard, completely ignoring the ghost of her real mother, Cerys, who was sitting by the fire. She only would reveal herself to her daughter, not the children who seemed to be up to no good, she thought.
        As Colin got closer to the cupboard, he noticed that it even read Unstable Potions and Partikular Poisons. He gasped. Maybe they could even travel to Keeper's Cottage. But he cleared his mind of that. He had to go to the Port to stop the Captain.
        Jenna had only recently discovered that she could travel from here to the Port Palace and back. She thought that she could only access the Port Palace from the Port. But she was wrong. If she moved the drawer in the cupboard just right, she would end up in the Port Palace. But it had to be perfectly. Once she had ended up in Keeper's Cottage when Marwick wasn't there. It was filled with Marsh Brownies and she had had to suppress a scream as she hurriedly closed the door, and went back to the Palace.
        But now, she thought, she was capable of doing it correctly on the first try. "Okay. Nows the hard part," she said. "We all have to fit in the cupboard."
        Colin almost laughed. How were they all supposed to fit in there? But Queen Jenna led Eliza into the cupboard, followed by Marston. Colin had no choice but to follow suit. He stepped, closing the door behind him on Jenna's instructions. Everything was super cramped. Colin was pressed up against Marston and Marston was pushed into Eliza. Colin watched through a gap in his friends as Jenna reached down to a drawer near the bottom of the cupboard. She opened the drawer of slightly. She stood up and waited a moment.
        Finally she said, "Okay, let's go." She wriggles to the front of the group and pushed open the flimsy door. Outside, the children heard Jenna gasp. Colin peered out the door. He had to suppress frustration. They were in Keeper's Cottage. Colin went back inside, followed by Jenna. She pushed to the front and this time, she hoped, she moved the drawer outwards the right way. She stood up waiting, and went out.
        The trio of children followed her. They were in a dim room. They had just emerged from an identical cupboard by a fireplace that was magnificent, but empty. Huge carved timbers rose up to the ceiling. There was no fire burning and the room was cold. The only light came from a set of candles that were set on a wooden table. The room was small with a light sofa by the fire. A couple doors led off in opposite directions.
        "Welcome to my Port Palace," Jenna said happily, even though Colin thought this was most definitely not a happy place. It seemed very unwelcoming.
        Colin knew they were at the Port. The air smelled salty and even from deep inside the Port Palace, the screech of gulls could be heard distantly. Colin shivered. He wondered what his step-father, Barnaby, had done when he found out that he was gone. Probably, Colin thought, he hadn't lifted a finger to find Colin. But in the past few days, Colin had done more than he had ever done in his entire life. He looked over at Eliza and Marston. Right now, he was so glad that he had met both of them. They had each made his life so much better. Colin held back tears. He didn't know why he was about to cry, it was ridiculous, he thought.
        "If you guys help me with door, you'll soon be out in the Port," said Jenna, pointing to a large gold-leaf door opposite the fireplace.
        Colin and Eliza hurried over to help the Queen while Marston stood looking at paneling on the wall. He held up his hands and placed them lightly on the wood, closing his eyes in concentration. Colin looked over and saw him. Making sure that Jenna and Eliza could heave open the door, he paced over to Marston and stood beside him. Marston sensed Colin's presence and opened his eyes.
        "There's something back behind the paneling. If I could just see. . ." Marston trailed off.
        Colin stepped up to the paneling, and moving Marston out of the way, he placed his hands on the door. He didn't expect to Feel anything since he was trained to do that, but suddenly Colin shivered and there was a shifting deep inside the wood paneling. Colin opened his eyes and, just in time, he stepped back. The paneling swung open, revealing a black doorway. Stale air wafted up to Colin and Marston began doubling over in a fit of coughs. Something in the darkness wasn't good.
        Marston stood up and peered into the darkness. "How—how did—" Marston coughed a few times. "How did you do that?"
        Colin shook his head. "I'm not sure. It just. . .happened."
        A loud thud signaled that Jenna and Eliza had pulled open the gold leaf door. Queen Jenna quickly hurried over to them and hastily, she shoved the secret paneling door shut.
        "Keep out of there. It's very dangerous. I'm not sure what foul creatures lurk in the darkness," she said gravely.
        "What is it?" Eliza asked.
        "It is called Smugglers' Bolt. It's a long tunnel that leads all the way to the Castle. But we mustn't be around it too much. Who knows what might come out of there," explained Jenna.
        "Oh. . ." Colin began wondering what could possibly be so bad when Marston disrupted his thoughts.
        "You got the door open! Is this really how you got here?" Marston walked over to the gold leaf door. It hung open, revealing a beautiful but sacred-looking scene—one, Colin thought, that was perfect for a Queen like Jenna.
        Queen Jenna stepped in front of Marston. "Follow me, please." They walked through the doorway into a wide, candle-lit passageway. It was called the cross passage by Jenna, being the room between the Queen's Way and the room they had just exited. Some candles sat on a table, dripping wax. In front of them was a boring wooden screen that housed two small doors.  They had just come out of a dark wood screen, with symbols and initials carved into it.
        "Quickly, we do not want to lose the Knight," said Queen Jenna. She set off across the passageway to a wide wooden door. Swiftly, Queen Jenna unlocked it—it having a lock on both sides of the door. She held the door open, motioning for the children to step out. They walked out into a red and gold tiled alleyway lit by candles in golden holders. As Queen Jenna locked the door, she set off in front of them, leading them away down the alley.
        Their footsteps quiet on the smooth mosaic, the Queen led them through a winding hall, known as the Queen's Way. Colin had no idea which direction they were heading after many turns. On and on they went. Finally, Queen Jenna led them to a brick wall that formed a dead end. Colin walked, confused. It was just a wall. Then he remembered the amazing way the Queen had made the bricks dissappear, moving her hand over them. Just as Colin knew she would, Queen Jenna placed her hand on the old bricks. They shimmered as if on a hazy day and they evaporated, leaving behind an archway that reared up to a point. The sudden noise of the busy Port hit Colin like train after the quiet stillness of the Queen's Way. Everyone was chattering and there were dogs barking. Merchants shouted out to passersby. Colin pushed away the sounds. He had to focus.
        None of this felt like home. The Port had never felt like his home. It was too different from anything that felt right to him. The Castle felt extremely hospitable compared to the brutal ways of the Port. But Colin never felt satisfied anywhere he went. He always had the nagging feeling of the loss of his mother. She had just disappeared, much like the bricks to the Queen's Way. But as Colin watched as Queen Jenna replace the bricks as they phased back, he knew with a sinking feeling that, unlike the bricks, his mother would never come back. She was gone.
        As Colin stared sadly at the open sea, Jenna looked around worriedly. She hoped that no one would recognize her. Suddenly, she had an idea. It may not have been the best, but Jenna did it anyway. From under her red fur-lined cloak, she removed a black heavy cloak. It was her Witch's Cloak that she had received when she was younger. Knowing that it might attract just as much attention as her Queen robes, she threw it over herself.
        Jenna did not want to be noticed by anyone in the Port. Especially since she was Queen.
        Colin looked up. "Thank you so much, Your Majesty. How do we repay you?"
        "Oh, don't start that again. If you want to repay me, you can start by finding the Knight. Now, go!" Jenna shouted as loudly as she dared. Colin understood he nodded. Then, nodding to Marston and Eliza, the children set off at a run across the harbor front. They had to find the ship somewhere.

After a while, Marston stopped his friends. They were at the last dock that any ship as big as the Knight could be at.
        "Where do you think it is?" Eliza asked.
        "It's. . .I don't know," admitted Marston. But what the children didn't know was that only a few yards away from them, the huge black ship was bobbing silently in the water. Suddenly, a movement in the air in the corner of of Colin's eye caught his attention. Although the Maximum UnSeen that disguised the Knight was powerful, the creator hadn't Hidden the people on it very well. Anyone above deck would be seen if they moved too quickly.
        Colin had an idea. "Eliza, do you have another UnSeen like the one you gave me?"
        "Well, yeah. I got them at an old store. I have a couple more," Eliza responded.
        Colin smiled. "Give one to Marston. We're all going to get on the Knight."
        Colin knew that when two or more people used the same UnSeen, they could see each other. That's why ten minutes later, Colin had found the rope ladder and they were up on deck. In no time at all, the ship was pulling out of the Port, heading for the Castle.