#sepheapweek

“Are you okay?” She cried and ran to his side, leaving her basket of herbs behind.

The boy jumped at her voice and sat up with a start. He spotted her and his eyes, Sarah noted their light green shade, practically bulged out of his skull before his face flushed as red as the flowers on the tallest forest branches.

“I’m fine! Just amazed I made it out of there,” the boy gave an awkward laugh that turned into a coughing fit halfway through.

“Here,” Sarah knelt down beside him. “I’m training to be a healer, do you want me to take a look at, er, well-” Sarah gestured to his back and felt a bit of heat run up to her ears, all she could think about was the dumbfounded look that crossed his face when he saw her for the first time.

“Oh! I’m fine really! I’m like a spring, I can fall and jump right back up again.” The boy bounced a bit to illustrate his point. He flinched at the motion and clapped a hand to his head. It was then when the pair noticed he was bleeding from his forearm.

“Would you look at that,” the boy said faintly as he inspected the gash on his arm.

“Let me see it,” Sarah said holding a hand out. He gave his arm over to her without a second thought. Sarah pulled gently on the sleeve of his robe, he hissed softly where the already dried blood tugged at his skin. Sarah tutted to herself, a habit she had picked up from Galen over the past few months with her.

“I think we should take you to the cabin where we can clean and dress that wound. What were you doing that made you distracted enough to fall down a cliff?” Sarah couldn’t help asking out of pure curiousity.

The boy smiled sheepishly and tugged at his sleeve lightly.

“I was running from a pack of wolverines.”

Sarah jumped and glanced back up at the high cliff. “Did you loose them?”

“I think so? I couldn’t hear them for the last minute or so before I fell. I was looking over my shoulder to see if they were still behind me when the ground dropped out from below my feet.” He gave a half hearted chuckle, as if that solved everything. Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head. New people in the forest were always trouble. The girl moved to pick up her basket muttering a quiet Safecharm under her breath. Turning back to the boy Sarah muttered one of the few spells she knew under her breath, “Reveal Intention.”

Nothing. The boy remained the same under her gaze.

“What are you looking at?”

Sarah jumped when he spoke and it knocked her out of the spell.

“I, ah, what’s your name?” Sarah asked, moving back toward him.

“I’m Silas Heap. You?”

“Sarah,” was her curt reply. Heap, Heap why did she know that name?

“Alright, Sarah. It is very nice to meet you,” Silas held out a hand from his spot on the forest floor. He was either asking her for help standing or offering to shake her hand. Sarah didn’t take it, not yet.

“What are you doing all alone in the forest?” Suspicion leaked into her voice like oil on water.

“Oh, I’m looking for my Dad,” Silas smiled his sheepish grin and dropped his hand to his lap.

“Your dad’s out here? Where?”

“I don’t actually know,” Silas muttered like he knew how ridiculous it sounded.

“You don’t have the foggiest idea?” Sarah asked letting her tone insinuate the absurdity of the statement. Little did she know that wasn’t the oddest part.

“Well, no. I don’t, but I do know he’s a tree!” Silas said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, not realizing how mad he sounded. Sarah didn’t respond, the silence drew out between the pair.

Sarah laughed stiffly, trying to break the tension, and Silas’s face flushed a vibrant red.

“Look,” Sarah pushed passed the apprehension, her voice filling with concern. “I think you may have hit your head a tad harder than we thought. How about I take you to where I’m staying. I’m apprenticed to the medicine woman, Galen. She can take a look at your head while patching up your arm, okay?”  

“Why are you helping me?” Silas asked faintly, his eyes seemed to have a difficult time focusing.

Sarah shrugged. “I’m her apprentice, it’s what I’m supposed to do. Now, can you stand? I’ll help.”

Silas slung an arm over her shoulders and Sarah helped him stand, staggering slightly under his height. She flipped some hair out her face noticing a spot of red tinging his straw colored hair.

“So, Silas, where are you from?”

“You are one lucky young man,” Galen commented. She had spent the better half of the past thirty minutes cleaning and wrapping the cut on Silas’s arm then inspecting his head for further injury.

Silas chuckled lightly and Sarah felt herself inherently relax from her position on Galen’s right.

“I don’t believe you will have any long lasting ill effects but don’t go about any hard physical activity for the next week. And I demand you stay the night here so I can make sure you wake in the morning,” Galen said with her forceful ‘don’t test me’ tone. Silas sighed.

“Considering that it’s already dark outside and I don’t really want to be tracked down by those wolverines, I’ll stick around,” He gazed out the window watching the snow fall.

Sarah felt a rush of warmth to her cheeks as he said he’d stay. What was wrong with her? One attractive boy came into her life and suddenly she was acting like a lovestruck teenage fool.

“I’ll make some tea!” Galen stood suddenly, taking her medicinal basket with her.

“Let me help you clean up,” Sarah offered, making to stand.

“I am perfectly capable, thank you Sarah. Besides,” Galen continued in an undertone. “I think you’re wanted here.” The woman winked and Sarah felt her cheeks burn like the fire in the grate. She turned and plopped herself down next to Silas, refusing to look him in the eye.

“So,” she said too loudly. “You said you were from the Castle earlier. What do you do there?”

“I’m actually the Extra-Ordinary apprentice.”

Sarah nearly gave herself whiplash when her head spun to look at him.  

“You’re the new apprentice?” Sarah couldn’t stop herself from asking.  Silas smiled bashfully as he responded.

“You’ve heard of me?”

Sarah shrugged.

“As I was leaving for Galen’s I heard talk of a new Extra-Ordinary Apprentice. The rumors said he was a seventh son from the Ramblings. I didn’t-”

“You didn’t expect it to be me?” Silas muttered. Sarah glanced over to see him staring pensively into the fire.

“I just mean, well, wizards-especially ones who spend so much time in the stuffy tower-tend to be,” Sarah searched for the right words. “They’re more uptight. There’s just something about that environment. It’s a bunch of old farts stewing in their magykal fumes.”

Silas interrupted her with a snort.

“What!” Sarah demanded.

“Nothing, nothing!” he reassured her. “You’re right. They are uptight.” Sarah gave him a soft smile.

“You are just so different from what I picture of the Wizard Tower. I mean, you’re sweet and funny and unexpected and cute and-” Sarah slammed her mouth closed when she realized what she’d said. She turned slowly to find Silas staring into the fire, his eyes wide and his lips pressed together and his cheeks a deep red in the dim light. Sarah looked back to the hearth, she pulled her legs into her chest and hoped he wouldn’t think she was too forward.

“I think you’re pretty great too,” came Silas’s flustered response. Sarah froze. Her heart pounded in her chest and her breath felt short and hard to catch. She couldn’t help wanting to keep him here, beside her.

“Sarah?”

“Yes?”

“Tell me about your family.”

She didn’t even bother keeping the smile from her face.

The next morning, Silas woke up on a hard, unexpected, wooden floor. He was lying face to face next to the cute girl, Sarah, wrapped in a pile of blankets. Her mouth was open and her straw colored hair, the same shade as his own, fell over her face. The morning light streaming in from the window fell over her and Silas felt his heart skip in his chest. Absently, he raised a hand to brush a bit of hair back from her face. She shifted slightly at his touch and he pulled back before he woke her. He shook himself slightly, it was high time he head back to the Castle before Alther sent out a search party for him.

Silas gently detangled himself from the blankets. He took one last longing look at the girl before he slipped into the next room. He grabbed his winter cloak from where it lay on a dull armchair. He was fastening it around his shoulders when,

“Leaving before breakfast is awfully rude you know.”

Silas swore he jumped a mile high. He turned around to find the healing woman, Galen, standing in the doorway between him and the exit hatch. Silas blushed furiously and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, an old nervous habit he had trouble breaking.

“I’m sorry, I don’t aim to be impolite. I was expected back yesterday before dark and I figure my mentor is out of his mind with worry by now. ”

Galen laughed and Silas froze, unsure what it meant, but the old woman cracked a smile and said, “Go ahead and head home and be sure to tell Alther hello for me.” She stepped out of the way and Silas sidled past her still feeling like a traitor for leaving so early.

“I expect to be seeing you back around here before too long, Mister Heap.”

Galen’s words followed Silas all the way back to the Castle.

A month later, Sarah found herself wandering around the Trader’s Market for the first bazaar of spring. Galen had sent Sarah here on her own with a long list of foreign ingredients to retrieve. Sarah had one last ingredient she was having trouble tracking down, ‘bottled essence of Foryx’ was scribbled next to ‘retrieve from E.O.W.’ Sarah, for the life of her, could not figure out what E.O.W. meant. Nor essence of Foryx either for that matter.

The girl was gearing up to ask the market manager just what E.O.W. stood for when she saw him and she was frozen in place. He was across the market. She could see him through a booth.

“Silas,” she breathed his name without realizing it. She was secretly hoping she would run into him while she was in town.

“No, dear. I’m Merriam, remember?” Sarah glanced at the merchant in front of her, holding a bottle of southern herbs out for Sarah to take.

“Right,” Sarah said automatically. She grabbed the bag without looking and she offered a hurried, “Thank you!” Before she ran off down the aisle.

Sarah chased after Silas as he walked down the other lane. Should she stop him? What would she even say to him?

“Hi. Nice to see you again after you left without saying anything.”

“Hello, cute boy!”

“What’s up, handsome?”

Sarah shook the laughable suggestions out of her mind. Wait, where did he go? Oh no he was turning her way!

Sarah flattened her back against a pole and squeezed her groceries to her chest. She could do this. All it took was a simple, “Hello!” She could do that.

Sarah took a deep, steadying breath and turned back into the street and rammed right into the boy.

Before Sarah even registered what had happened, Silas was steadying her with his hands on her shoulders.

“Sarah!” Silas practically yelled her name in his excitement over seeing her again.

“Hello, cute handsome!” Sarah replied. She could feel the blood rush to her face as soon as the words left her mouth. She shoved her face into her hands, ignoring the bags that slid down her arms. Silas froze, unsure how to react. After a second, he smiled and eased Sarah’s hands down from her face.

“Hello, to you too.”

His gentle smile melted her heart. She took a second to look at him, really look at him, for the first time that day. He was no different from that day they met, well, his hair was a tad longer and he was wearing long, green apprentice robes. Sarah couldn’t help thinking how good he looked in them, it suited him.

“We have to stop running into each other,” Silas joked.

“It’s not my fault you’re like a magnet,” Sarah muttered, still hyper aware that his hand’s hadn’t left her shoulders. Silas gave her a puzzled look.

“You’re attractive,” Sarah stammered out. Silas’s eyes grew wide before he burst out laughing. His laugh was loud and contagious, Sarah couldn’t help smiling.

“Hey, Heap! You and your… Friend are blocking my stall,” the merchant they were standing in front of griped.

“Sorry, sorry,”   Silas slid an arm around Sarah’s shoulders and started walking down the aisle she had come from.

“What are you doing here?” Silas asked. His hand trembled slightly on her shoulder and Sarah took heart in knowing he was probably just as nervous about her as she was about him.

“Galen sent me with a list but I’m having trouble finding the last item.” Sarah showed the paper to the boy. He took it and looked over the ingredients listed.

“Hmm,” Silas took his arm back from Sarah to dig around in his tunic. Sarah missed his warmth immediately. He pulled a vial filled with a blue liquid out of a deep pocket and presented it to her.

“One essence of Foryx, for a pretty lady.” Sarah smiled as she took the bottle from him.

“How do you have this?” Sarah asked suspiciously.

“‘E-O-W’ stands for ‘Extra-Ordinary Wizard, didn’t you know?”

Sarah shook her head.

“Alther told me to bring it. I didn’t understand but now something tells me our mentor’s are up to something,” Silas smiled and shook his head and Sarah snorted. Of course Galen wanted Sarah to run into Silas while she was here. The healing woman hardly talked of much else over the past month.

“What else were you here for?” Sarah asked as she tucked the bottle into her bags.

“Hmm?” Sarah looked up to find Silas watching her distractedly. She smiled to herself.

“Surely, you can’t be here just to give me a bottle of some foreign substance. Were you looking for something?”

“Oh, yes, I was! Alther told me to look for a cleaning charm but none of our usual vendor’s have it. I guess I’ll have to look next time.”  Sarah nodded and looked around.

“Well,” she started. “I think I’ve found everything. Do you mind walking me out?”

“Not at all.” Silas offered his arm and she took it, letting herself lean into him. Her heart tapped out a beat in her ears.

“I love the spring market,” Silas said offhandedly. Sarah hummed in agreement.

“It smells like rosemary.”

“It smells like you.” Silas’s arm flexed under her hand as he spoke and Sarah blushed at his compliment. They exited the Trader’s Market and Sarah squinted at the sun. She frowned.

“I should probably head back to Galen’s before the sun begins to set.”

“Oh.” Sarah smiled at his downhearted look.

“I’m glad I ran into you, Silas. I’ll see you around sometime, right?” Without waiting for an answer, and before she ran out of adrenaline,  Sarah stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. Silas’s face lit up like the sun at her touch. She smiled back and turned away, walking down the cobblestone road toward the East gatehouse.

Don’t just let her go! Something screamed at Silas from inside.

“Wait, I think I’m in love with you!” Silas called out to her, holding a hand out. He realized what he’d said and slapped a hand over his mouth, the other was still reaching for her.

Sarah stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned around to reveal a beet red face, matching his.

“What?”

“I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t hear what he whispered but she took in his awkward, gangly figure. He looked flustered just standing in the street being bumped around by customers leaving the Trader’s market. Her heart did a jig in her chest.

“You know, I’ll be back in town in a week for my Mum’s birthday. Would- Do you maybe want to meet for lunch?” she stammered out nervously. Silas nodded, finally taking his hand from his mouth.

“I would like that very much.”

They shared a smile. Sarah swung her bags around her shins. Silas scratched the back of his head.

“I’ll, uh, send you a message rat.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Uh, bye.”

“Goodbye.”

Sarah turned away, feeling like she was walking on air. She practically skipped away from the boy with a smile the size of a crescent moon across her face.

He got to the Manuscriptorium 16 minutes and 7 seconds early, according to his timepiece. He unlocked the door and went in, hearing the familiar ting of the bell above the door. By the time he had gotten to his desk, he had forgotten about the Very Important Notice, so he neglected to see the note he had, indeed, left for himself, reminding him of the date.

The rest of the Scribes arrived on time and they each set to work, copying this, translating that, cataloging the other thing. At about noon, the door slammed open and the imposing figure of Marcia Overstrand, the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, cast a dark shadow across the front of the Manuscriptorium. Foxy, the attendant at the front desk, was used to Marcia’s overly dramatic entrances, so he simply said “Good day. Beetle’s in the back, you can go on and see him” without looking from the crossword puzzle he was doing. Marcia huffed and stormed to the back, leaving the door wide open behind her.

“O. Beetle Beetle, you did not show up to our meeting today!”

Oh, bother, Beetle thought. “I’m terribly sorry, Marcia, but I-”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses. You’ve been the Chief Hermetic Scribe for almost a year now, you aught to take responsibility for your actions.” With that, she turned and strode off. Beetle stood to follow her, as he had remembered what the meeting was about: it had been one year exactly since the death of Jillie Djinn, former Chief Hermetic Scribe, whose ghost was currently occupying a spot on Marcia’s couch, much to Marcia’s chagrin.

He caught up to Marcia on Wizard Way and apologized once again. She said not a word as she continued her strut to the Wizard Tower. Once they got to the door, she finally acknowledged Beetle again.

“I trust you have a plan to persuade Miss Djinn to leave the Tower?”

“Of course. Jillie would never miss an opportunity to lecture the scribes.” He smiled. “And a little bird has told me that Foxy has been doing crossword puzzles on the job.”

Marcia smiled too. “I knew you got that job for a reason. Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” She stepped through the huge doorway and the doors closed behind her with a thump.

Sir Hereward dreaded the royal family meetings. However it was a long standing tradition that no Queen had ever dared to doubt. He had seen his share of them, most of them statistically ending with something- or someone being thrown out of a window. (But don't worry, the young prince was perfectly alright after being thrown out the window by an enraged queen. But that's why they moved the meetings to the small sitting room on the first floor of the palace. It was a lot less...deadly.) He didn't know how exactly she managed, but Queen Etheldredda materialised every 7 years on the day of the family meeting, and stayed there until it ended. Any attempts to remove her failed-even though Septimus was very eager to throw any and every Charm he knew at the ghost. Very eager. He winced, as did the two glaziers behind him who were summoned to the palace for every royal family meeting to repair the damages. The shouting had started. "I don't even know what you are complaining about granddaughter I revived him." They heard Etheldredda hiss. "AFTER DROWING HIM!" Jenna shouted back. "I have only ever tried to do what is best for this family-" "you can't be serious! You did it for yourself, all of it, heck I'm sure you would have loved to drown me!" "Mama, Jenna please-" came Marcellus' softer voice but he was quickly shut down.

The glaziers winced when they saw a figure step close to the window. "It was good work Ted." One said, trying to comfort the other who nodded languishingly. "One of my best work." "I know Ted." The other glazier patted his shoulder comfortingly. Some time passed and this time it was Marcellus and Etheldreddas voices that were heard. "You KILLED my sisters! How could you have-" "now, now, Marcellus this has never been proven as you know." "Yes because you probably drowned everyone that dared to speak against you!" "You know I have HAD IT WITH YOU if you had only been a girl!" Ted looked a lot better now, staring at the window thoughtfully. "You know Gilbert, maybe this time we could go for an obscured glass. Patterns, it's nice. Some privacy." Gilbert nodded thoughtfully. "That's a good idea or...I know! Picture this, a stained glass window, all the colours of the rainbow! We could depict the queens coronation!" Ted nodded eagerly. "Handmade glass...I have a beautiful red I have been wanting to use."