"I put it in. Remember when you got fired and you wouldn't take your pen? Well, I kept it. And that's why I kept it. There are no rules to say you have to be a serving scribe to go into the Pot. I looked it up specially. All that matters is your pen goes in. So that's what I did. I put it in."
Beetle was dumbfounded. "But why?"
"Because you deserve to be Chief Hermetic Scribe. Because, Beet, you are the best. And because you saved the Manuscriptorium. You risked your life to do that. Who else could be Chief now? No one, Beet, that's who. No one but you."
Beetle shook his head. Things like this did not happen.
"Come on, Beet. Marcia's sent me to fetch you for your Induction. She's got the Cryptic Codex ready. And the Seals of Office. Everyone's waiting for you. Come on."
"Ah . . ." Slowly Beetle was beginning to believe Foxy. He was aware that he had just crossed over one of those rare watersheds. His life a few minutes ago bore no resemblance to his life now. It was a total turnaround. He felt stunned.
"Beetle . . . are you all right?" Foxy was beginning to be concerned.
Beetle nodded and a wave of happiness suddenly washed over him. "Yeah, Foxo," he said. "I am. I am very all right."
The Big Freeze came in fast. It was rare for it to begin on the MidWinter Feast Day but everyone in the Castle welcomed the blanket of white, covering all traces of the Darke Domaine, turning the Castle into a Magykal place once more. Even those who had lost family and friends - and there were more than a few - welcomed it; the silence of the snow felt right.
Walking to the Palace that evening, Septimus met Simon going the same way.
"Hi," Septimus said, a little awkwardly. "No Lucy?"
Simon smiled tentatively. "She'll be along later. Gone to collect her Mum and Dad. They're okay, but her Mum's making a fuss."
"Ah."
They walked through the Palace Gate and headed for the Palace. Breaking the rather uncomfortable silence, Septimus said, "I wanted to say thank you."
Simon looked at his brother. "What for?" he asked, puzzled.
"For saving me. In the river."
"Oh. Oh well. I owed you."
"Yeah. Well. And I'm sorry I didn't listen about the Paired Code."
Simon shrugged. "Why should you? Stuff's happened. And I'm sorry too."
"Yeah. I know."
Simon turned to Septimus. "Quits?" he asked, smiling.
"Quits," Septimus smiled back.
Simon put his arm around his brother's shoulders - noticing that he was very nearly the same height - and together they made their way up to the Palace, leaving behind them a trail of two pairs of footprints breaking through the frosty covering that coated the blanket of snow.
That night the Palace Ballroom was ablaze with light and - for the first time for many, many years - full of people. Even Milo, Jenna's father, was there, having arrived back from a voyage a little late for her birthday, as ever. At either end of the table, at Jenna's insistence, sat Sarah and Silas. When they had first moved into the Palace, Sarah and Silas had sometimes taken those seats as a joke, with Jenna perched uncomfortably somewhere in between, but now the long table between them was full of people, laughter and conversation.
At Sarah's end of the table sat Milo, his red and gold silk robes shimmering in the candlelight while he regaled her with the details of his latest voyage. Opposite Milo was the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, who was, naturally, seated next to the Chief Hermetic Scribe. Sarah had insisted that Jenna sit next to her father, but she made a point of talking mainly to Septimus, who was placed next to her, just across the table from Beetle. Septimus looked over at his friend, resplendent in his new robes, and saw how well they suited him. Already Beetle seemed at ease in the heavy dark blue silk with the sleeves hemmed with gold, the colors echoing his Admiral's jacket which, Septimus noticed, he still wore underneath. Beetle had a glow of happiness about him that Septimus had never noticed before - it was good to see.
A burst of raucous laughter came from Silas's end of the table, where Nicko was sitting with Rupert, Maggie and Foxy. Nicko was making seagull noises. Toward the middle of the table Snorri and her mother sat quietly talking, while Ullr lay on guard beside them. Every now and then Snorri glanced disapprovingly at Nicko. Nicko did not seem to notice.
Next to Septimus was Simon. Simon's attention was mainly taken up by Lucy, Gringe and Mrs. Gringe, who were talking about the wedding - or rather listening to Lucy talking about it. Occasionally Simon glanced down to a small wooden box sitting on his lap and smiled, his green eyes - unclouded for the first time in four years - gleaming in the candlelight. Written on the box was the word "Sleuth." It was a thank-you present from Marcia and it meant more to Simon than any present he had ever received.
Igor, with Matt and Marcus and his new employee, Marissa, were in deep conversation with Wolf Boy and Aunt Zelda.
Jenna, who was sitting on the other side of Septimus, nudged him. "Look at Wolf Boy. Without his long hair, don't you think he'd look just like Matt and Marcus?"
"Matt and Marcus?"
"From Gothyk Grotto. Look."
"Almost identical. That is so weird."
"They sound the same too, you know. Do you know anything about Wolf Boy's family, Sep? Does Wolf Boy know anything?"
"Never said anything to me. It was the Young Army way, Jen. I never knew I had a family until I bumped into the bunch of you." Septimus grinned.
"Bit of a shock, I bet." Jenna smiled back.
"Yeah . . ." Septimus did not often think about how he might never have known who he truly was but right then, among his friends and family, a feeling akin to terror passed over him as he thought how different life might have been if Marcia had not rescued him from the snow only four years ago. He looked at Wolf Boy and realized that he had never found his family - surely he must have one?
"Tomorrow I shall go and ask to look at the Young Army records. There might be something in there about 409. You never know."
Jenna smiled - she'd just remembered something. She took a small present out from her pocket. "Happy birthday, Sep. It's a little late but we've been a bit busy recently."
"Hey, thanks, Jen. I got you something too. Happy birthday."
"Oh, Sep, thank you, that's lovely."
"You haven't seen it yet."
Jenna ripped open her present to reveal a very small and very pink crown encrusted with glass beads, sporting trailing ribbons and a pink fur trim. She burst out laughing. "That is so silly, Sep." She put the crown on and tied its pink ribbons under her chin. "There, that makes me Queen now. Open yours."
Septimus ripped open the red paper and extracted the set of Gragull teeth.
"Brilliant, Jen!" He put them in and the two yellowing canines slipped neatly over his lower lip. In the light of the candles Septimus looked so realistic that when Marcia finally finished her conversation with Beetle and turned to Septimus to ask him something, she screamed.
Queen and Gragull spent the rest of the evening fooling around opposite the two great dignitaries of the Castle - the ExtraOrdinary Wizard and the Chief Hermetic Scribe. Jenna felt indescribably happy. She had her old Septimus back and - as another burst of laughter and seagull noises erupted - her old Nicko too.
In the shadows two ghosts looked on contentedly.
"Thank you, Septimus," Alther had said, when asked to join the party at the table, "but I'd just like to sit quietly and be with my Alice. You Living, you're a noisy bunch."
And they were. All night long.
As the sun rose the windows to the ballroom were flung open. The party climbed out into the snow and made their way down to the Palace Landing Stage. A lone ghost saw their approach and slipped away onto the trading barge that was moored at the Landing Stage, ready to leave before the Big Freeze began to ice up the river. The ghost of Olaf Snorrelssen wafted down into the cherry-wood cabin that, long ago, he had made for his wife, Alfrun. He sat waiting for his wife and daughter to arrive, as he knew they surely would, and smiled. He was home at last.
But the party had not come to say good-bye to Snorri and her mother, who were not leaving until the next day. They had come to bid a final farewell to Jillie Djinn, who lay silent and snow-clad in her Leaving Boat, ready to be cast adrift to float down to the sea on the outgoing tide.
As they watched the Leaving Boat drift down the river, a rich blue silk banner fluttering from its flagstaff, Jenna turned to Beetle.