Septimus Heap, Book Six_ Darke - Angie Sage [21]
“I know. You already said. That’s very nice; Jenna enjoys reading. Just put it on the table. Now excuse me, I really must go. You know the way out.” Sarah indicated the doors, which were still thrown wide open.
“The way out?” The woman sounded incredulous. “I am not going out. I have come to see the Princess. Now, my good woman, I will trouble you to announce my presence.”
Sarah spluttered indignantly, but Jenna’s timely arrival stopped any further escalation of hostilities.
“Mum!” she said, rushing in from the Long Walk. “Have you seen my—oh!” Jenna stopped and stared at the tall, imperious woman in the ancient Palace uniform. The old red and gray robes with their gold ribbons gave her the weirdest feeling, transporting her back to the frightening few days she had spent at the Palace in the ghastly Queen Etheldredda’s Time. “Who . . . who are you?” she stammered.
The Bringer of the Book swept down into a deep curtsy, her long, fragile ribbons falling gracefully to the dusty floor.
“Your Grace,” she murmured. “May I offer you my humble congratulations upon your Day of Recognition. I am the Bringer of the Book. I come to you as I came to your mother, and as my mother came to her mother before her, and as her mother came to her mother before her. I come to you to bring you the Book.”
Sarah felt the need to translate. “She’s brought you a book, Jenna. That’s nice, isn’t it? I’ve told her to put it on the table as we’re not opening the presents until this evening.”
The Bringer of the Book rounded on Sarah. “Mistress, I would ask you to hold your tongue. You may return to your duties—whatever they may be.”
“Now look here—” Sarah began. She was stopped by Jenna, who was beginning to understand that something important was going on.
“Mum,” said Jenna. “It’s okay. I think it’s—you know—Princess stuff.” She turned to the woman and spoke in her best Princess voice. “Thank you, Bringer of the Book,” she said. “May I introduce to you my mother, Madam Sarah Heap?”
The Bringer of the Book gave Sarah a small, perfunctory curtsy. “I apologize, Mistress Heap. I assumed from your dress that you were a menial.”
“There’s a lot of work to do around here and someone has to do it,” snapped Sarah. “You can talk to Jenna in my sitting room if you want to go somewhere warm. I’ve just lit the fire.” With that she walked off, head held high, stray wisps of straw-colored hair bouncing crossly as she strode into the Long Walk in search of Silas Heap.
The Bringer of the Book looked disapprovingly at the retreating Sarah. She did not lose the expression when she turned to Jenna. “A sitting room will not be suitable for this important occasion,” she said. “It is traditional for the Presentation to take place in the Throne Room. Perhaps you will be so kind as to lead the way.”
The last time Jenna had been in the Throne Room was five hundred years ago, in Queen Etheldredda’s Time. It did not hold good memories. Before then—or, strictly speaking timewise, after—she had been in the Throne Room only once, and luckily she did not remember it. That was fourteen years ago to the very day, the day that her real mother, Queen Cerys, was shot dead. The idea of going into the Throne Room dismayed her, especially on this day of all days.
“The Throne Room is locked,” Jenna said coolly. “I do not use it.”
For the first time the Bringer of the Book regarded Jenna with something like approval. “Of course you do not use it, Princess. That is exactly how it should be. You have had no need for it until today. But today, the occasion of your fourteenth birthday, is the day of your first official engagement. Traditionally this takes place in the Throne Room—as you know.” The Bringer of the Book smiled at Jenna as though they were in on the same joke—a joke that no one else was clever enough to understand. Jenna had known girls like that at school and she hadn’t liked them. She felt the same way about the Bringer of the Book.
Jenna was about to retort that she didn’t care what the occasion was, she wasn’t going to unlock the Throne Room for anyone