Septimus Heap, Book Six_ Darke - Angie Sage [50]
It was a relatively easy matter to Call Out all the Wizard Tower Wizards. The Tower had an extremely ancient Magykal intercom system that no one understood anymore, but which still worked—although Marcia did not dare use it too often. A fine spiderlike web of Magykal threads connected all the private rooms and public spaces in the Tower. The control point was a tiny circle of lapis lazuli set high up in the wall beside the Wizard Tower doors. Beetle watched Marcia ball her right hand into a fist and then throw it open, letting go a well-aimed stream of Magykal purple that hit the center of the circle, whereupon a wafer of paper-thin lapis detached itself and floated down into Marcia’s outstretched hands. Marcia pressed the flimsy circle of blue into her left palm. Then she held her hand up to her mouth and addressed her palm in an oddly flat monotone.
“Calling all Wizards, Calling all Wizards. This is a non-optional Call Out. Please make your way immediately, I repeat, immediately, to the Great Hall.”
Marcia’s monotone sounded in every room in the Wizard Tower, as loud and undistorted as though she were there in person—much to the dismay of one elderly Wizard taking a bath.
The effect was immediate. The silver spiral stairs slowed to steady mode—a setting that allowed easy access for all—and a few seconds later, Beetle saw the blue cloaks of the first Wizards descending.
Wizards and Apprentices gathered in the Hall—the Wizards grumbling that the ExtraOrdinary Wizard had chosen to do a Call Out practice just as they were about to have tea, the Apprentices chattering with excitement. Beetle kept an eye on the stairs for Septimus, but although plenty of green robes were mixed in with the blue, his was not among them.
The last Wizard stepped off the stairs and Marcia addressed the crowd. “This is not a Call Out practice,” she said. “This is the real thing.”
A surprised murmur greeted her announcement.
“All Wizards are required to form a Cordon around the Palace within the next half hour. I intend to put the Palace into Quarantine as soon as possible.”
A collective gasp of shock echoed through the Great Hall, and the lights inside the Tower—which, if there was nothing else to do, reflected the Wizards’ collective feelings—turned a slightly surprised pink.
Marcia continued. “To that effect I am asking you to exit the Tower with Mr. Beetle. En route to the Palace you will provide backup to Mr. Beetle while he Calls Out the Manuscriptorium Scribes.”
It was Beetle’s turn to look shocked.
Marcia continued. “You will then proceed to the Palace Gate and assemble there silently please. I must impress the need for absolute silence upon you all. It is imperative that our target in the Palace does not realize what is happening. Understood?”
A murmur of assent ran through the Hall.
“Raise your arm, Beetle, so that they all know who you are.”
Beetle obeyed, thinking that it was pretty easy to see who he was, as he was the only one wearing an Admiral’s jacket. But right then—after learning that Merrin had been living in the Palace for nearly two years and Silas Heap had not noticed—Marcia had a poor opinion of the observational powers of the average Ordinary Wizard. She was taking no chances.
“Beetle, I now declare you to be my Call Out Emissary,” Marcia said rather formally. From her ExtraOrdinary Wizard belt she took a tiny scroll tied in a wisp of purple ribbon and gave it to Beetle.
The scroll lay in Beetle’s palm, surprisingly heavy for its size.
“Gosh . . .” he said.
“The scroll is a twice-tap,” Marcia informed him. “Make sure you hold it at arm’s length when it is Enlarging, as they can get a bit hot. Once it’s full size, all you have to do is read out what it says. Emissary scrolls are reasonably intelligent, so this one should respond to most things Miss Djinn throws at you. I have given you the adversarial model.” Marcia sighed. “I suspect you will need it.”
Beetle suspected he would too.
“Also Beetle, although the Chief Hermetic Scribe is obliged to let all Indentured Scribes go on