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Septimus pushed open the broom cupboard door and warily peered out He waited until a s the weather had wandered past, and then he and Beetle crept out As Marcia&039;s Apprentice, Septiht to be in the Wizard Tower broole of curious Wizards discussing endless reasons why the ExtraOrdinary Wizard&039;s Apprentice ht choose to be there

"Come on, Beetle," said Septimus

Beetle did not reply He was rooted to the spot, staring at the multicolored floor "It wrote ruff tones into an excited high-pitched squeak "The floor wrote my nameit said, WELCOME, BEETLE That is so weird"

"Oh, it always does that," said Septi how amazed he had been when it had first happened to him

"And now it says, WELCOME, PRINCESS Is she co here, Sep? Is she really?" Beetle had often seen Jenna walking along Wizard Way but he never drea her

"Who, Jenna? I shouldn&039;t think so, Beetle She only just went houn to swing open and to Beetle&039;s astonishht For a moment Septimus was surprised too, not to see Jennawho now had the password to the Tower and could coo as she pleasedbut at the hot suotten that outside the Ice Tunnels, the sky was blue and the sun was shining

"Hello, Sep," said Jenna "Can you go and see Mum? I told her you were back safely but she says she wants to see you with her own eyes"

" &039;Course I will, Jen But I&039;ve got some stuff to do first Simon is here"

"Simonis here?"

"Well, not here He&039;she&039;s down there" Septimus pointed doard

Jenna looked puzzled "What, under the floor?"

Septimus lowered his voice "There are Ice Tunnels under the Castle, Jen He&039;s in the "Don&039;t be daft, Sep It&039;s summer There&039;s no ice in summer"

"Shh," hushed Septimus "We don&039;t want anyone else to hear" He s their footsteps "Good ood , Apprentice," came the chorused reply

Septimus waited until the Wizards had wandered out into the sunshine "And that&039;s not all, Jen," he said "It&039;s true, Siot the Flyte CharmI&039;ve seen it He left it in the Herot it too, but his belt Transformed into a snake and"

"Ice tunnelsthe Her in disbelief "Sep, what on earth have you been doing? You only went to get a copy of Draxx"

"Yes, well, I s just sort ofhappened"

Beetle shifted about self-consciously He felt like a fish out of water standing in the Wizard Tower next to the Princess Not that she had noticed him of course And his best friend, Sep, was suddenly a different person, no longer someone you could muck about with and squirt FizzFroot out of your nose at

"Oh, hello, Beetle," said Jenna, much to Beetle&039;s amazement