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overheard a disparaging remark that her mother had whispered to her father about the Supreme Custodian. Linda was by then a keen member of the Custodian Youth, who met in the Palace stables every week. At Tell-Tale-Time Linda proudly related what she had heard. She won a much-coveted Tell-Tale badge and when she got home that night her mother was gone. Her father saw the badge and guessed what had happened, but he was too scared to confront his own daughter.
    Linda’s father was relieved when she moved out. She did not tell him that she had been recruited into the spy network and given her own rooms in the Ramblings, but he guessed that something of the sort had happened. Linda’s father finally got his wife out of the dungeon by selling everything he had. They fled to the Port and never saw Linda again.
    Linda was a successful spy. And when some gossip about how the Heaps’ daughter looked very unlike Silas Heap reached her ears, she went with her information to the Supreme Custodian. She immediately was given a room along the corridor from the Heaps and also a crash course in herbs and healing so that she could gain Sarah’s confidence. Linda soon inveigled her way into the Heap household. She put her drawing skills to use and sketched all the children and sent copies of the sketches to the Supreme Custodian. And when she discovered Jenna’s date of birth, she went triumphantly to him with the news. He was convinced that Jenna was the lost Princess and the trap was set.
    For her own protection and as a reward for finding the Princess, Linda was given a new name and some of the best rooms in the Ramblings, overlooking the river. But she did not enjoy them for long. Some months later she was recognized by one of her past victims, and one night as she sat drinking the very pleasant wine that the Supreme Custodian had sent over, she was pushed off her balcony and into the river, where she drowned.
    Linda Lane was not seen again until the night she Appeared on the ghostly barge of Queen Etheldredda, where once again she proved useful to someone who was after Jenna.

A M ESSAGE FROM M ADAM M ARCIA O VERSTRAND , E XTRA O RDINARY W IZARD
    TO ALL IN THE CASTLE
    The reign of the Supreme Custodian is over! The Wizard Tower is back in operation, and most of the Wizards have been Returned . The young Princess has taken her rightful place in the Palace with her adoptive parents, Sarah and Silas Heap. We ask that you respect their privacy as they become used to their new life.

    The Palace Guard has been disbanded. The Young Army has been disbanded. All boys and girls who have lost touch with their families have been settled into the old barracks in family groups, for which we seek caring houseparents. We also seek high-quality Apprenticeships throughout the Castle. Many people of the Castle have spent the past ten years working for the Supreme Custodian, performing tasks that perhaps, now, they are not so proud of. To that end, we are happy to announce the Second-Chance Scheme, the first of which will be many new programs to get the Castle back on track. Anyone may come to see us at any time and will be given new training toward a new profession, no questions asked .

    We do not care what you have done in the past, only what you can do to contribute to a brighter, better future.

THE Wizard Tower
    HOW TO GET THERE: From the Palace follow Wizard Way. Go through the Great Arch and stop for a moment to admire the amazing lapis lazuli facings. Now you are in the Wizard Tower courtyard. Cross the courtyard, ascend the marble steps and wait until the duty Wizard answers. Do not bang on the door.

    WHO LIVES THERE: The ExtraOrdinary Wizard, the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice, Ordinary Wizards with some of their Apprentices and assorted peripheral staff.

    WHY YOU’D GO THERE: You wouldn’t, unless you were invited to see a Wizard.

    WHY YOU WOULDN’T: Marcia Overstrand does not like unexpected visitors.

THE Wizard Tower
    NO. 3 IN THE POPULAR