Disclaimer: I do not own any of this, the wise and all-knowing Tamora Pierce does. So, please do not sue me for using any of the following material, except my own, which you should be able to find easily if you have been reading the rest of this story!

A/N: Thank you for all of the compliments I have been receiving! And thanks for tolerating my experiments!

Now to my story!

Chapter 4: Training the King's Own

Kel woke up just before the sun rose the day after the Shang court ended. This was her first day of training the King's Own. Lord Roaul, whom she had met before with a blue-eyed sergeant named Dom, was their leader and was going to be present for every training session. He, though, wasn't going to be training.

They were to meet in the forest an hour after dawn, so Kel ate a light breakfast and went to practice before they got there. She was so absorbed in her practice, that she didn't notice that the men had arrived and it was time to begin the training session. No one deemed it right to tell her just yet, because they knew she wouldn't be happy about being interrupted, if she was anything like Roaul.

About a half an hour later, Dom, who was falling in love with this beautiful stranger, got tired of the admiring looks the men were sending her, so he yelled her name quite loudly. "KEL!" he exclaimed. She abruptly finished and apologized for not being ready.

"Hi! In case you couldn't hear your sergeant, I'm Kel. Yes, I'm the Shang Princess and everything, but we won't get into that. I have a few rules, though, if you are going to train with me. One, obey my orders without question the first few weeks, yes weeks. In a while you can question me, but not yet. Two, don't get smart with me. I don't tolerate that kind of stuff, so unless you have a death wish, be an intelligent person please. Three, no talking or fooling around while you're training and especially none while I am talking. I will only say something twice during a session, if I have to say it more, then you run! And I assure you, you won't like that. Four, I am willing to throw you out if I have any problems, and I do know how to punish unruly behavior. And five, listen to me and you will be fine. I am in charge and no one else is during the session. Is that clear?"

Kel's speech was quite brief for a new teacher, but she showed them that she alone was in charge and was to be obeyed at all times. The training session was supposed to be from seven in the morning to noon. This way they could all go back and finish their tasks for the day afterwards, and have some time to themselves. To the King's Own five hours was a long time, but to Kel it was just a small part of the day.

They started by learning some basic stretches that would help their bodies to receive the hard work more easily. Then they worked on basic high, low, and middle punches and blocks. Kel impressed in their heads the importance of basics while she taught them these, so she had no arguments. They spent all morning on these and the men were worn out by noon. They all were amazed at how hard basics could be. They realized that for all these years, they've been doing the basics wrong, and therefore risking their lives.

When noon came around Kel was proud of the men for training so hard and with so little complaint. She said so to Roaul after all but one man had left. She knew that if she told them of how proud she really was, they would get stuck up and wouldn't fight as well. So she kept this to herself.

Kel sat down and began to meditate on her past.

FLASHBACK

She was 10 years old and was celebrating Midwinter. She went to bed early that night because she knew she had to wake up early the next day. She got ready for bed, her normal routine. She was going to work on Fairy Tales, the new book written by Celia Tribet, the child's mage.

All of a sudden, her door opened and before she could see what was going on, her lights went out. Then she saw a big, looming shape at her bedside. She began to scream, but a hand covered her mouth. She began to fight, using all the Shang she had acquired in the past three months, but it wasn't good enough. Then the shape tried to kill her. This she would not tolerate.

Just because she was a girl that was three years older than she was permitted to be to enter Shang, she had fought incredible prejudice. Now someone was trying to kill her. She quickly turned the knife on the man and started screaming. The Shang masters cam running. "Good job" one had told her with a smile. Then they brought her downstairs to the infirmary, where she was told to stay the night.

The next morning she received news that her oldest, and favorite, brother had been murdered. She would never forget that day.

END FLASHBACK

Kel was shuddering. Every time she thought back to that fateful day, she started shuddering. It was horrible. She found out later that the man who tried to kill her and the man who killed her brother, both worked for the same man. An unknown man, but the same, nevertheless. It had been horrible for her for the last six years, never knowing when she was going to get word of another family member's death. And word did come.

After Anders came Inness, then Conal. Soon Adalia and Oranie were attacked, but had barely escaped. Every time this happened, her family would look to her for help, but she had had none to give. Now she was better trained, and better equipped to hunt down the murderers.

It was because of this that she was so cold, afraid that every man she saw was the one behind those murders.

Dom saw her shudder and cry. He walked over to her and tried to comfort her, but soon realized it would be best if she was left alone. Just as he was about to walk away, he heard Kel say," Dom! Thank you!"

"No problem! Are you okay?" he replied.

"Yes. I'm quite alright. I was just… remembering," she answered.

"Do you mind if I walk you in? I'm hungry, and I'm sure you are as well!"

"Well, okay I guess," Kel answered.

They went into the mess hall together, and they ate with the rest of the Third Company of the King's Own. Kel left as soon as she was finished under the excuse of getting ready for tomorrow. But they all kind of guessed that she was going to practice more…

Next chapter soon!

Nativewildmage- thanx! She did meet Dom, though, in the last chapter.

Redbird-flying-away- thanx!

White-wolf2- thanx!

Lucky Racer- thanx! Yeah, I know Alanna has a bunch of titles. It does get o so tedious! Yeah, it was a kinda short chapter. Sry bout ur name… well, I was feeling elaborate when I wrote the posture thing. Well, joren was a nasty bit of work anyway, so yes he probably did die… I'll look into it, tho for my story…

Pollastra1679- thanx!

USNA- thanx! I'm trying to slowly work in a friendship, b4 a romance, so give the conversation a chance…

Angelgirl135- thanx! And love to Charlie and Lucy…

Pen'n'paper- thanx!

Rowana S- ur welcome-it's a good story so far… yes, I know kel's kinds MS-ish, but hey, I'm doing my best… this is also my first fanfci, so I'm testing out new writing ideas of mine… plz be patient with them! Thanx!