I wasn't expecting many reviews for this one, but I would like more. Well, here's the message to my single reviewer…

On top of cloud 9: Yeah, she did get yelled at, but oh well. That's what teachers do. Well, some of them at least. Anyway, this chappy's gonna be wayyyyy more exciting…

Now for the story…

"That Master Oakbridge is harsh," said Cami, trying to massage her head.

"I agree," said Amoret. "What's up with him this year anyway? He seems really…I don't know…strict this year."

"Ugh," Cami said. She didn't really care about last year. They walked on. "Where to?"

"Ummm…" Amoret pulled a roll of parchment out of her bag and consulted it's contents. "Unarmed combat with the Shang Horse and Wildcat."

"And I will be accompanying you," said a new voice. Cami jumped, but Amoret just said easily, "Hi Jalain."

"I told you, it's Jal." The youth who had clapped so hard for Cami's 'speech' stood before them, smiling. He was about two inches taller than Cami, and was muscular.

"You two haven't met," said Amoret delicately. "Cami, this is Jalain-" With a glare from the boy, Amoret hastily added, "I mean, Jal of Stone Mountain. Jal, this is Cami. She's from Scanra."

Jal grinned. "I know that. I heard her speck, didn't I?" Cami looked at him. There was a glint in his eyes that said that there was something not quite right about him. Then he blinked, and it was gone. "Curse it, Oakbridge forgot to give me my essay in the beginning of class! He always does that! Well, see you two later." Jal turned around and jogged back to the classroom. Amoret stared after him with a look of distaste.

"You have to be careful with that one," She murmured in Cami's ear. "His older brother, Joren, was a bad character. He paid thugs in Kel's fourth year to capture her maid, knowing that Kel would go after her and miss the exams, therefore making her repeat all four years. He died in the Chamber of the Ordeal."

Cami shivered. It was almost like shouting that the family was cursed. They headed off to combat class, deep in thought.

"I am the Shang Horse, Hakuin Seastone, your teacher in unarmed combat," A golden-skinned Yamani paced in front of the row of pages and one mage-student. He had lively black eyes and short black hair with one or two white threads in it. He wore an un-dyed jacket, for all that it was a hot day, and breeches. "My colleague, Eda Bell, the Shang Wildcat, shall also be your teacher." He pointed to a woman sitting on the fence, eying them carefully with quick eyes that could catch any flicker of movement. Though she had completely gray hair, Cami could tell that she wasn't going to be as nice as any grandmother.

"This isn't a ladies' tea party, pages," The Wildcat jumped off the fence and walked straight over to a plainly terrified first-year. "You are here to work hard, and I expect none less than your very best." She looked the page in front of her up and down, sniffed, and walked over by Hakuin. "Let's work."

They all exited that class with multiple bruises. Cami was starting to regret that she agreed to take page classes after all. The day was long and hard, and everyone was glad when it was over. Cami was too tired to even stop by Moondust's stall, though after horseback riding, she gave the mare an apple as an extra treat.

Cami flung open the door to her room to find a woman putting a hot bath down, along with soap, towels, and a set of clean clothes. Cami could have kissed the lady, but politely restrained from doing so. After locking the door behind the servant, she sank into the bath with a moan. She scrubbed herself until she was pink, and got out. After getting dressed, she went out in search of Gydo, Tobe, Irnai, and Violeta. It wasn't very hard; they were wandering around the halls looking for her.

"Cami! Where were you?" asked Violeta furiously. She was known for her explosive temper.

"I was taking some classes with the pages. The king said I could…" She looked at the four sheepishly. "I didn't tell you?"

"You most certainly did not!" replied Gydo.

"Well, what's done is done," said Irnai practically. "Let's go eat."

"Ok," said Tobe.

"How about we go eat with the pages? I want you to meet somebody." Cami said. The others shrugged, and they all set off at a trot.

When they entered the mess hall, they got nasty glares for holding up the meal. Cami looked around for Amoret, and saw her waving furiously. The five sat down quickly.

A tall red-haired man with a mass of freckles covering his face stood. "Sir Merric of Hollyrose," Amoret whispered to Cami. "He's the new training master." Cami nodded.

"Bright Mithros," Merric began. "Mother Goddess, all gods of the Divine Realms, grant us peace and harmony, health and happiness, and the power to live our lives to the fullest."

"So mote it be," everyone said, and each table got up to get a tray full of food. The room was soon filled with banging and chatter.

When all of Cami's friends, including Amoret, were situated, Cami introduced everyone. They all seemed to get along well, and then two more boys plunked their trays down next to Amoret. One had red hair and serious brown eyes, and the other was average height (the other was tall), had light brown hair, and blue-green eyes.

"Hi," Amoret said to them.

"Hi," they replied.

"This is Bysiac of Longsbow," Amoret indicated the redhead, "and this is Chevron of Kingsgrace." That was the brown haired boy.

"It's Chev," mumbled the second boy through a mouthful of food. "And that's By. Get it right next time, Am."

"I just wanted for them to know your real names," bristled Amoret.

Cami raised her eyebrows. "Am?"

The girl blushed. "It's just a stupid nickname."

"It's not stupid," interjected By. "Would you like us to call you…Ammie?"

"No!" Amoret shouted. "Am is fine!" She regained her cool and added, "You guys, this is Cami, Tobe, Gydo, Irnai, and Violeta. The others will leave in three weeks, Cami will be staying."

"Is she a first year?" asked Chev, looking at Cami. "Why are the others leaving?"

"No, I'm not a first year," said Cami. "As for the others, it's a long story. We'll tell you later." The boy shrugged and continued eating.

Cami looked around the room, and her eyes found Jal. He looked up at her, and winked again. Cami turned away. She wasn't sure if she liked Jal or not.

Soon the meal was over, and everyone got up to leave. Then Cami remembered her appointment with the king. "Hey Amoret!" She yelled after the girl.

"What?" she turned.

"D'you know where the king's office is?" Cami asked.

"Sure. Why?" Amoret walked over, curious.

"He said he needed to talk to me, that's all." Cami said.

"I'll show you the way. Meet me back here in fifteen minutes." Amoret told her.

"Great!" Cami exclaimed, and headed back to her rooms. This would be a perfect time to show the king the diary! I wonder if Kel's going to be there…She wandered around the corridors, and found herself conveniently back in her rooms. She checked her clothes for spots, and satisfied, grabbed the diary and trotted off.

About halfway there, Cami heard a scream. It was coming from the hallway on her left. Forgetting the king, she ran off. Another scream, Cami took a right. She gasped.

The once-abandoned hallway wasn't abandoned anymore. Amoret was shoved up against the wall; a brown haired boy held her there. He was sort of tall, and had brown eyes. He grinned evilly as Amoret struggled against him. The girl was no match for his muscles.

"Not going to without a fight, huh? Let's see what's under curtain number one…" He grabbed the hem of Amoret's shirt, trying to force it over her flailing arms until her breastband showed.

"How dare you!" screamed Cami, flying forward. "How dare you lay hands on another without their permission!"

The heads turned. "Oh, look, another victim…" The boy snapped his fingers and two other boys jumped out of the darkness at her.

Cami dropped her cloak and her diary and got ready to fight as Amoret struggled against the leader. Cami faced the boys. One threw a punch at her; she seized his arm and twisted it. He screamed, and she felt her arm being grabbed and she was flying across the room, and smashed into a wall.

Cami turned and ran at them. She tripped on as she went flying past, but she succeeded in being sprawled on the floor. "You're not going to win this fight. Why don't you run back to the pig pen you were born in?" One taunted.

She lunged at his foot and swept it out from under him. She jumped on top of him and punched his face repeatedly. "Who's laughing now, boy?" She swung her fist back, and was wrenched off the boy. Her arms were held behind her, as the boy got up and punched her. She lashed out a foot and he keeled over, gasping. Cami had gotten him where it hurt the most.

She did the same to her captor, but missed, knocking her foot against his knee. All the same, he yelled anyway, and let go of her. Meanwhile, the other boy had gotten over his pain and jumped at her. She stepped quickly out of the way, and he went falling on the floor.

Suddenly the floor rose up to meet her as she felt a push from behind. "You'll never beet both of us, girl," said one voice. "You could try." By that time, the other had gotten up too. Cami rolled over to see their evil face grinning down at her. Her head spun wildly, and an image fixed itself in her mind. It was the diary. The diary! She was a mage; she didn't need to brawl like a low-class commoner! She desperately grabbed the first element she thought of: fire.

She slowly got up and faced the boys again. Her face sported two black eyes, a cut lip, and multiple bruises, but she thrust the injuries aside and called up fire.

In her hand, two balls of flames flickered and danced. This wasn't pretty mage fire with all its different colors; this was the roaring substance that burned up towns and entire forests, the very essence of fire. In the light that it gave, she could see that Amoret's shirt was off, and the boy was tearing at her breastband. Cami roared.

She fed everything she had into the fire, the pain of her injuries, the anger at the horrible people that would do such a bad thing, her sadness of leaving her family, the happiness of having a true home in Mindelan. The flames sprang up in her hands, a tower of twirling writhing heat that longed to destroy the two boys standing in front of her. She let it loose.

The flames licked at their clothes, the smoke fogging up their eyes (Cami was careful not to let any drift over to Amoret). They gagged. Cmai threw fire at them, letting it burn them just enough to leave a mark, then dousing it. The boys ran for their lives, afraid of this strange new mage, instead of the quivering girl on the floor. Cami quenched the fire, smiling. She had not wanted to kill the boys, only teach them a small lesson. This was one they wouldn't forget. She ran over to the boy who was still tearing at Amoret's chest, oblivious to the fight behind him.

"Now for you," Cami growled. She hardened some air, picked it up, and smacked it against the boy's head as hard as she could. He turned long enough to feel a breeze, then fell to the ground, unconscious.

Amoret stared at Cami in awe. "Thank you," She whispered, then threw herself at Cami, sobbing. "I was walking down to meet you, and then he pushed me up against the wall, and…" She babbled on for a few minutes, and then stared up at Cami with wet eyes. "You do believe me, don't you?"

Cami picked up their cloaks and threw Amoret's hers. While Amoret put it on, Cami used the time to check if the diary was still there. It was. She pulled the cloak around herself to hide her tattered clothes.

"Let's go," Cami said shortly. "I wouldn't want to be down here when people come down here to check out the source of all this racket."

They fled.

…

They stopped far from the hallway where the fight had taken place. Amoret collapsed against the wall, chest heaving, while Cami stood panting.

"Amoret, did you recognize any of those boys?" Cami asked, determined to find the culprits.

"No," she said. "but even if I did, we couldn't report them."

"What?" yelled Cami, outraged. "Why?"

"It's the knight's code. You can't report on any of your fights, or something like that. I know you're not training to be a knight, but I am, and I'm asking you as a friend to uphold my honor and not report it. Please?" Amoret looked at Cami, eyes wide and pleading.

"And if they ask what happened?" Cami said defiantly. "What's the excuse?"

"I fell down," Amoret replied.

"I fell down? That is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"It's tradition."

"Before we talk about anything that will make me angrier-though I doubt that's possible-let's go to the king's office."

"It's right there," Amoret pointed at a door not too far away with a finger that suddenly shook.

"You don't have to stay," Cami said kindly. "I can find my own way back."

"I need to go anyway. I, um," Amoret groped for some excuse. "I fell dow-I mean, I need to write letters to home." She scrambled off as Cami tentatively knocked on the door, suddenly nervous.

It opened.

…

I hope ya'll enjoyed that chapter (in my cousin's words. She lives in Georgia.). I particularly like the fight with the fire and everything. Hope you guys enjoyed it too! Review, and get fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies!

Mel