On top of cloud 9: Thanx my ever-faithful reviewer! I'm glad you liked it, and yes, Merric is the new training master. Oh, and please fix the cookie transporter soon! Lol :D
Zerrin of the Wind: Wow, you submitted reviews for every chapter. Or almost every, at least. In order from a to…well, I don't feel like thinking so from a to whenever will be the answers to each review.
Yes, she is royal, and I'm going through a phase where I'm obsessed with element powers…don't tease me, please…
Yep, I do too.
Ok, there isn't much to say to this one, but glad you liked it!
Yeah, I was reading a book that had the name Amoret in it briefly and I just had to add a character with that name in. She's going to be a main character-ish.
I really liked the fight too. It was on the spur of the moment, but I made the fight super-short in my notebook that I write the chapters in, so I elaborated. And there is a small surprise about the king and the enemy fighters (not that these two things are related. The king knows nothing of the fight and won't for a while, even though evidence in this chapter seems to point out that he paid for the fight to happen, but he didn't.). Actually, it should be two surprises, but oh well. The fighters thing is a bit more important, and there's also some other big thing using Irnai, but that's at the end of the chapter. Next chapter, you'll see what she's up to.
Thanks you two! Now for the actual story:
Cami stepped into a huge room. For one second, all she could see was red, then her eyes cleared, adjusting to the blazing light. The walls were a deep rich red, and they had paintings with guilt frames. Cami squinted up at the source of the light: mage lights. She had forgotten that the king was a mage. As she looked up, her cloak hood slipped, revealing a bit of her face. She snatched at it, and pulled it down far enough to cover her chin.
"You're late." Cami recognized the king's light, crisp voice. She looked at him through the fabric and he was sitting in a huge antique leather chair. The cherry maple wood desk in front of him held many candles, paper, ink, and quills. It was quite unorganized, though he had obviously found a space to tap his fingers, for Cami could hear the low drumming sound coming from across the room.
"Sire, I was detained. Will Your Majesty forgive such an unworthy one as me?" Cami murmured.
Ignoring her little speech, he said, "Camillianna, sit."
Cami looked up. She saw two straight-backed chairs, the cushions the same color red as the walls, and one was occupied by none other than Kel. She wore a tan tunic and brown breeches. She had the soft, flexible slippers that Cami's Shang teachers wore, and she had no expression on her face. From the time that Cami knew Kel, she had heard many tales about the Yamanis, people that believed that showing emotion was bad manners. Kel had lived there for a time, and took up the custom, earning her the nickname 'Yamani Lump' or just 'Lump'. Cami could practically hear Kel thinking, "I am a lake on a calm summers' day with no breeze. I am a stone…" and so on.
Cami shuffled forward, making sure her face was covered, and sat down on one of the chairs. She kept her face pointed downwards, though she snuck a peak at Kel. The knight wore a slight frown that creased her forehead, but she became expressionless once more when the king spoke.
"Cami, why do you face downwards? Please, sit up straight, and show us your pretty face." This time his voice held a trace of annoyance, though he tried not to show it.
Cami sat up straighter, but kept her face looking down. Then she felt two calloused fingers lift her chin up. She found herself looking into Kel's steady and calm hazel eyes. Kel let out a long low whistle. "Cami, Cami, Cami, what have you done?"
The girl stared defiantly into the woman's eyes. They beheld no anger. "I fell down," Cami said. She had decided to uphold Amoret's honor, though she still thought that 'I fell down' was the lamest excuse ever.
"Mithros, they're still telling that?" The king leaned back in his chair. "I told that, Alanna told that, Kel told that, and now you. Why you? You're not even a page! Camillianna, what really happened?"
"I fell down on the ground, Sire. Nothing else happened." Cami said sullenly.
"Apparently this ground" he said 'ground' like it wasn't really ground at all "blackened both your eyes, bruised your face, and cut your lip?" The king grinned.
"I fell down some stairs."
"And broke your nose and sprained your wrist?"
"Well, they were very steep stairs."
The king stared at her for a moment, then sighed. "We're obviously not going to get the truth out of you, and I'm certainly not forcing it out of you, so we shall just have to continue with the meeting, though for the life of me, I can't figure out why you're doing this." He stared at her sternly for a moment, but when she said nothing, he continued. "I called you here because since you're doing the pages' classes, you might want to become a page."
"No, but thank you Your Majesty."
"You're probably worried that you don't have a fief, right? Well-"
"No, Sire, I'm not worried about the fief."
"Then why don't you want to be a page?"
"You see, while I like the classes, I have something that could quite hinder me in becoming one, besides the fact that I would have to leave with my teacher if he traveled."
"What hindrance would that be?"
"Read this, Your Majesty." Cami pulled the old book out of her cloak pocket and handed it to the king.
"What does this-" he began to say, but saw the owner's name and became very interested in the diary. When he finished it, he handed it back to her. "There could be a million Camis in this world. How can it possibly be you?"
"Because I have the magic," Cami summoned her airboard and handed it to the king, who immediately began exclaiming it's various aspects. "And because I have this." She pulled a folded piece of parchment out of her pocket. "My friend, Irnai, is a seer-child, and the very first time she saw me, she said this."
The king opened it and quickly scanned the contents. He sighed. "I guess I must believe you. This is very interesting. Very, very interesting. And you were right. This would complicate things a little."
Kel had struggled to keep quiet for the last few minutes, but this was too much. "What is going on? Why am I here if all you're going to do is exchange things that I can't see and talk in riddles?"
Cami stared at Kel. She had always been so level-headed and uncaring, so why was she acting this way? "Kel, I didn't know you had wanted to know. Here, take it." Cami handed the diary to Kel, who immediately began to read.
The king frowned at Kel, then said, "What happened to the necklace that was in the diary? The one that she said had the symbol of royalty in Scanra? Did it fall out or something?"
"It's right here, Sire." Cami lifted the pendant up, and it sparkled in the light.
"May I try to put it on?" The king asked.
Cami reluctantly handed the king her necklace and he slipped it around his neck. Or tried to, for the moment it touched his neck, he let out a howl of surprise, and dropped it on his desk. Cami could see a slight scorch on his neck. "That," he gasped, "has powerful magic in it. If anyone besides the heir to the Scanran throne tries to put it on, they have a nasty surprise coming."
"I'm so sorry! I had no idea-" Cami began to say, but the king held up a hand.
"I know you didn't," he said. "Just take the necklace."
Cami put the necklace back on, and looked at Kel. Kel closed the diary with a snap and said, "Mithros knows that if you had come before the war had began, we wouldn't have lost as many people in the fight."
"Is that all you have to say?" asked Cami, shocked. Did Kel even care?
"Oh right," said Kel with a sickening grin, "Your Majesty is amazing."
"No!" Cami cried. "I didn't mean that! I just wanted to know it you cared! You obviously don't!"
Kel dropped her smirk and replaced it with a look of concern. "I do care," she said. "I just think I'm a bit jealous. Sorry."
Jealous? Kel? "Kel, I want you to know that I'd rather have your life any day. You have a place in the world, friends, family, a home. I have nothing. Yeah, maybe I'm the soon-to-be ruler of Scanra, but I'd rather have a simple, nice life, instead of this life full of complications." Cami told her.
"Thanks Cami," she said quietly. Then she added, "Do I have to call you 'your majesty'?"
Cami stared at her. "Yes."
"Really?"
"No!
Of course not! You have your own king, and he's probably a better
ruler than I'll ever be!" Cami said, smiling.
"This is all very touching," interrupted the king. "But I'm afraid Miss Cami had to leave."
"Yes Sire," Cami said. "But please-not a word of this to anyone. As far as they're concerned, I'm a mage-student of Master Numair's, or a commoner from Scanra. I don't even want the word 'miss' said to me."
"Yes, yes, of course," said the king impatiently.
"Oh thank you!" said Cami happily, and ran out of the room.
…
"I do think that went rather well," said the king, folding his hands and looking at Kel. "Now, there are a couple of matters we must talk about."
"What matters, Sire?" Kel asked.
"First, we must invite our training master in. I believe that you may know him." The king said, and the door opened. A tall red-head with freckles stepped in, and he looked at Kel, beaming.
"Merric!" Kel cried. "You're the new training master?"
The man bowed. "Yes, I am. I try not to be as hard as the Stump-" he took a quick look at the king, and corrected his use of his old training master's nickname "-I mean, Lord Wyldon was, but I work these kids hard."
"But why?" spluttered Kel. "I never thought you of all people would be a training master."
"I saw how much good all the knights did during the Scanran War," Merric shrugged. "I decided that helping people become knights that help our country would be a worthy occupation."
"Oh," said Kel, feeling a bit stupid. "Ok."
"So, Your Majesty," said Merric, directing this comment at the king. "Why have you called us here?"
"Well, I have just received some news from a certain young student of yours-" began the king, but Kel cut him off.
"What are you doing? She specifically asked for no one to know! And after two measly minutes, you go and start telling people? That is just…just…just horrible!" said Kel furiously.
"Keladry of Mindelan!" said the king sharply. "I have a reason for everything! I will tell no more than is needed for my plan."
"Plan? What is this plan of yours? The only plan I see is to tell a girl's important secret to people that are complete strangers to her!" Kel burst out.
"Ok. I am going to tell you, and you are going to listen to me. Do I make myself clear?" The king hissed, and Kel was silent. When he had complete attention on himself, he continued. "Merric, it is m duty to inform you that a student named Camillianna is indeed the heir to the throne of Scanra." He held up his hands as Merric began to speak. "I cannot say how I know this, but it is true."
"Why do I need to know this, sir? I'm just the training master." Merric said.
"My plan is, that since she is the heir and she is right here, under our noses, we can just tweak her training a little bit." The king said.
"Tweak it?" asked Kel suspiciously. "What do you mean by that?"
"Here's my theory," said the king. "Suppose she becomes the queen of Scanra, and for some reason, she doesn't like us anymore. We don't want her to have enough power to overthrow our country, do we? So, all we have to do is change her training just enough so she's good at it, good enough to pass, but not as good as she should be. So if she ever decides to challenge us, she will not have enough power to beat us." He leaned back in his chair, and smiled.
Kel stared at him. This was not the king she knew, the kind, just ruler of Tortall. No, this was a madman. A lunatic. Taking an innocent fourteen-year-old and making so she wouldn't be able to beat their country if she wanted to? Nobody in their right minds would do such a thing. Besides, it wasn't fair. Every ruler got training to the best of their abilities to help their country, and King Jonathan was making sure that this one didn't. What if she did become the ruler of Scanra? Suppose that the king's plan made it that when she did become queen, the country fell to pieces. That would be horrible.
"Sire, I can't agree to this," It was not Kel that spoke up, but Merric. "It isn't right, what you're planning."
"Merric," the king said persuasively. "I'm doing this to protect our country. All I'm asking is for your help. Will you help me?"
Merric wavered, and looked at Kel. She kept her face expressionless, not knowing herself what to do. As a knight, if she broke her word to the Crown, she would suffer grave punishments, and so would Merric. Then something popped into her mind. A plan. She nodded her head slightly in Merric's direction.
"I will help you Sire," he said, choosing his words carefully.
"Then listen closely," the king said, and the three talked late into the night.
…
Then
next morning Cami awoke at dawn, and not on her own accord. A huge
booming bell rang out to wake every page in the vicinity.
Unfortunately, her quarters were close to the pages' wing (she was
sort of a page, after all), and for once she would have liked to
sleep in.
Cami groaned. She felt like she had been battered by a
ram and thrown off a cliff. She got up and stretched. She winced,
feeling the pain in her back. Looking in the center of the room, she
realized a maid had come and put a bath there. Thanking the Goddess,
she scrubbed herself and got dressed. Then she decided to go find her
friends.
She trotted off to the other hallway, and found all three of them waiting for her. All three? Wait, there was supposed to be four…Cami looked at them. One, Tobe, two, Gydo, three, Violeta, four… "Where's Irnai?" Cami demanded sharply.
Gydo shrugged. "We thought that she just wanted some extra sleep when she didn't come out of her room, so we decided not to bother her."
Cami frowned. Something wasn't right. "I'm going to bother her," and she stormed into Irnai's room. The bed was neatly made, and her stuff was gone. It looked like nobody had ever lived there.
Cami stepped out of the room. "She's gone." She said that with such completeness that it made it sound like it was completely true. But it was. Irnai was gone, and nobody knew where she went.
"Gone?" shrieked Violeta. "What? She can't be!" She ran into Irnai's room, and came out crying.
"Well, we can't go looking for her; breakfast's about to start," said Gydo uncomfortably.
"Breakfast? Who cares about breakfast at a time like this?" sobbed Violeta.
"Gydo's right," Cami said. "We can't keep the others waiting."
"I can ask the horses in the stable if she went there to get a horse and ride away," offered Tobe.
"Excellent," Cami said. "Meanwhile, let's run. The pages will kill us if we're late again!"
When breakfast was over, Sir Merric had all the pages gather in a group. Then Cami remembered the fight from the night before, and looked around for boys covered in scratches. She didn't have to look hard; three boys with scorch marks and small cuts all over their bodies stood together in a cluster, talking quietly. When one looked up, he stopped talking and made his way over to Cami and Amoret. As he got closer, Cami recognized him as the one that was Amoret's captor.
"Filthy little-" growled Cami when stood in front of her, and made to punch him. Amoret grabbed her arm and stopped her from assassinating the boy.
The boy held up his hands in surrender. "Before you two kill me, hear me out."
"All right, what's your story?" hissed Cami, Amoret still restraining her.
"During the lunch break yesterday, I got a letter from a mysterious person. I don't know who he was, or anything about him, just that in the line to get my tray, I found an envelope addressed to me. I opened it, and it said to do something horrible to you two. I was threatened with assault and blackmail, and being the wuss that I am, I was afraid. My two friends back there, Fanog and Phiran, got similar letters. We seemed to have no choice. I don't know who the guy is, but I can tell, he's got people everywhere, watching and listening..." The boy's face was pale with fright and beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead. "D-do you b-believe me?"
"Show us the letters," Cami said. The boy wordlessly handed three envelopes with names written on them, all in the same handwriting: Fanog, Phiran, and Lyron. Cami and Amoret read these letters silently, and handed them back to the boy, who they assumed was Lyron.
"How do we know you didn't write them yourself?" Cami said.
Lyron took a quill and some ink from his bag and wrote his name on the corner of an envelope. He had completely different handwriting.
"Okay," admitted Cami. "Maybe you were blackmailed. But you shouldn't have done it. If you had told us, we could have staged a fight."
"He would have heard us," the boy said. "He has spies everywhere."
…
Ok, that's the end of this pretty long chapter. So the king's plotting, Irnai's missing, and the fight was blackmailed. Interesting…
Smoothies for people who R&R!
Mel