Heyy you guyz Mel's back.

On top of cloud 9: You never cease to review this story. It makes me soooo happy! I really don't know why I made Jon be kind of weird. He's gonna turn out as a good guy in the end...I think...but he's going to get punished. The only reason that I REALLY don't want to kick him off the throne and put Prince Roald there is because Thayet is super cool (she's gonna come up in the later chappies) and Roald simply isn't ready for it.

Zerrin of the Wind: Now, Irnai has nothing to do with their plan, unfortunately. This is of her own accord. And next chapter you find out what the secret weapon is (o0o0o0o) and Kel and Merric do not agree with Jon's 'plan'. They decide to do something quite drastic soon. And I'm having a slight memory lapse; what does OOC mean again? Sorry. I have amnesia or something. Lol. Now the mystery blackmailer, I already have planned out who that is, and well, he'll be doing some bad stuff.

Random89: thanx. I love plot twists! They make everything soooo much more interesting! I'm happy you reviewed; keep up your amazing work on your own story!

HyperKathryn: I love new reviewers! They rock! And so do you! And no problem, I will.

Thanks again for the great reviews! I love you guyz!

Lyron turned away from the two shocked girls and started walking back to his friends, who were looking expectantly at him. Cami stared after him, shocked. What monster could instill such fear in a person? Then she turned to Amoret.

"He was telling the truth," said Amoret quietly. "Every word."

"How do you know that?" Cami asked suspiciously.

"I have the Sight," Amoret shrugged. "Seeing lies on people is just one of it's many aspects."

"Well, that's helpful," Though it was the stupidest thing she could have said, Cami couldn't think of anything else to say. Suddenly Merric's voice boomed out over the crowd and brought Cami back to the noisy mess hall.

"Pages," he yelled. "I have wanted to have a class with you all for a while, to get to know you and teach you tricks that you won't learn in your studies. Now, I have made this class." Everyone clapped and a wave of chatter broke out in the students. "Quiet!" Merric grinned. "Tomorrow, this class will take place in during etiquette class." Everyone clapped again, and some people added some wolf whistles. "This class will take place once a week, and it will be in this very hall. You are dismissed."

"What's our first class?" Cami asked Amoret.

"Mathematics," she replied.

"Oh, and I forgot," Merric added over the rushing crowd. Cami stopped and turned. "Would Camillianna please come with me? I would greatly appreciate it. That would be all."

Cami's face turned pale. What does he want with me? She wondered. Did I do something wrong? Did Lyron tell about the fight?

"Merric's a good man," Amoret said confidently. "He isn't very harsh, and he will hear you out if you have an explanation." She pushed Cami forward. "Go on."

Nevertheless, Cami was still worried as she faced the tall man. "You wanted me, sir?" she said nervously, and wiped her sweaty palms on her tunic.

"Yes," The training master looked grave. "It is a matter of great importance, and it concerns you. Please follow me."

Cami silently trailed after him past many talking nobles and through many hallways. They stopped at a big white door, and Merric fished a key out of his pockets. He unlocked the door and opened it to reveal a small white office. Cami stepped inside the room, and saw a cluttered desk and a chair behind it. Just like the king's office, it had two straight-backed chairs, but they were not as expensive-looking as the king's. A serious-face Kel sat in one of them.

"Sit down Cami," Merric said, and took a seat in his own chair as Cami complied. He folded his hands on his desk and looked at her.

"Sir, did I do something wrong or…or…I don't know…" Cami trailed off.

"Did you do something wrong that I don't know about?" asked Merric.

"I don't think so," said Cami slowly, not sure if the fight was classified as 'wrong'.

"Good," said Merric. (A/N: that was based on a conversation between me and my principal when I got called down to the office, minus the fight part. And no, I didn't in trouble.) "Now Cami, please do not get angry or anything…"

"Why should I be mad at you, sir?" asked Cami curiously.

Merric sighed. "Because I know that you're the heir to the throne of Scanra."

"What?" Cami exploded. "Who-who-" Her eyes fastened on Kel. "You," she hissed. "I trusted you! I thought you were my friend!"

"Now don't get mixed up Cami," Merric said quickly. "She didn't tell me."

"Then who did?" Cami was confused. Irnai couldn't, she was missing…Tobe couldn't, he didn't even know Merric.

"The king."

Cami almost laughed out loud. "The king? Very funny. Now, really, who told you?"

"I'm not kidding Cami," Merric said, his face quite serious. "The king actually did tell me."

"A few minutes after you left," Kel spoke for the first time. "The king called in Merric and told him your secret. He had this 'plan'. Cami, I know the king. He's a nice man, and a great ruler. But even the calmest, sanest of people go crazy for a minute or two. I hope that this is the case with him. I know you aren't believing a word I say, so I was lucky enough to get this." Kel lifted a small globe out of a small bag at her side.

"What's that?" asked Cami.

"We're really quite lucky to have the most powerful mage in Tortall living here. Numair helped me get it. It's my memory. When I say the right words, it will expand, and I want you to watch very carefully." Kel said solemnly.

"Sure," agreed Cami, bemused.

Kel held her hand over the ball and muttered a phrase in Old Thak, a language as ancient as time. Suddenly the globe, once purple, turned clear, and slowly began to expand until it was the size of a large melon. It hovered in mid-air. A picture grew in the middle, and the memory began.

"Yes, yes, of course," said the king impatiently.

"Oh thank you!" Cami saw herself get up and rush out of the room. She winced; she hadn't really known how bad she looked after being injured in the fight.

"I do think that went rather well," said the king, folding his hands and looking straight at the people watching the memory. "Now, there are a couple of matters we must talk about."

"What matters, Sire?" Kel's voice seemed to float out of nowhere, but Cami remembered that it was Kel's memory, so she kept watching. She watched as the king invited Merric in, told him Cami's secret, and revealed his awful plan to 'tweak' her training. He outlined all his plans as Cami stared at the globe.
He wouldn't do that, she told herself. He wouldn't. But he just did, said the other side of her. No, it can't be, she thought fiercely. It's a trick, just a trick. But she knew that it wasn't, as she heard his deep voice talk about how to stop her from being the best she could be.

The image slowly disappeared when Kel and Merric exited the king's office, and the globe shrank to its regular size, glittering innocently. "I trusted him," Cami said softly, tearing pouring down her cheeks. "And he just threw it away like a sack of rotten potatoes."

Kel stroked Cami's hair. "Don't worry," she said softly. "It'll be okay." Cami smiled weakly. It seemed like Kel had taken some lessons in comforting from Alanna.

"We have a plan," Merric said. "Instead of lessening and leaving out key parts of your training, we're going to give you the same training, if not better. It just isn't right to weaken your opponent while they're defenseless, even if it is for the betterment of your country."

"Master Numair was distressed to hear of it, as was his wife Daine. We had to tell them before His Majesty got to them and persuaded them to take his side. They will help, since both of them are your teachers." Kel said.

"Daine's my teacher?" asked Cami, completely confused. "But I don't have wild magic."

"Daine is going to lend you the ability to speak to animals so they can teach you about the earth," Merric explained. "She's also going to help translate, since animals-or at least she says-are hard to talk to, for sometimes they may have things to say that you don't know about."

"Wow," Cami said. "Thank you so much. I never thought that anything like this would happen to me, and now that it did-I'm so glad to have friends to count on. And you sir-you barely even know me, and you decided to help as much as you could." Her eyes filled up with tears again.

"We just thought that you ought to know," Kel said simply, then looked at Cami's face. "Goddess, you still haven't been healed from last night! Go on to the healers to get those wounds looked at." She gave Cami a little push towards the door.

"Thanks," added Cami quietly.

Next thing she knew, Cami was in the healer's wing of the palace, as the main healer, Duke Baird, examined her. "I've heard that you've met my son Nealan," The healer peered at her nose.

"He's your son?" asked Cami incredulously.

"Yes," Duke Baird replied. "I've been chief healer here for a long time. I started a little before Alanna was a page."

Cami grinned. "Aren't you getting a little old for this?"

"You sound exactly like Neal! What is it with people these days? It seems like that when you're a day over fifty, people are expecting you to be laying around in bed moaning about your aches and pains! I'm fit enough to take care of myself, thanks!" The duke said, and Cami laughed.

"All finished," he told her. "A healing usually tires people, so lie down on the bed over there a bit." He indicated a bed off in the corner.

"Thanks," Cami smiled, and the duke bustled off to see another person. She lay down and yawned. I am tired, she thought. Maybe a nap will do me good…

…

Cami opened her eyes. She was floating in mid-air in an enclosed white room. She could tell that she was dreaming, but didn't really care.

"Hi Cami!" Suddenly a cheerful Irnai appeared in front of her. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to fall asleep?"

"Um…no?" Cami guessed.

"Well that doesn't matter now," Irnai said impatiently. "You see, your mother-I mean, adoptive mother-knows what Maggur's secret weapon is, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, if I sift through your memories, and find your village square, I can transport myself there, and ask you mother what the weapon is!" At Cami's confused look, she added, "It's a seer-child thing. Now, you're just gonna have to stay here for a few more minutes and find some way to amuse yourself."

"How?" Cami wanted to know.

"I don't know…float or something…" Irnai said absent-mindedly, and with a little 'pop', she disappeared.

Cami sat around floating for a while, then flew around, enjoying the funny swooshing noises she made when she turned. If only I could fly like this without using an airboard, Cami thought wistfully. Maybe I can…I'll try it when I wake up. Wake up! She suddenly remembered Amoret. What about Amoret? She thought. She must be worried sick! Soon three small 'pops' interrupted her frantic thinking, and she turned around. Irnai was back with-

"Ma! Da!" Cami cried, and flew over to them. They scooped her up in their arms and hugged her tight.

When they finally let go of each other, Cami and her mother and father turned back to Irnai. "What did you do when you left me?"

"I used the location in your memory and appeared in your village square. I was lucky no one saw me. I found your parents' house, and knocked on their door. It took a while to persuade them to fall asleep so I could take them to you. But I did do it, didn't I?" Irnai glared at Cami's parents. Cami's mother sniffed, and Irnai frowned. Then she looked briefly proud of herself for achieving her goal, but soon her face turned serious. "I'm sorry that we don't have time for a big reunion, but we need to get down to business. Sorry Cami, but we have to know."

"Know what?" Cami asked. She had forgotten everything except that her parents were here.

"What the weapon is."

"What weapon?"

"Gods curse it, Cami!" Irnai stamped her foot-if you can stamp you foot in mid-air-and glared at her. "Maggur's secret weapon! Don't you remember anything?"

"No."

Irnai shook her head and turned to Cami's mother. "Er, Cami's mother, what is Maggur's secret weapon? The one he's planning to use in this new war of his?"

Cami's mother's face darkened. "Oh that."

"Yes, that."

"Memories," Cami's mother said simply.

"Memories? How is that a weapon?" Cami asked, bewildered.

"Cami, everyone has at least one bad memory," he mother explained. "Maggur's evil memory spirits crawl into people's minds. They make them relive their worst memories, and then make it worse and worse, until the person is-"

"-utterly helpless," ended Irnai hollowly. She and Cami's mother exchanged brief grins, and then turned away like nothing had happened. They obviously didn't like each other very much, Cami noted.

"And if they don't find a memory horrible enough," continued her mother, "they create one worse than any that anyone could possibly experience."

Cami's mouth dropped open. "Th-th-that's horrible!" she yelled.

"I know," said her father miserably. "That worst part is that we don't know how he' s making them, or who it is."

Then Irnai interrupted. "Cami, you're probably wondering why I'm in Scanra."

"Uh, no, you're there to find out the weapon," Cami said.

"Well, that, and I'm going to tell the prophecy to all the other Scanrans here. I mean, you can't just bust in a country and strut about saying that you're queen, can you? You have to have a foundation, one that I'm willing to provide. In the meantime, I can also try to find out who's the creator of the memory spirits and how they're making them." Irnai beamed.

"Great!" Cami said.

"So you read the diary honey?" her mother asked.

"Yes, and I have so much to tell!" Cami said, but before she could begin, Irnai interrupted.

"Cami, you've got to get going. I'll tell your parents everything." She said hurriedly.

"Irnai, you can stay at our house until you tell every person in this village the prophecy," Cami's father offered, with a warning look at his wife, who started to object.

Cami felt herself disappearing. "Irnai, you're the best! I love you Ma and Da!"

"We love you too, sweetie!" They waved good-bye as Cami disappeared with a gentle 'pop'.

…

Cami sat up groggily and rubbed her eyes. "Where am I?" she asked.

"Thank Mithros you're up! We thought you'd sleep forever!" Cami stared up into Tobe's bright blue eyes. Then she turned her head and saw Gydo and Violeta.

"Amoret?" Cami asked.

"She's still at her training." Gydo said dismissively. "Now, Tobe asked the horses if Irnai had taken one, and they all said no! There wasn't one missing either! So she couldn't be very far, could she?"

"Oh, you'd better believe she is!" Cami said, and quickly related her 'dream', minus the queen part, and only said that Irnai would be staying there for a while longer.

Tobe sank down on the bed. "Memories," he whispered, and put his head in his hands. Suddenly the bell rang for supper and Cami suddenly realized that she was hungry. She leaped out of the bed and ran downstairs, leaving the others to catch up.

When Cami slid into the seat next to Amoret, she whispered in the other girl's ear, "Come to my room tonight. I have something very important to tell you." Amoret nodded to show that she understood and kept chewing.

That night, after supper, Cami unlocked her door to her room, and she and Amoret stepped inside. Then Cami saw a glowing blue globe on her dresser and an envelope. She grabbed the envelope and opened it. A notefell out, and Cami opened it apprehensively. The Black One strikes again… was all it read.

"'The Black one strikes again?'" Cami said, putting the note down. "What the-" She never finished the sentence, for her hand had brushed against the globe and she let out a terrible scream and fainted.

…

Dun, dun, dun! What has happened to our poor little Cami? Is she dead? Is she poisoned? Well, you'll just have to wait to find out! Candy for reviewers!

Mel