Chapter 2:

Pamela wore the royal army's trainee outfit. She pony tailed her hair to get it out of the way and put on brown leather boots that reached her knee on top of her black trouser and matched her shirt. The jacket of the royal army trainees was long on the back and short on the front. She looked at other royal army members and wished to have their outfit instead of hers since they were all the different colours with small shapes on them.

The princess came in silently from behind and stood beside her. "Hi, I'm Cerys." She said with a smile.

Pamela looked at her friendly face then at the army members to make sure no one was looking. She didn't want them to treat her differently just because they saw her with the princess. "Can I call you that or should I go with Your Highness?" She said and lifted the corner of her lip.

"With me, yes but with mom, no. She's so strict about castle rules that it sometimes makes me sick." Said Cerys and gave her a small napkin that was wrapped around something. "You must have a token now that you are joining the army and since I always wanted to join them; I had already prepared something but I can't, so I figured to give it to you." She put the napkin in Pamela's reluctant hands.

She opened it to reveal a long silver hair pin with miniature flowers on it. Putting it on would mean going into the army as a girl but the technical way of survival as the only girl in the army would be acting as a boy. Pamela looked at Cerys's kind face and then at the army. If it was a choice she decided to choose being a girl and using that as her strength so she placed the hair pin on top of her ponytail.

"What are you waiting for girl?" The army commander called with impatience.

Pamela glanced at him and nod her head and then turned again to Cerys. "Thank you." She said and Cerys returned her smile. Noticing the commander getting bored she ran to their side. The other army members were notably taller than her even though she wasn't considered a short person. She searched with her eyes but no one didn't even look remotely friendly. Pamela let out a quiet sigh, she would have to deal with anything if she ever wanted to get powerful.

The commander pointed at four members who were wearing green, blue, red and silver each. "These are the four pillars of our army. The green represents soldiers of Earth faction, blue the Ice faction, red the Fire faction and silver the Air faction. You may choose between them." He finished and looked at her, demanding an answer.

Pamela looked at them. She had no idea what all those factions were but one thing she knew and that was survival. The Earth faction army were bulky men and much more muscular compared to others but she didn't see any sign of wit in their faces whereas the members of Ice faction were smart looking. She looked at the other two factions, the Air faction were the tallest and the fire faction were the boldest looking.

She didn't need boldness since she had it and body strength weren't of any use to her. "I want the Ice faction army." She turned to their leader who was a young man with light brown hair which was pulled out of his face and matching eyes. He looked a little violent but she was no longer the girl to be frightened so she saluted. "Ready sir."

"Go out today with guys to cope and we'll start tomorrow." He motioned at his soldiers and they started to put all their weapons in a large crate. "I don't want any trouble in my group, especially the kind of scene you made that night. Do I have my self-clear?" His voice and posture was very commanding.

Even though Pamela hated being a follower, she found herself admiring such a solidified leader. "Yes sir but when will I get my own weapon?" She asked with a cold voice to maintain her stand.

He looked at her slim figure with humiliation. "We'll decide that after a week of training. Now go." He shoved his hand in the air to dismiss them all which made Pamela frown. If she was going to be in an army she wanted to be the best, the one to know how to work with everything. She wanted them all to herself and she would make sure to get it at any cost.

The thought of that made her mouth form a grim smirk and her eyes shine with flames of ambition. The sight of her suddenly changing moved the commander and made him realize that she was no easy person to handle but before he could analyses her expression any further she turned back to her indifferent self and saluted goodbye.

The soldiers were laughing and having friendly bickering all the way. Every time that Pamela tried to say anything they would start to whistle and look at her with astonishment which made her feel less comfortable than ever.

"Where to go to show our new comrade the delights of castle life?" One of them said wryly and others shared his humor and laughed.

"How about the pub?" The other one said mockingly and got closer to Pamela. "Do you like pub or is it too...mmm...manly for you?" He said and laughed but this time Pamela laughed as well with them.

She too took a step closer to him with a smirk. "On the contrary I don't think you can go there as much as I can." She said and glanced proudly at him. "Pub owners hate soldiers but I guess no one can blame a passing customer."

The soldier raised an eyebrow at her retort as his fellow soldiers started to pat him on his shoulders. "I give up. You win." He stood back and pointed at the Manuscriptorium. "If we can get passed those nosy scribes we can go into ice tunnels how's that?"

Everyone clapped for him as he took several mocking bows making Pamela laugh as well and realize his name to be Daren from all their calls. They all strode to the Manuscriptorium. She didn't know what they meant by getting past the scribes but felt excited to do something after a while. When they reached the Manuscriptorium, she saw their faces change and become violent. With a nod they went in.

"Watch a learn masters at work." One of them said in her ear before going in. She had no choice to follow now.

The scribes all stood with the sight of them pouring in, obviously not their first time. "We want to go to the ice tunnels." Said Daren with a harsh voice.

One of the scribes that appeared older than others came forward to face him. "I'm afraid that's not possible." He was quite brave to stand up to them since he was half the size of Daren who was the smallest of the gang.

"We gave you a chance to do it harmlessly." Daren turned to look at his friends and at the same time they launched at the scribes. Pamela stood there, amazed at the sight of scribes getting unfairly hit only for following rules.

Something came up in her as blood flooded to her face. She couldn't stay there and watch the scribes get hit. 'Look, this is how the powerful step on the powerless.' She remembered the words of the man who had burnt down their village. He had said these exact words to her when she was begging him to spare her family and friends. The amount of hatred she held in her heart since then was too much to get rid off.

Suddenly as if not being able to control herself she took a step forward. Her power was no match for them but her wit obviously was. She just had to stop them without getting crushed herself. She put a broom behind the door knobs to lock it and looked back at the soldiers still hitting and scribes falling to the ground from pain.

Pamela ran forward, her body being smaller was an advantage to her. She saw Daren hitting one of the scribes repeatedly in face and went to him. Dodging under his arm she took out the hair pin Cerys had given her and hit Daren's arm with it.

Shrieking in pain Daren tried to push her aside but she pulled out the hair pin and hit his hand again. 'And this is how the powerless stands up to the powerful.' She thought while gritting her teeth. Pamela had it with being crushed by others. She had lost her whole family by it and wasn't going to be weak again.

Before letting Daren throw her to a side, she pulled out the pin and started to use the same technique on others. With her smallness compared to them she could easily escape from their hands and continue her work.

"ENOUGH!" Shouted Daren and everyone stopped. Pamela too stopped with her hair pin held up, ready to strike. He came to Pamela angrily. "I'll... I'll deal with you later." He said and started to leave but being out best by a girl was too hard on him that he was unable to stop himself from slapping her in face.

Pamela was thrown to a desk from his slap and looked at him with great fury for humiliating her like this. Kicking the broom aside they went out, leaving her with the scribes. One of the scribes helped her stand up. When she turned to see who he is, she saw the same young scribe that had helped her the other night.

"You're that girl." Said the scribe with amusement.

She straightened up and tidied her outfit to keep that last piece of dignity she had. "Yes, I am."

He smiled happily even though the side of his lip was torn and bleeding from being hit."It's nice to see you again. I'm Brian Beetle." He waited for her to answer but instead she gave him a napkin.

"Well Brian, you're bleeding." She said curtly and waited for him to wipe his mouth while other scribes were standing up. "I should get going." Said Pamela for she had to fix her first day in the army's disaster. In less than twenty-four hours she had made herself enemies.

Brian saw her leave and took her hand to stop her. She looked at him crossly for taking her hand without her permission so he let go fast. "And you are?" He asked doubtfully for she was a girl that he didn't know how to deal with.

"Pamela." She replied curtly and went to the door through the broken woods of the desks and chairs. At the door she stopped and turned back to him. "Thank you." Said Pamela and before Brian could ask any further she left. She was thankful for the night he had helped her and his honesty in actions which she hadn't seen in people for long. She wiped the blood off the hair pin and put it back in her hair. At least it's beauty wasn't useless.

Back at the Ice faction army headquarters she was welcomed with continuous shouts of reprimands of their supreme leader as to she has to stick with the group no matter what. He then declared their day off over due to their misbehaving and they had to go to the training grounds.

As they went for training she was pushed aside numerous times by the soldier's shoulders with the claim that it was unintentional. Pamela saw countless bow and arrows stationed around the ground with swords in between. She followed them to the ground with a start.

"From today we'll have only one policy, harmony." The commander's voice echoed around the training field. "Everyone go back to their previous trainings." With his command as if moved by strings they strode off to each weapon and started to practice, leaving her alone to look around. The commander came to stand beside her. "You better leave for today and start from tomorrow." He said quietly which was unusual compared to his normal way of talking.

Pamela looked around with worry as she was already behind. "But I need to train as well Commander... "

"Commander Martin, you can call me only Martin like others." He finished her sentence. "From what you did today, they may try to harm you just to teach you a lesson so I guess it may be wise to stay out of it today and come back tomorrow." Martin didn't wait for her answer and went to shout at two soldiers who were lacking the strength to shoot an arrow.

Being too proud to admit that without training there today she would have no place to sleep through the night, Pamela went out of the palace grounds and walked aimlessly down the Wizard Way. She hadn't eaten all day and had no money to eat anything or stay anywhere the night. Her path led to the Manuscriptorium.

From its window she looked in and saw the scribes working hard on something. Thinking hard about the right course of action, she took a deep breath. If she wasn't able to achieve anything from the palace, she might as well find something to do.

The sound of the heavy doors opening made all the scribes look up at her coming in. Trying to act as if it was her every right to be there she looked around to find Brian sitting at his desk, lost in work. Pamela walked to him and tapped on his desk to make him look up.

"Pamela, what brings you here again?" Asked Brian with his hair muffled and hands full on black ink from writing. He stood up and brought her a chair.

Sitting straight on the chair she looked at him keenly. She was out of options. "I need a job." Said Pamela but that seemed too rude for a request. "Please?" She added uncertainly.

Brian burst into laughter but stopped when he saw her frown. "I'm sorry but you're certainly not the pleasing type." He coughed to contain himself. "Well, what kind of job?" He was still smiling.

"Something in the afternoon with daily payment." Said Pamela, she had to have alternatives to the army. "I don't care what it is, I'll do it." She saw him glance at other scribes and saw them all looking at them. "And I need to start today." She finished to make him look at her again.

He dropped his quell to the desk at that and gazed at her carefully. "You were kicked out, right?" Asked Brian with distress for he felt embarrassed to have her defend him and all the other scribes.

Pamela stood up proudly. "If you can't do it just say it; and no I wasn't kicked out." She started to leave but Brian stood in front of her with his both hands raised in the air as a sign of surrender. She waited for him to think this through, she wasn't going to beg him at any cost. The feeling of being watched by numerous eyes made her alert.

"There is a job, let me take you there." Said Brian just to get away from his friend's eyes since they had always known him for being so lost in his own world to not have anyone notice him but now he was talking to a beautiful and mysterious girl for the second time that day. He held the door behind his chair open for her to enter which she noticeably entered first.

The room was dark and dusty and it became complete darkness when Brian closed the door behind them. Pamela felt so insecure that she wished to have her dagger at the moment, for the time being she had to resort to the hair pin Cerys had given her. She took it off quietly and held it ready in her hands. Brian's sound of footsteps came from behind.

"Sorry for this. I'll light this room in a second." Brian touched the wall until his hands wrapped around a string and he pulled it to lift a curtain. The room turned bright and it appeared to be a library. He turned to her but was shocked by the sight of her hair pin held with a threatening motion in her hands. "Maybe my surname is Beetle but I don't bite."

With an apological look, Pamela put the hair pin back into her hair. "You want me to work here?" She said to change the subject and looked at countless books piled on each other in a corner and then back at him who was looking uncomfortable. "What do I need to do?"

Brian clapped his hands together. "Just arrange, that's all." He didn't want to tell her that this was a made up job.

"And my pay?" Said Pamela with a raised eyebrow.

He knew that his money wasn't enough to pay a second person. "How about meal and a place to sleep?"

'So this was it.' Pamela thought and felt something stick in her throat. He was helping her out of pity and she wasn't in a state to keep her pride enough to reject it. She had to go on with it. "Good." She said curtly and stared at him, waiting. Brian nod his head with a small cough and went out, leaving her to tidy up the books just to keep herself from shouting. Brian's kindness was clear to her but that didn't mean she was okay with it. Her right foot slipped on a book and she fell. Sitting in middle of books she made her decision, tomorrow she would make all those who made her suffer such a humiliation pay.

The sound of footsteps made Pamela to open her eyes. Her body felt sore as she tried to get up. When she opened her eyes she saw herself sleeping on a pile of books. She must've fell asleep while organizing them. The door opened and Brian silently came in with a smile box.

"You finally woke up?" He said as he closed the door behind him. "When I came in last night you were sleep so I didn't wake you." He finished and placed the box in front of her who was quietly staring at him. "Eat, it's part of the deal." When she didn't move he opened the box himself to reveal an egg with two breads.

Pamela started to eat silently, she couldn't believe that she now resorted to such a life. She noticed him watching her eat. "You want the rest?" She said and sat back.

"No I had my breakfast." Said Brian and pushed the box back to her but she was now completely awake.

"What do you mean? What time is it?" Her way of asking was so unusual for her always cool character that it startled Brian as well. Without waiting for him to take out his time piece she ran out of the library. Ignoring the scribe's careful eyes on her every move she rushed to palace. Today was supposed to be different. She ran to the training grounds to see all the soldiers going in together. Quietly she ran and stood behind the last one of them.

They entered the field to see Commander Martin standing in the middle of the weapons with a stern look. He motioned for them to move faster as they came in.

"Girl, come here." He shouted above the noises to make his voice heard. Everyone looked at Pamela as if just noticing her. She went forward, trying to go past the insulting whispers in her ears and glares shot at her. Pamela stood straight in front of the Commander while trying to look obedient.

The commander showed her the weapons. "Do you know how to work with any of these?" He asked with a scowl at the soldiers to silence them.

She looked at the weapons but none was the things she had used. "No sir." Her reply made laughter break through the soldiers.

"I see. So we need to strengthen your body in order to teach all of these." He let out a sigh and opened the box next to his foot and brought out a small sack. "These are weights. Wear them around your ankle and run around the field. Remember, you mustn't stop until I say so." He said which made the laughter's grow louder. "TWENTY MORE ROWS OF ARROW SHOOTING FOR ALL OF YOU." Shouted Martin at the solders and his command turned their happy faces to the same expression as Pamela's, depression.

Pamela knew that she had to get strong and was thankful to the commander for helping her like this. She wrapped the sand sacks around her ankle and started to run while others went to the bow and arrows. The weights were heavy so her running was breathtaking and slow. Every time she fell, the commander added another weight around her leg. He didn't let her to take any breaks including the lunch break but only gave her a little water so that she wouldn't collapse.

It was dusk when he finally let her to stop and by then she was beat. The moment his stop command came, Pamela let herself to drop to the ground and stay there with her eyes shut. "I'd follow the soldiers if I were you, at least you'd find your resting place." The commanders voice came and she opened her eyes. Pamela bolt up to untie the sacks but his hand stopped her.

"You mustn't take these off even in your sleeps, understand?" Said Martin.

Pamela looked at the weights with frustration. "I have a place to sleep."

"Go with them tonight. Don't make the distance any wider." He said before going.

The thought of bearing those sacks all night long and bearing the soldiers made tears come to her eyes but she pushed them and shakily got up. She saw the soldiers going in and followed them. When they reached a big wooden door, they turned to see her tagging along with holding wall for support.

Daren smirked at her and held the door open for her to enter. Without caring about anything she entered and saw a chamber lined with beds all around. As she looked around the untidy beds, she saw her bag that she had on the first night on the only tidy one. Dragging her right foot behind she went to sit on the bed.

The soldiers closed the door and circled her. "So you think you can barge in here unharmed?" The intimidating voice made Pamela's exhaustion fade away. She quietly opened the bag and circled her hand around the dagger inside it. They made their circle tighter, towering over her.

"Being connected to the royals won't help you here. You know that, right?" Said Daren, being too distracted to not notice her a minute ago weak body become ready. Pamela glared at him but he only laughed. "You... you are too pretty to be here." He said and came closer. "I am their leader. Respect me and you'll be protected but disobedience will result in having to bear my wrath and that's not good."

Pamela too managed a smirk. "I have no respect for a sly creature like you." She said with a breathless voice. Anger washed over Daren's face as his group closed the circled around her. He smacked her in the face but this time she was ready. Bearing the pain of his hand, she jumped up and pulled out her belt as well as the dagger. Pamela had one advantage over them and that was being underestimated since they didn't know who she had fought to reach here.

Her feet were useless with the weights around them so she stood firm in her place and lashed him hard in the chest with the belt. The other soldiers pulled her back from behind but she was like a cornered animal who would do anything to survive. The sight of Daren falling from pain was satisfying and gave her enough energy to hit her head from back to the soldier holding her and use the opportunity to wrap the belt around his neck tightly but not tight enough for him to choke while holding the dagger at Daren's throat.

Their moment of cease fire helped her contain herself. The soldiers saw the violence in her eyes so waited for any of them to make a move but were amazed to see Pamela open the belt from his neck and bring down the dagger. "A sly creature you may be but you must know what owing means." She could feel her voice rise. "Don't be mistaken by my pretty face, I could've easily killed both of you in a shot." Her voice was confident but she knew that murdering wasn't her thing, however, there was no reason for them to know. "You now owe me your life. What a shame." Finished Pamela with a soft voice as she laughed at their surprised faces.

Their reaction wasn't important since doing anything now would prove their despicable personalities. They were shocked when Pamela wasn't even started. The very thought gave her power to go on.

Thank you all for reading and really hope you liked it. Thanks to my first reviewer 'Lady Lysithia' who gave me energy with her opinions. All critics all welcomed and I will update soon.