Achieving the first goal part.2:
It was early in the morning but the smoke from the fire was still visible through the clouds. They had spent the night capturing the people in the village and locking them up in a storage. Pamela was exhausted from all the commotion that she had caused herself. Even though it was hours after they had finally succeeded in having everyone arrested, there was still the sound of banging on the storage's door and desperate shouts.
Alther came up the hill, tired and dusty. Pamela smiled at his return. "Did you do it?" she asked as he stumbled to stand in front of her.
"I even repaired the damage on the village itself." he fell against a tree and extended his legs to relax. "They can continue to live in village and their houses for as long as they want." Alther exclaimed and started to wipe the dust from his face and hands. Pamela took the water bottle from her belt and gave it to him.
"Well done." she praised him and went to sit beside Brian who was quietly playing with rocks. Which each shout, he threw a rock at the trees. Pamela waited for the noises to grow quiet to speak. "I would never have killed them you know." she whispered to him to justify herself.
Brian smirked sarcastically at that. "And proves you're an angel." he mocked bitterly and threw another rock. "I need time to think." he muttered which made Pamela puzzled.
"About what?" she asked with a low tone.
"About you, me and this chaos. No matter what reason you have or how many protections you put on the village, it was still weird. No normal person comes up with such a plan in less than a day." he didn't meet her eyes as he spoke. "It's too hard to comprehend." Brian confessed and sniffed. It was clear for Pamela that what she had done to him was ruthless but she was happy at doing so. Now if he truly wanted to devote himself to her, he would do it with open eyes and she wouldn't have to feel guilty about anything.
"Okay." she agreed with a hoarse voice and walked to the storage that was now quiet. Pamela stood beside Alther who now was looking relieved at her sparing the village people. "Unlock the door and follow me in, Unseen." she told him and he took a step back.
Alther closed his eyes to concentrate, he was expert at this but with all the happening last night it was hard to imagine himself unseen. "Let me fade into the aire,
Let all against me know not where,
Let them that seeke me pass by,
Let harme not reach me from their eye." he chanted rapidly under his breath and started to fade in the air. As James and Brian saw him fade they came to accompany her in. The door unlocked and Pamela had to believe that it was Alther who did it.
"This is really uncomfortable." said Pamela and stepped into the storage with dignity. The moment she opened her mouth, she was slapped hard. So hard that she fell on the hay on the ground. Brian pushed the man back and when James had him in a head lock, he ran to her.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly. Pamela nodded just as quietly as she didn't want to show weakness in front of them. She rubbed her bleeding nose with her sleeve and looked at their angry faces.
Suddenly starting to laugh, she stood up with an amused look on her face. Pamela went to that man and crouched beside him. "I came to the Castle less than 3 months before and look at me now. I had nothing not even proper food and clothes but now I'm the Extraordinary Wizard's apprentice and a former soldier of the royal army. " she maintained her calm smile as she told everyone about her past. "Set him free." she ordered James and he released him from the headlock. "Resent me all you want but think carefully about your future. You can attack me and be killed or you can join me and experience the true taste of power." she stood up.
The man too stood up but didn't strike again. He stumbled back to where their leader stood. "What guaranty do we have that you wouldn't arrest us later?" questioned the leader and Pamela strode to him.
She pointed at the man who had attacked her. "You saw what happened to him when he raised his hand at me? I could've easily killed him for doing only that, but I didn't." she smirked and gave him a napkin. "Clean up." she commanded and continued after he took the napkin with suspicion. "I fired an entire village last night but see, nothing happened. He could be killed for just slapping me but nothing happened to me. What do you think is the reason?" her voice was mocking.
Pamela turned to take a glance at them all. "Was I too fast to do so or stronger than you? No, it was all because I am Pamela. A person who knows well how to obtain power from the worst situation." She declared arrogantly.
"You mean you can protect us if we join you?" the leader was getting her aim.
She smiled at his realization. "See who I am. I am the person who is stepping from the lowest of the low to the highest position. Just reach for my hand and be sure that you can live a better life as well." she promised and turned to Brian and James. "Brian, bring all those who surrender to the palace and James, arrest all those who reject." she gazed at the leader from the corner of her eye. "We don't need those." with that conclusion she went out of the storage but it was not long before she saw all of the village people coming out, following Brian.
Pamela's entrance to the palace was grand with the glory of victory. She knew they wouldn't be faithful to anyone but she wasn't going to put all of her effort to gain followers for the Queen but was anticipating her next moves to make them hers. They entered the palace alongside another group of people who were accompanied by numerous guards.
When they wanted to get announced, one of the guards from the group stooped them which annoyed Pamela and made her curious to see who they were.
"Your Majesty, princess Artemis and her father, sir Eden are here to see you." announced the guard and stood aside for them to enter. Pamela stopped her men from following them in as she truly wanted her entrance to shine. As they walked in, she looked at them closely. Sir Eden was a tall old man with white beard, violet eyes and seemed familiar to her somehow but she couldn't remember from where.
Princess Artemis walked behind him quietly with her long light brown hair falling in curls on her light yellow dress. Her dark violet eyes were unreadable to Pamela and the way she pressed her lips together showed her anxiety. Pamela stood back to let them enter but stopped the guard from closing the door completely so that she can watch inside.
Much to her surprise, Queen Mathilda ran to embrace them and so did Cerys. Such excessive emotions were unclear to her until Queen Mathilda spoke. "Welcome father and Princess." she held princess Artemis in her arms as well. "Hope you had a pleasant trip." she said as tradition and Artemis answered her with a polite manner.
Cerys was smiling happily as she went back to her spot while dragging princess Artemis to stand beside her. By the Queen's order, the guards brought a throne like chair that was slightly smaller than the hers' and positioned it on the throne's right. The Queen and her father sat down. "I apologize for the distraction. So what's on today's agenda?" she smiled happily.
"Announce me." commanded Pamela and stepped into the throne room with a smug face. All the people in there including DomDaniel, Queen Mathilda, Cerys and even newcomers were looking at her with interest as she was followed by all the rebels. "I have completed the task your majesty has asked for." she glared at the rebel's leader who seemed to be trapped. Alther went to stand beside DomDaniel.
Her glare was enough to remind him of the things she was capable of and force him to kneel before the Queen. Everyone kneeled on the ground except for Pamela and Brian. The whispers grew louder in the room as to know how a girl at her age had done such a thing.
"On behalf of all the Castle people I thank you, Pamela." said the Queen with a forced smile on her face which Pamela noticed had gone pale. "I congratulate you, Extraordinary Wizard as well for training such a capable lady." she looked at DomDaniel who was staring at Pamela in awe.
Pamela didn't like her compliment as she believed what she had done was in no way a result of DomDaniel's teachings but she understood why the Queen would say that. It was obvious that if she gave all the credit to her then people would start to question her position as a queen. "You flatter me, Your Majesty. I wish to have peace of mind and heart from now on and live on happily." Pamela smirked as she saw the effect of her words on the Queen's face.
The Queen couldn't believe that Pamela had dared to bring up her age and the probability of dying sooner than her. However, she maintained her smile. "Thank you." she knew that it was time to reward Pamela. "What do you want as reward for your merits?"
"I only seek the Castle's safety, hence, I want to have Commander Martin and soldier James who did a great deal of work throughout this task to guard your excellency." she first had to empty the commander's position. With the nod of Queen's head, she continued. "And since I have experience as a soldier and am eager to serve you please appoint me as the army's commander." it was obvious that the Queen couldn't object to anything she asked.
Queen Mathilda wasn't fond of the idea but though it to be better than what she had anticipated. "That'll be granted_" DomDaniel cut through her words disrespectfully and walked to Pamela.
"Wait, I didn't tolerant this wench to let her give up on becoming the royal advisor." he objected much to Pamela's delight. "Hey, who do you think you are to waste my time?" his raged voice echoed through the walls.
Pamela smiled as if defeated. "I'd love to..." she glanced at the Queen's distressed look. "Sir." she finished uncertainly before continuing. "But only if the Queen grants me the permission, I'd be more than happy to fill in for both positions." the Queen was taken back by her words and actions since any denial on her part would make her seem like she's afraid of Pamela.
Raising her voice above DomDaniel's nagging, Queen Mathilda spoke. "You shall continue your trainings with the Extraordinary Wizard as well as managing the Ice faction army." she ordered and stood up to declare the meeting that went in the worst way possible over.
Pamela turned to the rebels behind her. "You shall work in the Ice faction army under my watch from now on." she grinned with joy at their confused faces of all the occurrences that had just happened and nod at James and Martin who were smiling happily at her. She too walked out of the throne room ignoring Brian even though he looked fascinated by her.
Alther and DomDaniel came to her. "Bold move." complimented DomDaniel which took Pamela off guard.
"How do you know?" she looked at Alther who was shrugging and tapped her forehead. "Oh yes, Alther... well thank you." she smiled.
"We should celebrate and_" started Alther but DomDaniel cut through his words.
"You're behind schedule boy. Come on." he took Alther by collar and dragged him along without asking Pamela anything else.
Alther turned to her as he was clinging to DomDaniel's strong hands. "Tonight 8 o'clock, Wizard Way." he shouted to have Pamela who was laughing with amusement hear him. Pamela turned to see Brian's hurt gaze at Alther but she avoided him and walked off. After all he was the one who needed time to think. She walked up the stairs, being glad of its emptiness and reached a corridor that was dusty and full of rooms. It looked deserted enough for her to relax.
She took off her coat and set it under on the floor to sit on. Pamela was still grinning as she leaned against the wall. She imagined how proud her family would be if they had seen her achievements and how much she would laugh at the Castle people with them and her friends. As she pictured their faces, her smile faded since she doubted for the first time about whether they would approve her means of reaching her goal or not.
It was evening that Pamela opened her eyes. She hadn't realized that she had fallen sleep in such an uncomfortable position. She stood up and stretched her body to release its stiffness and wore her coat to walk down the stairs. As she was passing a grand room she heard her name which made her curious enough to stop.
"Pamela is really amazing isn't she? I mean to manage all those people and she's not even 20." Pamela recognized Cerys's fade voice and moved closer to the half open door to hear more.
Another voice came which was thicker and harsher than Cerys's. "Honestly I don't like her. She's I don't know... scary. Makes you think that she'd want to eat you whole." Pamela creased her eyebrows at that.
"Oh Artemis, you are always too suspicious. She's just different." Cerys defended her and Pamela's heart softened at her sincerity. She moved away from the door as she didn't want to hear anymore and walked out of the palace with Artemis's voice repeating in her ear. Artemis thought her to be scary and for some unknown reason this thought satisfied her.
Pamela walked to the Wizard Way as the cold breeze made her shiver. She looked at the Manuscriptorium as she passed it by. Brian was visible through the glass and for the first time he wasn't drowned in work instead he was holding his head between his hands and staring at a small box in front of him. She stopped to watch him.
Brian stood up and took his coat which made Pamela walk away briskly so he wouldn't see her. She sniffed bitterly and told her self to get a grip. After walking for a short while, she saw Alther wave to her from afar and walk to her. Pamela grinned at the basket in his hands and increased her speed that a man walking next to him caught her attention. He was wearing a pitch black coat and a large hat that shadowed his face, making seeing him impossible.
Something about his way of walking was familiar to her but she couldn't place it. Alther accidently hit him with his basket and his hat fell. The man crouched and picked up his hat as Alther was apologizing. He nodded his head and turned to where Pamela was standing to continue his way. Pamela now understood as to why he was familiar.
She recognized him by picturing him smiling that seemed more like stretching his thin lips. She froze in her place as he got closer. She could remember his face from that night at the village, his bragging that he had conquered yet another village and the way he had his men follow her through the lake. She even remembered his way of walking, slow but with large step and his back always proudly straight. He paused beside her and glanced at her pale frightened face but didn't seem to recognize her.
Pamela held her breath with fear as he passed by. His cloak slightly brushing against her hand. She felt suffocated. Pamela saw Alther call her but she no longer could understand a thing. The man who had ruined her life was there in the palace. He was alive and well while all she ever cared about was gone. A teardrop fell from her eye and draw a warm line on her ice cold cheek.
"Hey, let's go and get something to eat." said Alther brightly but Pamela didn't answer. "You okay?" he suddenly became worried at seeing her like that. Suddenly exhausted by fear, Pamela's leg gave in and she fell to the ground. Alther was calling for help and shaking her but she was like a doll in his hands. She felt so numb and tired that she just closed her eyes and the voices around her faded.
Character reveal: Up until now I have mentioned James, Harry and Diana's parents (from "Mystery in past") so I hope you are enjoying their presence and the story flow. Looking forward to your reviews. Bye for now.
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