Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the three women then looked at Kirynn as if unsure what to do.
    Kirynn shrugged. “Find them some practice swords and someone to teach them what to do. I will continue to practice on my own until you return.”
    Mendoc hesitated for a moment before striding from the training yard. Kirynn turned back to the target and sent another arrow flying while the women stood close to each other in silence.
    Mendoc returned with a group of other weapon masters. Though noticeably uncomfortable, they all grabbed a variety of wooden practice swords and laid them out on a table for the women. Solen, a weapons master Kirynn had worked with several times, beckoned the women forward. “Come, hold them, get a feel for them, and decide which you want to start with.”
    The women approached and stared at the swords. Finally, Arlenyi reached for one and picked it up. Her action seemed to embolden her companions. They too began picking up a sword, testing it, and putting it down and trying a new one.
    Kirynn watched from afar. She should have felt something at this odd display. Instead, she felt nothing, although she found it interesting. She went back to swapping weapons while Mendoc berated her slowness.
    “What is the meaning of this?” Lord Mannoc’s shout echoed off the stone walls of the open-air training yard. Everyone turned as he stormed across the hard-packed dirt. Kirynn narrowed her eyes at him. Whether or not she felt anything, Shadereen had agreed to Dragon Law, and it was her duty to uphold it.
    “They said they wanted to learn,” Mendoc said and shifted under the glare of Lord Mannoc.
    Mannoc turned to his wife. “What in the name of the Fates do you think you are doing down here dressed like that, Arlenyi? And attempting to learn weapons no less?”
    Arlenyi wilted in the face of his anger. “We just wanted to learn, and I doubt it can be done in a dress.”
    “You,” he pointed his finger at her face, “will take yourself back inside the keep and put on appropriate clothing this instant, and I will never hear of this learning weapons again.” His voice became low and menacing, “Do you understand me? You are a woman, now get inside and start acting like a proper one again.”
    Arlenyi took a step back and glanced at her two companions. Both women stared at the ground. Kirynn eased the arrow from the bowstring and gave Mannoc a flat look. “You have no right to stop her or order her around.”
    He spun toward her. “I have every right. She is my wife, and I will not have this kind of behavior from her.”
    “Husband isn’t synonymous with owner, Mannoc, and the label of wife doesn’t make her less than you. Dragon Law clearly states that anyone can learn anything they wish.” Kirynn glanced at Arlenyi. “However, they do have to actually want it and if they do, while things get settled here, they may have to stand up for themselves to get it.”
    Arlenyi stared at her for a long moment before raising her chin, squaring her shoulders, and looking back at her husband. “I will not return to the hold like a ‘proper wife’ as you put it. I have the right to be here, the right to learn, and intend to do so.”
    “You will not. You will behave like you are supposed to.”
    Her amber eyes turned icy. “Do stop whining, Mannoc, it is grating on my ears.”
    He wasn’t whining, but Kirynn felt the first sense of emotion while watching his face turn an interesting shade of red at the implication. Satisfaction threaded its way through her along with a sense of relief. She was finally beginning to thaw.
    Arlenyi gave him the same kind of down-her-nose look that Kirynn had seen Taela use on people. The one that said the person it was directed at was the dirt beneath her shoe. “If it displeases you so to see me dressed like this and taking part in learning the use of weapons, then perhaps you should seek out one of the many simpering harlots you take to your bed while I sleep alone.”
    Mannoc sneered at her. “You