Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

will never be any good at this. No more than you are at pleasing me in bed or any other area of my life.”
    She gave him a mirthless smile. “I fail to please you? How did Di’shan Kirynn put it that night at the ball? Oh yes, I believe it was, ‘you could not find it with both hands and a map.’ So the feeling is mutual, husband. Unlike you, I have enough honor to never take another to my bed in order to find out if another man could do better and maybe show me what ‘it’ is, since I have never had the pleasure of finding out with you as a bed partner.”
    Mannoc stared at Arlenyi as if he’d never seen her before in his life. Maybe he hadn’t. It was nice to see that all the ladies of Shadereen weren’t the brainless twits Kirynn had taken them for at first. Mannoc snarled and swung his hand at Arlenyi’s face.
    In one smooth motion, Kirynn raised the bow and loosed the arrow. It pierced his palm right through the middle. Mannoc shouted curses and cradled his hand near his body while drops of blood stained his shirt. He shot her a venomous look. “You will pay for this.” His eyes were full of disgust when he turned back to Arlenyi. “You both will.”
    No one moved as the lord strode from the yard. After several minutes filled with a heavy silence, Mendoc stepped toward Kirynn. “That was a good shot.”
    “It was a horrible shot. I was aiming for his head.” Kirynn took a deep breath and sighed. “I guess I need more practice.”
    Arlenyi smiled. “Horrible shot or not, I thank you.” With a shaky hand, she turned and reached for one of the wooden swords “I think I would like to learn this one first.”
    Kirynn nocked another arrow and sent it toward the target, hitting it squarely. Maybe she had more emotion back than she realized. If she were as disconnected as she had been during battle, the arrow would have likely landed true. Somewhere inside the doors were opening again, which was probably a good thing. Whether or not Mannoc was the hind end of a donkey, it wouldn’t have gone over well if she’d killed him at this point. Even if he did deserve it.

    Vaddoc sat on a tall rock watching Syrakynn and Namir set the large sand spiders on fire before snapping them up and eating them. They both claimed the spiders tasted better cooked. He had to agree. They had a mushy and somewhat liquid texture inside when raw.
    The wide-open desert spread out around him, only tall cactus and scrubby bunches of brown grass broke up the scenery. Below him, Kirynn practiced shooting lizards and spiders stirred up by the dragons. Arrows zinged through the air, impaling the creatures eight times out of ten. A number he knew was unsatisfactory for the driven woman.
    One of Kirynn’s arrows struck a large lizard. Half a second later, the entire arrow burst into flames. The smell of cooked lizard flesh filled the air as it burned from the inside out. Vaddoc stared at the reptile in shock. “What in the name of the Fates?”
    She flashed him a grin. “It’s something I’ve been working on. This one is better.” Raising the bow she let another arrow fly, this time at one of the huge spiders rousted out of its hiding place by the dragons. The arrowhead pinned the arachnid to the ground. For a moment, nothing happened then the spider exploded in a shower of parts.
    “That weave doesn’t always work. Sometimes it just burns like the other one.” Kirynn nocked another arrow and took aim at another target.
    Stunned, Vaddoc watched the display. “What made you think of such a thing?”
    She shrugged. “Since my aim isn’t perfect, I wanted to make sure my arrows would still be deadly, even if I didn’t hit a vital organ.”
    It made sense, even if it did seem brutal. Then again, after what happened in Trilene, what did he care how a Shadow Rider died? Anything that made sure they were dead was good with him.
    “Are the ladies still coming to the training yard?” he asked when she paused in her live moving-target