Siege (The Warrior Chronicles, 5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

pink flower in the spring?” The ladies nodded and murmured. “I went to get the watering can, and when I came back, they were gone. Vanished. Someone must’ve taken them!”
    Shanti’s lips tweaked upward and her eyes sparkled. That would’ve been Xavier and Gracas. Impressive. They were really coming along.
    “I think you should check the leaf pile again.” Tabby got up to help Molly set the tray of tea items on the table amid the baked goods.
    “What went missing, Eloise?” Valencia asked, ignoring Tabby.
    “Nothing.” Eloise lowered down into her chair. Her fingers tapped on the arm for a moment, making a steady rhythm. “Nothing. I’ll take care of it.” Her gaze skewered Shanti. “On to important matters. Our enlisted women have grown more than twice since the battle. I’ve given orders for them to be supplied with bows, as you’ve suggested, but now what?”
    “I have someone helping them with training,” Shanti said, kicking away her bulbous skirt from around her legs.
    She’d been invited to attend this meeting under the condition that she wore a dress, as befitted Cayan’s wife. Since she was not Cayan’s wife, and didn’t want to go, she’d refused.
    The invitation had been amended. As the woman giving commands alongside Cayan, she was required to go, for the good of the city. But she would still need to wear the dress.
    She’d then amended her refusal: wearing a dress would prevent her from reacting quickly if anything should go wrong during the hourlong meeting.
    If it hadn’t been for Molly shadowing her for two days, explaining the importance of meeting with the Women’s Circle and how her refusal would look on Cayan, Shanti would’ve ignored Eloise’s assurances that in no way would the dress interfere with anything that could possibly happen.
    The woman was as tenacious as mold on old cheese.
    “Yes. I heard about Mela’s instruction.” Eloise pursed her lips again. “Even so, she is a great resource.”
    “It got me out of messing around with bows and arrows.” Fabienne looked down at her splayed hands. “I have blisters.”
    “That’s because you don’t do anything,” Valencia said with a sniff.
    “Is that right?” Fabienne leaned to the side enough to put a fist to her hip. “You don’t think I work my tail off to—”
    “Ladies, enough!” Eloise took a cup of tea from Molly. She looked at Shanti. “We all want to make sure the women who want to be trained will be.”
    “I cannot make that guarantee,” Shanti said matter-of-factly.
    The room fell silent. Rohnan shifted uncomfortably.
    “Please explain,” Eloise said in a level voice.
    A shiver raced up Shanti’s spine. She now realized why Sanders gave these women a wide berth. An enemy running at her with a knife was much more appealing than this near-silent threat.
    Shanti matched Eloise’s tone. “We will only train those with potential. Just like with the men in the army, those who don’t have sufficient ability to learn will be given a different task.”
    “But your Honor Guard, as you call them, were nearly sent to the mines.” Eloise sipped her tea calmly. “If it hadn’t been for you, we would never have seen their skill. Yet you are not training the women. What if they are passed over because a blind man judged their worth? Or worse, a man who only saw a woman…”
    “Sanders doesn’t just see women.” Shanti sipped her tea. Then grimaced. It was awful stuff. “But since he is too easily pushed around by your city’s women, I’ve put my people on it. They are great judges of talent.”
    “Why are you training them out in the middle of nowhere?” Valencia asked.
    “We need to pick those who have potential, train them to a reasonable level, then move them over to the larger army. I didn’t want grown women learning beside boys. That would reflect poorly on the women.”
    “Most of the army is okay with women learning to fight,” Rohnan said in his musical voice. It had the