The Kinshield Legacy Read Online Free PDF Page A

properly concluded each practice session.
    I stand before the Spirit and all of humanity and offer these, my vows.
    I seek the wisdom of the three treasures, the five senses, and the power of the earth.
    I seek to earn the love and respect of every man, woman, and child.
    I seek to subdue my enemy without bloodshed and to show mercy to all living things.
    I bow down not in submission but in respect.
    She ended the salutation on one knee, her head bowed and her right fist cupped in her left palm. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and rose to her feet.
    The door to the guild mistress’s office stood open when Daia arrived. At the window, Aminda looked down at the activity in the courtyard. Daia cleared her throat.
    “Daia, come in,” Aminda said. Her eyes sparkled and she smiled. Her lips were redder than most women’s. Many of the Sisters, in their idle gossip, speculated that the guild mistress stained them with concentrated berry juice. Daia found it hard to believe. The Sisterhood had a rule against adorning oneself for vanity’s sake. Aminda was no hypocrite.
    “You wanted to see me, m’lady?”
    “Please sit,” the guild leader said, motioning to a plain wooden chair. She sat in the leather chair behind the desk. “Lilalian will be here shortly. First, I wanted to talk privately.”
    Daia nodded as she sat down, hoping Aminda wouldn’t reprimand her for the drinking game she’d hosted in the garrison the night before. She knew that the Sisterhood forbade drinking spirits in the barracks, but sometimes bonding with her peers mattered more than obeying arbitrary rules.
    “I’ve been watching you practice your patterns in the courtyard,” Aminda said. “Your form’s exquisite, and your speed impressive. You’ve been completing missions for the Sisterhood for a couple of years now, and you have battled fierce opponents against terrible odds, yet you are remarkably unscarred.”
    Daia thought immediately of the nine-inch scar across her midsection, a gash so deep she’d had to stitch it herself in the wilds. Aside from that, however, Aminda was right. Her arms and hands were lightly scarred, as were most battlers’, but her injuries had been mostly inconsequential.
    “I had my doubts about you in the beginning,“ Aminda continued. ”You weren’t the first noble-born girl to come here trying to escape the lifestyle of your upbringing, but you are the only one who excelled in the training to become a true battler. Your competence is a measure of your value to the guild, and you serve as an outstanding example to others, particularly the younger women. I have given some thought to promoting you to lieutenant.”
    Daia fought to hide a grin. Finally, recognition for her work in the guild.
    “But,” Aminda said, “there’s one barrier that we must address. You have not sufficiently displayed a certain quality I believe is important in my officers. I want to see whether it is within you.”
    Daia’s heart sank. “What quality?”
    “My officers act in anticipation of problems whereas you act in response to them. Rather than seek out ways to demonstrate your value, you wait until you receive an assignment. On those assignments, you always surpass expectations, but I’d like to see you display more initiative. Act, don’t react.”
    Daia nodded slowly, but wondered what more Aminda was asking her to do. She already helped many of the newer girls without being assigned the task.
    “If you see the weapons in the training hall need repair, take them to the smithy. If you’re returning from a mission and someone’s waiting at the city gate for an escort, offer to accompany them. You know our rates; you can negotiate for the work. Take the initiative. Once I see sufficient evidence of this, I will inform Lilalian of my decision and have her arrange the promotion ceremony.”
    “Thank you, m’lady,” Daia said. “I won’t disappoint.” She started to stand.
    “There’s one more