Daughter of the Flames Read Online Free Page A

hit my bad shoulder with enough force to numb my arm, and before I could adjust my grip, the second strike came, hitting the staff at the exact right point to scoop it from my fingers. My staff flew from my hands, rapping me sharply on the head as it turned in the air. It rolled off my shoulder and landed behind me.
    “Ow.” I rubbed my bruised head and heard the children giggling at me. Wonderful.
    “An excellent bout!” Deo planted his staff in the dirt and leaned on it. I saw with a mixture of irritation and admiration that his breathing was barely disturbed and already slowing. “Your two-footed kick is improving, though your aim is bad. You know you should go for stomach, not shoulder. If you’d hit me right I wouldn’t have got back up again.”
    “I will practise, namoa,” I said through gritted teeth. I winced at the pull on my shoulder as I bowed.
    Deo waited for me to straighten and then returned the bow neatly, but I noted with some satisfaction that his spare hand had risen to surreptitiously massage the shoulder I had kicked. My aim was bad, was it? Ha!
    He turned to look at the children. “Do you see how the movements we have taught you today can be used in a fight?”
    There were some dubious nods. I couldn’t help laughing. Deo was a wonderful teacher, but sometimes his love of showing off was counterproductive.
    “Come on! It’s easy!” I called.
    “Easy for the teacher’s little pet,” a mocking voice said.
    Everyone turned to look up at the steps along the inner wall. I felt the laughter wilt and die away as I saw the woman with a stylized wave tattoo on both cheeks, leaning against one of the stone pillars. There, as if my earlier thoughts had called her up, was Rashna.
    Rashna was a year older than me and had taken her vows to God the year before, but despite all her promises of humility and compassion, her nature was as prickly as a porcupine’s back. I was just grateful that, for the most part, her new duties as a novice kept her busy and out of my way. Hopefully by the time I took the oath and became a novice myself, she might have advanced again and be too busy to bother with me.
    “I assure you, novice, that I do not have pets of any kind,” Deo said sharply. “If you would care to spar with me yourself, you’d have the bruises to prove it.”
    I looked at him in surprise. It wasn’t like him to snap.
    Rashna raised an eyebrow. “I certainly meant no disrespect to you, namoa. Or, of course, to your favoured pupil.” She nodded to him, then turned and swiftly mounted the stairs.
    “That girl…” Deo muttered between his teeth.
    I stooped to collect my staff from the dust. “She has a wicked tongue,” I agreed, hoping my tone did not give away my rampant curiosity.
    Deo’s scowl suddenly turned into a grin. “I hear Surya put her on duty with the goats. Not precisely what Rashna expected, eh?”
    I hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Did she request a placement as a fighting namoa, then?”
    “Demanded it, more like. It never crossed her mind she wouldn’t get it.”
    “Then why didn’t she? We all know she was the best fighter in her age group. I thought she must have decided not to take the placement, for some reason.”
    “Oh, she has a definite talent. Especially with the long staff.” He grinned again.
    “Then why isn’t she in your unit?” I repeated.
    “I have a shrewd idea that her temper’s got her into trouble one too many times. Hopefully goat duty’ll cool her down, and then Surya can reassign her somewhere more to her taste.” He shook his head and glanced at me. The smile turned to a look of concern as he saw me massaging my shoulder. “I’ll take care of this lot. You should go to the herb room and get Mira to mix up some ointment for your shoulder.”
    Mira was Deo’s wife, a gifted herbalist and fellow namoa. She was two months pregnant with their first child.
    “Would you like me to request some extra for you?” I asked,