King of Mist (Steel and Fire Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

“In fact, they’re barely supposed to be on speaking terms.”
    “You think it’s a new alliance?”
    “Sure sounds like it.”
    “Great. That’s the last thing I need.” The Rollendars were making new friends left and right. Siv had to rein them in quickly. And he couldn’t have people ignoring or interrupting him in meetings. He had to do something to establish his hold on the council soon. And he had to figure out what was so important about that road.
     
     

3.
    The Firesmith
    WHEN Dara’s shift ended, she jogged up the winding stone stairwell of the castle’s central tower to retrieve the Fire Blade Siv wanted her to investigate. It was still strange that he lived in the king’s chambers now, far away from the beautiful dueling hall he had constructed outside his original rooms in the western end of the castle. Dara had never actually been inside those rooms, but she had spent hours in the dueling hall over the summer. She still went there sometimes to practice with the training dummies. She hoped Siv’s duties would eventually let up enough to allow him to train with her again. She missed how uncomplicated their friendship had been within the dueling hall.
    Dara slowed at the landing at the top of the stairwell. The young Castle Guard stationed outside the king’s chamber was a new recruit, one of the first men hired in place of the treacherous guards who had tried to kidnap Siv and his two sisters.
    “I need to get something from inside,” Dara said as she approached. “King’s orders.”
    “Of course.” The guardsman stepped aside, heels clicking. “You’re Nightfall, aren’t you?”
    “Huh? Oh, yes. Or at least I was.”
    “I’ve seen you duel. You’re brilliant.”
    “Thanks.” Dara said. “Do you compete?” The young man had the look of a soldier rather than a sport duelist, all strong arms and sharp edges. His dark-brown hair was cut in a clean military style.
    “When I was a kid,” he said. “Had to quit when I joined the army. I still follow the sport, though.”
    “Me too,” Dara said.
    The young guardsman stuck out his hand. “I’m Telvin, by the way. Telvin Jale.”
    “Dara.”
    “Are you going to keep dueling now that you’re on the Guard?” he asked.
    Dara hesitated, glancing down at the sigil on her uniform. She felt so far removed from who she had been just a month ago, when she had adopted the Nightfall persona to help her obtain a dueling patron.
    “I can still go to competitions when I have Turndays off, but my duties don’t allow me as much time to train.”
    “I hear you.” Telvin rested a hand on the sword hilt at his belt. “It also changes your game when you learn how to fight to kill. It can mess up your competition strategy.”
    “I guess it can,” Dara said. She was more afraid her competitors would surpass her as they continued to train full time and she slowly lost her edge. She would rather lose to a worthy opponent in peak form than have her skills slowly atrophy.
    “You were hitting your stride at the time of the Cup,” Telvin said. “I was sure you were going to win it all.”
    “Things are different now,” Dara said quietly.
    She already missed the thrill of competition, the tap of her boots on a stone dueling floor, the clang of blades. She missed her dueling friends too, their hours doing drills and cheering each other on, their trips to the Stone Market on Village Peak for pies and salt cakes. She’d barely seen them since she moved into the barracks.
    She hadn’t had a chance to get to know the other guardsmen yet. The Guard was so short-staffed that there usually weren’t many of them hanging out in the barracks behind the castle. Pool had been very busy since his promotion to the head of the Castle Guard after Captain Bandobar vanished. They would need more good men soon. The king and his family remained vulnerable.
    Telvin Jale held open the door to the king’s chambers for Dara to enter. “You should try to get to some