Duel of Fire (Steel and Fire Book 1) Read Online Free

back, if Lorrid continues along his current path. Perhaps he should learn to defend himself.”
    “You think the Fire Warden would do something to him?” Dara asked. She looked up in time to see her parents exchanging glances.
    “We already know what the Fire Warden is capable of,” Lima said bitterly. She looked over at the empty chair then, and Dara couldn’t help following her gaze. Renna’s chair. Her mother kept the wood polished and dust free after all this time.
    “Never you mind, my young spark,” Rafe said, resting his hand on his wife’s arm and leaning toward Dara. “You ought to be more concerned about what the Fire Warden is doing to the family business if you’re to run it one day.”
    “You gave me until the Cup to prove I can make it in the duels,” Dara said.
    “Just keep your eyes open,” Rafe said. “And be wary of taking too much of an interest in the royal family.”
    Dara finished her meal in silence. Her parents had their own quarrel with the Fire Warden, but could he actually be plotting something against the king’s family? Or Prince Sivarrion in particular?
    In any case, Dara was quite certain her mother would consider her upcoming duel a waste of time. So how was she going to get out of work tomorrow?
    Her mother snapped her fingers sharply. “Did you hear me, Dara?”
    “What?”
    Lima stood and stacked their emptied bowls. “I said since you’re getting such a late start this morning I need you to stay home this afternoon and help me with the ledgers.”
    “But—”
    “No arguments. You have a duty to your family. Meet me in the shop after you wash up.”
    Dara gritted her teeth and helped clean the bowls while her father returned to his workshop. She wouldn’t be able to try out that new idea on Kel at practice after all. She’d have to work extra quickly today if she had any chance of getting away tomorrow morning.
     
     
    After finishing up the dishes, Dara joined her mother in the lantern shop, located next to the kitchen on the ground floor of their dwelling. It was an elegant room, with hardwood floors polished to a shine and discreetly placed mirrors on the walls. Ruminor Lanterns hung from intricately carved arches around the open space. There were only eight pieces on display, which served as samples of Rafe’s work. Most clients purchased custom lanterns rather than buying from the showroom. As far as Dara was concerned, the shop didn’t really need to stay open all the time. But her mother didn’t see it that way.
    On one side of the room was a large hardwood desk, where Lima sat with ledgers and drawings spread before her. Lima herself couldn’t Work the Fire, like Dara, but she had a knack for drawing. She would sketch the designs based on their customers’ requests, and Rafe would bring them to life.
    “I need you to double-check all of these orders for me,” Lima said, pushing a stack of papers toward her daughter. “We can’t have a mix-up like last year when the Morrven and Samanar orders got switched. We almost lost two of our best customers over that.”
    “I’ll be careful,” Dara said. She pulled up a chair and sat beside her mother, preparing for a long morning bent over the papers. Her wooden seat was hard and unforgiving, and her body felt crunched and useless as she set to the tedious task of crosschecking the orders. At least the shop was well lit with the steady burn of the Fire Lanterns.
    It was midsummer, one of their busiest times as they prepared new lanterns for the winter season. Rafe needed time to complete the work and then deliver the lanterns throughout Vertigon and the Lands Below. Their customers always wanted the newest and most-fashionable lantern designs despite how long they lasted. But as Rafe was the only one in their family who could Work the Fire, the business couldn’t grow much bigger.
    If only Renna hadn’t —Dara stopped herself from completing the thought. Her parents’ grief over her sister’s death had