Daughter of Dragonfire and Blood

Chapter 1

"Again!" My mother exclaimed, her sharp silver eyes meeting mine.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Asena, "Ready?"

She nodded and lunged at me with a dagger, barely missing my stomach. I scowled and focused on the dance of death, the quick dodging of sharp weapons while maintaining my composure.

Our mother was intent on making me practice without my own weapon, forcing me to rely on my wits and pure strength. She was insistent that my skill without weapons was not good enough, but nothing was ever truly good enough for her.

Asena managed to stab me in the shoulder and the pain was blinding, I fell to my knees and gritted my teeth, "Was that really fucking necessary?"

Our mother clapped, "Well done Asena, you caught her unaware. As for you, Deyirana, you should know better than to get hurt by something so little."

I showed her my middle finger and grabbed onto Asena's hand, letting her half-carry me into the healer's quarters. I hopped onto the table and called out, "Can someone get this thing out of me."

I moved to yank the dagger out but Celani, our Chief Healer, smacked my hand away, "You'll damage something like that. Be still."

She carefully twisted it out, slowly and painfully. As soon as it was out she pressed a paste onto the wound and quickly started to bandage it, face twisted in concentration.

She finished and handed me more of the paste and extra bandages, "Be careful. Your mother needs to let you rest for the next couple of days."

Asena snorted, "As if. Even if she did, I would be the one getting punished for it."

I nodded in agreement, "It's not worth it. Plus, I join the coven in the next three and a half years, this is the most important training time of my life."

Celani rolled her eyes and waved a hand in dismissal, "Witches, it's always something with you lot."

I laughed, Celani was the only human in the entire Witch Kingdom that could get away with saying such things. She had been there with my sister and I were born, she was a midwife and a healer, an extraordinary feat for a human here.

I turned to Asena, but her eyes were already on one of the healer boys, who watched her nervously. I scowled at the tension between them, whatever the hell was going on there, it wasn't worth our mother finding out.

Our mother would probably torture the poor boy and make Asena watch, teaching her lessons about endurance. Our mother, Queen Morana of the Witch Kingdom, was the cruelest thing of all.

Crueler than the vampires who pushed us out of the Middle Kingdom two centuries ago, crueler than the Gods themselves. And she wanted us to be just like her.

The boy dripped his tray of bandages and sharp needles, hurrying to pick them up, "Forgive me, Mistress Celani! I meant not to do it."

Celani frowned, "Perhaps you should focus on your training as a healer instead of Asena."

He sputtered and started to couch, face turning red. Asena's own face turned red as she grabbed my hand and stomped off, putting me into a fit of laughter.

She dragged me into her part of our conjoined room, "Stop laughing! It isn't funny!"

I pretended to wipe tears, "Forgive me, sister. It's just that I never thought you would be the type to make human boys fall over themselves."

She punched my wounded shoulder and I bared my teeth, "Careful, Asena. I may not have fangs yet, but I'll still rip out your throat."

Her eyes widened in disbelief but she paced the room instead of hitting me again. I watched her with keen interest, I had never seen Asena so perturbed, not over such small matters.