Free Arrows Of Change (Book 1) by Honor Raconteur

knelt next to it. With a spell
and a motion of his hand, the post promptly fell apart into dozens of disks.
Picking one up, he tossed it to Riana. “Will these work?”
    She caught it handily before flipping it this way and that,
looking it over. It seemed to be no more than a quarter-inch thick, as big as
her hand, and the perfect size for throwing. “Aye, it should be.”
    “Good.” He picked up a whole stack and carted them over.
“Now, what shall we do first?”
    Broden knew exactly where to start. “I told the lass earlier
that I can put three arrows into the air at once. Best I prove that here and
now. We’ve got enough distance, I think.”
    Picking out three arrows from his quiver, he flipped one
around in his hand so that he could nock it. Aiming for the far post in the
training yard, he let it fly. Before the bow had even fully released, he was
twirling another one about in his hand so that he could nock that one as well.
Within two seconds, he had all three in the air, although barely. The first one
he’d fired hit the post just as he got the last one airborne.
    Captain Bragdon came to stand at his elbow, letting out a
low whistle. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen an archer good enough to do
that.”
    With a shrug, Riana also took three arrows from her quiver,
holding them in her hand and flicking each one about as she needed it. She
aimed for a spot just higher than her da’s on the same post, firing with quick
precision. Broden could not fault her technique—she was perfect in the way she
drew and released, it was just speed and practice she lacked. The first arrow
hit the post a second before she could get the third one in the air.
    “You were right; you can’t get more than two in the air at
once,” Ash agreed. “But you’re very, very close to managing it. Well done, both
of you.”
    Broden saw his daughter openly beam at this praise and felt
his own cheeks flush a bit, too. Archery was not something praised in Cloud’s
Rest, no matter how good an archer might be.
    “Now, moving targets.” Ashlynn shifted so that they faced a
wall that no one was nearby to before taking a good dozen of the wooden disks
from Ash. “Who’s going first?”
    “Just toss them,” Riana and Broden said in unison. Then they
glanced at each other, sharing a smile.
    Ashlynn’s eyebrows rose at this. “How fast?”
    “Fast as ye can manage, lass.”
    “Alright then,” Ashlynn agreed slowly, clearly thinking that
they were biting off more than they could chew. With a slight shrug, she picked
one off the top and slung it into the air so it provided a good, flat profile
against the sky.
    Broden and Riana fired at nearly the same time, his arrow hitting
a split second before hers. Ashlynn took them at their word and threw the
second one up as soon as she had the first in the air. Broden hit that one too,
but Riana got the next before he could get an arrow into it.
    They hit all fourteen that Ashlynn threw, not one touching
the ground that did not have at least one arrow in it. Most had two.
    Ashlynn actually clapped. “I shouldn’t have doubted you, not
with the way Ash was singing your praises. Now, what else can you do?
Run and fire?”
    “Be more challenging than that,” Riana chided her, eyes
crinkled up at the corners. “Da, shall we have a little game of catch?”
    Broden knew exactly what she was asking, and felt it was the
best way to showcase what they could really do. “Aye, that be a fine idea.
Right or left, daughter?”
    “Right be fine by me.”
     “Fine, fine.” He took a single arrow from his quiver and
nocked it, but did not draw it fully, waiting for her to go to the other side
of the yard. Looking at the wizards and the captain, he cautioned, “It’d be
best if ye stood against that far wall. Riana and I have done this afore, many
a time, but there still be moments when an arrow escapes us.”
    With quick nods of understanding, they scampered to the far
side and put their backs