The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce Read Free Book Online

her head. "I could mend an ordinary sword," she called, "but not one so well-made."
    Gammal pulled the length of metal from the forge and she put up the bellows. Without the wheezing, she could clearly hear the humming sound from Lightning's sheared-off blade. "Gammal, don't—" she began, but the smith was striking. His hammer met the glowing metal; everyone was knocked down by the resulting explosion. When Alanna struggled to her feet, the fire was out, the anvil was cracked down the center, and Gammal was unconscious. She brought him around quickly with water fetched by Kourrem, and the Bazhir grinned.
    That was a mistake, Faithful commented from a safe distance away. Look at the blade.
    Lightning still lay on the anvil. After a moment Alanna touched it; the broken piece was as cold as the forge. "It was not meant to be struck by a hammer," Ali Mukhtab's voice said unexpectedly. Alanna spun, startled because she had not heard the Voice come up behind her. "You must find some other way to repair it, Alanna of Trebond." He smiled suddenly, his white teeth flashing. "The people of this tribe lived very quietly before you came," he commented, before turning and walking away.
    Alanna scowled at the Voice's retreating back, before she realized that Kara, Ishak, and Kourrem were giggling. "He is right," Kara said. "But we are glad you came."
    With a sigh Alanna slid the broken length of sword back into its sheath, strapping the hilt into place once more. She would have to find some other way to repair it. Her lessons in sorcery had not included sword-smithing. And what was she to do for a sword until then? She felt unprepared without Lightning in her hand.
    "Those three should be glad that you have come among us," Gammal commented softly. Alanna looked sharply around for her attendants: they were some distance away, trying to interest Faithful in a brightly colored ball. "Before they had little status. Come into my tent, and my woman will give you something cool to drink," he added. "The young ones can look after your cat, and each other, for now."
    Alanna followed the smith into his living quarters, gnawing thoughtfully at her thumb. Gammal's wife served them, her eyes nervous behind her veil. "Why?" Alanna finally asked. "They're intelligent, alert, quick—I like them. Why would they have little status?"
    Gammal lit a pipe, drawing on it thoughtfully before answering. "The boy Ishak claimed he saw pictures in the fire when he was only six," he replied.
    "Of course," Alanna said, puzzled. "He told me himself he has the Gift. He hasn't had much instruction for someone his age—"
    Gammal waved this aside. "Balls of brightly colored fire hung over Kourrem's bed, and she played with them. Kara throws things without touching them when she is angry. The shaman says they are cursed. Ishak's family left their son to the teaching of his grandfather, but the families of the girls cast them out as soon as they could fend for themselves."
    Alanna could not believe she had heard correctly. "But—all those things are signs of the Gift—of magic," she whispered. "And Ibn Nazzir said they were cursed?"
    Gammal nodded. "Some in the tribe think the shaman has made a mistake. They look after the three, clothing them and feeding them. Halef Seif is one such."
    "I suppose you're another," Alanna guessed shrewdly.
    Gammal ducked his head in acknowledgment as she turned her mind to another problem. "Does this mean the girls have never been trained? They don't know how to use their power?" Gammal shook his head. "Great Merciful Mother," Alanna breathed. "I'd rather live in a pit of snakes than in the same village with two girls who don't know how to control their sorcery! Doesn't anyone realize what could happen? They must have learned some control, or none of you would be here. But haven't you noticed anything peculiar, when one of them is angry or sick?"
    Gammal nodded, unperturbed. "Once lightning came out of the sky and almost struck the