Awaken by Anya Richards Read Free Book Online

her hand, she beckoned her daughter close. “We may not have much more time together here. Won’t you tell me what it is that plagues you so?”
    How Myrina’s heart was wrung with renewed agony to hear her mother say out loud what she most feared to be true, and she could not stop tears from filling her eyes.
    With a little sob, she rushed to kneel and rest her head on the frail lap, just as she had when some childish injury had caused her hurt and she sought succour.
    And as her mother’s hand caressed her hair, Myrina wished with all her heart she could share her woe, but of course she could not. The desire she felt for Ryllio, her enchantment with a man turned to stone, was not something she would ever think to speak of. To the woman who gave her life least of all.
    As though understanding her reticence, her mother simply held her and crooned timeless words of comfort.
    Indeed, the story was not one she could share with anyone, not even Elawen who, knowing something was wrong, tried to press Myrina into confiding. Letting her friend believe it was worry for her mother was the easiest way out of the tangle without lying.
    As though all that were not enough, one afternoon, walking down to the village to deliver some squash from her garden to Mistress Hennesey, Goodwife Harbottle’s sister, Myrina was surprised to see a familiar figure striding jauntily toward her.
    “Jecil!”
    Delighted to see him, she laughed as he picked her up and swung her around, planting a loud kiss on her cheek as he did. But when he tried to kiss her lips, she turned her head away. Jecil only laughed as he set her down and tugged at his military jacket, setting it back to rights.
    “Still the shy maid, I see.” He lifted his brows, brown eyes twinkling, “But surely not still with me?”
    Myrina knew her cheeks were red, but could nothing to halt the telltale blush. Before she could find an answer, Jecil gave her a cocky grin. “Still blushing too! I’m glad to see nothing has changed since I left.”
    And as though indeed nothing had changed, he threw his arm about her shoulder and started walking—talking so much of his time in the city she never had need to answer.
    Already his commanding officer had recommended him for promotion. He had come back to Kessit only to sell the land his father had given him before being sent to his next posting.
    “And,” he said with a sly sideways glance at Myrina, “to see old friends.”
    Myrina looked away, uncomfortable with the way he held her close to his side. “I’m glad to see you, Jecil, and looking so well.”
    Clad in a smart red-and-blue uniform, his long blond hair pulled into a tidy club at the back of his head and tied with a ribbon of the imperial colours, he was a fine sight indeed, but one that left her unmoved. Myrina felt a sinking in her belly as his arm tightened around her shoulders.
    “I’m glad you think so, sweetheart, for I have missed you sorely while I was away. Will you take pity on me while I am here?”
    There was no mistaking the meaning behind his crooning words. Myrina stopped walking and pulled back from his embrace. She had no wish to hurt his feelings, but could not even contemplate renewing their affair, however briefly. Just the thought felt like a betrayal of Ryllio.
    “I’m sorry, Jecil, but I can’t be any more to you now than a friend.”
    Jecil shook his head, amusement alight in his face. “You wound me, darling, to say that is all we are! Let me come to your house tonight and we will slip away together as we used to. There can be no harm in our enjoying this time we have, although it is so little.”
    “No!” At Jecil’s look of surprise, Myrina took a deep breath, forcing her tone back to normal. “No thank you. It wouldn’t be right.”
    The change in his expression was gradual, moving from humour to disbelief, and then to narrow-eyed malice. “There is no need to play the coy maid with me. Perhaps the rest of the village will still view