Awaken by Anya Richards Read Free Book Online Page A

you that way, but we know the truth. And if you’re refusing me, I’ll wager at least one other person does too.”
    Shocked by the naked venom in his voice, Myrina gasped. “What do you mean by that?”
    Mouth downturned in a petulant frown, Jecil crossed his arms. “If you’re no longer interested in me, then you must have found someone else. I pity him, whoever he may be, for you know nothing about pleasing a man.”
    Stung and angry, she turned and began walking away, ignoring him when he called after her, not even looking at him when he fell into pace beside her and begged her forgiveness. By the time they neared the village square, Jecil had fallen into sulky silence. Elawen waved at Myrina and crossed the crowded street to join them.
    “I heard you were back, Jecil Conrow.” Elawen’s shrewd gaze travelled back and forth between their faces, and she grinned. “And still strutting around like cock-o-the-walk. At least now your feathers are a little finer.”
    “Shrew,” Jecil snarled. “Can’t you think of anything better to do with that cheeky mouth of yours than make fun of one of the emperor’s men?”
    Elawen’s grin grew wider as she slipped an arm through Myrina’s. Letting her eyelids droop, she licked her lips and hummed deep in her throat. “I’ve been told my mouth is one of my best features, for I use it with such skill. That’s something you’ll never know for sure, and you’re the poorer for it.”
    “And you’re the poorer for not getting a chance to prove your talent,” Jecil replied with a smirk, drawing a screech of outrage from Elawen. They began to argue so vociferously that Myrina was able to slip away to deliver her squash without them even noticing.
    After spending quite some time with Mistress Hennesey, Myrina cut through the fields toward the Harbottle farm, hoping to find Elawen returned from the village. At least in her friend’s company, Myrina could find a smile or laugh—forget for a while the strange conundrum she found herself in.
    A cool gusty wind by turns swirled in her face and pushed her along. The ground was rough with grain stubble and already hard, although they were yet to have autumn’s first frost. Grey, sere, the landscape provided a true reflection of Myrina’s mood. Hither and yon, cold and fickle as the wind, blew her melancholy thoughts.
    Jecil was right, of course—she really knew nothing about how to bring pleasure to a lover. Ryllio had shown her how to find it for herself, giving her visions of what a man could do to please her, but she still didn’t know how to satisfy a man in return. It made her feel sad and less of a woman than she should be.
    Yet Ryllio was more of a lover to her than Jecil had ever been. Even though she had never felt his hands upon her skin, nor been able to touch him in return, she knew him in a deeply intimate way. Could the giving of her body to another man ever be more personal, or more intensely arousing, than allowing Ryllio into her mind, sharing his passionate visions? Surely she would never find another man to entice her as he did.
    That thought brought her spirits even lower, for how could Ryllio, cast into stone, unable to share anything but thoughts, ever truly satisfy a flesh-and-blood woman? Yet if Ryllio were, somehow, to return to life, how quickly he would tire of her company!
    One night, lost in the rapture of being with him, she had wished aloud for his release from Mab’s spell. For a long time he was silent, leaving her to wonder what he was thinking, and eventually only sighed and spoke of other things.
    Although free to come and go as she pleased, Myrina felt equally imprisoned. The enchantment of being with Ryllio never seemed to completely fade, but bliss turned to melancholy whenever they were apart. How she longed to find a way to release him. Even if it meant he would eventually leave her, she would gladly suffer that pain to know he was once more at liberty.
    Pausing in the field, Myrina