Silver Silence Read Online Free PDF Page B

gladiators in the arena. This yearning, this torment…it was too much for a man to bear. More than anything, he wanted to surrender. But it was wrong. Very wrong.
    Her lips nuzzled his ear. “Gods, Rhys, I’ve missed you. I love you so. And…I knew you loved me. I knew it. Marcus and Gwen will be so glad…”
    Marcus.
    Marcus, glad to find Rhys mauling his beloved little sister on a muddy beach? Rhys thought not. The man would be enraged, and rightly so. A homeless wanderer was no fitting mate for Breena. Even worse, Marcus was the one man who knew the kind of sexual encounters Rhys craved—they’d often hunted whores together in their youth. On occasion, when they’d been short on coin, they’d even shared a woman between them.
    Aye, if Marcus were to stumble upon Rhys right now, he would waste no time in beating him to a bloody pulp. And Rhys, for his part, would not lift a finger to defend himself.
    It took every dram of his strength, but at last he forced his hands to his sides and stepped back. Released from his grip, Breena swayed, blinking up at him with hazy eyes.
    “Rhys? What is it? What is wrong?”
    “Everything. This…this cannot happen between us, Breena. It is not right.”
    “What?” She lifted her hands. “Of course it is right! We belong together. I have always known it.”
    “Nay,” he said. “We do not.”
    A beat of silence ensued. “But…you wanted me. Just now. Don’t try to tell me you didn’t! I felt it, Rhys.” Her throat worked. “Quite plainly. You cannot deny it.”
    He forced a laugh. “What you felt was the natural reaction of any man, to any woman. It meant nothing.”
    Her breath hissed through her teeth. “I do not believe that for a moment. You want me. Why can you not admit it? I’m no longer a girl. I can be your wife now. I can travel with you. Help you find initiates forAvalon. Why, I am certain that my Sight can be of help—”
    “No,” he ground out. “You cannot travel with me. The very thought is absurd.”
    “Why? I would like to travel. Marcus has covered the distance from Rome to Caledonia! I’ve never even seen Londinium.”
    “Breena, my travels are not a lark. I do not visit fancy inns. Just the opposite. I seek out the lowest, meanest places. Or the wildest ones. That is where I am most likely to find what I’m looking for.”
    He felt her hesitation. But it lasted no more than a heartbeat. “I’d happily stay in those places, Rhys, if it meant we could be together.”
    “You only say that because you cannot imagine what it is like. The privations of Avalon are trial enough for you, even with Marcus’s improvements! You could not be content sleeping before a stranger’s hearth, or on a low tavern’s flea-ridden pallet. Or perhaps a stinking stable or barn would please you? Or sometimes, Breena, there is no roof at all. I often sleep in the open, even in the rain, and count myself lucky if a brigand does not murder me in my sleep.”
    “Rhys—”
    “I have nothing, Breena. Nothing but the clothes on my back, my harp, and my duty.”
    “Oh, Rhys, that’s just not true! You have a family, and people who love you. And a home. Right here, on Avalon.”
    His laugh was low and bitter. “Avalon is not my home. My grandfather made certain of that.”
    “Cyric is dead. And you said yourself that Gwen has no control over your comings and goings. You could live here if you wanted.”
    “Nay,” he said. “I could not. And you know that. You know of Cyric’s visions of Britain’s future.”
    “I know he saw two possibilities. One was a nightmare—Britain torn by war, plundered by barbarians from over the sea. The second was a bright dream—a strong, peaceful Britain, ruled by a Druid king. But Rhys, to my mind, neither vision makes sense! Where is the Roman army in Cyric’s vision? Britain is one of Rome’s most prosperous provinces. The legions would never tolerate barbarian raiders. Still less, a Druid king.”
    “Aye, I know. Gwen