Page 59 of Tears of the Wolf
“I would understand if you were jealous,” Cenric said quietly. “Angry, even. I should have told you about her sooner.”
Brynn ducked her head. “I’m not angry. I’m not…” She shook her head. “I know what the right thing is. I will do it.”
“And what is that?”
“I will…” Brynn’s voice hitched ever so slightly, but Cenric was listening close enough to catch it. “I will do my duty to you and the people of this shire. Heal them, help them, and be the sorceress you need.”
Silence stretched between them again, broken only by Snapper’s playful growls and Guin’s less playful attempts at snarls.
“You always do the right thing, don’t you?” Cenric surmised. “Even if it makes you feel like shit.”
Brynn looked up to him, her shoulders stiff. “What do you want me to do, Cenric?” This time a hint of frustration or maybe even anger crept into her tone. “Should I have refused to heal that old man because you bedded his daughter? Should I have struck the whole family with boils, perhaps? Would you have been happy then?” Brynn’s mouth snapped closed, and she ducked her head, cutting off her tirade. She covered her face with her hands and dragged in sharp breaths. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I…just…just tell me what you want, and I will do it.”
“I would understand if you were jealous of Rowan.” Cenric crouched down to her level, grasping her wrist to pull her hand from her face. “I’m jealous of Paega.”
“Why?” Brynn sounded genuinely confused.
“Because he had you.” Cenric wasn’t sure what pulled that confession from him, but it was the truth. He hated that so much of Brynn’s youth had been wasted on a man who hadn’t appreciated what he’d been given. He hated that she’d given six years to that wretch and even borne him a son only to be neglected to the point she fled.
Brynn made a sound that might have been a laugh but was too sad to be a real one. “He never wanted me. He still pines for his first wife.”
A trickle of understanding came to Cenric then. “I’m not pining for Rowan.”
Brynn flinched again at mention of the other woman’s name.
“Rowan is a good woman, and she will make someone a fine wife, but…we didn’t work.” Cenric had cared deeply for Rowan and her for him, but that hadn’t been enough.
Rowan had soothed the aching loneliness of his first year back in Ombra, far from his friends and family in Valdar. But Rowan was not prepared to be an alderman’s wife. It hadn’t been right for either of them. Their relationship had died a slow, lingering death.
Brynn looked down to her knees. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Try to make me feel better.”
The problem was that Cenric wanted her to feel better. “No lies, Brynn. Like I told you. Only the truth.”
“Yes?”
“The truth is that I’ve had other lovers, and Rowan was myfrilla.”
Brynn’s brow wrinkled. “A what?”
Cenric tried to remember the Hyldish word for it. “A woman who has an arrangement?”
“You mean a concubine?” Brynn’s tone turned dry.
“Yes. Rowan was my concubine.” For some reason, Cenric didn’t like the sound of the words as they were spoken to Brynn. “But you’re the only woman I’ve calledwife.”
Brynn looked up to him then, her eyes shining orbs in the moonlight. She might be crying, but he couldn’t tell. “Don’t denigrate her to make me feel better.”
“I’m not denigrating her.” Cenric tried to smother the frustration in his chest. “Like I said, she’s a fine woman, but…” How could he explain it? “It’s over.”
“I see.” Brynn didn’t sound convinced.
“You’re the only woman I’ve calledwife.”
“And what does that mean to you?”
