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answer you will like. Now I desire only you, Simonbut not for marriage. If I cannot have you without that bond, there is nothing to hold me here. I will go back to Angharad's Hall where, if any do think of me as a witch, they do not hate me for it. And no man aspires to marry me. They know there that the women of Angharad's line do not marry." |
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Simon's step hesitated. "Rhiannon," he said uncertainly, "is that why you will not have me as a husband? Is it the tradition of your people? Something could be worked out" |
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Rhiannon wondered whether she should allow him to believe that, but it was not true. Some of the things Kicva had said implied that she expected her daughter to marry in the usual way. At last she did not answer him directly and only said, "Please, Simon, can you not accept me as I am? It is not owing to any fault in you that I refuse. I must be free. I cannot be bound to any man." |
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"I can leave you free, Rhiannon," he said slowly. "Indeed, I know no way to hold you against your will, nor would I wish to do so. But I do not understand what you mean by not being bound to any man." |
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"You understand it well enough. Until you decided for some reason known only to yourself and God that you had fixed upon me for a wife, you desired many women but never wished to be bound to any one. So why" |
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"Men are different," Simon interrupted sharply. |
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"Perhaps," Rhiannon agreed. "I have discovered I desire only youbut that is now, this day, this week, perhaps this year, or even for ten years. Simon, I wish you would listen to reason. I cannot give you more than I have. I offer my body and my friendship. Will you not take them?" |
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There was a long silence while Simon strode steadily back along the trail. His arms were growing weary. Slender as she was, Rhiannon was hard-muscled, and |
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