A few Centaurides around the room smiled their approval at me. This was what I needed to see. Everyone knew the Centaurides made the decisions; their husbands and sons would do whatever they were told. One of the Centaurides nodded at me and gave me an approving smile – she’s the one I spoke to. “I don’t know Cassie. I’ve never met her until today, just now. So I ask you, what exactly are her crimes?”
You could have heard a pin drop. No one spoke. No one breathed. I had their full attention. “You mean to tell me no one in this room knows her crimes? You all filed past her when you walked in. You saw her on display as a criminal, yet not one single Centaur in this room thought it important enough to ask what she had done?” I waited a few moments and shouted, “Shame on you!! Shame on all of you!”
Several of the Centaurs who had been actively listening to me dropped their eyes to the floor. They knew I was right. “Centaurides above all others are revered.” For effect I looked toward Mom and pointed my finger at her. “That’s what Mom taught me. They’re special. They are the foundation of our society, and look how this one is being treated! She is not part of my herd. She has no ties to my family. You allowed this abuse to take place and not one of you lifted a finger to stop it. Today is the first day of my life that I am ashamed to be a Centaur.”
An older Centaur who stood close to the Centauride nodding her approval at me shuffled his feet and spoke up, “He’s right. Untie her hands.” It wasn’t a request. He was staring directly at the Captain of the Guard.
The Captain of the Guard didn’t flinch. A Centauride with a stiff British accent piped in, “Did you ‘ear ‘im Cap’ain? Untie her.”
The enforcers who were posted throughout the warehouse were looking around the room. All the Centaurs and Centaurides looked like a mob. Whispers echoed in the room; angry facial expressions were glaring at the Captain who had shoved me. It was working. The Centaur citizens were demanding Cassie be set free.
More shouts from the back of the room sounded. The captain tried to take control, “Settle down! The Chairman’s instructions were clear. She is a Lost Herd sympathizer. She’s to be interrogated.”
Dad answered the Captain with a chuckle in his voice, “A sympathizer? My family and I are right here. You want to do this to a Centauride who has done nothing but show kindness? Yet my family is of the Lost Herd and we are free to move about the premises? Tell me you have a better argument, Captain.”
More whispers and shuffling of feet sounded on the cement. The Captain’s expression remained stoic, “What the Council chooses to do with you and your family, Mr. Strayer, is out of my control. It is merely my job to carry out the orders I have been given.” He turned his attention back to Frank, “Edwards, put the gag back on.”
It looked like a full-fledged riot was about to occur. Centaurides began gathering together. They were planning something. A couple Centaurides were dangerous, a handful could wreak havoc on a full city block, but a room full of Centaurides who were all working together and ticked off – I didn’t want to be the object of their anger. It was Frank’s voice who sounded out over the crowd, “No, sir. I won’t.”
The Captain was paying as close attention to the group of Centaurides as I was. His voice was less forceful when he answered, “We have our orders, Edwards.”
“No, sir. You have your orders. The only thing I have is an unlawful order I won’t follow.” Frank gently turned Cassie’s body away from his so her back was facing him. He loosened the ropes binding Cassie’s hands. I was only a few feet away. He didn’t speak loudly, but he didn’t whisper either. “I’m sorry for my part in this, Miss. I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Cassie didn’t speak, but she stood a little straighter and nodded regally. The Centauride who had spoken with the British accent approached Cassie and handed her a bottle of water. Cassie’s hands wrapped around the sweating clear bottle in the heat of the room and took a meager sip from the bottle. The Centauride put both her hands around the necklace on Cassie’s neck, “As the Matriarch of the Winters’ Herd, I absorb your magic. This Centauride has proven her obedience; she is free of your enchantment.” The necklace came off in British Centauride’s hand; she handed it to the Captain.
“You can tell the Chairman that Eliza Winters removed the necklace of obedience. If you want to bind and gag me, Cap’ain, I can assure you, I won’t go quietly.” The Centauride draped her arm around Cassie, “You remind me of my daughter. I’d like to introduce you to her.” She began ushering Cassie back toward her family. Cassie looked over her shoulder at me. It was one of those looks that was impossible to read. I imagined she was telling me thank you or maybe silently telling me to keep my distance so this didn’t happen to her again. Whatever she was trying to tell me, I gave her a nod like I understood and turned back toward my family.
Frank and the Captain stood in place, neither sure what they should be doing after the crowd had nearly attacked them both. Frank had done what I’d hoped he would. He was the guy I’d known forever. The uniform hadn’t changed him into a mindless enforcer. There were a million things I could have said to him, but the only thing that came out was, “Big Frank would be proud of you.”
He nodded. When I looked at his eyes, they were glistening. He knew as well as I did that his refusal to follow an order would likely result in his dismissal from the enforcers, but he could hold his head high that he’d made the right choice. I held out my hand to him. He looked at my extended hand for a second, then brushed it away and took me in a huge bear hug in front of the whole room. “Thanks, Ben. No matter what happens, I’ve got your back.” He let me go without another word and took a post in line with all the other enforcers.
Chapter 12
(Zethus Chiron – Centurion, South Africa)
Pierre cleared his throat and looked in my direction. It wasn’t that I didn’t notice all the hostile stares; I just didn’t care about them any more than I had cared about seeing them my whole life. At least he seemed to be trying to suppress his. “Zo why are you convinced a god killed your parents?”
I looked at my sister. Few remembered our father. Sure they knew who he was, but no one in this room, other than Zandra and me, had known him. He was the strongest Centaur I’d ever known. His guard was never down. When there was dissent among the herds, he fixed disputes with nothing more than words. No one questioned him, ever. He didn’t have the ability Drake has, he couldn’t change into a true warrior, but he didn’t need it. One look from him was enough to part an ocean.
Although his strength is what I remembered most, he was more than that: he was beloved. Everyone who met him treated him like royalty. My whole life, up until his death, I never saw anything but love and respect for him from everyone in our society. Everyone clamored to be near him. If he was in the fields tending sheep, Centaur neighbors would find a reason to be in our pasture. If he was tipping an ale at the local pub, he ne’er needed to buy his own.
The room was silent. Pierre seemed the least hostile toward me, so I answered him as honestly as I could. “You all know our father was loved among all herds. What ya may not know is there was an enchantment on our home. Only family members could step foot inside the house. That’s why all those years I believed Zandra was to blame for our parents’ deaths, and she believed the same about me.”
Pierre scoffed, “An enchantment? What kind of an enchantment?”
Zandra knew where I was going with this one, so she answered, “I remember inviting friends over when I was younger. No matter how hard they tried, none could ever cross the threshold of the front door. Any friends or extended family who came to visit were limited to the front porch, the guest house, or the barn. None could enter our home.”
Looks of disbelief peppered the faces around the enormous table. I nodded my agreement. “My friends and I spent our time building forts in the barn and playing tag in the fields, but no one but Mam, Dad, Zandra and I could go inta the house. I never knew how the enchantment wo
rked; it never occurred to me to ask, either.”
Pierre reluctantly asked, “That would lead this Council to come to the same conclusion conspiracy theorists have long believed – that one of his children killed him.”
I took a deep breath. I knew what I was getting myself into by leaving Thessaly. The Council had suspected it was one of his children. Because they selected Zandra as their Chairman, all had long ago decided it was me who murdered my parents. None ever had enough proof to pass a sentence on me, although there were times I believed my neighbors might take matters into their own hands. That was why I became a recluse and cut myself off from the rest of the world.
Maggie’s belief in me never wavered. She knew I wasn’t capable of murder and had stood by me and given me two strapping sons. Right after the birth of our twin boys, Zandra sent word that I was never to leave Thessaly, and she would never again return. She had kept her word.
The enchantment on the house was the key all along. I had believed it proved Zandra had done it, but if I would have looked beyond her as the murderer, I would have known that someone other than a Centaur had to be involved. I silently wished I had questioned the enchantment forty years ago. If I had, so many things would not have happened.
Without acknowledging Pierre’s conclusion, I just kept talking. “At the time I chalked the enchantment up to the magic of Thessaly. The first day a Centaur other than the four o' us was able to walk through our front door was when the Centaur Council Enforcers came to investigate me parents’ deaths.”
No one wanted to hear what I had to say. Several sat glaring at me with their arms crossed, leaning as far back as their chairs would allow. I didn’t relent, “At the time I believed the enchantment must have been broken by the death o' me parents. When I started me own family, the same enchantment didn’t magically appear on me own home, and me wife had never heard o' such a thing.”
No one flinched. As I looked around the chamber, Cami and Drake were the only two in the room who didn’t seem hostile toward me, so I spoke to just them and tried to ignore all the others in the room. “Looking back on the night our parents were killed, I had been convinced it was Zandra.”
Cami said nothing, but her eyes glared toward Zandra. I no longer believed Zandra had killed them, and regardless of how Cami felt about her, I needed her to understand the truth. “Whoever had put the enchantment in place might have disabled it in order to kill our parents. But what Centauride would have been powerful enough to create an enchantment like that?"
I’d heard of Centaur magic, but it was always tied to the Chiron line. It never even occurred to me to consider a Centauride in my own herd may have put an enchantment on the house and taken it away, only to slay my parents when they were unsuspecting. I hadn’t considered a human either. Mam and Dad forbade Zandra and me from interacting with any humans, so I’d never considered that as a possibility. I had no idea if the enchantment might have precluded a human from enterin' in the first place. A vengeful god had never occurred to me before, but nothing seemed out of the realm of possibilities now.”
Pierre leaned across the table toward me, “Zethus, these are nothing but speculation. Where is your proof?”
“The only proof I have is I now know Zandra didn’t kill 'em. I’ve known all along that I didn’t kill 'em. That leaves very few possibilities.”
“You are ignoring the most likely possibility based on all these theories you are finally sharing.”
His words brought me back to the room where all eyes were waiting for me to respond. Gods would not be thwarted by Centaur enchantments, only Centaurs. So if it couldn’t have been any Centaur and it wasn’t Zandra or me, and the idea that it could have been a human was remote at best, that left only one other possibility.
“Pierre, there are no other possibilities beyond interference from a god.”
“Zat is a strong statement. Again, what iz your proof?”
Proof that it was neither Zandra nor me? Or proof that a god had had a hand in their deaths? I shook my head, “I don’t have any. Other than the fact that our parents are dead and neither o' us killed 'em.”
“Which god do you believe is to blame?”
“I haven’t a clue.” Sighs sounded from the Centaurs around the table.
I was surprised to hear Drake’s voice drown out the sighs. “I believe you, Zethus.”
Drake was the only one standing in the room. He towered over everyone when they were upright, but he was absolutely enormous from my seat. It was difficult to think of him as the desperate Centaur who had come to my home looking for Chiron’s arrow. I gave him a grateful nod.
Drake looked around the room, speaking to me but looking at the Centaur Council. “I never knew you in your younger days, but when Cami and I came to your home you were convinced Zandra had killed your parents. As little as I care for the Chairman,” he paused as the room grew icy, “I trust you.”
Cami sat up straighter in her chair, showing no resemblance to the portrait of Rupert who looked out from the wall behind her. “My grandmother is guilty of horrific things. I do not know her well enough to know whether she is capable of murder, but I, too, trust you, Uncle Zethus.”
Byron Barber spoke with his thick American accent. He completely ignored Drake and Cami’s endorsement. “I do not know you. I thought you died decades ago. You have no place on the Centaur Council and your opinion carries no weight with my herd. My herd does not take lightly your accusation against a god. Just because you are sitting in the Centaur Council Chamber does not give you the right to make wild allegations.”
Zandra reached across the table and took my hand. Her strong grip took me by surprise. Her voice was equally as strong when she addressed the Barber Council Member. “He is my guest. I lost more than my parents that night. We all lost a beloved leader.” Her voice turned nostalgic, a little wispy, “I never wanted this. I never wanted any of this. Following in my father’s footsteps – that was Zethus’s dream.”
Her eyes wandered to each Centaur in the room but locked hard on Cami’s, “I’ve made decisions I’m not proud of. I’ve hurt my own granddaughter in an effort to honor Zeus’s decree. I was power hungry. The things I’ve done to my own family can never be undone. You ask why do I share this with you? Because when I was only twenty I became the Chairman. I lost my father, my mother and my brother that night. Believing my brother could commit such a heinous crime jaded me. My heart turned to stone that night and no joy in my life ever softened it. My husband died with a broken heart because I could never love him back. My own children never found an ounce of love from me. I tell you this not because I want your pity. I tell you this so you understand that whoever is responsible, whether it be Centaur, Centauride, human or god, I will not rest until I find the truth. Because I will not rest – you will not rest either. We will find the truth.”
Cami took the opportunity to get her concern back on track, “There is the small matter of the Lost Herd.”
Zandra nodded, “Until we get to the bottom of my parent’s death, I, Zandra, Chairman of the Council, forbid any harm to come to members of the Lost Herd. If any takes issue with my order, speak now.” Nothing was said. Zandra waited patiently until each Council member nodded their understanding.
Zandra must have been satisfied that there was no dissension among her Council. She turned her attention to Drake, “I know you have sworn your oath to Cami, but it is my family’s magic that has transformed you. To find the truth, I require your protection.”
Her speech had made my heart swell, but her last words confused me. I looked to Drake, who didn't seem to know what to make of her last statement, either. He looked between Zandra and Cami.
Drake’s family belonged to Pierre’s herd, and it was Pierre’s order to Drake that left no indecision, “My son, this is a mission from the Chairman herself. I would be embarrassed if you denied her request.” Drake said nothing. I wanted to tell Zandra his protection wasn’t necessary since she had every Centaur in the
world at her disposal. Pierre turned his attention to Camille, “I would be pleased if your family allowed my family zee honor of protecting you while your Warrior escorts zee Chairman.”
Drake’s tone was even, but he didn’t do well masking his frustration, “It doesn’t work like that.”
Pierre’s answer was sharp, “My son, your reluctance to escort zee Chairman dishonors our family.”
Drake’s tone was respectful, but clear, “Changing isn’t voluntary; it’s compulsory. It only happens when I believe Cami is in danger.” He paused but then added, “I have no love for the Chairman and fear I would not be able to protect her with the same ferocity I am able to protect her granddaughter. In this instance, I believe Council Enforcers would prove to be better protection for the Chairman.”
Pierre stood from his chair, walked over to the other side of the room. “Very well. Your concern iz noted. Your level of enthusiasm at zis great honor iz a disappointment.” Pierre turned his attention to Zandra, “My deepest apologies, Madame Chairman, Drake of zee Adolcio herd will be happy to provide you any protection he iz able.”
Chapter 13
(Camille Nash – Centurion, South Africa)
Drake’s eyes widened, as his eyes fixed on Pierre. “What?!”
“Young Nash, mind your tone.” Pierre stood straight, looking somehow taller than he had before. His shoulders were arched back. “Do not embarrass me furzer in front of my bruzers.”
She had done it. She told me she’d keep us from being together the last time I saw her in South Dakota. I couldn’t believe my ears. I sent a silent message to Drake, “Can he do that? Can he really just overrule your decision?”
Drake’s face remained stoic. “Yes. He is the head of my family. If I wanted to appeal his decision, the only one who could overrule him is the Chairman.”
So, this was checkmate. She had won. She wanted me miserable, alone and afraid – she had won. It wasn’t me she was going to kill; it was the one person I couldn’t live without. She knew my weakness, and she was going to have twenty-four hour access to him. I started to get tunnel vision, as my head began to throb.
Centaur Redemption (Touched Series) Page 12
