A horn blew in the distance, cutting me off with its low, blaring sound. I tensed. It sounded like one of those medieval instruments. A rhythmic galloping followed the horn, and moments later, so fast that I didn’t have time to process what was happening, we were surrounded by men with the bodies of horses. Many of them wore braids decorated with rows of beads in their mane-like hair and sticking out the tops of their heads were antlers with jagged tips.
The centaur leading the rest wielded a large, double-sided axe with a wooden hilt, while the rest of them had bows in their hands. They’d nocked all their bows with arrows that pointed straight at us.
Silence thrummed through the air.
I held my breath.
Once they loosed those arrows, we’d be dead.
My vassals would be, at least. Agness did mention something about me being more difficult to kill because of the powers of the chiasma in me.
She also mentioned that the centaurs didn’t take to visitors well. I tensed, hearing buzzing in my ears, as I waited for their next move. Were they going to kill us?
All four of us raised our hands, surrendering before a battle even had a chance to break out.
I began, “We come in pea—”
“Liam!” A bright smile broke across the face of the centaur standing in front of the others. He opened his arms, then cantered down the slope, making a beeline for Liam. With a careless wave of his hand, he ordered the rest of his companions to lower their bows. “It’s been far too long!” The centaur was handsome, with a neatly trimmed beard. His hair was a dusty red, and his eyes were as bright as the blue leaves that surrounded us.
“Benjie?” Liam asked, sounding surprised. He, too, spread his arms, although less exuberantly. What followed was an awkward hug. Because of his horse body, Benjie stood far taller than Liam, and he had to struggle to bend down to properly embrace Liam. The two didn’t let the mechanics of their hug dampen their reunion, however, and they continued to wear bright grins. “You look different.”
“You too,” Benjie said, laughing heartily. “I haven’t seen you in, what? Eight years? I hope you don’t mean that I’ve gotten fat.” He smacked Liam’s back in a friendly manner, not holding back on his strength. Liam coughed, then stumbled forward. He recovered and regained his balance quickly. His eyes were still filled with amusement when he looked back at Benjie. I’d never seen Liam this jolly before.
“I must admit, you’ve put on some pounds.” Liam chuckled.
Benjie scowled mockingly. “Now, that’s no way to greet an old friend.”
“You’ve always known me for being honest.”
“I also know that your sense of direction is absolutely atrocious. You could never find your way around these woods.”
Hansel, Theo, and I all nodded in agreement, though Benjie didn’t notice us doing so. His attention was all on Liam, his eyes filled with admiration for his friend.
“Did you get lost again?” Benjie asked.
“How’d you know?”
“Doesn’t take a genius.”
On closer inspection, I noticed that Benjie’s ears were pointed, and he’d clipped metallic earrings to his earlobes. He wore a thick leather belt around his waist, where his human body connected to his horse one.
I wondered what it’d be like to lick a centaur. Did they taste like horse? How did their anatomy even work? Did they have, like, a really long digestive system, and did they whinny and neigh like horses did? Sex must have been really weird between them. Or did they even have sex at all?
Once I finished my thoughts, Benjie turned his gaze to me. He raised one of his sharp eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
I waved off his question. “Uh, don’t mind me. Just saying silly things as usual.” I wasn’t even certain which of those thoughts I’d blurted out.
“You’ve made strange company, Liam,” Benjie said.
“She’s my half-blood.”
“Your half-blood!” Benjie exclaimed. “You’re a vassal now? I didn’t hear the news.”
“Not much news gets around here,” Liam said, thumbing his nose. “The Centaur Forest is all the way at the edges of Haven.”
“That is true.” Benjie furrowed his brow, then added, “My sister will be so excited to hear that you’ve returned. I think she misses you.” I narrowed my eyes at Liam, wondering why a surge of jealousy came through me. I didn’t want any other girl close to Liam, whether she had hooves or not. What did I care? I should have no feelings for a careless asshole like him.
And yet I did.
“It’s been years,” Liam said. “Your sister shouldn’t have feelings for me anymore.”
“And still the heart wants what it longs for. True love doesn’t fade with time.”
Liam winced. “It’s not love that your sister feels for me.” The volume of his voice dropped by a couple notches, turning soft enough that only I, who was standing next to him, could hear. “Just unhealthy levels of obsession.” He blinked before continuing, “How much has the Garden changed since I left?”
Benjie grinned. He spun around and trotted away. The horse body he was attached to was massive. How did he maneuver that large thing without bumping into everything in his way? “Why don’t you see for yourself? I’m sure King Axies is keen on seeing his golden boy once more.”
Liam huffed, then stalked forward, following his centaur friend. “I’m not sure that he is. It’s been a long time.”
“And yet he still can’t stop talking about the time when you helped him win the hunt against his cousin.”
When I watched Liam trail after Benjie, I was left scratching my head and wondering what the relationship between Liam and the centaurs were. Why were they so close?
“Am I missing something here?” I asked Hansel.
He raised a brow at me, not understanding what I was getting at.
“Why are they so close? This is the friendliest I’d ever seen Liam.”
“Maybe he’s not a total prat all the time.”
“Sounds difficult to believe.”
Theo chuckled. “Come on. We have to get the elixir as quickly as possible. Let’s hope that this King Axies is amicable.”
I glanced at Liam’s back. It looked even more annoying than before.
King Axies, the Great Centaur, was a strange individual. He seemed more interested in the projects in front of him than ruling, yet everyone looked to him for guidance and support. I stood before him in his cluttered study, where he worked with a multitude of beakers that were attached to each other. Potions of all colors bubbled in those beakers, and steam came out from some of them.
“Your majesty,” Benjie said as he led us into the study. We followed closely behind him, with my vassals behind me. After Benjie finished his greeting, he stepped aside and situated himself at a comfortable distance away from his father.
The rest of the vassals bowed and said, “Your majesty”, too, and so I mimicked them. I was often rude, but I probably should control myself in front of the king of a mythical race. I didn’t wish to get my head lopped off.
During our short walk here, I’d found out that Benjie was actually the crown prince. He certainly did carry himself with the charm of a prince, and his smile brightened even more whenever he talked to Liam.
“Hello,” King Axies replied, barely acknowledging us. He seemed preoccupied with his tinkering.
The king had an untrimmed beard all the way down to his chest. He wore golden accessories around his antlers and a huge necklace that was shaped like a tree. Wrinkles covered his face. During the walk here, I’d learned from Liam that centaurs weren’t immortal, unlike goddesses, but had long life spans that allowed them to live up to the age of two hundred. According to Benjie, King Axies himself was a hundred and seventy, and as his successor, Benjie was taking up more duties due to the failing health of his father.
Looking at the setup before the Great Centaur, I wondered whether the life elixir had been created personally by him. There were certainly plent
y of elixirs on his desk.
“The life elixir was created by my father,” the king said, responding to my blurted-out thought. “My great-grandfather sacrificed half of his liver for the life elixir, and even though I tried the same thing, I haven’t been able to imitate his results.” Axies ran a hand down the braid at the side of his angled cheekbones. “And who may you be?” I found his accent strange, since I’d never heard it on Earth, but I guessed that it was a given that mythical creatures and humans had their differences.
“Half his liver?” My eyes widened. That sounded like a high price to pay for a potion. “What did he do with the other half?” I asked, because my mind liked to dart in random directions.
Axies chuckled. His laughter sounded scratchy. “Nobody has ever asked me that before. I believe his other half was wasted in a failed experiment. What is your name, lass?”
“Caramel Valencia,” I replied. “Cara for short.”
“That is a sweet name. Someone as innocent as you doesn’t belong in a forest like this.” As he said that, he poured a potion he’d been concocting over a crooked sapling. The liquid fogged into mist, but not before taking the sapling with it, turning it into mist as well. “Don’t be deceived by our looks; there are many secrets and plots and hidden—” Axies paused. He set the beaker down, then settled his gaze on me. The way he studied me made me nervous, and I had a sudden urge to shrink back. Perhaps Axies’s old age allowed him to see through people, and standing before him, I felt like glass.
Theo, who was standing behind me with the others, took a step closer. Perhaps he was feeling protective, since the way Axies looked at me made me feel like he might eat me alive.
Axies walked around the table, somehow managing to avoid the arrangement of beakers despite his massive horse’s body. He lowered his face toward me and sniffed. “Interesting,” he said. “Caramel Valencia, are you sure that is your real name?”
“Yes?” I replied. “Is there something wrong with it?”
The king waved his hand before his wrinkled face. “Oh, no. Nothing wrong. Just that I thought you might have a different one. There is more emanating from you, perhaps. Power that belongs to greatness.”
“And how can you know that?”
“The centaurs can sniff out wells of powers unlike any other creatures, and my old age allows me to see things better.”
I pressed my lips together and eyed Axies with suspicion. “Well,” I said, taking Theo’s wrist and dragging him forward, “there’s something that we’d like to discuss with you.” Theo was holding Ares’s blade, and we needed it for an exchange.
“I’m guessing it’s related to the elixir?” Axies asked. “Since you mentioned it earlier.”
I cleared my throat. Nervousness zipped about my belly. What if the king declined? What then? Would Devon truly be dead for good, or could we come up with another plan? Far too much would be determined by Axies’s cooperation.
I bit my inner cheek, then met the king’s eyes with as much confidence I could manage. “Yes.”
“You want it?” the king asked.
“Yes.”
The king’s expression told me that I’d said something very wrong. Needing more support, I reached out and grabbed Theo’s hand. He squeezed mine to give me reassurance. Devon’s fate hung in the balance.
Axies stalked back to his desk. Silence fell in the room, and we all waited with bated breath as we watched Axies pour another one of his concoctions into a wooden mug. He returned to me. “Bottoms up,” he said, lifting the mug toward me.
“What’s this supposed to be?” The cup looked too large for my hands. I accepted it gingerly. I eyed the rim of the mug, not trusting its contents one bit.
“I’ll determine whether you’re worthy of the elixir after you drink this potion.”
Behind me, I thought I heard Liam stifling a laugh. I couldn’t wrap my head around what was so amusing about this. What if I turned into fog just like that sapling?
I accepted the mug and peered into it. The concoction was green, the cup warm, and it definitely seemed like it was going to kill me. I sniffed lightly at it, expecting a horrid scent. Surprisingly, the potion smelled pleasantly sweet. “Must I?” I asked.
“You’re proving to me that you don’t want the elixir badly enough. Why the hesitance?”
“It’s green, for one.”
“Think of it like spinach,” Liam said in a mocking tone.
I peeled my lips back in disgust. Here goes nothing, I thought, as I knocked the entire contents of the mug down. It tasted…
Nice.
Like sweetened coffee with a slightly minty aftertaste. It wasn’t too difficult to swallow. In fact, it was one of the best things I’d ever tasted, and by the time I finished, I was disappointed that I hadn’t taken more time to savor the delicious drink. Looking at the bottom of the mug, I waited for something to happen. Where was the torturous pain? The side effects of the poison? Surely, something horrible should be happening to me by now.
“How is it?” Axies asked, eyes twinkling.
“Tastes great,” I replied, offering the mug back to him. The concoction was delicious, but if it tasted like piss, I’d have said the same thing. I wouldn’t want to offend the king. Even without his status, his threatening antlers looked like they might skewer me alive.
Axies beamed, pleased with himself. His teeth shone with a pearlescent white. “That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear!” He slapped my shoulder in a friendly gesture, totally oblivious to his strength. An ache thrummed through arm, but I did my best to portray calmness, not wishing to give away that I’d been hurt by his meaty hand. Whining like a little bitch wouldn’t do well for negotiations.
I glanced at Liam; he was still beaming. What was making him so happy? I wanted to knock the happiness right out his face.
“It’s my special recipe,” King Axies replied, nodding to himself. He padded over to his desk and set the cup down. “Don’t you just love coffee? I use it to determine who I can be friends with, because those who can’t appreciate something so amazing shouldn’t be anywhere close to me.”
“He does that a lot,” Liam added in a low voice. “Likes to pull people’s legs using his status as king. Strangers are the most fun, since they have no idea what to expect.”
The king looked at Liam, face bright despite his many wrinkles. “You still know me well, dear Liam.”
“Wait,” I said. “That really was coffee? Why is it green?”
“It’s a beautiful color, isn’t it?”
Not really. Not unless Axies was referring to Hansel’s eyes. Then again, Hansel could make any color look good. “Um, yeah?”
“I’ve been experimenting with different types of beans. Cooking is a wonderful pastime.” Not a hobby I’d expect a king of mythical creatures to have, but to each their own. Wrinkles, on top of the ones he already had, formed around Axies’s eyes because he was smiling so hard. “I like you, Valencia.”
“Just because I like coffee?” As a king, he ought to be more discerning. I wondered how he managed to keep a court together if that was the only requirement for getting into his inner circle.
“On top of something else.” Axies waved his hands in front of him. “There’s a certain aura. A familiarity. Like I’ve known you from somewhere else before. Have I met your parents?” Axies cocked his head. “Is your father Ares, perhaps?”
“How did you know?” I asked, unable to hide my shock. “At least, that’s who people tell me is my father. I can’t say for sure. You shouldn’t be able to tell just by looking at me, however.”
“Like I said, us centaurs are discerning creatures.”
“You can see into a person’s past?”
“You carry the same aura he used to.”
“Do I?” I frowned. “And what is that?”
“He was a bit of a dumb nut who sometimes got violent.”
I hadn’t expected anybody to call Ares dumb. “That actually does sound like me.”
Axies scratched his chin. “He was someone to remember, all right, but it’s also been hundreds of years since I’ve seen him, so I can’t say for sure. Bad memory comes with being old and all that.” He folded his arms across his chest. Axies had a weathered physique, unlike Benjie, who had perfect muscles, both horse and human-wise. “As much as I like you and your father, I cannot give you drops of the elixir without anything in exchange. You see, us centaurs believe in an eye for an eye. Reciprocity is an important element of our culture, and it’s too much to hand you something so valuable if I have nothing in return. What is your purpose for the elixir, anyway?”
“We want to save our friend.” Or boyfriend. Could I say that Devon was my boyfriend now? Was it strange to have three boyfriends, by the way? Oh, of course it was weird. Most people did the whole one-man, one-woman thing. But it was okay to be weird, right?
I drew my racing mind back to Axies, who looked pleased with my answer. “Saving a friend,” he said. “That is a good cause to fight for, but still, us centaurs are not keen on charity, and I need to see what you have to offer. We are open to having slaves. Would you like to offer one of your vassals to years of indentured servitude, perhaps?” King Axies smiled warmly at Liam, which gave me the creeps.
Slaves? Goddesses, no. I nudged Theo, who stepped forward with the blade. He knelt before the king, then raised Ares’s blade above his head. “The goddess of flora asked us to offer this to you,” Theo said. “She believes it is worthy for an exchange.”
King Axies studied the wrapped blade. He took it from Hansel and unwrapped it before appraising it with an unreadable expression. My stomach pitched as I tried to gauge his reaction. Did he like it?
“The Blade of Ares,” the king said, raising the weapon with awe. “I saw Aphrodite wield it once. I wanted it for myself, but, of course, Ares sacrificed part of himself to create this for her. It’s said that with the right wielder, it has the ability to invoke great morale amongst armies.” A flicker of red flashed across Axies’s eyes. I thought I sensed bloodlust from him, but it withered as soon as it came. “Where did you get this?” Before I could answer, the king added, “This is a fitting exchange. You will have drops of the elixir by the morn.”
Goddess Academy: The Complete Reverse Harem Collection Page 31
