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“Out of curiosity, how does a centaur mate with a human?”
“Just as we can transform into our equine half, we can also transform into our human half,” he answered.
It was biologically built into him; he didn’t have to think about it. But he didn’t recall how it felt to be completely human. He was still getting used to the centaur form.
“Ah.”
“We prefer our combined form,” he related. “It harnesses the strengths of both kinds, animal and man. It is our natural form. But we can run faster in our equine form.”
“What do you do better in your human form?” Ere asked.
Like a moth to flames, Andros glanced at Divina again.
She was staring at him with rounded eyes again. She held his gaze this time, as if she couldn’t help it.
“We only take our human form to mate,” he said low, his gut involuntarily clenching at the words and their meaning.
Divina quickly looked away, but not before he saw her cheeks darken becomingly.
His body thrummed in answer, swelled and ached. If he were a horse, he would have tossed his head and tail and stamped his front hooves.
He was…agitated.
He’d never felt this way before.
Ere cleared his throat to capture Andros’ attention once more.
“You were saying?”
Andros mentally shook his head.
Gods! But his female was distracting. Just by being there, breathing, she distracted him.
He refocused on the story and explained, “Lapithes did the opposite. He only preferred human females. Thus, over time, he took only his human form, until he forgot his centaur heritage altogether. As the centuries passed, the brothers grew apart. Their children and children’s children grew even further apart. The centaurs became wilder, while the Lapiths became more civilized. They claimed their own territories and evolved their own customs. For the most part, despite their differences, they maintained a peaceful coexistence.”
“I guess something changed.”
“Aye,” Andros confirmed.
“As I said, not all centaurs share the same progenitors. There are those that live in Cyprus who are fabled to be the children of Zeus when he spilled his seed upon the land.”
“Potent seed,” Ere mused with a quirk of his lips.
“Fertile land,” Andros agreed.
“You can see the difference in their horns. There are also centaurs whose front legs are that of a man.”
“Huh,” Ere huffed. “How would that work? Must be a short horse and a tall man.”
Andros inclined his head in agreement.
“The descendants of Centaurus are the largest warrior centaurs across these isles.”
“As large as you?”
“I do not know. I have not come across any in my life, having lived in exile as a horse. But there is still one group of centaurs left: the progeny of Ixion and the cloud nymph Nephele.”
“The same usurper Ixion you mentioned?” Ere interjected.
