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But the villagers appeared to be civilians. The soldiers manning the fort were armed, but they looked confused about his arrival, not knowing where to aim their weapons. He was coming from the interior side of the wall, while the soldiers were trained to guard against the mountain side.
“Ho there!” the soldier in charge shouted down at Andros from the top of the wall.
“Who are you and what is your business?”
Andros could see the real question behind his eyes:how the hell did you get on this side of the wall without my knowledge?
Andros considered his words and answered truthfully, without revealing the whole truth.
“I am Andros, son of Apollo. I am here to escort the centaurs of Pelion to the Rite of Hippodameia.”
The human leader scratched his bearded chin.
“This is most unusual. I received no word from the Archons that anyone was to meet them. We have already prepared our own troops to accompany them to the acropolis.”
Andros sidestepped and reared a little to show his impatience, snorting from his nose and flexing his muscles.
“Do not gainsay me, human. Step aside. Or do you challenge me for the right to be their escort?”
The soldier visibly shrank back at that, not at all keen to challenge a massive war stallion like Andros, despite that he was armed with a crossbow and sword.
Puny human weapons, Andros thought. Puny humans. So easily crushed beneath his hooves.
He shook his head and snorted again, taking deep breaths to calm his thoughts.
It was as if the centaur aggression and bloodlust had been stirred within him, his own anger and hurt from his exchange with Divina making his emotions volatile and difficult to control. He could feel his beastly instincts overwhelming his human sense.
“Open the gates, humans!”
A booming shout from the other side of the wall shook Andros out of his own turmoil, focusing his attention back on the matter at hand.
The human soldier looked to Andros for confirmation.
Good. They accepted the chain of command.
He nodded once.
Slowly, the heavy fortress gate was pulled open by soldiers on either side cranking a system of pulleys. The welcoming committee of human soldiers parted to let Andros through as he stood immediately before the gates to meet the centaur troops.
When the centaurs saw him, he registered their shock and indecision as a collective. But he only focused on the lead warrior, meeting and holding the other centaur’s intense black stare.
Andros sized up his potential opponent within seconds.
If he was to take command of this troop, he’d need to be able to take down their leader to show superior strength and skill. He hoped he wouldn’t have to fight and hurt or maim the other male just to show his dominance, but he had to be prepared to do so.
The male was large, but not as large or as tall as Andros. He was obviously well trained in war, his muscles thick and hard, the slight silver in his dark brown mane and beard a testament to his experience and age. A crossbow and quiver of arrows were slung across his back. A heavy weapon belt wrapped around the bottom of his human torso over his back. Small braids accented with beads trailed through his mane, pulling the hair at his temples away from his face.
Andros had never fought another centaur. He’d only ever fought his human captors in horse form. But he felt the roiling aggression in his blood. The instinct to rear and pound his front hooves, the anticipation and readiness for whatever the other male might do.
He knew within these fraught few seconds that he could take the other male down if he had to. He knew how he would do it.
As they held each other’s stare, he saw that the other warrior knew it too.
“Who are you?” were the male’s first words, spoken so low, only he and Andros could hear, for the humans and other centaurs had given them a wide berth, probably anticipating a test of will and strength, a head-to-head fight.
“Andros, son of Apollo and Stilbe, bloodline of Centaurus and Lapithe. Now, your name, warrior.”
The centaur’s eyes widened first with disbelief, then with consideration as he absorbed the truth of Andros’ power like a physical touch.
