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To calm the steeds before they tried to rear or bolt, Andros emerged from the largest stable to greet his rescuers.
Thankfully, both of the horses were geldings, no mares. The humans were smart enough not to bring a female into this barely controlled troop of males.
Well, there was one female amongst them. And like it or not, Andros would see to her protection.
The domesticated steeds whinnied and snorted when he appeared, both frightened and excited by his scent, by the sheer size of him. He stared directly into their eyes one after the other and pawed the ground with his front hoof, huffing a few deep breaths.
The horses steadied enough under his dominant presence that he could be certain they wouldn’t bolt. But they still shivered nervously, and their eyes still showed too much of the whites.
He slowly approached the horses, as Sorin and Ere released their reins, and stepped between them, letting them sniff his scent, get used to his command. After a few moments, they calmed enough to nuzzle his neck and flank, submitting to him as alpha.
“Neat trick,” Ere mused with a quirk of his mouth. “Guess you really are the king of the centaurs.”
“Not king yet,” Andros replied. “These animals will obey any dominant.”
“True,” Ere said readily.
“But there’s a difference between following someone’s command because you fear them, versus if you respect them. I can tell that you’ve established the latter with these steeds. Likewise, the fact that there’s peace in those stables behind you means that you’ve done the same with the centaur contingent. Am I wrong?”
Andros was impressed with the male’s insightfulness.
Humans didn’t typically pay such close attention to the dynamics amongst animals. They barely paid attention to other humans.
It was as if Ere had an animal spirit himself, to see things so clearly. In fact, all three of his rescuers did. Perhaps that was why Andros felt such an instant affinity to them.
Though his…attractionto Divina was something else.
Something he didn’t understand.
He was still hurt and angry. He didn’t want to feel this way, but he was helpless to stop it. He could feel her gaze upon him, as palpable as her touch.
At the reminder, he shivered in memory of her fingers sifting gently through his mane, her small palms over his pecs, or when she kneaded the muscles of his neck and shoulders. He thought of her slight weight upon his back, the warmth of her body leaning against him.
Of their hands entwined above his heart, as if she was holding it in her palm. And he was holding her.
He cleared his throat and determinedly pushed those memories aside.
“What do you have there?” he asked with a flick of his head toward the bulking saddle blankets.
“I see you’ve been busy.”
Ere patted the shoulder of one of the steeds.
“Oh, you know. Dried food and flasks of wine and water for the journey. Weapons in case things get dicey. Coin if we need to bribe anyone, won fair and square over a game of checkers.”
Here, Ere grinned beatifically.
“By the way, I totally rock at checkers. And if we stick around long enough, I might teach these Greeks how to play chess, which is what I’m even more brilliant at. But I might get in trouble with the whole anachronism thing, so maybe I’ll keep that to myself.”
Andros frowned.
“I do not follow.”
Ere, in particular, often spoke in riddles.
“Never mind,” the male dismissed with a wave of his hand.
“Point being, I got the goods. Along with two horses that Sorin, Divina and I can ride. After a day and a half of walking on these ancient, non-Gucci sandals, I have blisters on my blisters. I need to put my feet up. Since I doubt any of you centaurs would want to carry us, and honestly, I’d feel kind of strange—”
