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The centaur stallion shifted restlessly and tossed his head, flicking his tail in obvious aggravation.
He didn’t like the question. Andros understood that it was because Divina was seeing to the truth of the matter. A truth Chiron didn’t want others to see.
For a long time, they both waited for the other male to speak. It seemed as if he might not answer.
Until, finally, he did.
“Ixion has a harem,” Chiron uttered in a clipped, staccato speech.
“Ten to a dozen females at any given time. He is always the first one who…covers the human females we bring with each Rite. The ones he tires of he gives to other males to fight for and win, to gain their favor and loyalty. If the females bear Ixion sons, he keeps the colts and grooms them as part of his personal guard.”
“What about girl children?” Divina asked. “Are there female centaurs?”
“Yes. Though female centaurs are rare. Ixion’s daughters he gifts to unrelated males as further means to tie the herd to him.”
“What happens to the children of other males?”
Chiron shared a dark look with Andros.
“The same thing that happened to your stallion,” he replied.
She made a sound of distress and clutched Andros tighter to her.
It was one of the many reasons Andros wanted her. She was such a soft female. In every way. She cared so easily for others. Fought so fiercely for those she wished to protect. The way she fought to free him when he’d been imprisoned.
If only she would fight forthem.
“You said he gives away the females he tires of,” she mused. “What about the others?”
Chiron huffed a deep, pained breath and looked away. Visibly, he clenched his jaw against a too-strong emotion.
Andros knew his answer before he voiced it.
“He keeps the ones he likes. He’s…rough with them. He demeans them. They live only to serve his needs. He ruts upon them as if they were animals like him. He…”
Chiron cut off the rest of what he was going to say with a snap of his jaw.
“You’re in love with a female in his harem,” Divina murmured.
It was a statement, not a question. And it contained a world of sympathy and care. Though Andros could see that none of it mattered to Chiron, whose pain and hate cut too deeply.
The male didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. The answer was clearly written on his face, haunted and weary, unending sadness and torment carved into every line and groove.
“What is your female’s name?” Andros asked, interjecting for the first time.
“She is not my female,” Chiron replied low, his voice frayed and seething.
“Sheisyours,” Andros said firmly, quietly. “You love her. I can tell without your say-so that she feels the same. You have not revolted against Ixion because of her. You are afraid of what he would do.”
The male gave a choppy nod, his jaw clenched so hard his cheek fluttered uncontrollably.
“She is yours,” Andros reiterated. “Ixion has no real claim to her. And after I defeat him in the challenge, she will be yours in all ways. I promise you this.”
Chiron looked at him with a shuddering inhale, his eyes fierce and defiant, as if he didn’t dare believe what Andros said. At the same time, he couldn’t hide the raw yearning and hope.
“Now, what is your female’s name?” Andros softly asked again.
“Ione,” Chiron whispered huskily.
“My female’s name is Ione.”
