Centaur Redemption (Touched Series) (25 page)

Pride shown in her eyes, “That actually took some doing.  His place in the heavens gives him a unique vantage point.  He smiles down on you.  He has nothing but love for you, as he does all his children.”

Her words surprised me.  That had been a hunch, but it made sense that it was she who convinced Chiron to help me by turning Drake into a true Centaur Warrior when he touched the arrow.  “Even Zandra?” I asked.

“Even Zandra,” she answered.  “Zandra has had a hard life.  She chose, instead of asking for help, to wall herself away from the rest of the world and take charge of her own life.  Gods and goddesses have helped the Chiron line since the beginning in Thessaly.”

“Why are no gods helping Zandra now?”

“None are willing to stand against the father of the gods alone.”

“But she is the Chairman.  They can’t just let her die.”

“Once her heart was broken, Zandra was unwilling to accept help from anyone.” 

“’Once her heart was broken,’ you’re talking about the night her parents were killed.  So who killed her parents?  I know it wasn’t Zethus.”

Athena shook her head in disgust.  “The same goddesses who whispered in King Sisyphus’ ear.  Eris and Ate.” 

“I don't know who Eris and Ate are.”

"You may know them by their nicknames:  Discord and Mischief."

My heart hitched, I remembered the story from Zandra's garden.  "You mean Discord that started the Trojan War?"

“The same.  Eris joined forces with my sister Ate.  Ate is not permitted to set foot on earth, nor is she allowed on Mount Olympus.  If my father were to find out about her treachery, he would banish her forever.  I have no love for Ate or Eris, but I cannot tell Zeus of their deception without proof.”

“But why did they kill Zandra’s parents?”

Athena stood unflinching.  “Ate believed that if she brought Hercules’ arrow to my father she might find favor enough to return to Mount Olympus.  Zandra’s father was a son of Chiron and the rightful owner of the arrow.  Their plan was to overpower the Chairman, get the location of the arrow and then force him to give it to them.”

“But he wouldn’t tell them where it was?”

“No.  He took its location to the pasture with him.”

Athena might be the only one who had an answer for this one.  “Zethus said something about an enchantment that was placed on their home, no one outside of immediate family could get in.  How did Eris and Ate get past the front door?”

“As I said, gods and goddesses have been helping the Centaur since the beginning.  It sounds like something Hermes may have done to protect the Chiron family.  It would not have stopped a god or goddess.  Hermes was one of the few gods who was allowed to roam on earth.  Hermes and Zandra's father were friendly after he was dispatched by Zeus to deliver a message to the Chairman of the Centaur Council.  At the time, Zandra could not have been older than three.  I heard Hermes talk fondly of the Centaur Chairman while he was alive and after his death.”

“But why would they have needed an enchantment on their home?”

“There was a time when there was much unrest among the herds.  The Chairman likely asked for help protecting his family from disgruntled Centaur.”

“So what made you decide to protect the Lost Herd?”

“I have been the Lost Herd’s Shepherd ever since Lila asked for my help.  She convinced me that there was a redeeming quality in Rupert, enough of one to give him a second chance at life.  I have been your protector since you were born.”

“My protector?”

A warm smile spread on her shimmering face, “Aaaah, this is news to you?  You did not hear my whispers when you were in danger?  Tell me, did you recognize Byron Barber in the Council’s Chambers?”

I felt my eye muscles flex.  “How did you know about that?”

“I am always with you, Camille.”

“He’s the head of the Barber family.  He looked familiar, but I didn’t know from where.”

She shook her head slowly, mocking me.  “Think, Camille.  You know exactly who he is.”

Still kneeling on the floor, I rested my forehead in my palms.  I thought of his physical attributes from the Council Chambers: fair skin and freckles, short in stature, brilliant green eyes.  Where had I seen him before?

It was Daniel who spoke.  “Uncle Byron?”

I froze.  The memory came to me in a rush.  Daniel’s mother – she had had a guest over one day, no, several times.  Byron Barber.  He had been in Daniel’s house.  I had been introduced to him.  He asked me about Mom.  Before Daniel and I took off for the movies, he said, “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” 

I thought it was creepy at the time, but filed it away and forgot about it.  Daniel interjected, “No wonder.  Up until that day, Uncle Byron never even acknowledged I was in the room when he was there to visit Mom.  From the day he met Cami, he was all of the sudden interested in his ‘favorite nephew.’”

“That’s right!  I remember him taking us out for pizza once, too.”  Confused by my own revelation, I asked Daniel, “But your Mom isn’t a pureblood.  How could he be your uncle?”

“He never was my uncle.  He was Mom’s favorite cousin or something.  But after he met Cami, he told me to call him
Uncle
Byron.”

I turned back to Athena, “Why is knowing Byron Barber so significant?”

“He is the head of the Barber Herd.  He knew you were alive and never betrayed you to the Chairman.  Do you think that is a coincidence?  Do you think he kept your mother’s secret because Daniel was his favorite nephew?”

“You convinced him to keep quiet?  I thought it was Winfield and Unice’s magic that kept us hidden.”

Athena nodded.  “Their magic helped.  Angela was not strong enough to face her mother.  She was unable to take her place among the herds and you weren’t ready.  Byron agreed to keep your secret if I agreed to remain your guardian.  When the time was right, he intended to bring you to the Centaur Council himself.  He believed his herd would find favor from you as the Chairman if he kept Angela's secret.  You were his secret weapon should Zandra ever have tried to pass her position onto Angelo.”

Even if I had never contacted William after Mom died, I still would have been brought to the Council.  He must not have understood my ties to the Tak herd.  Frustrated, I asked, “No harm?  What about those months at Zandra’s estate?”

“You were never in any danger.  Although not an ideal situation, she was teaching you things your mother had not.  She was hiding your existence from the herds until she could come up with a plausible explanation for your existence.”

Zandra, in her own twisted way, had been protecting me.  “It’s time the truth came to light.  Zethus and Zandra have a right to know what happened to their parents.  The Tak line has the right to know about their lineage to Rupert and Lila.  The Centaur have earned the right to a calm existence without interference.”

Athena looked frustrated.  She believed she didn’t have enough proof to accuse Eris and Ate, but as the self-appointed Shepherd to the Lost Herd, she must have decided to take a chance.  “I agree.  How far are you willing to go?”

“To go?”  Was she serious?  “To the ends of the earth.” 

“We haven’t much time.  My father grows impatient.  They still live, but only out of his respect for Chiron do they breathe.”Athena motioned for me to get to my feet.  Carlos leapt up from the floor as she smiled and shook her head at him.  “Where we go is no place for you.”

“She is my charge, goddess.”

Athena smiled, “You believe she is safer in your care than mine?”

“No, goddess, but I am her enforcer.  I go where she goes.”

Athena disagreed, “Not this time.  She will be safe with me.”

I desperately wanted to know what we would be up against, “Do Ate and Eris know that you protect me?”

“They have tried through the years to interfere in your life, but have not had success.  Both are focused elsewhere at the moment.”

“Elsewhere?”

Her mouth formed a grimace when she spoke.   “Cameron and Angelo are together.  Ate and Eris are guiding the two.”

“Are they hurting Cameron?”

“No.  They are merely influencing the two.”

“Influencing them?  To do what?”

“To bring forth your demise, of course.  Both have a thirst for power that has yet to be quenched.  Their jealousy blinds them both, each resenting a sister who was beloved by all who knew her.”

Cameron wanted to bring my demise?  He hardly knew me.  I hated Angelo and hoped he'd choke on his own pride, but Cameron had been thrust into this with nothing.  A question had bothered me for weeks; Athena may know the truth.  “Why did Mom hide Cameron?  Why did she leave him in South Dakota with a human guardian and never check on him again?”

Athena shook her head.  “Angela never abandoned him, at least not the way you think.”

(Camille Nash – Daniel’s Room, Lost City Resort, South Africa)

Athena motioned for the others to get off the floor and gestured for us to take a seat on the sofa.  “When Angela found out she was pregnant, she sought help from the only Centaur she knew she could trust not to betray her to Zandra.”

“Gage’s dad?”

“No, she found your uncle Zethus in Thessaly.  Zethus urged your mother to come out of hiding, but when Angela told him how she had conceived with a married Centaur, Zethus believed the Tak herd might be involved.”

“How would he have jumped to that conclusion?  Didn’t everyone think the Tak line was already dead?”

“The Tak herd was the only family who was not subject to Zeus’s laws.  They were the only herd who could lead their lives much like humans.  Zethus came to this conclusion quickly because he had lived his entire life in Thessaly.  Because Centaurs dispersed around the world, many had long since forgotten about the plight of the Tak Herd.  Because Centaur history surrounded Zethus, he believed there was a chance the herd had survived.”

“Was she worried that Zethus would report her because she had conceived Cameron and me with a Centaur from the Tak herd?”

“I cannot say if she worried about this, but he never did.  He did tell your mother of a curse he believed had been levied on the Chiron Centaurides.  He never learned who Chiron's enemy was, or which god or goddess levied it, but Zethus told your mother that for as long as anyone could remember, all twins born of the Chiron Centauride would be good and evil.  He believed if the two of you could be separated at birth until you were both adults, she could break the curse.”

“What?”

“Zethus had done a significant amount of research on his family and was convinced that every set of twins born of the Chiron Centauride ended up this way.  In his research, he had found only one exception:  a case where the twins were raised separately.  Zethus urged your mother to seek a protector for one of the babies who could not be corrupted by the Centaur Council, the Heads of Herds, nor the Chairman.  Zethus showed Angela Chiron’s arrow and said he would give it to the guardian she selected.  The arrow ensured that Chiron would protect the child she was unable to protect herself.”

“So who was Roger?  How did Mom know him?”

“Roger was a Lapith.  He was a descendant of Lila and Rupert.”

“Wait, Lila and Rupert?”  Katherine had told me the story in Cancun.  Her words echoed in my mind, “
My great-grandmother told me that Rupert and Lila had ten children.  Five considered themselves Centaurs and five Lapiths.
”

Athena affirmed, “Yes.”

“So Cameron’s guardian Roger and Katherine are related?”

“Distant cousins.  Katherine and Roger shared the same great-grandmother.  She told them both the same stories as children.  If called upon, they were to protect the Lost Herd without question.  It was a promise made to me by Lila when I agreed to give Rupert a human form.”

“But how did Zethus know about the promise Lila made to you?”

“He didn’t.  Somehow, through the years, one of my arachnid lockets came into Zethus’ possession.  He did not know that I appointed myself protector of the Lost Herd.  Zethus only knew that my locket had protected his family from Zandra and surmised she should ask for my help.  When your mother prayed to me for help, I sent Roger to your mother.”

“So she didn’t abandon Cameron?”

Athena’s complexion grew more radiant as she spoke.  “No.  Angela never abandoned Cameron.  On the contrary, she placed him in the care of a Lapith who was bound by a lifelong promise to me.  Chiron’s magic safeguarded him, as well.  She intended to go to Cameron on your eighteenth birthday and tell him everything.  Unfortunately, fate doesn’t deal the cards we plan.  The cancer had spread through her body by then.”

My heart sank, “Wait, she didn’t have cancer when Cameron and I turned eighteen.  She didn’t find out she had it until a few months before she died.”

Athena shook her head slowly, “No, Camille,
you
didn’t find out about her cancer until a few months before she died.  She had hidden things from you her whole life.  Her illness was just another secret she kept from you.  When no treatment or prayer worked, and she accepted that the pasture called to her, she told you about the cancer.”