Kyros' Secret (Greek Myth Series Book 1) (10 page)

Thera held the petals to her heart and felt her baby’s heartbeat within her. She was confused and angry at herself. Confused, because she knew it was Kyros whom she wanted to be with. Angry, because she let herself have feelings for Kaj. She had never in her entire life felt anything for a centaur except for contempt. Centaurs were lowly creatures who she’d always avoided if she could. Now her life was filled with them. She’d almost been impregnated by one and Kyros had best friends that were centaurs, and now she had feelings toward a centaur she never should be having.

Kaj was a centaur. She was a fallen goddess. There was no connection between them and she would never allow one to form. But still, as much as she tried to hate Kaj, she couldn’t. Something inside herself held the same kind of attraction for Kaj that she had for Kyros.

She used her senses to make certain Kaj was nowhere near. And when she knew for certain he’d left, she sat down on the blanket and stared into the fire. She held her fist out toward the fire and slowly opened her fingers. With a slow tilt of her hand, the petals from the flower fluttered into the flames.

She wouldn’t allow herself to have feelings for a centaur. Centaurs had ruined her life and had worked with her father to try to force her into starting a war. She’d have to watch herself closely from now on. It felt a bit too good being in Kaj’s arms. And if she hadn’t forced herself to tell him to put her down, she was sure she would have let him kiss her.

She buried her hands in her face and cried harder than she’d ever cried in her life. She wanted a family, her baby, and Kyros. She wanted to live a human life without magic, the gods, or centaurs. So why was she having feelings for Kaj? Her attraction to him challenged and threatened her chances of attaining her dream. Kaj challenged not only her hopes for the future, but her beliefs and attitude towards centaurs as well.

Fourteen

Kyros went early the next morning to the old weaver’s hut and exchanged meat for Thera’s clothing. He didn’t want Thera coming with him, or she’d want to stay and get acquainted with the old woman - something he couldn’t allow. He held her tunic dress in one hand and tucked his purple mask into the waist of his breeches with the other. He felt exhausted from the night before. He hadn’t been able to sleep a wink after what happened with Thera.

He couldn’t go back to camp after he’d almost kissed her while in his centaur form. She made it quite clear to him how she felt about centaurs. There was no doubt in his mind that she would never accept him while he was cursed - cursed by her own father, a god he truly wished he had the power to kill.

He approached camp and oddly heard voices. Picking up his pace, he drew his sword and stepped through the clearing. Thera was having breakfast with a man. His back was toward Kyros, but by the way he was dressed, he knew the man was a warrior. Thera laughed delightfully, not at all seeming to fear her visitor. When they didn’t seem to notice him, Kyros cleared his throat to gain their attention.

The man spun around with wide eyes and Kyros recognized him as one of Ares’ men. One of the escorts that was supposed to bring Thera to his brother. Kyros had the tip of his blade under the man’s chin even before he could draw his sword.

“Not much of a warrior,” remarked Kyros. “I could have slit your damned throat and you never even saw me coming.”

“Kyros!” Thera looked at him sternly. “Put away the sword. This man doesn’t mean to harm me.”

Kyros looked from the battle-scarred warrior to Thera and then back again. For some reason he believed that statement, but still the man worked for Ares and couldn’t be trusted.

“This is Ganymede.” Thera introduced them but still Kyros didn’t move his sword. “He was originally sent by my father to bring me to the castle, but Ganymede has decided not to work for Ares any longer.”

The man didn’t move a muscle under the tip of his sword. And though he should have feared for his life, he had a strange sense of calmness, sureness about him.

“How do I know I can trust you?” Kyros asked.

“You don’t know,” answered Ganymede.

Kyros lowered his sword slightly. The man moved his hand toward his waist, and Kyros kicked him to the ground, resting his foot on the man’s chest to keep him from moving.

A bright light encompassed Ganymede and the body beneath Kyros shifted into a different form. To his amazement, he found his foot resting atop the beautiful body of a woman.

“Harmonia!” Thera cried out and ran over to them. Before Kyros could remove his foot, Harmonia blasted him with her powers and sent Kyros sailing through the air, landing with his back against a tree. His sword fell out of his hand and landed on the ground some distance from him.

“Enough!” cried out Thera’s twin sister. “I’ll not be treated like this. You’ll pay for it.” She got to her feet and stretched out her arm. Kyros could almost feel the next jolt coming, but Thera stopped her.

“No, Harmonia. Leave Kyros alone. He didn’t know it was you, neither did I. He thought you were one of Ares’ men and he was only trying to protect me.”

Thera’s sister put down her arm and straightened the thin gown she wore. Kyros couldn’t help but notice her beauty, and couldn’t help from staring.

Harmonia obviously noticed his perusal and she smiled. Thera noticed also, and a dark cloud passed over her face.

“I’m sorry, Goddess. I didn’t know it was you.” Kyros got to his feet and made his way slowly toward Harmonia. She held out her hand to him and Kyros bowed and kissed it.

Thera fumed when she saw the way her sister had taken control of Kyros. She had him kissing her hand and who knows what she’d be having him do next. With the translucent gown Harmonia wore, Kyros couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. She looked down her own body at the bulge of her stomach and suddenly felt homely and unwanted.

“Harmonia,” she interrupted. “Why were you pretending to be Ganymede?”

“I am Ganymede, dear sister. I always was. I only did it for Mother. She insisted I stay by you to protect you, but I won’t be entrapped in such a filthy, wretched body again.”

Thera watched Kyros’ attention for Harmonia, feeling once again she was in the shadow of her beautiful sister. Her heart sank when Kyros picked up one of the uncrushed flowers from the ground and gave it to Harmonia. One of her flowers. One of the flowers  Kaj had given to her last night.

She felt anger boil up inside her. One too many times Harmonia had stolen the spotlight and Thera was pushed into the shadows. Kyros was hers now, and she wasn’t going to let Harmonia steal him away. He was the father of her child and her sister wasn’t going to get him if she could help it.

“Be on your way, dear sister.” The turmoil pumped through her veins as she boldly spoke to the goddess.

“Hush, Thera. I rather like Kyros. Besides, you owe me a favor after what I did for you.”

“I never asked you to pretend you were someone else and watch over me. If I had known it was you, I’d have … I’d have …”

“What?” asked Harmonia. “Struck me down and taken back your man? I sincerely doubt it, sister.”

Thera couldn’t argue with that. If Harmonia wanted Kyros, she could take him back to Mount Olympus with her and Thera would have to stand by helplessly and watch her own life be ruined. She was powerless now, a mere human against an immortal and it felt awful. It made her crazy to think she’d lose the only man she’d ever loved because she couldn’t fight for him. Love? Where did that thought come from? She knew she held a special fondness for Kyros and now realized that feeling was love disguised.

“Ta-ta, sis. You’re on your own now, as I’m taking this one with me.” Harmonia raised her hand to wave her and Kyros away.

Thera could hold back no longer. “No!” she cried and dove for Kyros’ sword. She held it up and a beam of lightning went from the tip and pushed her sister away from Kyros.

Thera was just as surprised as Harmonia at what had just happened. She dropped the sword and it clattered to the ground.

“Thera,” came Kyros’ voice. “What’s happening?”

She didn’t know, but when she looked up she saw her sister hurling a log at her by the mere twitch of a finger. She raised her hand to block her head and the log shifted around and flew back the other way. Harmonia hit it with a beam and the thing shattered to pieces.

“Well, I didn’t think you had it in you, sister. You’re finally using your powers after all these years.”

“My powers?” Thera asked, not yet sure exactly what was happening to her.

“Don’t seem so surprised. You’ve had them all the time, it’s about time you used them.”

“But Ares said - ”

“Ares lied. You should know him by now. Neither he nor any of us have the authority to take away a gift that was given to you by the king of the gods. If you weren’t so sheltered your whole life you would have known that, Thera.”

Suddenly, Thera felt like the biggest fool to walk the earth. Her father had one over on her again. She had her powers all along. She could have used them at any time. She could have done something to stop all this before it started. And she didn’t need to fear anyone or anything anymore. After all, she was still a goddess and still immortal.

“Oh well, I think I’m tired of him already anyway. You can have him,” Harmonia commented flippantly. “My work’s done here. It’s up to you now to get yourself out of this mess.” With that, Harmonia dissipated into thin air.

Thera watched her sister’s body disappear and felt her own body tingle. It was more than tingling, it was vibrating with the feeling of power. It filled her pores and made her feel strong, invincible, ready to take on the world. A wave of heat washed over her and the baby kicked inside her. It brought her back to her senses and she looked over to see Kyros staring at her, picking himself up off the ground. Her knees became weak and gave way and she fell to the ground.

“Are you all right, Goddess?” he asked in a low voice and held out his hand to help her to her feet.

Now the word goddess didn’t seem so foreign to her. She finally realized how it felt to be powerful and invincible. She could go where she wanted, do what she would and no one, not even Ares, could stop her. She felt the energy pump through her and wanted to explore her abilities. Something she should have done long before now. Now she had a second chance. She hadn’t lost her powers and she was, in all ways, still a goddess.

She reached up to grab Kyros’ hand but felt his apprehension. Looking up into his eyes she saw, as well as felt, his confusion and his fear.

She took back her hand and got to her feet by herself.

“Nothing’s changed,” she told him.

She heard the words coming from her mouth but didn’t believe them herself. Everything would be different now. Her life couldn’t be the same now that she knew she was still, indeed, a powerful goddess.

Kyros looked at his empty palm and she could feel the rejection that ran through him. She could see it in his face as well. He pulled out a garment from behind his back and handed it to her. She took it and opened it up. It was a tunic wrap. One that could be adjusted to any size. A brown, plain, drab tunic wrap. One made for a mortal, not really suited for a goddess.

“I picked it up from the weaver this morning,” said Kyros as he bent down slowly and retrieved his sword. “I guess you won’t be needing it anymore. Now that you’ve still got your powers, I guess you’ll just want to conjure up a garment of your own.”

She could very well do that and she was half tempted to, just to be able to use her powers again. She rather liked the way they felt. But she didn’t like the way she was making Kyros feel.

“No. I think I’d like to wear the tunic you brought me. I think that’s what I’ll do.”

Kyros just nodded his head. “I’d offer to go hunt for something to eat, but maybe you’d just like to zap something up instead. Something more suitable for a goddess. More than I could ever offer.”

He turned and walked over to Hester and fiddled with the saddle bag. She didn’t know what to say to him. She liked the way she felt when she was around him. She liked when he hunted and cooked for her and she rather liked the way it felt to be dependent upon a man. She also liked the idea of someday hopefully becoming a family. But now that would never happen.

“I suppose you won’t need me to protect you or the baby anymore either.” He didn’t turn around to face her when he talked and that bothered her. “Will you be going back to Mount Olympus?”

“Going back?” She’d never held this as an option before. Matter of fact, she hadn’t really thought about where she was going. Only where she wasn’t going, and that was to the castle to marry Pittheus. “I … I never really thought about it.”

“It’s where you belong,” he said. “Living in the woods with centaurs and lone warriors is no life for a goddess.”

She clutched the tunic and walked up softly behind him. Deep down, she knew she never really wanted to be a goddess. She never admitted it to herself before, but when Ares told her her powers and immortality had been stripped from her, it was a relief. She was different than the other gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus. She didn’t really belong there - never felt she did. Her father was right about everything he ever said about her. She didn’t deserve to be a goddess and secretly she’d always wished to be mortal.

“I’m not going back.” She put a hand on Kyros’ shoulder and he turned his head slightly, his cheek brushing against her skin. “I don’t belong on Mount Olympus. And I don’t want to be anywhere near my father.”

He turned to face her. “Then where will you go? Where will you live?”

“I don’t know.”

She dropped her hand to her side. She couldn’t look at him when she spoke. She wanted to stay with Kyros but knew it would never work. A goddess living on earth with a mortal had never been done. It wasn’t allowed by Zeus. And if a god or goddess was the parent of a child, along with a human, that child was considered a demi-god and usually disowned. The gods wouldn’t accept the child, and neither would the mortals. The poor child would live a life in between two worlds. It would live a life of confusion and abandonment.

“I’d like to stay with you,” she finally blurted out. “I … I think I love you.”

He reached a hand out to caress her but drew it back instead. He let out a deep breath and she knew he was afraid to touch her now that she was a goddess.

“It would never work, Thera. I’m no good for you. Take our baby and raise it wherever you want.”

He was casting off her and the baby just like that? “Why?” she asked. “Are you saying this just because I’m a goddess? We can make it work, Kyros. You may be just a man, but … I love you.”

He took a step away, her words somehow seeming to upset him. She thought they would have made him happy. Any man hearing that a goddess wanted to stay with him would be elated. Any man that is, except for Kyros.

“C’mon,” said Kyros.

“Where are we going?” she asked, hoping he just wanted her near.

“We can go there like a mortal, on horseback - or we can go like an immortal and use your powers to get us there. Either way, Thera, I’m taking you home.”