Chains of Fate

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

If I thought that the Norian city of Atroph was noisy, the centaur camp was far worse. Centaurs and humans alike bustled to and fro, chattering eagerly with one another. The gypsies brought all of their noise-making supplies, from their kitchenware and donkeys to their children. The camp was speckled with white tents and was settled in a green, hilly plain surrounded by trees. It felt as if we were encompassed in the palm of a giant's hand.

Well, not literally.

I gripped the edges of my cloak as Titus led me through the crowd of centaurs and gypsies. How were they able to mill about one another like this? Where were the antagonistic feelings? The hatred between magical creatures and humans? "Why are they so...happy?" I asked Titus.

"Gypsies are familiar with magical creatures, especially centaurs," he said, grabbing my wrist to steer me around a large centaur with a speckled rump. "They've been trading for centuries, ever since the Rift Wars. How else do you think the magical creatures get supplies?"

I frowned, studying a gypsy boy conversing with a familiar-looking centaur girl. It was Barel and the centaur from earlier. They were talking so informally—so peacefully. That was something I never expected to encounter on my travels to Nor.

I wasn't able to study them for long because Titus guided me into a large pinstriped tent. Inside, Mayra, Hadrian, and a long-haired centaur stood around a table with a map on it. I recognized the tent as Hadrian's own because of the exotic rugs and the crystal ball sitting on a table in the corner.

The centaur looked at me as we entered. His dark curly hair went past his bare shoulders, and his green eyes twinkled. His bare chest rippled with muscle, and his equine torso was colored a deep chestnut. He was the centaur who fired the arrow at the wolf.

Dhiren, the leader of the centaurs.

Mayra stepped forward, smiling in a condescending way. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, showing off her pointed ears. "There's the hero-turned-idiot!" she said.

I glowered at her. "That's the greeting I get after almost being killed? I only wanted to save Clarice."

"You did what you thought was right," Dhiren said, his deep, rumbling voice crisp with a northern accent. "Nevertheless, it was a foolish choice, Harbinger. You should know to preserve your life."

I flinched when he called me Harbinger. I glanced at Titus and Mayra, then back at Dhiren. "How do you know I'm a...?"

"They knew from the beginning," Hadrian answered. "It was painfully obvious." He sat at a table, drumming his fingers along the wood as he studied a map. "Now where is the exit to this forest again, Dhiren?"

Dhiren chuckled. "You still do not know your way around the forest, sesar?" he asked almost teasingly, using the word for master.

Hadrian grimaced at him. I could sense that there was something more to their relationship—it felt as if there were a friendship between them. Since Hadrian possessed a whistle that summoned the centaurs, he must have had deep connections with them. "I need to get my caravan out of here before sundown." Hadrian looked at the map. "They have been in this forest long enough."

Mayra put a hand up. "Hold your horses. Er, I mean..." She gave an apologetic look to Dhiren, and I wanted to slap myself from her disrespect. "Sorry. I mean wait, Hadrian. We don't know what's on the back route as of yet. With all that's happened, it's dangerous. And besides," she added with a look in my direction, "I think we need an explanation from Lannie about what happened with Astera."

Hadrian looked up sharply, his dark gaze firm. "I have already told you, Princess—"

"Don't call me that," she snapped. "And I want to know the specifics. Lannie, tell me what happened."