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than I was.
    When I turned my attention back to
Drake, he’d gotten the upper hand and had his attacker in a full
headlock. Drake’s muscular arm bulged, cutting off the man’s oxygen
while my prisoner screamed like a little girl. The old woman was on
the opposite side of the room and held up one hand, speaking so
quietly I wasn’t sure if I’d actually heard her say,
“Enough.”
    I looked at Drake, and he loosened his
grip, allowing his attacker to get air but not releasing him. I did
the same to mine, still keeping a clamp-like grip on my attacker’s
ears, but reducing the pressure. She gave us a forced smile, “They
were merely going to search you for weapons. Given your skills, I
think if you had weapons, you might have used them by now. Let them
up, and I’ll get some tea.”
    I looked at Drake and he nodded,
allowing his detainee to go free. He reached his hand toward me,
indicating that I was to let my attacker go free, as well. Drake’s
voice boomed in the quiet room, “We mean no one any harm. We’re
just looking for protection from Camille’s family.”
    The old woman raised her brow,
“Protection? Is there a bounty on her?”
    “We don’t know. We escaped a few days
ago and thought the only Centaur who could help us was
Zethus.”
    “Escaped? What were your crimes?” The
old woman motioned to the table and chairs. My pulse was still
racing, but Drake held a chair out for me to sit. He took the seat
to my right, and the old woman sat on the other side of the
rectangular table. The two men, who looked to be in their
mid-thirties and way past pissed-off, stood tall on either side of
her – glaring at us.
    Drake was on a roll, so I made no
effort to answer. “Camille was raised as a human. She was only
recently introduced to her Centaur family. Her grandmother, Zandra
Chiron, held her captive and arranged a marriage for her to the
descendant of Winfield and Unice.”
    The old woman clasped her hand over her
mouth in an effort to hold in her surprise. “She was trying to
strengthen the Chiron bloodline, the same as she tried with Angela.
But you two are married, are you not?” She eyed us suspiciously as
if searching our thoughts, trying to break down our
defenses.
    We answered together, me saying, “No.”
and Drake saying, “Not yet.”
    Stronger than I felt, I explained,
“While I was held captive by Zandra, a guard who was loyal to my
father helped us escape. We’re worried we won’t be able to hide
from her, so we are looking for her brother to see if he could help
us. My father helped us make our way here. We meant no harm to you
or your family.”
    The woman pursed her lips together and
gave us a slight nod, “I believe you. How did you think Zethus
would be able to help?”
    For some reason, our plan no longer
sounded absurd, so I told her the truth. “We wanted the use of
Hercules’ arrow.”
    The woman cackled at us, while smiles
erupted on the faces of the two men standing just behind her. Her
voice was full of humor, “That arrow doesn’t exist. If it did, it
would be so sought after that he who had it in his possession would
be a target for every living Centaur.”
    Drake put his arm around me and
squeezed my shoulder. He meant it to be a comforting gesture, but I
couldn’t be comforted. Zandra was probably already on her way to
Ireland after us. There was nothing I could do about it but sit and
wait or try to stay a few steps ahead of her.
    As I felt my body repulse at the idea
of coming face-to-face with her, the old woman said, “You two both
look like you could use a good meal and some rest. There’s a wash
room through that door. Get cleaned up; I’ll have dinner ready in
thirty minutes. Once you both have a good night’s rest, you may be
seeing more clearly in the morning.”
    I wanted to believe her kind words. She
was a stranger and yet she knew about my mother. She knew my
grandmother. Would she alert Zandra that we were here? Would we
really be safe for one