Chapter 2

Centaur's Tale

In the early fifteenth century, a domination struggle was taking place. The Renaissance movement, with its art and science movement, was gaining ground in a world that had long been dominated by magic and, of course, the creatures of magic. Witches, goblins, centaurs, dragons were some of the creatures that were there. They found themselves in a losing battle with mankind, and so they just up and vanished out of the blue one day. No human knows where they have gone. Some say they all faded away with magic, while others think they vanished to a forgotten realm, where the last bastion of magic holds supreme. A realm shrouded by the Mists of Eternity and guarded by the great Serpent, Ahmet. However, it seems that a lone centaur had decided to stay on earth. She felt a kinship with the humans and was reluctant to leave. Sightings of her were rare, and were attributed to ignorant peasants who still clung to the old ways. Until a young count stumbled across her resting place one winter.

Count Jonathan Forbes was out hunting for any game he could bring back to the table. The winter that year had been a particularly horrible one, with weeks of freezing temperatures and deep snow. Finally, however, a brief warm spell had conspired to melt some of the snow and allow people and animals to come out of their shelters. The count himself had inspected the house and found it in need of some repair. His younger brother agreed to get the carpenter and repair the home while he went out to get some game to replenish the larder, which had grown dangerously low. Jonathan had collected his boar spear and crossbow from the wall, saddled his great black stallion Lightning, and had left the house early in the hopes of catching some venison.

He started his search down near the river, with the idea that thirsty animals would come to try and find a drink to quench their thirst. He was disappointed to find the ice on the river was too thick to break through. Continuing on, he soon came across the tracks of deer. Quickening his pace, he sought to find the herd before the sun set that day. He trekked farther than he had planned, but he gave no thought about turning back. He would bring back game now. There was no going back. The horse plowed through the thick drifts, snow rolling off to the side like a ship plows through water. His crossbow was already drawn and a quarrel in place. He fingered the bow like a lover, already exulting in his mind about the kill. The tracks meandered through the bare woods, where trees bore the marks of deer that had attempted to eat some of the smaller twigs. His pulse quickened when he found fresh scat in the snow. His quarry was surely not far away now!

As if on cue, a rustling in the bush announced the presence of something large attempting to sleep. Oddly, the deer tracks and veered sharply away from the bushes and continued on over the hill. Not exactly sure what was in there, the count grabbed his spear and dismounted his horse. Holding the crossbow in front of him with one hand, and the spear gripped in the other, he crept to the tree and began to ease around it. The cry of a bird caused him to freeze and wait with bated breath. However, no sound of alert came from the beast. In fact, he thought he could hear it breathing in deep regular breaths which meant it was asleep. It was the perfect time to strike if he wanted a clean kill. He started easing around the tree again. The tail of the beast came into sight, and then the rear hooves. It was a horse! But what was a horse doing out this far from the nearest village? Was it hurt or simply sleeping? Perhaps it was a poacher come to steal meet off of his lands. He carefully continued around the tree, determined to confront the intruder. His eyes swept back and forth, looking for the blackguard until he finished easing around the tree and saw the upper body of a woman sleeping fitfully next to her horse. His eyes were riveted to her beauty, for her face was like an angels, with full red lips, slanted eyes, fiery red hair that cascaded from her head and onto the cold snow. The count was instantly entranced by this gorgeous woman. He stared in rapt wonder, never wanting the moment to end. Unfortunately, his presence had awakened the young lady, and green eyes opened in horror at him. She quickly got to her feet, and the count realized that she had the upper body of a woman, and the back of a horse. He was stunned. How could this be? It defied science and reason. However, the creature was about to flee and he realized that if he let her go now he would never get the chance to see her again. "Wait! Please! I don't want to hurt you. Please, don't go." He pleaded. The frightened girl turned her head back to look at him, poised to flee in an instant if he should become aggressive. The count quickly did his best to dissuade her of that notion. "I don't want to hurt you." He repeated dropping his spear and un-cocking his crossbow. When she saw him put the weapons down, she became a little more relaxed. Her soft equine ears on the top of her head pointed up. Seeing this, the count smiled and gestured at himself. "I am Count Jonathan Forbes. May I ask the pleasure of your name?" For a moment she said nothing, and he began to fear that she would speak an exotic language that he would not understand. "Seraphia Red Hoof." She said in excellent English. The count could only stare; her voice was so soft and sweet. Pitched at alto, with slight undertones of the horse whinny, it was as beautiful and exotic as her.

They talked all that afternoon. He told her of his efforts to bring order and security to the land, and she told him of her adventures through the land. Then he asked the question, "Where are the rest of your people?" SO she told him about the refuge of magic and how her people had gone to make new lives for themselves in this new land. She never spoke a word about how to reach it, and he, hesitant to offend her in any way, did not ask. Soon the sun set on the day and their discourse. He asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time. "Will I see you again?" She giggled slightly, an oddly pleasant mix of horse and human. "I would like that very much, sir. When would you like to meet?" "Tommorrow." He replied instantly. "When the sun has set and twilight is upon the land. I will meet you outside my manor house, in the garden perhaps. There we can talk uninterrupted. The servants retire early, and my brother prefers to head to town for a night of socializing at one of his clubs." She gently took his hand in hers. "I will meet you there tomorrow. It is nice to have someone to talk too, again." And with that, she turned around and walked into the underbrush. Before she vanished, he caught her turning to give him one last look. Feeling much happier than he had in a very long time, he collected his now soaked crossbow and spear. He whistled a happy little tune as he mounted his horse and turned him towards home.

When he arrived at the manor, his brother came out with a relieved smile. "Alas, I had thought you taken by the boar than the other way around. Aha!" said he as he spotted Jonathan's empty bag, "Your invisible catch is no doubt ready to be gutted and roasted for dinner." Jonathan simply laughed as he had not in a long time, startling his younger brother who had once sworn that his brother had never laughed. "What's gotten into you?" his brother said his bewildered brother. "Nothing, dear Samuel. Nothing at all." Said Jonathan heartily. Pretending to grab a beast from the back of his empty saddle, he tossed it to his brother. "Go and prepare a mighty feast with that haunch of venison. We shall feast like kings tonight!" Samuel laughed as he 'caught' the haunch. Clapping his brother on the shoulder, Jonathan led him up the stairs to the manor house while a servant took Lightning to the stable.

Jonathan left the house early the next night. As he made his way to the gardens, he lit his carved wooden pipe. As he smoked, he smiled as the light in the servant's window was extinguished. His brother had left hours ago to play a game of whist at his social club, just as Jonathan had predicted. Now, the full moon was rising, casting a pale light on the world. He was peering in the direction of the forest when the soft sound of a sigh behind him spun him around like a top. There was Seraphia standing in the full moon light. She was dressed much as she had been in the forest, with a dark tunic that seemed to move with no wrinkles or bags at the elbows. She had said it was of elven craftsmanship, and he did not doubt it. He noticed tonight she had woven flowers into her hair and tail. She was so beautiful, his heart ached. "I'm not late, am I?" she asked anxiously. "Never." He said firmly, holding out his hand. Smiling, she accepted it with hers. "This is a strange custom of yours, to hold hands I mean, is it not. I am kind of fond of it however." She said quickly, as if to prevent his feelings from being hurt. As if he cared. Right now, this strange woman that had upset his life in so many ways was here beside him. He decided he would get every moment of it fulfilled if he could. So he did his best to answer her incessant questions about his culture and habits. In return he discovered that centaurs lived as long, if not longer than humans. And when a centaur desires to mate with another, they must first prove their worth to the lead pair. The discussion went on for hours until they heard the clop of hooves in the driveway, indicating that Samuel was home. They gave a hurried goodbye, and Seraphia fled into the darkness. Jonathan watched her go and then went inside.

Over the course of the next month, they continued to meet secretly in the gardens. Jonathan's behavior did not go unnoticed by his brother, who thought he might be bedding one of the local women. In fact, he took great delight in teasing is older brother about the imagined affair. Jonathan did nothing to dissuade him of this notion as he did not want Sam to discover the truth. All he did was tell Sam not to follow him, as he did not want ruin the young lady's reputation. His brother had clapped him on the shoulder and said sure, he didn't mind.

One day, misfortune befell the pair. A man had come calling to find Jonathan and had met Samuel in his club. He had left early with the gentleman and returned to his house Jonathan and Seraphia had not heard them return, as they were deep in discussion on the importance of Saturn and its position among the stars. Sam had poured the gentleman a drink and said he would find his brother. Slipping out of the house unnoticed, he searched for his brother in the gardens. When he came upon the two, he froze and stared in shock. They could not see him, as he was behind the hedge. Peering around the corner, he watched the pair talk animatedly for some time. Then Seraphia leaned down and Jonathan kissed her. Samuel felt light-headed. His brother was in love with a horse-girl! He watched as she returned the kiss and then turned and walked away into the forest. Jonathan came back towards him, walking to the house. He jumped slightly when Sam walked around the corner of the hedge. His shock quickly gave way to anger and he grabbed his brother's jacket and slammed him back into the thick hedge. "What did you see." He hissed in fury. "Everything." Stated his brother calmly. He did not bother trying to remove the hands from his jacket, earlier fights with his brother had long convinced him of the futility of it. Instead he continued to look at his older brother's mottled face. "There is a man inside from London. We had best see what he wants before this discussion goes any further." He warned. Jonathan released his grip and nodded. "And we will discuss this." He promised. They left the gardens.

"My name is Alfred Longfellow, and I am here on behalf of the king." Stated the well-dressed man as the three lounged in the sitting room, smoke from pipes and cigars idly rising to wreath the room. He could see there was some great tension in the room from the posture of his hosts, but he discreetly refrained from mentioning it. Aristocrats were all the same to him. Perhaps one had uncovered a plot to kill the other. He did not know. Still, he hoped that any bloodshed would wait until after he had left. Jonathan pulled the pipe from his mouth. "What does the king want with us?" he asked carefully. He continually glanced at his brother, worried what he might inadvertently say in front of the man. Samuel, for his part, was thinking over what he had seen, and had tried to dismiss it in his mind as some trick of the moonlight or fatigue. He knew that wasn't the case, as his brother's actions confirmed what he had seen. "I am here in order to settle an affair of state with your neighbor in the north, totaling some four hundred pounds." Jonathan suddenly gave the man his full attention. "What was that." He asked calmly. A little too calmly. "I said I am here in order to settle an affair of state with your neighbor in the north, Duke Thornberry, to the amount of four hundred pounds. He has not been able to collect his money, and so the king sent me to remind you to pay him or risk the king's anger." Jonathan was glaring now at his younger sibling, who was giving him a sheepish smile. "I had hoped to settle with the duke shortly." He started, but Jonathan felt his anger overflowing. "How did you let him win four hundred pounds off of you. I don't have four hundred pounds to spare right now. You and you continual gambling have brought financial ruin upon yourself." "Yeah, big brother," retorted Samuel as he shot to his feet, the king's man forgotten. "You should talk. You are always the golden boy yourself. What about the time you beat that poacher to within an inch of his life, hmm? How do think that half breed centaur is going to react to that?" He had gone too far. Jonathan's face was a mask of rage as he lunged towards his brother. Instead of dodging, his brother met the charge with one himself, and the two grappled in front of the shocked taxman. "Here now," he shouted, "Let's not be hasty with…centaur?" he barely ducked a misfired swing. He was confused now. What centaur, those things were myths. Meanwhile, the two had smashed through the table and had fallen with Samuel on top. Jonathan landed a blow to the side of Sam's head, causing him to fall. Rolling over, he pinned Samuel beneath him, his fist raised to strike again. This time, the other man had grabbed his fist and was holding it back. Snarling, he said "Get out brother, and take your problems with you." Samuel got shakily to his feet. "I shall not. This house is partially mine as well. I will make good on the debt to the Duke. I have half the money now. I just need to borrow two hundred pounds from you and I shall have it all done." Looking murderous, Jonathan went to the safe in the wall and withdrew the money. He gave it to the solicitor, as his brother pulled out all his cash and gave it to the man. Giving a formal bow, the gentleman beat a hasty retreat. The two brothers, now furious with one another, turned and left the room.

The next night, Jonathan left the house to the garden spot as usual. His brother had kept to his room that day, and hadn't left. Jonathan was still furious with him. When Seraphia came, she instantly picked up on his anger; she said it was like a smothering blanket that weighed him down. She asked what was wrong. Jonathan told her the whole story. He half expected her to be angry with him for the indiscretion. Instead, she grasped his hands gently and spoke softly. "Go to your brother and find a way to make peace with him. He is your family after all. It is not a good time when brothers' quarrel, as it means that the house is divided." Jonathan shook his head stubbornly, but Seraphia was wise. She continued to speak, telling him of the good times he had mentioned before, when he and his brother were nearly inseparable. Her reason soon one him over, and he returned to the house and ascended the stairs to his brother's room.

When he got there, he found his brother laying on the four-poster bed. The two shared an awkward silence as Jonathan groped for the right words to say. "I…wanted to apologize for my behavior last night brother." He finally got out. Samuel just continued to stare at him, so Jonathan plowed on. "You startled me greatly when you appeared out in the garden last night. I had not wanted anyone to know that I was seeing her. Then when you threatened to tell her of that horrid incident, on top of the money you had lost, I lost my temper. I'm sorry." Samuel got off the bed in front of him. "I know brother. I'm sorry myself for the money. I had lost it on a bad horse race, and had hoped to recoup my losses in a few more nights of rubber and whist. However, I've had a bad run of luck lately, and I actually found myself losing more than I won. That two hundred I had in my pocket last night was the last of my money." Jonathan looked grim for a moment. And Samuel asked curiously, "What is it?" "I'm afraid that more than you are having money problems right now. That two hundred put more of a dent in our finances than I had feared. I went over the books this morning. The cold spell has ruined the fields and the crops have yet to recover. We are going to be in serious trouble if the fall harvest is a poor one." Samuel thought for a moment. "What about the centaur. Perhaps she might know a remedy for the crops." He suggested. Jonathan shrugged. "I'll ask her tomorrow night." He said.

She was delighted that both Jonathan and his brother came out to see her the next night. She did have an idea about the crops. Vanishing into the forest, she returned a minute later with a heavy leather satchel. Reaching into it she pulled out a glass figure. "This statue is magic. I can simply touch the crops and have them grow tall and proud, with some care of course." Samuel looked interestedly at the statue. "Is that all it does?" he asked. "No." she said hesitantly, catching the curiosity in his eyes. "However, it is dangerous as it has a mind of its own on how it wants to act. It might decide not to help us at all, in which case it is simply another statue." She warned. Jonathan shrugged. Anything might be worth a try. If his projections were right, he would be in debt of more than a thousand pounds if the crop failed to come through this year.

The next few nights in the field, they tried the statue. To Jonathan's surprise, the magic worked in overdrive. Massive crops, more bountiful than any other crop he had ever had, sprung out of the ground every other week or so. Peasants worked night and day harvesting the plenty. There would be enough to pay his debts and more this year, and the people rejoiced.

All the people, except the duke. He had long coveted the Forbes land near his estates. He had moved carefully for years, manipulating finances and other avenues to take it for himself. However, his efforts had all failed. Even his effort to drive them to bankruptcy by gambling had failed. He had ensured that the horse that Samuel had bet on would not win the race, and thought that by going to the king instead of directly to the manor would make it seem as if they weren't paying their debts. Instead, they had paid off his four hundred pounds, and now this damnable crop had emerged like a saving grace. He had to find out what was making this happen, and he knew just how to do it as well.

That evening at the Well To Do club where Samuel was playing a small game of whist with friends, he became surprised when Duke Thornberry sat down at the table. "What brings you this way Duke. Run out of peasants to shear on your own lands?" Samuel asked. He hadn't liked the duke a bit for sending out a king's solicitor to collect. The Duke simply smiled slightly. "I hear that you crops are taking off wonderfully these days. I wonder why that is?" Sam shrugged uncomfortably. "Fortune has smiled on us greatly." He said evasively. The duke nodded in agreement and ordered the waiter to pour wine for everybody.

Several rounds and many wine cups later, Sam was barely on his feet. He blearily tried to count his cards, and realized he couldn't win the round. He quickly folded. Meanwhile, the duke watched the antics of Sam with a predatory smile. He knew he had the young man where he wanted him. Offering to help the lad home, he all but grabbed Sam from the seat and escorted the weakly protesting man out. Sam was so drunk, he couldn't sit on his horse, and the duke had to tie him to his saddle to prevent him from falling off. "Now," he said as they started off. "You were telling me how you got these wonderful crops of yours." "Nuh-uh," Samuel said giggling slightly. "I ain't telling you nuffing about Seraphia. You can just (hic) bugger off." The duke smiled. "Now what's so special about Seraphia. It certainly is an unusual name. Is she your woman?" Samuel shook his head violently. "No, (hic) she's J..J…Jonathans c…cen…girl." He replied. "Really?" said the duke. "That's very interesting. My friend's solicitor said something about a centaur. Absurd of course." Samuel nodded so vigorously he about fell off again. "Very ab…absurd. She is a centauress." The duke raised an eyebrow. This could be interesting indeed.

Sam remembered nothing that night, other than he had lost twenty pounds to the Duke in cards and had to be escorted home by him that night. That seemed wrong to Sam, but he couldn't put his finger on the reason why. The Duke, meanwhile, had the elder Count watched closely. The man came to him and reported that every night he went out and saw the centaur girl. The man swore that was what he had seen. The duke was convinced that it was the centaur that was bringing prosperity to the Forbes manor, so he decided to do away with her. Going to his huntsmen, he gathered a four of his best woodsmen and sixteen of his best hunting hounds and set off early the next day.

Sneaking onto the property had been no trouble for the Duke. He had arranged things so that both Forbes would be gone all day. The hounds soon picked up the scent and set off at a run, leaving the hunters behind in their lust to catch the prey. Seraphia saw them coming and fled as fast as her four hooves could carry her. The dogs gave chase, howling and baying in excitement. The frightened girl ran as fast as she could, dodging trees and leaping logs, hair and tail flying behind her. As she came near the river she had first met Jonathan, one of the dogs leaped onto her back and scratched bloody furrows in her flank. Bucking, she got rid of him only to find more dogs on her. Jumping, she landed in the river and swam vigorously to the other side. The dogs plunged in after her, but were much slower in crossing. On the far bank now, she raced back towards Jonathan's home, hoping to find help. An arrow convinced her otherwise. She saw the duke redrawing another fletcher to his cheek, and leaped behind a tree. She heard him cursing and plunging his mount into the river to follow. She ran for hours it seemed, the scratches burning her back and the sound of baying never far. She was exhausted, wounded and frightened. She didn't see the thick tangle of a tree barring her path until she was upon it. It was too big to jump over, and the dense thickets to either side gave no avenue for escape. She was trapped, and the hounds were now visible streaking through the trees at her. Drawing her puny dagger, she bravely prepared to face the onslaught.

Suddenly, one of the hounds gave a high pitched yelp and tumbled to the ground dead. A crossbow quarrel was firmly embedded in its side. Jonathan suddenly charged into the clearing on his black stallion Lightning. Laying about him with his spear, he caught one hound in the ribs with the butt, and clipped another's ears with the haft. The dogs gave up their chase to deal with this intruder, but the horse reared and kicked another dog. The hounds took off yelping. The sound of drumming hoofbeats announced the arrival of the duke. He saw Jonathan with his spear staring at him. And behind him the centauress peeked around. In anger, he taunted him. "So you found a way to protect your savage half-breed. I will expose you for what you are, and she will be taken anyway. Your foolish brother has already seen to that." He could see Jonathan stiffen, so he smiled "Oh yes, didn't you know? I got the fool so drunk he didn't realize what he was saying. He tried to deny it all of course, he thought himself so clever he could keep it from me, but the wine loosened his lips indeed." "Get out!" snarled Jonathan, "and never come back!" The duke turned his horse around and trotted off, as if accepting defeat. Jonathan and Seraphia turned towards the manor house and went at a quick pace. But not quick enough.

The snapping of brush and a bellow was all the warning they had. An arrow pierced Seraphia's side and the duke crashed into Jonathan, his own blade out. Jonathan and the duke exchanged blows for several minutes, until the duke pulled his boot from the stirrup and kicked Jonathan square in the chest, knocking him off Lightning. Gazing up at the duke's savage face as he prepared to stab downward, Jonathan felt no fear, just sorrow that he had failed. The Duke's blade never fell, blood dribbled off his lips as he slumped sideways off the saddle. There was Samuel, holding another crossbow behind him. He had shot the Duke in the back, killing him.

Sam rushed to his brothers side, but was rebuffed as Jonathan got to his feet and ran to Seraphia. She lay on her side breathing shallowly. The arrow was in her side, and it was deep. Breaking the shaft, they worked carefully and quickly to pull the arrow free, but Seraphia's screams convinced them that was a futile notion. Jonathan feared she would die. Samuel wasn't sure what to say. That's when a pale light came into existence. A voice told them not to worry, that Seraphia was going home. In front of their eyes, she vanished. Jonathan was heartbroken. He begged the strange light to allow him to go with her. Instead, the light simply vanished. Sam took his brother home. There on the table, he found Seraphia's statue. It had changed. Now it was her holding a bow and arrow to the sky. Jonathan was sick and angry at his brother for his supposed betrayal. Samuel decided to leave and make his fortune in elsewhere. Eventually, his decedents would find a home in the land of America. Jonathan Forbes disappeared from the house one night. No one knew where. The house was thought to be cursed, and has lain empty ever since. The statue was never found again. It is said to still be in the house, and when the mystery of the disappearance is solved, then the Forbes manor will once more find prosperity and happiness.