Kyros' Secret (Greek Myth Series Book 1) by Elizabeth Rose Page A

this one. I won’t have to be a warrior in his army. I won’t have to kill innocent people on his command and most of all, I won’t die giving birth.
    She heaved a big sigh and looked at him with those translucent blue eyes that held all the hope in the world. How he wanted to tell her she was right. How he wanted to believe it himself. But she still had half a chance her baby would be a centaur. And that half a chance gnawed at his insides, eating away her innocent hope bit by bit without her knowing. She thought he was her savior when he was nothing more than an accessory to seal the fate of the people.
    She obviously didn’t know him or anything about her father’s curse upon him. She looked so happy - so alive, so vibrant. She’d kissed him, for Zeus’ sake. She liked him. She actually liked him for who she thought he was and it felt good.
    It felt so damned good to be looked at and respected again. It was so refreshing to find someone who didn’t know his past and didn’t cringe or keep their distance from him when they saw him.  She liked him and had actually touched him. Kissed him too. His lips still vibrated from her kiss. How good it would feel to be touched again by a woman. To be caressed, cared for, and possibly loved someday. And he wanted this almost as much as he wanted to see peace between the Centaurs and the Trozens.
    He knew he should tell her the truth, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. Maybe the baby would be born human after all. Maybe he could wait and see before he spoiled her hopes and crushed his own dreams.
    She smiled at him once again, and he felt his body warm. He gripped the hilt of his sword several times, feeling the sweat beneath his palm.
    “Thank you.”
    She said it so gratefully he thought he was going to bust. She looked at him with the respect one would give to Zeus, when at the moment he felt like Hades himself. His jaw twitched as he swallowed the words of truth that lie on his tongue. If only she knew what she was really thanking him for.
    “Save your thanks,” he growled. He made his way up the hill and she followed. “If I would have known I was volunteering to make a baby with you when I jumped in front of that beam, I never would have done it.”

Seven
     
     
    Thera followed the man up the hill, not at all sure why he seemed so angry all of a sudden. She sensed confusion and aggravation on his end, though she couldn’t decipher the reason behind it.
    “My name is Thera.” The bag weighted her down and she became winded following him so fast. “What is yours?”
    He stopped for a second and looked at her. His eyes were dark and she wasn’t sure what he was thinking. “What does it matter?” He turned around and continued up the hill.
    “I was just wondering who the father of my child is, that’s all.”
    She sensed the man was disturbed about something. If she wasn’t mistaken, he wasn’t happy that she carried his child.
    “I’m no one,” he answered without turning to look at her.
    “But surely that’s not so. Everyone is someone.”
    “I’m no one that matters. You’re better off not knowing.”
    When they reached the top of the hill, his horse awaited them. A welcome sight for a pregnant woman whose body ached. Maybe he’d give her a ride somewhere. Anywhere where she could get away from her father and think this whole thing through.
    “If you don’t want to tell me your name then just tell me where you come from.”
    He fiddled with his horse’s saddle bag, then he turned his head slowly and stared at her for a second before answering.
    “My name is Kyros.” He looked at her almost as if he were expecting some kind of a reaction on her part. One which she couldn’t give him since she’d never heard of him.
    “Kyros,” she repeated. “It’s a nice name. And where are you from?”
    He turned away and petted his horse on the nose. “I’m from nowhere … and everywhere. Where I’m from doesn’t matter. It’s where I’m