A Gathering of Wings by Kate Klimo

Author:Kate Klimo [Klimo, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-375-98543-0
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2013-05-28T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Balaal

“Mather Silvermane is no longer my name,” the centaur says. “My herd name … is Balaal.”

“Balaal,” Malora says, “can you please get your hoof off my chest?”

“Sorry,” he says, lifting his hoof. “I was so excited to have actually caught something. I never dreamed it would be you. I’m supposed to be out here roping wild horses.”

“Horses? I haven’t seen any horses,” she says.

“That would be just my luck,” he says. “To be sent out when there are no horses to be had. You can be sure the herd will find a way to blame me for that.”

“It’s hard to imagine you roping horses,” Malora tells him.

Mather gathers up the rope into a tangled ball. “I’m not very good at it. And as you know, I don’t share the Kheironite fondness for horses.”

“I’d forgotten that,” Malora says. Although he once confided in her his fear of horses, he had hidden it well from everyone else. She sees he has made a mess of the rope, so she takes it from him and coils it properly.

“These horses are even more frightened than I am,” Mather says, “which makes them quite treacherous.”

“So,” says Malora, handing him back the neat circle of rope. “You’re a wild centaur now.”

“As wild as I am able to manage,” Mather says pitifully. “I tell you, there is not a single Edict we do not trample to dust on a daily basis. But if it weren’t for the wild centaurs, I’d be a pile of bones in the bush. This is the home of all the centaurs who have ever been turned out from Mount Kheiron, going back generations. It is also home to centaurs for whom life in Mount Kheiron may not have been the ideal, those who were thought to have been ravaged by hippos or lions or other beasts of the bush.”

Malora seizes upon these last words. “Does this include Athen Silvermane?” she asks.

Mather rolls his eyes. “Oh, Athen is not only here, he is the leader, the Alpha Stallion. He may have been a disappointment to the Apex, slow to learn, quick of temper, and fickle, but here he is loved and respected and wields immense authority.”

“Herself will be so happy to learn that he is alive,” Malora says. She imagines returning to Mount Kheiron with the news, banishing the look of sadness from the eyes of the Lady Hylonome.

“Oh, you mustn’t tell her, Malora!” Mather pleads. “Athen would spit me over a bonfire. While I dream every night of returning to the Land of Beauty and Enlightenment, Athen quite likes his life here. As Alpha Stallion, he is as powerful as the Apex. His rule is based not on the Edicts, but on the so-called Principles of Freedom of the Natural Centaur. In Mount Kheiron, it was our human halves that we treasured, but here the horse half is held in high esteem.”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Malora says.

“Yes, but your horses are tame, Malora,” Mather says. “One drunken feast night, Athen told me that the first time he felt truly alive was when he came to live with the herd.

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