The Centaur Read Free Page B

Lucifer’s little band of warriors. No matter how much blood was spilled on the battlefield, the Templars walked away as fresh as new pennies.
    “So I’ve noticed.” Luke nodded. “I wonder where Jasmine is. He said he took her somewhere safe.”
    “You still miss her?” Omar asked him.
    “Sometimes.” Luke admitted. He thought it strange that, in all these years, he had never found another love interest outside of Sophia, and that had been fleeting. Considering the outcome of that situation, he was very glad nothing had come of it and he was more reluctant than ever to even look at a woman. The brief encounter with Nicole in the meadow, and then the even briefer conversation with her after the battle had left him shaken. She wanted to ‘join’ with him.
    Just after their father had shown up, Nicole had looked him up and told him that their beloved father had found his way home and that there was cause for celebration. What she meant by that, he had no idea. He did know the Mark Andrew they had sent home to Scotland was not his father. The Mark Andrew that had traded places with him on this campaign was his father, and yet, even he had seemed somehow different.
    “I’m sure we can find suitable wives in New Babylon after we clear up this… problem.” Omar commented causing Luke to choke on the water he was drinking from a plastic bottle, spraying it all over Omar’s lap.
    “What on earth would you want with another wife, Omar?!” Luke stood up.
    “I want children, Luke.” Omar frowned up at him. “I want a son and maybe a daughter. What every ma… body wants.”
    “My god… pardon the pun,” Luke shook his head. “What about Bari? He’s your son or have you forgotten?”
    “I have not forgotten.” Omar stood as well.
    “Well, one thing my father taught me, Omar, was that the company of women is a dangerous thing and many a good man has lost his way to Paradise on account of them and I believe it. It takes either an extremely strong man or a complete idiot to appease one.” Luke smiled ruefully at his nephew. “I suppose that is the basic difference between you and I. My father never wanted children. He never planned any of his bastards other than Luke Matthew, and I’m sure that, if he could go back and change that, he would. I think I understand why he feels the way he does. Children are millstones around our necks, hostages to fortune and nothing but heartache and trouble. Tell me one good thing about them, Omar. Tell me.”
    “Well, look at Dunya.” Omar waved one hand and reached for a wine bottle sitting on a wooden crate. “My father couldn’t ask for a better daughter. She is a wonderful person. Kind, generous, loving, strong, beautiful and a great mother to her children. Not a bit of trouble. Even while we were in the underworld for all those years, she was the model of perfection. If I could have a daughter like Dunya, I’d forego a son altogether. And look at Aurora. Any father would be proud of such a daughter. A marvelous woman. A privilege to name her as my kinswoman. And her children, models of perfection. Gregory and Nicholas are brave, strong, intelligent and beautiful. Pure as the driven snow in heart, word and deed. They could have been Grail Knights had they been born a thousand years earlier.”
    “What about Michey?” Luke raised one eyebrow. Everyone felt sorry for Apolonio. The war had done him a favor, tearing him away from his lovely little wife and her annoying little habits.
    “But look at Anna!” Omar spun around and sat down on the cot again before turning up the bottle. His spirits were lifting as he named off the wonderful people in his family. He ignored the question about John Paul and Aurora’s youngest child, Meredith Michelle. “Did you not love her? Didn’t everyone love her? For that matter, look at Jozsef Daniel, your nephew before he was lost. God never saw fit to create a better soul and you have become acquainted with Lavon de Bleu, another