Chapter 6
902 Words
"I'll remember," I replied, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Only novices got caught in the backswings of other players. I had been playing almost as long as he. I accepted my stick as he mounted, and he laughed, tossing his long dark hair back and tying it in place with a leather strap before accepting his stick.
We rode to our positions, our horses dancing beneath us, reacting to the excitement of riders and those that watched. The leatherbound ball was thrown and we surged into motion, the ball flying beneath the strike of a stick. Akyran and I rode neck to neck, but he reached the ball, his angle was better, and flung it out towards the score posts.
He laughed over his shoulder at me.
The ball came back towards us, and with it, the flurry of riders from the opposing team. I tussled with another rider. Daryith rode his mount in such a way that we were pressed against each other. He leered at me.
"C'mon, Ecaeris," he said, his voice heavy with breath as he strained for the ball, trying to distract me. "We all know Akyran's got a mistress. Isn't it time you - "
Whatever he had been going to say was broken off as I struck the ball and we watched it fly straight to Akyran, who stood up in the saddle and met its flight with his stick, sending it soaring back into the goals.
"Two!" He yelled at me triumphantly.
We all know Akyran's got a mistress, Daryith had said. He had been teasing. He always teased me about getting Akyran into bed when we played, trying to distract me from the game. But Akyran having a mistress was an entirely other matter to taking a courtier to bed. One implied some permanence, whilst the other was fleeting, and without any emotional attachment.
I slammed into Eltarin, winding us both and causing our mounts to snap at each other irritably, the horses as caught up in the play as their riders.
"Little sister," he acknowledged. "You took your time coming. Quick!" he added, and I saw the ball moving towards us on his bad side. He took my mount's reins and I leant over onto his horse behind him, striking the ball back towards the goals, whilst halfway between the two horses.
I had returned to my mount when Rivyn rode by. "Not sure if that's totally a legal move," he grinned at me. "Fun to watch, but a shot taken between two horses?"
"It scored," I shrugged, but my attention went to where the king and queen watched. The queen waved a handkerchief, passing the move.
"Ha," Eltarin clasped my hand in celebration. "Our parents are here," he added as he released me.
"Why?" I was surprised. I had thought them thoroughly entrenched in the family estate for the season, with our elder brother and his wife, whose first child was newly arrived. I had been to see the babe for the day only a week before, and there had been no indication of any intention by them to attend the Court of Light.
"Oh, come on," Eltarin laughed. "They wouldn't miss this..."
I was distracted as oncoming riders collided with my horse. For a moment, Akyran and I rode side to side again. He bared his teeth in a ferocious grin showing the sharpened canine and premolars of the Fae.
"I'm hedged in, Ecaeris," he told me. The riders pulled back suddenly, parting before an oncoming party. "Ecaeris!" He grabbed me from my horse, putting me before him and I saw his purpose, his grasp on my hips holding me aloft as I leaned out to my utter limits, striking the ball into the goal.
He settled me back before him as the crowds in the terrace celebrated the win. "F-k," he complained into my hair. "Either I have been too idle, or you have put on weight."
"That's not polite," I retorted, sharply. "Fiena tells me I'm getting womanly curves, which is a much nicer way of putting it."
"Yes," he agreed. "The weight is distributed appropriately."
I shot him a glare over my shoulder, and he flushed again, avoiding meeting my eyes. "I don't comment on your winter physique, Akyran," I pouted, annoyed.
"Yes, but you don't hold my winter physique aloft," he replied, lightly. "Don't be sour, Ecaeris. It looks good on you."
"Was that a compliment?" I retorted, the sharpness in my tone put on, because the question was genuine. Akyran was behaving decidedly... odd. Everyone was behaving oddly. I felt as if I had missed a court secret and needed to catch up on the gossip to understand its foreshadowing in my coterie.
"Are you seeking them, Ecaeris?" he replied laughing.
"I don't know," I replied as he guided our horses towards the terrace. "One moment you're telling me I'm heavy, and the next that it's not a bad thing. I'm confused." He slid off the horse and reached up, lifting me down.
"You look good, Ecaeris," he said, quietly, his words hidden beneath the voices that rose and fell around us. He stroked a lock of hair off my face in a gesture that was on the edge of tender. "Very good." He turned abruptly and called out Rivyn's name, moving to greet his brother and leaving me confused and flustered behind him.
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