Page 79 of Royal Captive
The man opened his eyes and breathed out. Strumo gave him a nasty grin. The man pivoted to the other human, who scowled just as harshly. The man leveled his gaze on me, and bounced the ball with two hands in his square and into mine.
I didn’t have time to strategize, think, or otherwise plan my actions. The instructions blared in my head repeatedly as the ball came at me.
Once served, the ball must bounce once in your square before you hit it. You must hit it in any square other than yours with an open or closed fist. You cannot hold the ball. Do not hit the lines or hit the ball again in your square or outside of the squares.
It bounced once in my square, just missing the white line by a hair’s breadth. Using the same method he did, I used both hands to gently bat it at the older man’s square.
The man gave me a look, but matched my energy and kept the ball bouncing sedately as he sent it back to the first man. As the trio of us kept up our game, Strumo’s grin turned ugly as he realized our survival plan.
“You’re cheating!” he called out.
I ignored him and bounced the ball again to the older man. A fae guard appeared quickly next to the outside of Strumo’s square, a scowl on his face.
“Point of order,” the guard called out.
The ball froze in midair between the older man and the younger man, bringing our game to a standstill. All across the yard the same happened and heads turned in our direction.
“The rules do not say every square must be used,” the guard continued, loud enough to be heard by everyone. “The players may bounce in any order deemed necessary. False accusations will be treated as rule breaking. This is your only warning. Proceed.”
The fae guard moved so fast it appeared he was gone in the blink of an eye. The ball that hung in the air spun back into motion, catching the young man off guard as it bounced in front of him. He caught it in reflex, then glanced down in horror at it when he realized what he’d done.
My lips parted to yell at him to hurry and throw it, but it was too late. He’d already broken the rules.
You cannot hold the ball once it is in play.
The ball exploded with a BANG, leaving a red smear on the ground where the man had once been. Bits of blood and flesh splattered on me, clinging to my shoes and breeches. Horrified, I shook it away, all the while Strumo laughed his ass off. The older man’s lips parted in shock for a moment before his jaw tightened with resolve.
Across the way were a few answering booms. I assumed some had turned to look at our explosion and accidentally caused their own deaths, or perhaps the sudden resuming of the game caught them off guard as well.
Fuck this. Fuck thissohard.
I held my breath, waiting to see who would be granted the ball this time. If it was Strumo, I was fucked.
Tension left my body as it re-materialized in the old man’s square. Good. We were safe; we could continue our game of keep away until the sun went down if needed.
He picked up the ball, preparing to toss it my way.
“If you don’t give me the ball now, you’ll die anyway after this,” Strumo promised, every inch of him deadly aggression.
The man’s eyes went wide as they flicked between me and Strumo.
“Toss it to me, and I will ensure you survive,” I pleaded.
He had only had seconds to decide.
“Please—” I implored him, but he was frozen with indecision.
The older man sent me an apologetic glance, pivoting his body away from mine. Shakily, he tossed the ball toward Strumo’s square. The ball bounced just on the outside edge of the white line.
The man went white with panic. “N—”
BOOM.
There was a new red smear on my left, but I didn’t have time to process that because Strumo was already moving toward the ball in his square like I knew he would be. He grabbed the ball and cocked his arm back, fangs bared in a feral snarl of giddiness as he prepared to throw it at my face as hard as he could.
There was no way I’d be able to catch it. He was twice my size. It would bounce off the ground too fast and too hard, and—
“Move to a square.”
