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By mid-game, Veronica and I are exhausted. Aklo throws me a smug smirk as he slinks his horse close to the black knight and whispers something in his ear. There’s aleanto his body that is absolutely inappropriate in front of a crowd. The king’speople.

“Cael? Cael?”

I turn to Veronica, who’s holding out a canteen for me and shaking her head. “See what I mean? Bane of my drakopagon existence.”

“If Nicostratus hadn’t been disqualified...” I glance at the stands where Nicostratus is sitting, watching us calmly. He waves and smiles.

“He wasn’t playing his best, anyway.” Veronica sighs. “How about doing some reconnaissance?”

If anyone on their team is flagging, man or horse, Veronica and I can take advantage of that weakness. The surreptitious health check is one of our old tactics. Notstrictlyagainst the rules.

I urge my horse around the arena, slowing as I pass our opponents. I close my eyes and absorb the surrounding scents. The black knight’s horse is a little salty, dehydrated, but nothing that will hinder a second half on the field. Quin himself has a sweet woody scent... he’s absorbed pain relief from my flutette; he’s in top form. Aklo has a fishy smell about him. Ridiculously healthy, fuelled by arousal...

Bitterness hits the back of my nose. My palm tingles with magic and I tighten my fist, swallowing it back inside. I urge my horse nearer the giant.

This man is sick. Very sick. Immediately, I move to his side. “What medicinal herbs have you taken?”

His eyes are glazed; he’s not focusing on me. I stack a spell in my palm—the infection in his spleen is taking hold. With my right hand, I grab his wrist and read his stagnating pulse. No time—even if he’s taken something, and this spell reacts with that, it’s no worse than not treating him at all.

I press my palm to his chest and force my spell into his swollen spleen.

The effect is immediate; he hauls in a breath, eyes focusing. He has no idea how lucky he is that I’m sneaky enough to check my opponents’ health for an edge in the game.

“What did you do?” he asks.

“Do you feel better?”

He yawns, his eyelids closing. “Sleepy.”

I wince. “Side effect. You’ll be fine after some rest—”

“What are you doing?” The black knight comes up on the giant’s other side in time to catch him as he sags. He looks over his teammate at me, mask not enough to hide his suspicion.

“I’m not cheating,” I say.

“He just happened to fall asleep?”

“He was sick.”

Quin doesn’t look convinced.

“If I wanted to cheat,” I say in a tight whisper, “I’d have knocked out the other one.” Dark eyes flash, and I raise my chin stubbornly. “For the good of the kingdom!”

I turn my horse and gallop to meet Veronica at our starting position for the second half.

“They’re down a player?”

“We might have a chance. Remember the flash tactic? You bypass Aklo.”

She gnaws on her lip, glancing at our opponents. “The black knight doesn’t look like someone who’d—”

“Don’t worry, I’ll distract him.”

I don’t distract him.

He’s impervious to all my tricks—not even balancing on my horse is enough to turn his head. I’m deflated when I slouch out of the stables, and Nicostratus’s chipper mood doesn’t help. His sparkly, contented smile is just irritating.

“You’re a natural on a horse.”