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No sooner have I hauled myself onto Parsley’s back than the horn blows. Turis is directly opposite me, an unpleasant smile on his face as we meet each other’s gaze. I notice he’s swapped his stirrups for leather straps—in fact, all the opposing players have. I guess this is their solution to stop me repeating my trick from earlier.

But it’s going to take more than that to stop me. I tap my heels to urge Parsley forward, putting myself in the middle of the action, while trying to keep an eye out for attacks from the periphery.

Vaccia barrels past me on a bear about a foot taller than Parsley, her cradle lifted. The mountain-lion creature from the other team is right behind her. Vaccia’s ursinian bellows and stalls as the lion leaps up to dig its claws into the bear’s hind quarters.

“Vaccia! To me!” I shout.

The ball flies towards me, and I lift my cradle, judging the distance as well as I can, but the ball is arcing too slowly and I’m too short. I awkwardly shove myself up onto my feet in my stirrups, giving me a few extra inches of height, and gasp in surprise as the weight of the ball hits my cradle, rattling into it.

I shove myself back down into my saddle. My leg protests with a spasm of pain, but I don’t let it stop me pulling on Parsley’s reins, guiding him into a charge towards the pillars.

Four goals. That’s what we need. Then this game is ours.

The thought spears straight through the shock of actually catching the ball. All eyes are suddenly on me, and a barrage of even more pain is no doubt headed my way if I don’t get the ball over that line. The saber-tooth fae rides up on my right, and the way he twists his hand clues me in that he’s about to cast magic. Like before, I use my own power—this time, to grab the metal fastenings on his reins, pulling his ursinian away from me. His spell goes wide, a shower of sparks catching my ankle and making me yelp. Parsley roars as the orange-haired female brings her bear up on my right, clashing his antlers with her steed’s.

Despite the attacks, I’m four yards from the pillars now, then two.

I lob the ball forward, and it arcs towards the line. I’m about to punch the air in victory when a cradle goes up, scooping the ball out of the air. My heart sinks as Turis smiles thinly at me once more, easily tossing the ball he just caught to a teammate. Once it’s back in their possession, it hurtles down the other side of the circle. Moments later, the opposing team scores and the horn blows, just as Parsley roars again. I jerk around to see Turis’s bear has sank its teeth into Parsley’s hind leg.

“Hey!” Pyromey screams, riding down towards us. “The horn has blown!”

Turis tugs lazily on his ursinian’s reins, and it releases Parsley. Rage floods through me at the sight of the bloody teeth marks in his hide.

“Big mistake,” I snap at Turis, offering Parsley a soothing pat on the head.

“I don’t make mistakes,” he says, so quietly and calmly it’s unnerving. “Especially not where feckless humans are concerned. Do you know how very easy it would be for you to die on this playing field?”

Pyromey reaches us before I can answer, taking hold of Parsley’s reins and tugging us back towards our end of the arena. She throws Turis a dirty look as she goes.

“What did he say to you?” she asks, as we gather beside our teammates.

“Nothing worth repeating.” I shrug. She gives me a funny look.

“What?” I ask.

“I just haven’t really seen it in action before—lying, I mean. It’s an odd trick, isn’t it?”

I don’t know what to say to that, and she doesn’t seem to need an answer as we gather again on our starting lines for the reset.

“Their defensive line is too strong,” she snaps to the others.

Vaccia shakes her head. “After your early goal, they’re on a mission. We’re not going to get anywhere near the east side,” she says, and I realize she’s talking about the half of the circle ringed by mountain stone. “We might have to accept another month with Turis on the council.”

“No,” I blurt out before I can stop myself. The stakes are too high. Maybe not for Vaccia, but for Seelie…

“There are a lot of people relying on us winning this game,” I explain when the team stares at me. “I thought the Unseelie never backed down?”

“She’s right,” says Pyromey. “I’m done having Turis whisper his poison about blood superiority into the king’s ear. We are going to win this. We just need a bolder attack strategy.”

She tightens the tie holding her hair back, a dangerous look glinting in her eyes.

“I’m going up the west side,” she says.

I feel everyone in earshot look over to the unprotected drop on the other side of the circle, focusing on the way the outer line suddenly gives way to thin air.

“Don’t push your luck,” Vaccia warns.

“Two more goals from them and this game is done,” Pyromey spits. “Fuck that. As soon as that horn goes, I’m breaking Turis’s streak—and his power over this court with it.”