“Vpered!”
Chapter 29
Oleg
Oleg heard the “Forward!” command as if his dead sire were shouting in his ear.
His horse leaped onto the field, he tucked his mallet against his body, and the riders surged toward the pul.
Pavel was the first to reach it, rounding on the ball and knocking it toward the twin blue poles as Oleg shouted at his brother. “Lev, down the field!”
Lev was the fastest rider on their team, and he urged his pony toward the far end of the field, leaping over a low stacked fence before he rounded the corner and knocked the pul away from their goal before the red team could send the leather ball between the posts with a second strike.
There was madness on the field, Ludmila immediately attacking Rudov with a mallet to the chest that nearly knocked the larger vampire off his horse.
His sniper was a lethal chaugan player, keeping her profile low against the neck of her pony so it was difficult for anyone to land a blow.
Kezia was surprisingly fast, and Oleg learned quickly not to underestimate the Poshani woman. Within minutes, she had ridden through the midfield and claimed control of the pul insharp, neat strikes, driving it downfield and passing it to Rudov, who was waiting in a corner near the red goal. Only a random gust of wind kept the ball from going through the poles.
Juliya rang the bell and pointed to a wind vampire hovering near the goal. “I felt it! You’re gone.”
The crowd jeered as Radu’s son rode off the field, but it was good-natured and there was plenty of laughter mixed in. Elemental interference was hardly unheard of in chaugan. The rules were strict but often broken, and anyone caught was out.
“They’re one down!” Tatyana shouted.
“Tanya!” Kezia shouted at his wife, striking the ball again as she passed it to her fellow terrin.
Tatyana took the ball, clearly balancing on the edge of her control as she raced down the field, striking the pul toward the red poles.
Ivan was headed straight toward her, his eyes intent and narrow.
Tatyana must have spotted him from her peripheral vision because she managed to strike the ball and knock it toward Rudov across the field.
Ivan reared back, pulling up his mount and pointing his mallet at Tatyana with a wicked grin. “Well done, Tatyana le Tala!”
Oleg didn’t want Ivan speaking to his wife, much less aiming for her and pointing his mallet or anything else in her direction.
He rode parallel to Tatyana as Rudov and Sándor passed the pul back and forth down the field.
“Go!” Tatyana said. “I’m fine.” She waited near the midfield as Oleg rode forward, and in the corner of his eye, he saw dancers lining up in front of the spectators.
The first chukka was nearly at an end, and not a goal had been scored.
He pushed his mount forward and raced toward the line of offense, flanking Sándor and riding behind and forward on the far side of the field. He whistled at Rudov, who spotted Oleg and lifted his mallet for a long pass.
Sándor fell back, blocking the two riders from the red team who were headed toward Oleg and striking Radu across the chest with his mallet.
The Poshani terrin nearly lost his seat as Oleg captured the ball with the flat of his mallet, tossed it a little way forward, and circled to line up the shot.
Seconds later, he saw two red-sashed riders approach from the left, but it was too late—he struck the pul through the red poles as the crowd rose to its feet with cheers for the knyaz of the Kievan Rus.
Oleg rode forward, raising his mallet as he took a victory lap toward the spectators. He patted his horse’s neck. “Good girl.” They were approaching a small obstacle, so he stood up slightly in his stirrups for the jump.
And that was probably the only thing that saved him from an arrow piercing his neck.
Chapter 30
Tatyana
