Amethyst 1. Inception ✓

17. Saddles and Suspicions

We made our way to the southern grounds, which was bustling with activity. Towards the North, the academic building was visible while the southern part of the field ended in a tall wall. The ground was almost as massive as the one in the palace. Well-kept bright green grass rippled gently in the breeze, a glaring contrast to the grass as I remembered back in the worn-down courtyard of Stonewall. My past was a memory I never allowed myself to dwell in and immediately extricated myself from it.

The bright sun shone merrily onto the emerald, making it shimmer. A large crowd had gathered there that seemed a tad bit daunting to me.

"I guess polo is pretty popular around here?" I asked.

It was Nia who answered with a girlish giggle. "It's not the sport. It's the team."

A closer look at the grounds made me realize what she meant.

About a dozen young, well-built boys and girls were warming up on the field. Much to my dismay, Elijah was among them. There were eight horses grazing aimlessly behind them, each more majestic than the last. Two white ones. Three black ones. A chestnut and two bay ones. We watched in silence as the lot of them stood in a file. Looking at the grazing horses made me yearn. I had spent a good many afternoons playing polo with my dad and aunt Lisette at her palace. However, like all the ephemeral happy memories, it too was now a thing of the past. A flickering light so feeble that I wondered if it had ever truly been. 

I spotted Aris running towards the rest of the team, his chest heaving as he struggled to put his gear on. Elijah shot him a cold look before he started speaking to the grounds at large, "Thank you all for presenting at the trials today."

Much to my surprise, there was applause at his words."What the fuck?" I exclaimed softly, shocked at the dreamy faces of several people as they watched him, enraptured. Their eyes seemed to glaze over, a careless smile on their faces as they gazed at him.

Nia laughed and whispered, "Fucking future king of Evimeria, remember?"

"I request you all to fall into line," he continued, gesturing to the crowd as there was a flurry of movement and everyone scrambled to get into place. "The trials will be taken in three rounds. Round one will be to take the horse for a ride around the ground-"

"I would like to ride you, though," a girl whispered to her friend behind me as both of them broke into a fit of giggles. I almost turned to see who it was, but decided against it, mildly impressed and simultaneously horrified. 

"-second, would be to score a goal in the empty ground, and third-" he continued. "Would be to score a goal while some members of the team are defending. Is that clear?"

There were murmurs of assent. "If anyone has any questions, I urge you to speak right now."

A starry-eyed girl raised her hand as Elijah nodded curtly towards her.

"What's your shoe size?"

There was a ripple of laughter as even his teammates struggled to keep a straight face. I was even more horrified by the girl's forwardness. I asked from the corner of my mouth, "Is that er...appropriate?"

Nia shrugged. "It's..kind of tradition."

I stared at her in disbelief. "What?"

She laughed at my expression. "It's harmless, really. Even the previous captain, Myra had to endure that kind of talks. Although, in her case, it was cup-"

She didn't say anything further as she turned her attention back to the trials. My stomach clenched uneasily. Elijah's face had turned bright red at the girl's question.