The Sports Captain's Tale полностью

My anger flared. “You have to get the team through the local tournaments first,” I said, sharply. “You haven’t won yet!”

Blair snorted. “What are you going to do about it? Put your own team together and kick our asses?”

“Yes,” I said. It was hardly the first time my temper had gotten me into trouble. I’d been lucky not to be expelled for striking an upper-class student who’d talked down to me. “I’ll put together my own team!”

“With booze and hookers?” Blair laughed. “Good luck. All the decent players are already taken.”

I clenched my fists, then calmed myself and swept out the door, slamming it behind me. The bastard was still laughing. I forced myself to think as I strode down the corridor to the common room, where all the announcements were posted. Blair wasn’t the only team captain with dreams of winning the big international tournament, which meant he’d have to lead his team to victory against local challengers first. He was half-right, I supposed. The players who loved BattleBorne to the exclusion of all others had already been snapped up, but there were others. I could still put together a team. And then I could wipe that smug look off his face.

The lists were longer than I’d expected, seven teams in all. Some names surprised me … although, after a moment, I realised they shouldn’t. BattleBorne was the one sport in which we were competitive, at least as far as the rest of the world was concerned. The odds of victory – or at least fame – were consequently higher. I scanned them quickly, working out how the tournament would have to be organised. They’d be at least five or six rounds to sort the men from the boys, then select the final winner. I silently checked the listed names against my mental roster, then used a quick spell to locate my first potential players. They’d been on the team before Blair had kicked them off, damn him. It didn’t look as if they’d been snapped up by anyone else yet.

“Kai,” Mark said, when I tapped on their bedroom door and stepped inside. “Did you get the boot too?”

“Yes,” I said, curtly. Mark and James had been friends for years. They’d practically grown up together. If they hadn’t been so different – Mark was tall and thin, with dark skin and darker eyes; James was short, bulky, and so pale he looked like someone from the pole – I’d have wondered if they were brothers. “Blair kicked me out.”

“Typical,” James said. They might have been born magical – their parents had magic, as had their grandparents – but they were still commoners to Blair. “You think we should join another team?”

“I think we should make our own team,” I said, quickly. We might be able to join other teams, but it was unlikely. The captains would wonder if Blair had sent us to spoil their chances of victory. It had happened before. “If you two sign up, we only need four more.”

“What, no reservists?” Mark looked as if he was thinking about it. “If one of us gets taken off the team, we’re fucked.”

I shrugged. “If we win, we can recruit reservists before we go to the international tournament. If we lose, we’re fucked anyway.”

“Always knew you were into the weird stuff,” James teased. “The odds are shitty …”

“Never tell me the odds,” I said, firmly. James was right – they were shitty – but it didn’t matter. I knew the other teams. I knew their strengths and weaknesses. “They’ll think we’re losers. They won’t take us seriously until it’s too late.”

The thought made me angry again. I didn’t mind losing a fair match – if you’ve played sports as long as I have, losing a few … dozen … matches is inevitable – but being denied the chance to play because of an accident of birth was intolerable. Blair could have been forgiven for promoting better players above me, yet … I forced myself to calm down. I needed four more players or my plan wouldn’t get off the ground.

Mark and James exchanged glances. “If you can get four more, we’re in,” Mark said, finally. “If.”

“Yeah,” I said. In theory, you could field a team of one. In practice, not a chance. I considered it anyway, just to be perverse, then shook my head. The slightest misstep would result in public humiliation and – worse – defeat. “I’ll let you know what happens.”

The thought nagged at my mind as I made my way through the dorms. There was no shortage of younger students who’d be glad of the chance to get on the team, but they’d be worse than useless. The stories of little firsties joining a team and completely dominating players six years older than themselves were nonsensical. It didn’t happen. They were so outmatched … no firstie, not even the young Lady Emily, could hope to fight an older student on equal terms. I needed third years, at the very least. They were in short supply.

I spotted Bill and Karen arguing tactics and hurried over to join them. They’d both tried out for the teams, back before the scandal. They hadn’t done badly either. They’d just been outmatched by older students. I couldn’t be a chooser …

“Hey,” I said. “Do you want to join my team?”