Obsidian Eyes (9 page)

A cry of, “All clear! Game on!” came from down the corridor. Eloise looked up from her textbook, slammed it shut and then jumped to her feet.

“Come on.” She grabbed Allie’s hand and hauled her off the bed and toward the door. She threw it open and Allie peered over her shoulder. Several girls ran down the other end of the hallway, chattering in an excited manner to each other. Eloise hooked her arm through Allie’s and pulled her out of their room and into the hallway.

“What on earth is going on?” Allie asked as they trotted down the corridor. Eloise kept a firm grip, as she tried to catch up with the other girls.

Eloise shot a sideways glance, her eyes shining with excitement. “The boys are playing Badminton and the girls have managed to lock all the matrons in their lounge.”

Allie thought the girls must be short on entertainment if they got this keen about Badminton and playing pranks on the women responsible for protecting their precious reputations. “Why do you need to lock up the matrons to watch a game of Badminton?”

“You’ll understand once you see the way they play.” Eloise gave a mischievous grin and refused to say any more. The group flowed down several corridors Allie didn’t recognise and then out into an internal quad. She found herself in a vast inner courtyard, encircled by soaring white stone columns and a matching balustrade acting as a natural enclosure. The senior boys claimed the space as a Badminton court, although it was unlike any game of Badminton Allie had ever seen.

The girls all jostled to find the best positions amongst the boys, who already congregated along the railing. Eloise pulled her along to one end of the court where there was slightly more room, while Allie took in the action.

The net was made of thin rods of metal woven into a tight grid pattern. The players held metal-strung rackets with insulated handles as they took aim at a shuttlecock made of spun bronze. The projectile pulsated under the intense sun pouring through the glass ceiling. A high pitched
‘zing’
noise emitted as the shuttlecock flew back and forth.

There were four players, two at each end. Stripped to the waist, the young men played in only breeches and boots. Allie now understood why the girls escaped from their chaperones and practically rampaged to watch the game. All four players were covered in a light sheen of sweat, which only served to highlight the movement of the tight muscles under their skin. They stretched and reached to hit the small flying projectile as they danced from foot to foot on the court.

Allie immediately recognised Jared as one of the players, even with his back to her. His blue-black flop of hair was distinctive, and he displayed the same grace in the game that he did while holding a weapon. He defended his end of the court with his affable cousin, Duncan.

Eloise explained the alterations to the game. “Zeb came up with the improvements to the game. They used to play with an ordinary shuttlecock but the boys are too rough. They were going through so many in each game, it became impractical. Plus they thought it was too tame.”

She started gesturing excitedly as she spoke of Zeb’s work. She was his loudest and most vocal advocate. “The shuttlecock contains some sort of coil that builds up electricity as they play. If it strikes you, it earths out and gives the player an electric shock. If you miss a shot and it falls to the ground near you, it still earths out and gives you a shock through your feet.”

“Ingenious,” Allie had to admit. It certainly increased the tension for the players and spectators alike. Boys and girls were crammed around the railing, jockeying for a better view of the court and the action.

As Allie and Eloise talked, Duncan gave a hard smash to the shuttlecock. He sent it hurtling into one of their opponents, who failed to either return the blow or duck in time. The lad gave a cry of pain as the metal impacted his bare skin and there was a blue flash as it discharged its payload through his torso. Allie winced in sympathetic pain as a roar of approval went up from the watching crowd.

“Bloodthirsty lot,” Allie commented, noticing the large red welt which developed in seconds on the unfortunate player.

“You should see them when it gets twisted. If it rotates in flight the metal feathers get embedded in their skin as well as delivering a shock.” Eloise said. Allie thought she sounded disappointed blood wasn’t drawn more often.

Allie shook her head at the male ingenuity for turning a harmless game into a blood sport. “What does the school think of its precious students trying to electrocute each other?”

“It’s a low charge, no one is likely to get killed.” Eloise paused. “Well at least no one has yet.” She did wear a slight frown as she considered the possibility.

Allie scanned the faces of the massed students and spotted Madeline level with Jared. Her hungry eyes followed his half-naked form and the well-defined muscles on display. Duncan wasn’t short of admirers either. Allie noted several girls swooning over on his side of the court as he flexed his biceps for them while waiting for the opposition to serve.

The serve came and another volley commenced, each hit of the metal rackets making the shuttlecock zing with a slightly higher pitch. This time Duncan leapt for a slam and missed and it hit the ground near his feet. He leapt back into the air but not quick enough to escape the discharge. It shot liquid blue fire along the ground, licked at one boot and deadened the sensation in his extremity. He gave a Gaelic exclamation and stomped his foot to regain the feeling. He reached down and picked up the dangerous object as though expecting it to bite him a second time. He tossed it toward Jared, for him to serve.

Jared caught it one handed, turning as he did and catching sight of Allie behind him. He did a quick double take before returning his attention to the game at hand. Allie watched, fascinated as she saw the muscles in his back rotate when he swung his right arm as he tossed the shuttlecock, to send it plunging over the net.

“It’s like a living anatomy lesson isn’t it?” Eloise whispered from beside her, her voice alive with excitement. “Trapezius, to Deltoid—” she rattled off the names of the various muscles and tendons.

Allie’s brain paused, watching the intensely fought game and the movement of muscles under skin. The suspense grew the longer a volley lasted, as it meant the shuttlecock was building a larger charge. The penalty for the ill-fated player who missed substantially increased.

With a powerful slam, Jared sent the shuttlecock plunging into his opposite number. It came in too fast and too close for the boy to react and it slammed him full in the chest. He cried out and reeled backwards as the blue sparks sizzled over his upper body. A tremendous roar went up from the gathered students and the umpire declared that the match belonged to the McLarens.

Duncan and Jared slapped each other on the back in congratulations and Duncan gave a bow to his gallery of female admirers. Jared strode to where Madeline leaned. She picked up his clothing from the railing and tossed it to him. Using the shirt, he briskly wiped some of the sweat off his torso before shrugging the waistcoat over his bare shoulders. He balled the shirt up in one hand and Madeline leaned over the railing to give him a victory kiss, much to the approval of her watching friends.

Jared pulled away as an orange tide flowed into the room and encircled the young women and cut them off from the youths.

“Come on.” Allie turned. The sight of the embrace made her stomach uneasy. She tugged on Eloise’s arm. “The game’s over, let’s go prod your frogs or something.”

Tuesday, 26
^th
July.

nother early start and Allie trod the halls to the gymnasium. She found Jared sparring with Duncan under the watchful eye of Marshall. She knew she would fight Duncan today, but suffered a moment of self-doubt on seeing how much bigger and broader he was than Jared. When she stopped to watch and analyse his movement, she soon saw how his bulk resulted in him moving slower. She started to calculate how that would give her an edge in their upcoming match. The cousins’ bout concluded with Jared victorious and Marshall waved her over.

“Duncan, this is Allie Donovan. Allie, this is my cousin, Duncan McLaren.” Jared introduced them as though they were at a social gathering, instead of about to fight one another.

Allie removed her jacket, revealing the slender fitting outfit she wore underneath for sparring.

Duncan’s jaw hit the floor. “You said I was sparring with a new student. You never mentioned it was a girl,” he said.

“Well spotted,” Allie said as she stretched her arms up over her head, a move that only accentuated her figure.

“I don’t fight girls.” He frowned, his remark directed to his cousin.

“So do you just let girls beat you up, then?” Allie arched an eyebrow.

Duncan looked confused. His head swung from Jared to Marshall and back again. He appeared to be waiting for an explanation, though none was forthcoming. Both Jared and Marshall were trying to contain their growing mirth, and not doing a very good job of it.

Jared handed Duncan a dagger and slapped him on the back. “I’d think fast if I was you, she’s quick.” He handed the other dagger to Allie and moved back, next to Marshall.

Duncan didn’t heed Jared’s advice and while he stared at Allie, the dagger and then back to his cousin, Allie took the opening advantage. Duncan found himself on the mat, Allie’s knee on his chest and her dagger at his throat while he still tried to protest to Marshall that she was a girl.

“Hey!” he exclaimed from his prone position. “How did she do that?”

Jared and Marshall laughed openly as realisation slowly dawned on Duncan.

“Are you sure he’s your cousin?” Allie asked, looking up at the grinning Jared. “He doesn’t seem as quick on the uptake.” She stood, removing the pressure of knee and dagger and allowed Duncan to right himself.

He sprung to his feet and eyed her with open curiosity. “Yeah, he may have got the brains but I got all the looks,” Duncan explained, shaking himself loose before lunging at her.

She dodged under his blow and kicked out her feet. She swept his legs out from under him, sending him back to the mat with a thud.

“You seem to like it down there,” she observed while looking down on him, a smile on her lips and dancing in her eyes.

“You could come join me?” he quipped, patting the mat next to him in an inviting manner.

Jared stopped grinning and narrowed his eyes as he watched the two verbally spar as they fought physically. He stood poised on the balls of his feet, as though ready to join the fray if Allie got into trouble. Although minute-by-minute, she proved she was more than capable of looking after herself and could dispatch the McLaren cousins.

“Again,” Marshall barked when there was too much chatter and not enough action.

Duncan soon got over the fact Allie was a girl and the more she sent him down to the mat the more determined he became to better her. He never quite achieved it. Allie learned from the previous day with Jared and knew despite her guild training, she couldn’t sustain long bouts with Duncan, so the quicker she took him down the better.