Between Luck and Magic (Chanmyr Chronicles Book 3) by TJ Muir

Author:TJ Muir [Muir, TJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2017-06-11T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Jedda squinted at the polarity field, Zria across from him, grinning. The ball was hovering midway between the posts. Jedda was sure Zria was daring him to take it, but Zria was hard to read. Jedda tried to watch the boy without taking his attention off the ball. The ball blinked out and reappeared higher up by Zria’s left. He glanced over at Kai, who studied the game but didn’t say anything.

“By the nine hells,” he muttered.

Zria smiled and blinked with feigned innocence. Jedda looked at Kai, who smirked back at him.

Jedda focused, built a pressure field around the ball, trying to force it higher and toward the center. He felt Zria resist, push back. Then Jedda created a chink in his pressure where his line met Zria’s and popped the ball out in a spot Zria didn’t expect.

Zria laughed and clapped his hand on the table. “Well played,” he said, as Jedda worked the ball toward his own Pole.

It was not the most even of matches, but as much as he liked Zria, and definitely respected his skills, he was friends with Kai and liked the easy rapport they shared.

Zria stopped abruptly. “Play Kai,” he said, standing up to give his spot to Kai.

Just like with the qwatcha, Kai was teaching him. Just like Zria had. And he got to know Kai a little better. He played polarity like he played qwatcha, intuitive leaps Jedda struggled to keep up with. But neither Zria nor Kai seemed set on winning. They just enjoyed playing as though it were a strategy game with no actual end.

After a while, Jedda began to falter, missing moves and losing the ball.

“A good time to clear the head,” Kai said. “Time for an afternoon round of qwatcha.”

“That sounds great,” Jedda said. “But-” he looked over at Zria, felt like they were being rude.

“Zria can come,” Kai said, shrugging.

“But- it’s just. Well, he’s a kid.”

Kai threw back his head and laughed. “Chanem logic.”

Jedda learned not to underestimate Zria that afternoon. Zria was a better player than Jedda, and any fears he had about the safety of his host's child quickly disappeared.

Zria was quiet and a bit mysterious, but he rode like he was attached to the horse with glue, ducking between Jedda and his teammate to scoop the baton out from between them. Jedda tried to retake it, but Zria’s horse had dug in its haunches, screeching to a halt just long enough for the other two horses to race past. The horse crow-hopped, changing direction before charging off.

A small group of riders appeared just beyond the field. Kai let out a whoop and called an end to the game.

Jedda was curious about the newcomers. He had noticed a fluidity within the village. He would see someone every day, and then suddenly they were just gone. Other people would just as suddenly appear, like this group of riders. He could tell from the greetings that these young men and women were either from this village or had relatives here.

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