Chapter 40: Let’s Not Judge

So as not to disturb the participants, Tori asked Albert if their cheering would be a distraction during the event. The crowds normally cheered when the participant entered and when the event was complete, but were silent during it.

This was Tori’s first ever equestrian competition in both worlds and she followed the first set of participants carefully to try to understand what was going on. Today’s events were the “pairs” and there were two rounds; a sort of coordinated freestyle dressage with two participants in the center ring and an individual show jumping around the stadium’s track, where the final scores were combined and averaged out. The pairs could be same-sex or mixed.

Tomorrow’s event, where only Sonia was participating, was the longer and more challenging cross-country event, which started and ended in the stadium, but circled an elaborate track in the fields between the Imperial Stadium and the Imperial Stables that was usually used for training. This was Sonia’s specialty.

The final day would be held in the stadium again, and it was the target run. The participant circled the stadium three times; each time was a single round and each round they received twenty arrows. They needed to hit as many targets as possible with each round and the best score out of three rounds would be counted. Specific targets had set points. Arrows that were not used were deducted points.

Individuals were ranked by their total scores per specific event, with the target run simply moving the decimal two spaces. The higher the target count, the better. Schools were ranked by the total points averaged per event. Lycée was often in the top three and was expected to be in the top three again.

“What other schools out rank us?” Ilyana asked.

“The Osten Equestrian Academy and the Anlar School of Riding,” Albert said. “They’re the best all-round, but in terms of cross country, Escola de Equestre is almost always ranked first.”

Tori furrowed her brows. She knew that school. It was in the Bettencourt Sub-March in Sur. “My Uncle Rom went there,” she said. “I wonder if he competed.” She made a mental note to ask her family.

“Are there any local schools that compete?” Ilyana asked as she kept her eyes on the current participants marching along.

“There are and they may rank within the top twenty, but it’s Lycée and the big riding schools that tend to rank high,” Albert said. “Most schools don’t even send the maximum number of participants allowed.”

Tori noticed that there were a handful of schools that had a significant number of participants. “How is the host school decided?”

“They cycle through the big five in the sport,” Albert answered. “Last year, Anlar hosted. Next Year it will be hosted by the Thora Nordursin School, then Osten, then Escola, back to Anlar and then us. This doesn’t mean that the venue changes, only the themes and organization for everything are handled by the hosts.”

Tori nodded. She was learning a lot today.

After the third or so school finished, Tori was much more relaxed and no longer kept her eyes glued to the field. All they had to do was wait for their friends and so they spent that time eating what snacks Ewan and Henrik brought. Ilyana gave Ewan money to go buy them drinks and he and Albert returned with several wooden cups.

By the time Lycée du Soleil was announced to begin, they had eaten all their food and Tori was surprised that they managed to eat that much. Granted, it was over several hours. When the bannermen carrying Lycée’s seal appeared, the crowd grew loud and clapping and yelling came from around the stadium.

Tori and her friends rose to their feet and unrolled the signs. From the gate on the far left, where participants entered, two figures on identical white horses trotted out.

“There they are!” Ewan pointed as they raised the signs high.

“Sonia! JP!” They yelled and Tori let out loud ‘whoo’ sounds. The two paraded around the stadium once more, this time in a steady, synchronized trot.

“Looking good, Ciel Noir!” Ewan said. “You’re doing great, Nuage!” Albert gave him a confused look and Ewan grinned. “The horses work hard, too.”

As the twins finished their circle, they entered the center ring, which had been covered by a layer of dirt for the event. The crowds quieted down and Tori and her friends took their seats. Ilyana scooted closer to Tori.

“I’m not the one out there, but I’m so nervous,” she whispered as she reached for Tori’s hands. Tori held hers and squeezed, nodding in agreement. With how busy she was, she had yet to see her friends perform and the last school was amazing and scored high.

Sonia and JP trotted to the center of the ring and turned to face their side of the stadium. Tori could almost feel the tension in the air as they saw Sonia take a deep breath.

Then, they started. Like a mirror image of each other, the twins moved around the ring, rising and falling on their saddles in tandem as each horse moved its leg as if it were connected to the other’s. The transitions were smooth and even when the horses were turned in a circle, they were in sync.

Tori had confidence in her friends’ abilities, but she didn’t know they were that good. Of course, she was looking at it from the eyes of a layman. To her, they were flawless. When the event was over, the horses seemed to bow to the audience. A flag was raised indicating that their round was complete.

At once, Tori and the others jumped to their feet and waved the signs while chanting their friends’ names. From the relieved smiles on Sonia and JP’s faces, Tori relaxed a bit; it meant that they were satisfied with their performance and if they were satisfied, then they thought they did well.

The two trotted outside the ring and moved to the side to await their scores. Large number cards were on the right side of the stadium and they were moved to show the score out of ten.

The group held their collective breath as they waited and watched the attendants reveal the number cards out of a full score of ten.

“9.79!” Henrik shouted as the numbers were shown. “That puts them in third for the first part!”

Tori clenched her hands and let out a low breath. Considering it was their first of these competitions, that was very good. She looked back towards the twins, who were in various states of relief. Once more, she and others screamed their names and waved the signs until JP and Sonia left the stadium.

“Ten-minute break before the jumps,” Tori said as she put her corner of the sign down. Attendants were pushing the various obstacles in place. Once the outer ring was ready, JP would go first, followed by Sonia. “Do you think they’ll hold the position?”

“I hope so. If they keep it up, they’ll have a good start and will place in at least the top five today,” Albert said. “But, they do have a few upperclassmen that are exceptional.”

“Top five is good,” Henrik said. “Besides, this is only their first year. There is room for improvement.”

When the break was over, they stood up once more to welcome JP back onto the field. He started at the far-left side and would go counterclockwise around the track, jumping over about ten obstacles, each scored individually and then averaged for his score. Tori couldn’t help but hold her breath each time he came to an obstacle.

It wasn’t until JP completed his round that all five of them let out a breath of relief.

“This is more nerve wracking than I thought,” Tori said as she pressed against her chest. “I’m not even the one out there on the horse.”

“I don’t know how they’re able to calm their nerves,” Ilyana agreed. She held out her hand. “I’m still shaking!”

Sonia was next. While Tori had seen many people do the obstacles and lost interest after the third one, watching her friends jump was a different matter and they were all on the edge of their seats. Sonia seemed to jump over all the obstacles with ease and faster than her brother. She must’ve done a good job as the crowd exploded with applause and cheer as soon as she cleared the last obstacle.

Tori and the others screamed her name and waved her sign up as Sonia turned and waved to the crowd. She seemed to see them and her name in massive letters, then froze, and looked away, her face turning red. The group in the audience laughed and waited for her score and the total for her and JP’s pairs event.

As soon as the score was revealed, all of them let out yells of satisfaction. “9.81! 9.81 puts them in third and individually in fourth and tenth,” Henrik said, nodding with approval. “This is really good for a first day.”

“JP’s individual rank will drop tomorrow because he’s not competing in the cross country, but with this, he should be able to be in the top twenty-five,” Albert told Tori and Ilyana.

Tori clapped her hands together as she looked towards the gate, where JP had come out to see the score and stood beside Sonia. The twins had an arm around each other’s shoulders and were looking satisfied with their scores. A wide, proud smile filled Tori’s face.

I have the most amazing friends.

“I think I can do better.”

“Even if you can, it won’t count,” Henrik told Ewan as they stood in front of the sign board next to the roped off ring at the Sword Association’s exhibition area. There were two columns: one of the top fifteen competitors of the day and the other of the top ten over the week, which also listed when their score was made. “Association members can’t enter.”

“And you already have the jacket,” Ilyana said, looking over at him with a bit of a critical look. “It’s named after you.”

“It’s not about the jacket, it’s about doing your best,” Ewan replied with a competitive look in his eyes.

“Well, you can ‘do your best’, but we’re not going to put your name on the board,” Tori said. She looked up from the inside of the ring, where she was picking up round pinecones that were about half the size of her fist. By the third day, most of them had some sort of portion hacked off from the number of times they had been tossed at a competitor and blocked. Still, they had quite a stockpile. The pinecones that were no longer usable were swept aside, to be burned later. Tori sighed. “I know Henrik is just visiting, but aren’t the two of you still supposed to help until we leave for the target run?” She waved her arms towards the ring behind her. “There are still plenty of pinecones to pick up and a line of people wanting to try.”

Ewan groaned, but trudged into the ring to help pick up pinecones and tossed them into Tori’s basket. In the center of the ring was a thick, canvas wall that split the ring in two in order to allow two competitors to block pinecones at the same time. Once they finished tossing all fifty pinecones, they were ushered out and the total announced.

So far, the highest was forty-three and it went to Ewan’s eldest brother, who visited with his family the day before. Tori walked to the smaller baskets on five stools on her side of the canvas wall and made sure each basket had ten. She raised her arm and placed the larger basket of collected pinecones under a tree just outside the ring.

“We’re ready on this side!”

One of their upper classmen brought forward a middle-aged couple in plain brown and tan clothes. The quality was still very good and despite their clothing leaning towards that of commoners, they carried themselves with an air of power and confidence. There were also what appeared to be four bodyguards with them.

The man was tall and good-looking and wore a hat over silvering hair and thick glasses. He was holding the hand of a beautiful woman with brown hair tucked beneath a wide-brimmed hat and gold rimmed glasses.

“Hello! Thank you for taking part in the Lycée du Soleil’s Sword Association’s Pinecone Challenge!” Ilyana said as she greeted them. “May I know who is competing today?”

The man opened his mouth, but the woman stepped forward with an eager look. “Can we both try?”

“Of course, Madam! Who would like to go first?”

Before the woman could volunteer, the man did. “Beloved, I will go first. If the pinecones are thrown too hard, I don’t want you to be hurt.”

The woman gave him an exasperated look and looked at Ilyana. “Will the pinecones be thrown hard?”

“They are tossed towards you, aiming between the head and the knees,” Ilyana said. “And we will be providing a helmet, gloves and padded jacket that will reach the top of your thighs as a safety precaution.”

“You see, Matthieu? It’s not dangerous,” the woman told the man.

However, he had already accepted a padded jacket from Ewan. “I’m still going first,” he said, somewhat stubborn.

The woman sighed and shook her head. “Madam, we let guests participate if one of their own is doing the challenge,” Ilyana said with a smile as she motioned to one of the pinecone throwing stations. “Would you like to toss pinecones at him?”

The man seemed to stiffen as he tied the padded jacket closed, but the woman’s face lit up. “Yes. Yes, I would.”

“Tori!” Ilyana called over her shoulder. “We have a volunteer!”

“Tori?” The woman’s head snapped up. Tori, who had been waiting at the side, stepped forward.

“Good morning, madam, thank you for taking part in the challenge,” Tori said. The woman stood in front of her, with wide eyes and a partially opened mouth. When she didn’t respond, Tori tilted her head to the side. “Madam?”

The woman seemed to draw herself out of her thoughts and blinked. “You...you are....”

“Victoria de Guevera,” Tori said, silently hoping her name wouldn’t cause any awkwardness. “Please call me Tori.”

The woman’s eyes almost seemed to soften. “So, you are Tori....”

Tori drew her head back a bit and furrowed her brows. “Yes...have you heard of me?”

“Of course, I have-” The woman was cut off by a loud coughing from the man behind her. She looked over her shoulder and gave him a frown.

“Excuse me, miss,” the man said, lifting his hand to his throat. “My wife is an admirer of your store.”

“Oh!” Tori smiled and looked at Ilyana, who also looked very pleased. “Thank you!”

“Beloved....” The man seemed to give the woman a stern look and she puffed out her cheeks.

“Very well,” she said in a low voice. She looked back at Tori and smiled. “Where do I get the pinecones?”

“Follow me, Madam.” Tori brought her to the third pinecone station, which was in the center of the others. “We will be tossing a total of fifty pinecones at your husband. Each basket has ten, and four of us will join you. Please keep your tosses light and aim between the top of the head to the mid-thigh. You are in an odd numbered position, so when I shout ‘one’, you will toss a pinecone. When I shout ‘two’, the even positions will toss a pinecone. We alternate until all the pinecones are gone. Our Vice-Captain will keep track of the number of pinecones your husband blocks.”

The woman let out a small snort. “If he can block any at all.” Tori raised a brow and the woman smiled brightly. “He’s not very athletic.”

“Oh, well, I’m sure he’ll surprise us today,” Tori said, trying to offer the woman some solace. She went to the station next to the woman. Ilyana was on station four, Ewan on five, and another association member on one. The man was standing a few paces from them in the ring, holding his sword in front of him somewhat awkwardly. “Sir, are you ready?”

“Yes! Give us your best!” Even as he said it, there was some nervousness in his voice. Tori glanced at the woman who was smirking with a predatory glint in her eye.

Love is shown in different ways, Tori. Let’s not judge. She reached into the basket. “Pinecones at ready! One!” There were two pinecones tossed in graceful arches towards the man and one shot out, slamming directly into the metal faceguard of his helmet. Tori drew her lips inward as the man’s head snapped back at the force. She turned to look at the woman next to her, who was smiling widely. “Uh...madam, perhaps a little less force next time?”

“Right,” the woman said. “Of course. Matthieu, are you all right?”

“It’s just a scratch!”

“He’s fine,” the woman told Tori with some amusement.

Tori took a deep breath. She lifted her pinecone. “Two!” She tossed it and grabbed another. “One! Two! One! Two!”

The only thing the woman’s husband was able to hit was air, and Tori felt a bit bad for him. Finally, he managed to block one she tossed. This seemed to encourage him and he blocked another three before all fifty pinecones were thrown.

“Total! Four!” Vice-Captain Hector called out. He seemed to try not to make a pitiful face as the man’s shoulders slumped while he walked out of the ring.

“Darling, you did very well!” his wife said as she rushed to meet him. Although, as she said it, she was laughing.

“It wasn’t too bad.” Her husband agreed. “I mean, there were several thrown at a time.”

“Yes, yes,” the woman said, gently stroking his arm. “It’s very difficult.”

“Madam, are you trying next?” Ilyana asked as she appeared with a smaller sized padded jacket.

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“Yes!” The woman abandoned her husband’s side and quickly put on the jacket and gloves. Tori finished wiping the helmet clean and gave it to her. “Darling, hold my hat!”

“I was going to throw pinecones....”

“Leave it to the professionals,” she said. She looked at Tori. “He has bad aim,” she whispered.

Tori made a little ‘o’ with her lips and nodded. The members who were tossing the pinecones had practiced for over a week to get it within the right zone. The man was handed the brown hat and the woman put the helmet on and adjusted it herself. Tori tried not to smirk. The woman must’ve had some experience. No wonder she was so eager to try.

Ewan and two others rushed out of the ring after clearing the previous pinecones. The stations had been refilled and Tori took her spot. In the center of their half of the ring, the woman was in a defensive stance with her wooden sword in front of her.

“Madam, are you ready?”

“Yes!”

“Good luck, Beloved!” The woman’s husband encouraged her.

“Pinecones at ready...one!” Tori called out the numbers and couldn’t help but smile as the woman easily seemed to block at least one, if not two, each time a set was tossed her way.

“Total! Twenty-three out of fifty!”

“Again!” the woman called out. “I can do better! I’m out of practice!”

“Beloved, there is a line...,” her husband said with a tired sigh.

“Your husband is right, madam,” Tori said with a chuckle. “I’m afraid it’s one turn per person.”

The woman seemed to be out of breath beneath the helmet as her arms fell. Disappointment was written all over her as she handed her sword back to Ewan and removed her helmet. She looked towards their bodyguards. “One of you, get in line for me. Or better yet, see if the next person is willing to switch!”

“I’m sorry, madam, but I’ve been waiting all week to try this.” The low, smooth voice made Tori look up from where she was cleaning a helmet. She turned her head and saw Piers walking towards them with Axton a step behind him, rubbing his forehead as if he were having a headache.

“Your Highness, welcome.” Ewan and Ilyana bowed their heads and greeted him, identifying him immediately to everyone else around them.

“Your Highness, Sir Nassaun,” Captain Patrick said as he jogged over. “Welcome! Are you here to try the pinecone challenge?”

Piers was looking at the husband and wife with an unreadable expression, but Axton nodded. “Tori told me about it last week. I want to give it a go just to see what I can do.”

“Same,” Piers said. He turned to look at Tori. “Give me a sword.”

“Put on a padded jacket first,” Tori said, waving for Ewan to bring them one.

“I don’t need a padded jacket. Or a helmet,” Piers told her in a calm voice. Tori frowned.

“Rules are rules.” She leaned forward and glared at him. “Don’t make a scene, Piers,” she said in a low voice. He looked down at her for a moment longer before finally giving her a nod.

“Padded jacket.” He held out his left arm and Ewan rushed to put the jacket on him. Piers snapped his head in his direction and frowned. “I can put it on myself.”

“Right! Yes, Your Highness!” Ewan stammered and quickly stepped back. Piers pulled on the padded jacket and then took out his own gloves.

“You’re well prepared,” Tori said as she raised a brow.

“I don’t want to wear a helmet,” he said. “It’s shared and dirty.”

“I cleaned it myself.”

“No.”

“Your Highness, we have some new ones if you’d like!” Captain Patrick said, looking somewhat nervous.

“Get me one,” Piers said. He looked at Axton. “You want to try first while I’m waiting?”

“Sure,” Axton said. He had already put on a padded jacket and took the shared helmet Tori handed to him. “So how does this work?”

Tori explained the process and brought him to the center spot in front of the pinecone tossing stations, then went to her station. She paused. “Piers, do you want to toss pinecones at Axton?”

“Yes.”

“No!” Axton protested, but no one seemed to pay attention. Tori had Piers stand at her station and gave him instructions. “She said toss, as in lightly, not hurl one at my head.”

“It might slip.”

“Tori, why are you letting him do this?”

“It’s fine,” Tori said. “You’re wearing a helmet.” She stepped back and made sure everyone was ready. “And...one!”

The sound one particular set of pinecones made as it hit Axton in the stomach, shoulder, or thigh was always accompanied by a slight curse at Piers, yet Piers remained with a small, smug look on his lips as he threw ten pinecones at his knight and aide.

“Total! Forty out of fifty! Congratulations, Sir Nassaun!”

Axton ripped off the helmet and stalked forward as he glared at Piers. “Toss! She said toss!”

“It slipped.”

“Okay, here is the new helmet,” Tori said, taking the new spare from Captain Patrick and giving it to Piers before they could draw even more attention to themselves. “Axton, take his spot. Ewan will explain what to do.”

Axton looked at Piers with narrowed eyes as Tori led Piers into the ring. “Revenge. Prepare for it.”

Tori shook her head and had Piers stand in the ring. “You have to block it to stop it from hitting you. Don’t try to bat it towards someone.”

“How did you know?”

“I just do, now stop causing trouble,” Tori said as she put her hands on the sides of his helmet and pulled it down over his head. She heard him chuckle as she stepped back. “All right, everyone to their stations! Pinecones at ready!” She turned around and saw Piers standing with his hips centered and his sword lazily pointed down. “One!”

She should’ve known to expect good reflexes from the man Kasen said could beat him with a sword, but Piers was more fluid than she thought. It was as if one slight movement was enough to change the position of his sword to be able to block all the pinecones tossed at once. Tori called out the two numbers, noticing that Piers remained in his spot, never taking more than a quarter step to the side.

Tori tapped Ilyana and took the last pinecone from Ilyana’s station. Ilyana stepped back to let Tori take her place. “Two!” She tossed the last pinecone and watched as Piers easily blocked the one Ewan threw, but didn’t move to block hers. Instead, it hit him over his left breast.

“Total...,” Vice-Captain Hector seemed to want to laugh in awe. “Forty-nine out of fifty!”

“A bit much with the last pinecone...,” the husband of the husband-and-wife competitors said behind Tori. It seemed they had stopped to watch. As applause broke out around them, Tori looked around and felt her cheeks redden. It seemed many people stopped to watch and everyone saw him purposely avoid blocking her pinecone.

This better not cause any weird ideas.... Tori’s thoughts trailed off when she saw Ilyana with stars in her eyes once more. She pursed her lips. Dammit, Piers.

“That’s the highest one this week!” People talked around them excitedly.

“I highly doubt anyone will beat that. Today is the last day.”

“You might as well give him the prize!”

Tori sighed and pulled her hand down her face. “Piers, are you seriously doing this for the prize?” she asked as she gave him a deadpan look. He approached her and handed off the helmet and jacket to Ewan and his brother as he did. Tori looked up at him, unimpressed. “I designed and gave you a coat. I even named a series of them after you.”

“Oh, my....” a voice gasped behind them. She turned around and saw the husband and wife looking at them with curiosity. The woman’s eyes were crinkled into pleased crescents as she looked from Tori to Piers and back, as if watching a show.

Tori squinted. She didn’t like the way the woman was watching them. Piers moved slightly in front of her, blocking the woman’s view. “I didn’t do it for the prize. I simply wanted to do my best.”

“See! His Highness understands!” Tori heard Ewan exclaim from the ring.

Tori sighed. “Then it’s fine if we don’t rank you?”

“It’s fine. I don’t need the jacket.”

“Vice-Captain! It doesn’t count for the ranking!” Tori shouted over her shoulder. She looked back at Piers. “Are you so free today that you’d drop by?”

“Axton told me about this and we wanted to try.”

“There’s no line. I’m going to try again!” they heard Axton say. “Ewan, get the pinecones!”

“Yes, Sir Nassaun!”

“Are you going to the Imperial Stadium this afternoon?” Piers asked. Tori could feel several eyes on her and she took a small step away from Piers. “The Vissage Twins are competing in the target run, aren’t they?”

“Yes. They’re currently in sixth and eighteenth place overall. If they score well on the target runs, they’ll stay well in their goal ranges,” Tori said. “I’d invite you, but it’s crowded, loud, and we yell a lot.”

“Hmm....” Piers gave her a little nod. “What are you doing after?”

“JP and Sonia have after events with the other equestrians, so the rest of us are coming back to Lycée. Tomorrow is the release party.”

“Are you serving that frozen custard?”

“A variation of it. Everyone is expecting you there, so I’ve allocated a section for you to sit that’s quiet and out of the way,” Tori said. “I flavored the frozen dessert with coffee.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Good-”

“Total, forty-six out of fifty!” They heard Axton’s score.

“One more!”

“Axton, there are other people who want to try!” Tori threw her arms in the air and marched back to the ring. She managed to get Axton away from the ring and bring in the next competitor.

“Do I at least get ranked on the sign board?”

“No, you don’t count.”

“I’m not a member of the Sword Association.”

Tori reached into her pocket and fished out her comcry. She gave him a challenging look as she flipped it open. “Call Kasen de-”

“Never mind! I don’t need another coat!” Axton held up his arms and Tori smirked, triumphantly and closed the comcry.

She turned back to Piers and saw him speaking to the middle-aged couple that had gone before him and were watching the entire time. Tori narrowed her eyes.

“Does he know them?”

“He’s probably just answering a question or something,” Axton said. He let out a laugh and patted Tori’s shoulder before turning her around to face the ring. “I’m sure you have a lot left to do here, so don’t let us hold you back. Piers and I were just dropping by to try this and were going to eat at the cafe before returning to the palace.”

“Are you both busy?” Tori asked.

“We can spare time to visit. Cheer the twins on for me and give them my congratulations. I’m sure they’ll place better than they expect,” Axton said as he walked backwards, heading in Piers’ direction. “We’ll see you tomorrow!”

Tori gave him a suspicious look, but decided to refocus on the pinecone challenge. As she grabbed a basket to collect the pinecones, she wondered about Piers’ unnatural behavior. He wasn’t the type to just speak to strangers, even when they were right in front of him. She looked back over her shoulder and the couple had left with Piers and Axton following after them.

Tori wrinkled her nose. Huh...maybe they’re related?

If that were the case, then the next time she saw the couple, she’d need to properly introduce herself.

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