 "Tris!" Alex shouted reigning his horse to his left and waving his hand above his head in an attempt to attract his friend's attention. Tristan looked to him and grinned. Tucking the brown leather ball firmly under his arm he took his reins back into both hands and rode straight towards two members of the opposite team who were heading straight for him. He laughed when he saw their eyes widen in alarm as it became apparent that he was not going to change course and they urged their mounts apart so Tristan had space to ride his horse between them. One of the boys had the sense to try and punch the ball out from under Tristan's arm, but the prince, who had promptly switched his reins back into one hand, moved the ball from under his arm to his hand and threw it high into the air. It fell in an elegant arch as the other teenagers in the field scrambled to get close enough to catch it. Tristan whooped in triumph when Alex caught it and urged his horse back into a gallop to reposition himself on the field ready for the next pass.
The game was quite simple. There were two barrel placed at either end of the field and the aim was to score a goal by getting the ball into the other team's bucket. A goal only counted if the ball was passed between players of the same time three times before it was scored. The stable boys were milling around at the edges of the field with nets. If the ball hit the ground they would collect it and throw it back to the riders. Needless to say it was not a parent approved game but had been designed by the boys themselves. Fortunately it had yet to result in any serious casualties (excluding that one occasion when Tarquin had mysteriously ended up with a nose bleed.)
Alex made a successful pass to Christopher who passed back to Tristan. Unfortunately the prince found his way to the bucket blocked so he threw the ball back over his shoulder to be picked back up by Alex. It was the latter who managed to get the ball into the barrel with a reverberating clang. Cheers went up from their team and the three boys shared a series of victorious high-fives. It was whilst he was standing up in his stirrups that Tristan spotted Thoth and Junebell disappearing off away from the castle. He frowned, wondering where on earth his friend was going.
"Sorry guys," Tristan said, throwing the ball back to Alex and waving to one of the boys sitting on his horse waiting for a turn, "I'll have to catch up with you all later."
One of the stable boys met him at the gate and held out his bag for him. Tristan accepted it gratefully, murmured a thank you and then trotted out of the arena. He made steady progress down the hill and then, as soon as he was on the flats he urged his horse into a gallop. The horse in question was still new to him; a great blood bay sporting horse his father had had specially bred and trained up for him. It didn't take him too long to close in enough on Thoth and Junebell for them to hear him shout.
"Oi! Birthday boy!" Tristan shouted, half-laughing as he dropped down into a canter, "where do you think you're going?"
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