Chapter 37

A few of the men moved one of the benches near where they’d already marked off two areas that would serve as scoring zones, and Kit made her way over, still on Cassius’s arm, with Eli and Jecobian on either side. One seemed ready to prove his manliness and the other likely wished he was still out on an adventure as far away from the castle as possible.

“Very well, let us draw teams,” Cassius announced, giving her a polite bow before rejoining the rest of the men. Jecob seemed exhilarated as he bounced on the balls of his feet while Eli crossed his arms and stared at the ground. “Landon, I shall let you have first choice.”

“Thank you,” the other man said with a little nod. “Well, I suppose I’d be foolish not to choose the princess’s commander first.”

Eli looked up, and Kit could see the surprise wash over his face. He moved to stand by Landon, and Kit smiled at him, but he was still not amused, so she turned her attention to Cassius.

“Good, good, and if that is your choice, I shall select Jecobian, then, because I think having him on the opposite team as the commander should make for an interesting match.”

That sparked a chuckle for most of the men, though Jecob and Eli didn’t seem to find it at all amusing, and the two captains continued to pick until all of the players were appropriated.

“How shall we remember who is on which team?” one of the Representatives asked. Kit scoured her mind for his name but couldn’t remember it, only that he was from Erthmeet. He was short and stout, and Kit wasn’t at all interested in him, but that had been a fair question.

“Perhaps half of us should take off our tunics. We’ll play shirts and skins,” Cassius decided.

“A fine idea!” Kit exclaimed. She turned around to see Avinia, Isla, and Blankka coming her direction and clapped her hands in glee. How fun would it be to watch the men run about, half of them bare from the waist up, with her best friends?

“We’ll be skins then,” Cassius offered, already pulling off his jerkin and tunic.

“That hardly seems fair,” Landon retaliated.

“You did pick first,” Cassius replied, but Kit was too busy staring at his naked chest to pay much attention to what he had to say. His biceps rippled as he tossed his tunic aside, and Kit did her best to keep from licking her lips. Looking around, she took in the other shirtless Representatives, and while they were all shapes and sizes, a few stood out to her. She made mental notes regarding which ones she’d want to see again sooner rather than later and which ones could stay dressed from now on.

“Perhaps I could switch teams.” Reeve of Erast Hollow hadn’t removed even his jerkin, though he was on Cassius’s team, and he looked around from one leader to the other, a worried expression on his face, his hands on his narrow hips.

“What is it?” Cassius asked, clearly concerned.

“You haven’t got a set of tits under there have you?” one of the frumpy men whose belly hung over his pants asked, and Kit covered her mouth and gasped.

“Not in front of the princess, there mate,” Cassius admonished. She wished he’d said the man’s name because Kit couldn’t place him, though she assumed Cassius didn’t know it either. “Reeve, whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not a problem.”

“Unless you’ve got three nipples,” Merek, the slovenly fellow from breakfast jested. He was on Landon’s team and standing close enough that Landon backhanded him in the arm hard enough to make him wince.

“Reeve, regardless of your purpose, I’m sure it’s nothing to be concerned about,” Kit said with a smile. “Don’t be bashful.”

He seemed hesitant, as if he wanted to do what the princess asked but was still unsure of himself.

“Let us make a rule,” Kit announced, getting everyone’s attention. “Each member of the winning team shall get a kiss from me. But anyone who makes fun of anyone else’s physique shall forfeit their right to kiss me—indefinitely.” She looked around and met their eyes and watched as they all decided it was much too harsh a punishment to risk it.

“That sounds like a fine arrangement to me,” Cassius said with a sly smile. “Especially since my team shall win.”

“I think not,” Landon replied, crossing his arms.

“Very well.” Reeve took a deep breath and then removed his jerkin, throwing it over into a pile by the bench. He grabbed the bottom of his white tunic and whipped it off in one fluid motion, and then flung it aside as well.

Kit tried not to gasp again or to stare, but he had a horrible scar that started at his navel and wound its way around his left side to his back. It was pink and raised, and she imagined whatever had happened to him, it had to have been excruciating. But he had a nice chest and abdomen, and she was able to meet his eyes and smile. “I think you have nothing to worry about, my dear Reeve.” She added a little wink for effect, and he turned almost as red as the berries on the jujube bushes in the garden behind him.

“If Her Majesty is done ogling my teammate, perhaps we should begin,” Cassius said with a teasing lilt to his voice. Kit winked at him, too, and he broke into a wide grin.

“To what score are we playing?” Landon asked, organizing his team to play offense since he insisted they get the ball first having lost the opportunity to take off their tunics. Kit was slightly disappointed that she wouldn’t get to see Landon’s bare chest, and as her eyes flickered to her commander, who had removed his scabbard and the layer of chainmail he usually wore, she was more than a little sorry she wouldn’t be able to see him without his tunic on as well. She had seen Eli’s chest before, but that was years ago, and something told her he was even more muscular now.

“We’ll play to twenty points,” Cassius announced, and they all agreed that was a fine score to play to. Kit settled in, ready to do her best work as referee, though she imagined she would be easily distracted by the sight of the men running about in front of her, especially those naked from the waist up.