Shadows of Destiny

The Dark Side Of Fate By Karima Sa’ad Usman Chapter 81

81 The Game

~Tamia~

Linda was excited about the Polo match. I doubt she had ever seen a live polo match before, but she

seemed happy about this one. I did not want to be in Kyle’s shoes right now; the look of mischieve in

Theo’s eyes spoke volumes. 1

I stood with Sylvester watching him put on his knee guards and boots, and he looked handsome.

“Oh my,” I said, looking at him, and he gave me his boyish grin. He was quickly the most handsome

man. I knew others would say the same about their men; to each his own.

I kissed him before he put on his helmet, and he winked at me, getting prepared to mount his horse.

I could feel his excitement, and it was because he knew it would be an easy win while they had fun

knocking Kyle and

Max about.

They mounted their horses, and the ladies and I returned to our booth to watch the match.

The place was filled up with spectators, journalists and cameras. It was as if that was the only event

taking place.

I felt terrible for those playing other sports at the same time as Sylvester’s polo match.

I knew why the place was filled up.

The four most powerful men in our world were playing. Everyone would want to see it.

The crowd cheered as Sylvester, Marcel, Theo, and Dominic rode in. The screen showed them

individually, and people cheered every time the camera switched.

“Playing this evening are the Northern Beasts against the Eastern Beasts,” The commentator said. I felt

Eastern Beast was too much for a bunch of amateurs.

The name alone would make people that did not know they were amateurs expect so much from them.

Sadly, they would be disappointed.

I doubt they thought much about the name before choosing it. I believed they wanted to copy the north.

Too bad they would get their arses kicked.

“In position one is Sir Marcel Sidorov playing attack and offence,” The commentator said, and everyone

cheered.

“Position two is Sir Theodore Orlov, also on the offence. Position three is Lord Sylvester Volkov on the

attacking position,” the commentator said. The crowd cheered louder when Sylvester’s name was

mentioned.

Sylvester waved at people, and then he blew me a kiss. I caught it and blew mine.

It was beautiful, and the camera caught the exchange because it was displayed on the screen.

“And last but not least, Sir Dominic

Volkov playing position four on the defence,” he said, and people cheered Dominic too. He waved at

everyone and even at us.

That was the first time I would hear someone address Dominic adequately as Sir and not Lord, which

was meant as a jab. 1

I watched them arrange themselves, and then the commentator spoke again.

“On the opposing team, Eastern Beasts, we have Alpha Leo Albert playing Position

One, playing attack and offence,” People cheered, and I saw Leo wave at everyone. He turned to wave

in a particular direction, and I saw the heavily pregnant

Amanda on the television screen. She waved at him smiling. It was good to see they were still getting

along.

“In position two is Alpha Maxwell Blanch, also playing offence,” I saw Max wave at the crowd, but he

wasn’t so happy, and I could swear he was nervous.

He did not seem confident on the horse either. Theodore must have made sure the handicap wasn’t

counted for this match to be possible.

“In position three is Alpha Kyle Nikson playing attack, and lastly, we have Alpha Gabriel Wright in

position four,” The commentator said, and Leo’s team arranged themselves on the field.

The whistle was blown for the first Chukka, and the umpire threw the ball between the team.

Instead of going for the ball with the mallet, Sylvester went for Kyle’s horse leg, forcing the horse to

bend slightly, making Kyle tilt over and fall to the ground by the ball. 3

Theo hit his head with the mallet before they stopped so Kyle could get back on his horse.

The hit was brutal because Kyle was dazed, but his helmet reduced the impact slightly. 2

A foul wasn’t counted, and they waited to restart the game, and this time they hit the mallet normally to

avert suspicion.

Sylvester scored the first goal, and they switched posts. Then while heading to score on the other side,

Marcel challenged Max by ridding him off.

He got his horse close enough to bump Max’s horse hard.

Max wasn’t well secured on the horse, and he fell, but his horse did not stop moving, dragging him

along the field.

It was clear that they were outmatched.

The umpire blew his whistle, and they had to make Max’s horse stop.

The seven Minutes for the first Chukka was up.

So they started the second Chukka.

This Chukka had a lot of falling and hitting, with Kyle and Max doing all the falling and getting hit. It was

so bad that Max was taken out on a stretcher.

Marcel had done a number on him, and a foul was called. It didn’t matter because the Northern Beasts

were way ahead with more points, so the goal Leo scored for the foul did not mean anything.

Leo was impressive for a first-timer and did a good job holding his own. I was sure

Max and Kyle would have done the same if our men weren’t targeting them.

I noticed that after Max was taken off the pitch, there was concentration on Kyle.

Sylvester, Theo and Marcel wanted a piece of him, and they did not want him to be taken away quickly,

so they took their time.

Kyle fell off the horse many times in the fourth Chukka and was dragged along the field.

Theo’s mallet met his head by ‘accident’ a couple of times until he was knocked out, and they had to

take him out on a stretcher too. 5

By then, I was sure Leo would have figured out what was happening, but it didn’t matter. The crowd

found it funny, and Linda and Avery found it satisfying.

I doubted they would be in shape for Rugby because beating them up on the field during Rugby would

be easier than this.

The match ended with our team winning, of course. It was the most entertaining match of the day, and

the crowd cheered both teams for the humour they got during the game.

We went to their changing room to celebrate their victory, and I saw Theo and Linda kiss passionately.

Linda had given him her big thank you. He kissed her with his hand on her tiny bump. It was amazing

to see how much they loved each other. Marcel lifted Avery in his arms, and she giggled.

They really had it in for Max and Kyle, and the satisfaction they got from it was amusing. It was more

fun for them than revenge.

Sylvester touched the tip of my nose playfully, and I walked him to where he would unburden himself

and take off his gears.

“Those men did not make it challenging, “He complained, taking off his knee guard, laughing.

“They probably trained for just one month. Polo isn’t played in the east. I was honestly surprised that

they would want to play polo. Given the circumstances, they tried,” I said, and Sylvester looked at

“I was surprised, too, until I saw my itinerary. Leo asked for an audience with me on behalf of Kyle and

Maxwell. I think they want to discuss something with me, and this is the only way they could get close

enough,” Sylvester said.

I wondered what it was that Leo wanted to discuss with Sylvester on behalf of Kyle and Maxwell.

“I will see them in the afternoon tomorrow,” Sylvester said, finishing what he was doing, and we headed

towards our booth.

When we got there, I found Dominic in deep conversation with Katya, and

Stephanie was talking to someone on the phone.

Sylvester made me sit on his lap to watch the next game, and I enjoyed him holding

We watched the game together, and I realised that Sylvester and his team were ruthless because I saw

a smooth game with no fouls or violence. No one was carried off in a stretcher. I looked at the part

given to the east and noticed that Kyle and Marcel had not returned to sit in their positions; they must

have been injured. While I searched for them, I saw

Alpha Ramsey with his daughter sitting next to Leo, and I remembered what Sylvester had told me. 3

I spoke up immediately.

“Sylvester, Alpha Ramsey Richford is the man in the eastern booth sitting next to Leo,” I said.

“The one with the blue shirt?” He asked me, and I nodded.

“Yes,” I said, and he sighed.

“I will put someone on him just in case his intentions are malicious,” He said, and I agreed. 1

After Sylvester told me about Alpha Ramsey, I wondered why he would do such a thing, and I could not

figure it out.

The man had no reason to set Kyle up and bring evil upon us.

But then again, he had forced his daughter into our home and threatened war with Leo.

I also knew that Ramsey did not like Leo at all.

I think it had to do with the Whitewood pack being in charge of the east before the rise of the mountain

Pack.

I did not want to draw any conclusion because many things could have caused him to go against Leo,

but one thing that was certain was that Leo needed to know that Ramsey worked against him, but I did

not know how Sylvester would feel about it.

I planned on discussing it with him when we got home.

“Link Lilly to join us for dinner so I can give her some of my seals,” Sylvester told me, and I looked at

him to be sure I heard him right.

“Why would you want to set yourself up like that?” I asked him, and he smiled at

“I am not setting myself up, darling. I want to trace it. It is a physical item, so the culprits would have to

find a way to collect it. I want to trace it until it reaches its final destination. I can catch the person and

maybe figure out the reason,’ he explained, and I smiled, realising it was a brilliant Idea.

I linked Lily to join us for dinner before we left the place.