The onlookers had drawn closer, chanting: ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’
All across the grounds more students were streaming on to the field. ‘We need a better view.’ Petra tugged Ivy along after her again, snaking through the crowd until they found a perch on a stone bench. ‘You’re in luck!’ Petra winked. ‘We don’t get one of these every day, you know!’ Petra clapped her hands and began whooping along with the other spectators. ‘I love duels,’ she continued. ‘There aren’t enough of them these days. Seriously, we’ve gone whole school years without one.’
In the centre of the ring of vampires, the two boys, shirtless and barefoot, circled each other. They looked high-school age, around sixteen. One of them – the slightly taller one – was tying his long blond hair into a ponytail, while the other removed an expensive-looking gold watch and handed it to one of his friends standing nearby.
Ivy was finding the whole scene strange. The boys back at Franklin Grove would shout and get furious and shove each other – but these boys were calm and focused. They didn’t even look that angry. Ivy shuddered. This wouldn’t be a regular human fight. Knowing vampire skills the way Ivy did, she knew this could turn out very, very badly. Ivy tried not to imagine the damage the two boys could do to one another.
Another commotion stirred the crowd and the ring parted opposite her and Petra. Now everyone was gasping. Prince Alex stepped right into the circle with the shirtless vampires. Everyone bowed in his presence, including the two fighters. Ivy’s shoulders relaxed. Everything would be under control now. Alex would put a stop to this.
The prince wedged himself between the two boys, one palm on each of their chests. ‘It’s fortunate that I’m here today. Please state your names.’ Alex’s voice boomed across the field.
‘Carlos,’ answered the tall, blond vampire.
‘Gregor,’ said the shorter one.
‘And what is your quarrel?’
Gregor pointed at his opponent, a sneer twisting his lips. ‘Carlos accused me of dishonesty on the playing field, but he’s wrong. I took the lead fairly –’ he pushed his finger into his chest – ‘and I should not be called a cheat in front of my classmates.’
Carlos shook his head and his ponytail swept across his bare back. ‘That’s not what happened. I saw the ball touch the ground but Gregor carried on playing – he had an unfair advantage.’
‘You’re mistaken,’ Gregor insisted.
‘I am not.’ Carlos crossed his arms. Ivy rolled her eyes. They were being so polite, while still managing to act like total cavemen. Were they really going to fight over this ? Ivy would give them each a trophy if they would just chill out!
Alex turned to the group. ‘Would the other players please step forward?’ Young vampires wearing different coloured Wallachia rugby shirts entered the circle, bowing slightly as they approached Prince Alex. ‘Now. Can anyone verify either boy’s story?’
They all shrugged. One bulky vampire with huge, muddied hands spoke up for the group. ‘It all happened too fast and we were playing the game ourselves. We didn’t get a good look.’
‘Very well,’ said Prince Alex, returning to the two quarrelling players. ‘As the highest-ranking vampire on this property, I hereby formally sanction this duel.’
What!? Ivy nearly blurted out. He can’t be serious. Alex was supporting the boys’ decision to fight? It didn’t make sense! Ivy started to push forwards – there would be no duel if she had anything to say about it – but Petra grabbed her arm and pulled it back down to her side, giving Ivy a look that said, Don’t even think about it.
But why? Ivy wanted to know. She didn’t want to watch a vampire fight and she couldn’t understand why anyone else would want to either. These boys could seriously hurt each other. And since when did Ivy Vega bite her tongue about anything?
‘Is this a joke?’ Ivy demanded in Petra’s ear. ‘We can’t actually be about to watch two boys fight each other, can we?’
‘Shhh!’ Petra pressed a finger to her lips. ‘It’s tradition! And I’d take this over an action movie any day. I only wish I’d known. I’d have grabbed us a box of plasmallows!’
Ivy’s stomach did a nosedive. If I didn’t know for a fact that I have excellent hearing, I’d think I needed my ears checked.
A younger vampire boy drew a circle with a stick around the shirtless boys, who were crouched opposite one another. Ivy squirmed beside Petra. Were they really going to go through with this ‘duel’?
Like a radio announcer, Alex began to outline the rules. ‘Each opponent must respect the rules of the duel,’ he began. ‘One: there will be three rounds. Two: in each round one vampire must try to push the other vampire out of the circle. Three: no punching or biting is allowed in the fight. Four: as referee, my word is law. My say is final. And five: if at the end of the third and final round there is no clear victor, we will return tomorrow at the same time for a rematch . . . with swords. Agreed?’
The crowd exploded into rowdy cheering as if their favourite team had just scored a goal. Vampire boys pumped their fists in the air while the girls who had stared at Ivy began a high-pitched chant: ‘Greg-or, Greg-or, Greg-or!’ The ringleader of the group lifted her palms in the air, trying to encourage more people to join in.
Gregor and Carlos bent low, fingers grazing the ground and muscles tense. Petra’s hand tightened around Ivy’s arm. We are not in this together, thought Ivy and she shrugged off Petra’s grip, pushing her way out of the crowd. She didn’t know where she was heading to; she just knew she didn’t want to stay here.
She stumbled out of the mass of vampires, winding up near the front gates of the school where her grandmother had dropped her off not too long ago. She had thought vampires were more advanced than bunnies. They were stronger and quicker and had super-senses, but that didn’t change the fact that they were so old-fashioned they were practically backwards! Of all the ways vampires could use their physical superiority, they chose to waste it on dumb things like this – a duel ! Ivy felt sick, like she’d swallowed a whole clove of garlic.
She climbed on to a cool stone bench, pulling her knees to her chest. The students were still whooping, though at least from here Ivy could no longer see Carlos and Gregor. It’s like the Middle Ages never ended for these people.
Ivy stared through the wrought-iron gate with its regal Wallachia crest. If this was the way young vampires were expected to behave at the Academy, Ivy wasn’t sure she could ever be proud to wear it.
Ivy’s head snapped up at the sound of a door opening behind her. Three teachers in long professorial robes sprinted out in the direction of the fight. The first of them – a thin, pointy-nosed teacher – noticed Ivy sitting on the bench. She skidded to a stop. ‘Come on!’ she said. ‘The duel might be over at any moment. You certainly don’t want to be the only one to miss it, now do you?’
Actually I do, she wanted to tell them. Ivy couldn’t believe it. Had she entered a parallel universe? She pinched herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. But when she blinked and saw that she was still seated in the middle of the pristine grounds, Ivy decided to smile and wave the teachers on. After all, challenging centuries of convention was a bit too much to take on during a simple school visit.