Tamra allowed herself a hint of hope. Maybe this would be simpler than she’d thought it would. Maybe she’d be given another chance. Maybe . . .
“Still, I don’t like to be considered a fool. You don’t consider me a fool, do you?” Lady Evara looked at her then with piercing eyes, as if Tamra’s answer were vitally important.
Someone else might have lied. Someone who played the games of the wealthy, who knew how to flatter, who knew how to handle people. Tamra wasn’t good at reading people.
She was, though, excellent at reading monsters.
“Foolish, yes,” Tamra said. “But a fool? Never.”
Lady Evara laughed, clearly pleased with that answer. “Then I have a bargain for you. Last year, I gave you unlimited access to my funds to purchase your mount and woo your rider. This year, you may have two hundred gold pieces. Plus I will sponsor your entrance fees.”
Two hundred! That was barely enough to—
“Standard cut of the prize money. But . . .” Lady Evara paused dramatically. “Succeed in training a rider and racer who can place top three in a race in the Heart of Becar, and I will not only continue to be your patron, but I will also pay your family’s debts to the augurs for the next three years. I will see that your daughter continues in your care while fulfilling her destiny.”
The offer was grand enough to make Tamra’s head spin. Top three . . . It wasn’t impossible. After all, Lady Evara hadn’t said she needed to compete in the final championship race. Just in a race in the Heart of Becar. There were dozens of those—you just needed to win one of two regional qualifiers to be allowed to run. But with only two hundred gold pieces to begin with . . . “Five hundred,” Tamra countered. “You can’t purchase any reasonable mount—”
Lady Evara cut her off. “Then purchase the unreasonable. Win with a beast that others undervalue. Choose a rider who hasn’t yet proven his or her worth. You must find yourself an uncut emerald and polish it until it gleams.” She flashed her rings, catching glints of sunlight that filtered in between the flowers. Several of her jewels were emeralds. Others, rubies. One, a priceless black diamond. “Think, Tamra, what do you have to lose by accepting my offer? And think what you have to gain.”
“What do you have to gain?” Tamra asked bluntly.
“Why, amusement, my petal,” Lady Evara cooed. “I will have the pleasure of shaping the greatest triumph-against-adversity story that the Becaran Races has ever seen. Or I will have the entertainment of watching you destroy yourself in the effort. Either way, I will not be bored. And boredom, my dear, is the greatest enemy of all.”
Tamra stared at her for a moment, speechless. That wins for the most horrible thing I’ve heard a human say to another, at least recently. How empty did your soul have to be to take joy in the destruction of another’s hopes and dreams?
How rich did you have to be?
“Well?” Lady Evara asked. “This is a onetime offer. There are other river leeches who desire my money too, you know, especially in this time of uncertainty, and they may prove even more entertaining than you. Come, Tamra, will you seize your destiny and dare the sands once again?” There was a mocking lilt to her voice, but her eyes were fixed on Tamra like a jackal on its prey.
Gathering her dignity, Tamra tried not to feel as if she were making a deal with a kehok. “I accept your offer, Gracious One.”
“Splendid!” Lady Evara beamed at her. Like her laugh, her smile vanished as quickly as it had come. “Now leave, and don’t break anything—or anyone—on your way out.”
Tamra gritted her teeth against the insult. “The gold pieces?”
“Oh, I don’t handle such trifling amounts myself. One of my servants will meet you by the gate with my tokens.” She made a shooing motion with her hand.
Tamra held on to her manners. Barely. “May your next rebirth bring you peace.” Silently, she added, Even though I’m certain you’ll be reborn as a river slug.
Chapter 3
Tamra traveled by river to the famed Gea Market. She both heard and smelled the market long before she saw it: the sound of the musicians’ drums, the cheers from the gambling pits, the pervasive scent of garlic and the irresistible smell of baked pastries. Closer, she joined the other passengers near the front of the riverboat to