didn’t think that was going to happen anytime soon.
How did I end up here?
She thought of Celin and her parents, and told herself this was better than the alternative. No question there. She wondered where her parents had gone after she’d left them at the training grounds and hoped they hadn’t blamed Silar, Jalimo, and Algana.
She snapped out of these thoughts when Trainer Verlas started barking instructions at her. Raia changed into her riding gear surrounded by dozens of other riders doing the same. “You’re slated for heat six,” Trainer Verlas told her. “Heat three is currently on the track. Keep the kehok’s chains on.”
As soon as she was dressed, she led the kehok to the holding area. Gripping his chains, she tried to focus on keeping him calm. Around her, other riders and their trainers were coaxing their monsters into position behind the stands.
A kehok built like a bear lunged at another that looked like a giant river crab. The crab snapped its claws at the bear’s neck, and their riders and trainers jumped forward, shouting at the racers and hitting them with spiked clubs until they retreated. Beside her, the lion growled, a low rumble that Raia felt travel through the chains and into her arms.
Look at me, she ordered him. Just at me.
The lion swung his head toward her, and she stared into his golden eyes.
From the spectator stands, Raia heard screams. She blocked them out, keeping her focus just on her kehok. She stroked his metal cheek. They had to win this race. So much was depending on it, and she’d yet to prove they could win any race.
Behind her, she heard someone say, “Oh, sweet Lady, is he dead?”
“By the River, I knew he wasn’t—” Trainer Verlas gripped the lion’s chains. “Keep your kehok steady. And don’t look.”
Raia didn’t mean to look, but the rider next to her screamed as his kehok reared onto its hind legs and clawed at the air. The rider dangled from the chain for a half second, until his trainer and two others leaped onto its waist and pulled the beast down by force of muscle and will.
Beyond them, Raia saw the body being carried on a stretcher. The boy’s head was turned to the side, and she caught a glimpse of his empty eyes as the race officials passed by the holding area. Below his chin was a mangled mass of red that her brain couldn’t interpret.
“I told you not to look,” Trainer Verlas snapped.
“Did I know him?”
“Fetran. You raced your first qualifier against him.” Trainer Verlas scowled at the black lion, though he hadn’t moved beyond watching the procession of officials. “He used to be my student. Could’ve told them he wasn’t ready for this. In fact, I did.”
Raia wasn’t sure she was ready for this anymore either. A boy had died! Just a few minutes ago, on the track she was about to race on.
“Stop it,” Trainer Verlas said. “You aren’t like him. Don’t let it get in your head.”
A voice boomed across the holding area. “Riders up!”
Raia tried to steady her breathing once more as she led the lion across the camp and to the racetrack. Beside her, he growled, resisting each step, and she was having trouble focusing with all the shouts and cheers around her. Somehow, she made it, and loaded him into the stall at the start of the race.
“You’re faster than any of them,” Trainer Verlas told her. “All you have to do is run.”
And win, Raia thought. Glancing up at the stands, she saw the royal booth. Unmistakable, it was raised on pillars and draped in flags. Prince Dar was already there, on a black throne, flanked by nobles and guards. She couldn’t see his face from here, which made it worse. He looked more like a statue than a person. She wondered if he’d seen the death in the previous race. He must have. She imagined what he’d say if it had been her with her throat torn—
“Raia? Raia.” Trainer Verlas clasped her arm. “You can do this. Just run.”
But Trainer Verlas was wrong. She couldn’t do this. She’d been fooling herself. How could she race with the emperor-to-be watching, knowing if she failed . . . She’d just seen how badly a rider could fail.
She wanted to ask Trainer Verlas how she had kept racing knowing what could happen. But there was no time—the trainers were all backing away, beyond the psychic shield so there would be no interference