been poor at the start of the race and had slipped at the end. She’d deserved to lose. It was only because her racer was as fast as he was that they’d come in second.
Sliding down onto the floor, her back against the wall, Raia sat outside the lion’s stall. She listened to him chew his food and wondered what he thought about the race. She didn’t know how much he understood about why they had to win. He knew that winning meant freedom, she was certain of that.
She heard the stable door creak open and was certain it was Trainer Verlas, returning for another pep talk—she’d been the one to break the good news to Raia, followed by a dissection of Raia’s performance and a reminder that she needed to focus on the race, not be distracted by all the pressure, et cetera. Raia knew Trainer Verlas was right, and she knew she should stand and look ready to face the next challenge, but it was hard to summon up the energy. “Just resting a minute,” Raia said. “It’s been a long day.”
“Indeed it has.”
Raia knew that voice. She scrambled to her feet. Nearly falling over, she bowed. “Your Excellence! I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you to come here!”
The emperor-to-be winced. He was dressed in a royal guard’s uniform, instead of silks with gold necklaces. “You aren’t supposed to recognize me. I’m here incognito.”
“Oh!” She bowed again. “I’m so sorry! Forgive me, Your . . .” She trailed off. She’d had plenty of etiquette training, between her parents’ insistence on proper manners and the augur’s emphasis on control at all times. None of it covered this, though!
He was frowning at his uniform. “This should have worked. It fooled everyone I passed, and some of those people have known me since I was teething. Most people don’t even know what I look like—they see the silks and stop there.”
“It was your voice,” Raia said.
“Have we met?” he asked.
“Um . . .” She wasn’t sure if it was better to explain that she recognized his voice because she’d eavesdropped on him. “You sound royal?”
He sighed. “It’s all the lessons. My tutors were firm about proper diction.”
“They’d be proud,” Raia said. “You pronounce things perfectly.” She felt her cheeks heat. Why did I say that? It was an inane thing to say. Complimenting his pronunciation? “I, um, assume you’re here to see . . . him.” She almost said “your brother” but stopped herself in time. She began to scoot sideways, like a scuttling crab, toward the door.
“You are Raia, his rider, aren’t you? I came to talk with you.”
That’s terrifying, she thought. She wished she could say no and flee, leaving him to Trainer Verlas. She had no idea what to say to royalty! Lowering her head, she said, “I’m honored, Your Excellence.” It came out okay, which was a relief.
“Augur Yorbel has told me you are aware of the situation.”
“Yes.” She wasn’t sure if she should say more. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” He sighed heavily.
Peeking up, she saw he’d drifted to the side of the stall and was looking at the black lion. The lion didn’t stop eating. “I will work harder and win the next race,” Raia said.
“I came to tell you I thought you ran brilliantly,” Prince Dar said. “After seeing you race, I believe you can do this.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Did Trainer Verlas tell you to cheer me up?”
He looked startled. “It was my own idea to come.”
“Sorry.” Of course her trainer couldn’t order an emperor, or even an emperor-to-be, to do anything. She felt like slinking inside one of the stalls and hiding until he left, except there was no way to do that when he was staring right at her. And he was staring, as if he were studying every aspect of her soul. She wanted to squirm but held herself still.
“You remind me of me,” he said suddenly.
She thought that was unlikely.
“Both of us are in over our heads.”
That could be true, she thought. She’d never thought she’d have anything in common with an emperor. In fact, she hadn’t thought much about royalty before at all.
“I was never supposed to be emperor,” he said. “I was the spare. Zarin was supposed to rule for decades. He would have married in a few years, had heirs, and one of them would be stuck with being emperor or empress.”
She thought about saying sorry again, but he didn’t seem to need a response. He was staring at