not over. Whoever hired Raia’s parents, whoever was behind the attempt to bribe Lady Evara, whoever encouraged the fake guard to try to poison the kehok would try again. It could all be the same enemy, or it could be multiple enemies. All they’d done with their trap and everything they’d risked was remove a few puppets from the stage. “For now.”
“Then we should rest before the next race.”
Tamra’s heart ached for her. “You’ll have extra time. The championship race has been delayed so that the track can be fixed. We’ll be returning to the royal stables until it’s ready.”
“Good.”
Tamra nodded. But deep down, she was still worried.
Because this delay could have been part of the plan too.
Escorted by the emperor-to-be’s guards, Raia tried not to think about anything as she rode on a cart back to the royal stables. Plenty of gawkers lined the streets, watching them pass, but she barely saw them through the thick column of soldiers.
When they reached the royal stables beside the palace, she let the heavy silence wrap around her, smothering all her thoughts and feelings. Rejecting Trainer Verlas’s offer to help, Raia unlatched the cage and guided the kehok into the stable—after the guards had thoroughly checked the building and pronounced it safe. “I want to sleep in the stable tonight,” Raia told her trainer.
“I will as well,” Trainer Verlas offered.
“I’d rather be alone. Just the lion and me.” She didn’t know if her trainer would be offended by that, but she didn’t want anyone around her tonight.
“Then I’ll sleep outside the door. If you need me, all you have to do is call out.”
Trainer Verlas excused herself to arrange for cots to be provided, while Raia checked on the lion’s food and water. She tested both with the anti-poison powder, even though the guards had already done it. She then shut the lion into his stall without shackling him.
“I don’t want to leave you helpless,” she told him. “I’m trusting you not to hurt me.”
He made a sound that was nearly a meow, and she laughed in spite of herself, in spite of everything. It was such an innocent sound, as if he were trying to say how could anyone think he’d ever hurt anyone. “Yeah, that’s right, you’re just a sweet kitty cat.”
She settled in and tried to think of nothing. The worst part about her parents’ betrayal was how surprised she’d been. She knew what they were like, knew what they were capable of. They’d shown their true selves time and time again, and she still hoped she was wrong about them. They were never going to be the kind of parents she wanted, the kind who loved her as she was. They do love me, in their own way, she thought. It’s just that they love themselves more.
“Raia?” Trainer Verlas said through the door. “You have a visitor. I . . . don’t think I can send him away. I’m sorry.”
Raia took a deep breath to steady herself, guessing who her “visitor” was before Trainer Verlas even finished. She touched her bronze lion pin. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“It was a difficult thing that happened today. You don’t have to be ‘fine.’”
She wished that were true, but now wasn’t the time to fall apart and let herself feel things. She told herself that her parents’ actions were nothing new. They’d been consistent throughout her whole life, culminating in her engagement to Celin and today’s attempt to kill her racer. She couldn’t keep letting it surprise and hurt her. But it did every time.
“You can let him in,” Raia said.
Opening the door, Trainer Verlas bowed as the emperor-to-be walked into the stables. He hadn’t tried to dress as anything other than himself this time. His embroidered robe swept over the muck on the stable floor, and Raia thought about saying something, but she didn’t know if that would be appropriate.
“He wasn’t hurt?” Prince Dar asked.
“Not at all.” She liked that that was his first question.
“And you? Were you hurt?”
“I wasn’t . . . because he tried to protect me.” She didn’t know if he’d understand the significance of that. She knew it didn’t match anything she’d ever been told about kehoks and their behavior. “That’s not what ordinary kehoks do. I don’t know if he remembers anything about who he was, but Your Excellence, he’s not a monster.”
Prince Dar looked at her as if she’d gifted him with the moon. He was shaking as he approached the stall. “Zarin? Do you