be racing with other riders. At least not immediately. I shouldn’t have assumed. “He did?”
“Said we have to be ready for anything on the track,” Silar said. “And that you would . . . keep us on our toes.” Raia doubted those were the words he’d used. And she wondered if Trainer Osir had other motivation. He’s made it obvious he doesn’t approve of how Trainer Verlas handles her riders and racers. He probably wants me to fail.
She wondered if Trainer Verlas realized that, and decided the answer was yes.
She wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.
Jalimo looked worried enough for the both of them. “Just to be clear, do we need to worry about your kehok trying to gut our kehoks?”
Probably, Raia thought. “I won’t let him?” She tried to sound confident, but her voice curled up at the end as if in question. She winced and wanted to ask: Can we still be friends if I almost kill you?
“Great!” Jalimo said, as if the uncertainty wasn’t obvious in her voice.
Raia turned to the black lion and whispered, “You won’t let me down, will you?”
He growled.
She reminded herself she needed to be confident, like Trainer Verlas. She wondered if Trainer Verlas had ever doubted herself with a kehok. There must have been a first time she tried to ride one. Raia knew she’d had accidents—the limp that sometimes worsened was from a race. Surely, she’d had some doubts at some point?
The students quit talking when their trainers came in. Raia was relieved to hear she wasn’t the only one who needed assistance in safely coaxing her kehok out of the stable. She kept the shackles on him for the trip to the starting stalls on the track. The openings looked ominous, like mouths ready to chew them up and spit them out.
“He hasn’t run on a track ever,” Raia said anxiously. She was hoping Trainer Verlas would say she could take a lap without any of the other riders and racers. Truth be told, she was hoping her teacher would tell her to bring the lion back to the stable and forget this folly.
“Run him as if you were on the desert sands,” Trainer Verlas advised instead. “Treat the turns as if they’re sand dunes. Use them to build power. Let him loose on the straightaways.”
“It will all be new to him.”
“You’re coddling him.”
“I just don’t want him to kill my friends.”
“Then don’t let him.” Trainer Verlas acted as if it were easy.
The first time she ran with the rhino-croc it hadn’t gone well. In fact, the first time she’d tried anything new it hadn’t gone well. She didn’t see why this would be any different.
“It’s going to be a disaster,” Raia warned.
Trainer Verlas stopped, which meant Raia stopped, which meant the kehok had to stop. He pawed the sandy ground and snorted at them through the muzzle. “Raia. Quit it. You have to be in the moment.”
Raia hung her head. “I know.” She didn’t know why she was feeling so nervous when everything had been going so great out on the dunes. Maybe because it has been going great. I don’t want to go back to messing up.
Of course, worrying about messing up was the exact thing that could mess her up. But recognizing the paradox didn’t make it any easier to dismiss.
They resumed walking toward the stalls, and Trainer Verlas ordered the black lion into his. Jalimo and Silar were on either side of her, with Algana beyond Silar. There was room for up to twenty in the starting stalls, but only the four of them were racing today. Other students were drifting toward the stands, attracted by the prospect of a practice race.
“Riders up,” Trainer Verlas ordered.
It was different mounting a kehok in the stall than out on the sands. She mimicked the others, climbing a ladder and then lowering herself into the saddle. She strapped herself in. Beneath her, the black lion’s mane bristled, clinking together like glass.
“We’re just going to run,” Raia told him. “No different than out on the sands.” Louder, to Trainer Verlas, she asked, “You’ll be there, won’t you? To keep this from being a catastrophe?” It will be fine, she thought, trying to will herself to believe it. Still, she wanted the reassurance that this wasn’t as dangerous as it seemed. Surely, she’d have a safety net for this first time in the track.
“Race conditions, remember?” Trainer Verlas pointed to the air above the racetrack, where the