another bet from a woman who looked as if she couldn’t afford even enough for her own dinner. “Can’t help you.” He then smiled slimily at the poor woman as he marked her down for five gold pieces.
Yorbel left him and resorted to interviewing the sellers directly. It was both tedious and time-consuming, and by the end of the day, he had a low opinion of kehok sellers. Without any direct profit, they were singularly uninterested in helping him.
Getting fed up, he approached one more seller, a man with arm muscles so massive he could have arm-wrestled a kehok and stood a fair chance of winning. Glaring at everyone, he was standing in front of two caged kehoks, one coated in slime and the other in spikes.
Yorbel felt a headache squeeze his skull. Sending his mind across the two kehoks, he could tell immediately that neither were new souls. He considered moving on without talking with the muscled man, but duty propelled him. “Sir, I’m searching for a kehok bearing a new soul.”
“Don’t have one,” the man grunted, without even looking at him.
“Yes, I know,” Yorbel said testily. “Have you sold one within the past three months?”
“Maybe. Don’t know. You people charge so much for aura readings that I didn’t have a chance to have my catch properly tested.”
“Then you did have one that was potentially new? Would you mind sharing with me the name of the owner who purchased it?”
“Are you going to buy one of my kehoks?” The muscled man shifted his weight, like an elephant leaning to his side. He finally looked at Yorbel.
“I’m not. All I need is information.”
“If you’re not buying, I’m not giving out.”
Oh, for River’s sake. The sun was nearly down. The market would be closing soon. He didn’t want to spend another second here. “Fine. If your information leads me to a kehok I want to purchase, I’ll pay you a twenty percent finder’s fee. Charge it to the Augur Temple in the Heart of Becar.” He yanked out his medallion so the seller could see it.
The man inspected it. “Been a long time.”
Yorbel stuffed his pendant back into his tunic. “Excuse me?”
“Augurs buying kehoks. Used to be they’d buy them for the emperor. Last two emperors didn’t like the races much, but in the old days, they say the Becaran emperor had the fastest kehoks on either side of the Aur. You buying kehoks for the emperor-to-be? Is he reopening the royal stable?”
“Of course n—”
That actually was not a terrible idea.
Because if he did find the late emperor’s vessel, then it was a decent way to get the former emperor back into the palace without raising suspicion. And if he didn’t . . . he could purchase a random kehok to justify why he’d spent his travels visiting markets.
Of course, if I’m wrong and I don’t find the late emperor’s soul within a kehok, then I’ll be the proud owner of a smelly monster.
On the other hand, I’ve come this far . . .
“Of course, I can’t divulge that information right now. But I can say that the emperor-to-be loves the Becaran Races and has an interest in restarting the royal stable,” Yorbel said. “I’m on the lookout for the perfect racer.”
Another lie. Or a possible future truth?
“Now, tell me who purchased your new kehok, for if it’s as strong as you seem to be implying, I wish to purchase it from them.”
The seller nodded. “Tamra Verlas, on behalf of Lady Evara.”
Chapter 11
Three days before the first race, Tamra packed extra clothes for Shalla and went with her to the augur temple. Carrying Shalla’s pack slung over one shoulder, she held her daughter’s hand. “It will only be a few days, until the race ends.”
“I know, Mama. You worry too much.”
“I worry extra so you don’t have to.” She squeezed Shalla’s hand as if she were joking, though she one hundred percent was not. When Shalla was little, Tamra used to bring her everywhere: to the auction, to racing lessons, to the races themselves. Even after the augurs, she’d been allowed to bring her when she had to leave overnight. But now that Shalla’s training had intensified, she couldn’t skip multiple days of lessons. She’d fall behind, and that wasn’t acceptable by those who made the rules.
The augurs would take good care of her.
That wasn’t a worry.
The worry was they wouldn’t want to give her back.
With all that pressure, her heart raced faster as they approached the temple. Every time she