intuition to know that these were the parents Raia had been running from. The man and the woman looked vaguely like her, except they were much more pissed off.
“We are not here for a tour,” Raia’s father snapped. “We are here to speak with our daughter. Privately.” He took a step forward that would have been intimidating if Tamra hadn’t spent the bulk of her life around monsters who exemplified the word.
She raked him up and down with her eyes. “She isn’t your daughter here. She’s my rider.” From the looks of him, she judged he’d never thrown a punch at anyone he thought would fight back. Tamra had done plenty of fighting in her time, though she hadn’t gotten herself into that kind of situation in a decade or so. Tamra’s back ached at the thought of this turning into a brawl. She wished Raia’s parents had waited to descend until morning, when she’d be fresher. But there was no way she would let this man get the drop on her, tired or not. “Now that the race season has begun, I need her fully focused on her training and race preparation, not distracted by personal issues.”
“You’re talking nonsense,” Raia’s father sputtered. “Raia is no racer!”
“The kehoks are called ‘racers,’ and the jockeys are called ‘riders,’” Tamra corrected primly. “Raia is a talented rider who shows enormous potential. She has successfully completed her first race and must prepare for her second.”
Raia’s father’s eyes bulged, and her mother’s mouth flopped open. “Our Raia?” she squeaked. “You must be mistaken. Our Raia would never associate with such . . . activities.” She said the word as if Raia were rolling around naked in manure.
“No offense taken.”
They gaped at her. Tamra had encountered people with this attitude before, who thought riders and trainers were sullied by their association with kehoks. Those same people would pay fistfuls of coins for the shaded seats in the stands during the races and drop large sums in bets on their favorite beasts. She didn’t bother to defend the profession. Hypocrites like these two would never understand. “‘Your’ Raia has made her choice. Feel free to cheer for her from the stands.”
Crossing her arms, she hoped that Raia hadn’t lied about her age. If she were younger than sixteen, she wouldn’t have the right to race without her family’s permission.
“See here,” her father said. “We are her family! We have the right to—”
“The right to benefit from her fame and fortune?” Tamra finished for him.
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t, by law,” Tamra said. “All her winnings are hers, since she is of age. However, she has told me she wishes to come to an arrangement with you, to compensate you for certain costs you may have incurred. . . . Bah, screw that. She owes you nothing. You’re her parents. You’re supposed to support her, not profit off her.” She put her hands on her hips. “Sorry excuse for parents, blaming her for what she couldn’t control, and then selling her off.”
“We would never!” Raia’s mother cried, her hand over her heart as if Tamra’s words had shocked her into palpitations. “We only ever thought of her happiness!”
Tamra resisted rolling her eyes. As earnest as they seemed, she didn’t buy it. She’d seen the look in Raia’s eyes when she talked about her parents and fiancé. “Really? And you didn’t come here to pressure her into a marriage she doesn’t want?”
“We know what’s best for her!” Raia’s father blustered.
“That’s all we ever wanted,” Raia’s mother said, right on the heels of her father, “what’s best for her. We want her to be happy, with her future secured.”
Now Tamra did roll her eyes. “And did you ever ask her what she wanted?”
“She’s a child!” Raia’s father said. “She doesn’t understand the world. She refuses to see things the way they are!”
Tamra snorted. “How much?”
Both parents stared at her.
“How much will she have to give you for you to leave her alone?” Tamra spoke slowly and clearly, so there was no chance they’d misunderstand. If Raia wanted to buy her freedom, then Tamra would do her best to see that it didn’t cost her too dearly—and that she never had to talk to these people again if she didn’t want to.
Raia’s father stepped toward her. “This is absurd—”
Tamra held up one hand. “Diplomacy is not my strong suit. Do you know what is?” She shifted her focus to the kehoks inside the stable. Scream, she silently ordered them.