She wished she could command him as if he were a kehok. She’d make him run into the desert and never return. Leave me alone! she thought.
“Your parents do! They know you better than anyone, and they were worried—”
“They don’t know me at all,” Raia said. “And neither do you.”
“Ah, but I do.” He sounded almost apologetic. Reaching into his tunic, he pulled out a wad of paper. “Here is the record of your birth. Your parents splurged for an augur reading, you know. According to this, you were a goat in a prior life. That accounts for your stubbornness.”
She shivered. Where had he gotten that?
“And here is the record of your admittance into the temple for training, the report from the augurs who originally identified you. Your parents bequeathed me all your records and the reports from your regular readings, along with the bills they paid for your training.”
Raia began to shake. It was suddenly hard to suck in air. All of that . . . it was private. It was supposed to be sealed by her parents, to remain in their possession until their deaths. “You shouldn’t have that.”
“Your parents have handed full responsibility for you over to me.” Celin was smiling again, and it wasn’t anything she could have called charming. In fact, it made her want to scream, if only she could get enough air into her lungs. He pulled out another paper. “Your parents and I are all concerned for your happiness.”
She stared at the paper, a formal declaration that she was unfit to make decisions about her future. They’d used her augur readings, combined with her failure at training and the fact that she’d run away, to declare her incapable of rational decisions.
By her parents’ decree, Celin was now her guardian.
In effect, if these papers were legal, he owned her. She was shaking so hard now that she felt like vomiting. Of all the possible scenarios, she’d never imagined that her parents would take things this far, or that they’d find a man willing to assist them.
This can’t be happening, she thought. She tried to see if the papers had an official augur stamp, but Celin was already tucking them back into his pocket. If she challenged it . . . But that would require gold she didn’t have.
Behind her, the black lion began to growl.
“You see, for your own good, you’re mine,” Celin said. “And once we’re married, I will help you understand that.” He flashed another charming-yet-terrifying smile.
“I don’t want—”
All of a sudden, the kehoks screamed.
Raia spun around. Why—
And then the sound cut off.
The black lion was standing, silent, quivering. She quickly examined him, careful to keep her distance from his claws and teeth. “What happened? Are you all right?”
Lunging forward into the stall, Celin grabbed her arm. “Raia, come out of there. You’re not safe.”
“Let go of me!” Forgetting the kehok, she pulled away from Celin and stumbled back against the black lion. She felt his hot breath against her neck and froze. He wasn’t muzzled, and his chains were loose.
Celin froze too. “Just move slowly. A step toward me.”
Facing the black lion, Raia said, “You won’t hurt me.” She put as much force of will as she could into it, which wasn’t easy while her insides were screaming in panic. She knew she was too close to him and she couldn’t trust herself to focus properly with Celin here, filling her with so much fear. She glanced back at him.
“Of course I won’t hurt you,” Celin said soothingly. “So long as you listen to me, I will keep you safe and happy.” He took a step forward. He was still reaching his hand toward her. He filled the only exit from the stall. “Stay calm. Deep breath.”
She obeyed, taking a deep breath, settling her thoughts. But not for his sake.
As she steadied herself, she slipped into her inner sight, as she’d been trained. She’d never been able to see the future or past of a soul, but she could manage a few wavering shapes that revealed its present state. She thought she saw Celin’s aura: spiked, layered with shadows. “Tell me what happened to your last wife,” Raia said.
He opened his mouth to speak.
“If you lie, I’ll know. I may have failed to become an augur, but I have been trained. I’ll see in your aura if you try to lie.” She wasn’t certain that was true, but he didn’t know that.
“It’s illegal to read someone without their consent.” Celin