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Lady Trent had to suppress a wrinkle of her nose. “I do, my husband. This is Miss Millie Lucas. Miss Lucas, this is my husband, Lord Robert Trent.”
I grinned and held out one of my last fliers to him. “I’ve heard so much about you, My Lord, that I think you’d be interested in reading this.”
Trent accepted the flier and read the contents. His eyes widened and a smile lit up his face. “My goodness! I hadn’t heard about this happening! Have you seen this, my dear?” He held out the flier to her.
Lady Trent read the contents without taking the paper, and the corners of her lips tightened. “I have heard something of it, my husband.”
“We should buy a whole stack of books when the tome is published!” Lord Trent proclaimed as he carefully tucked the paper into his coat pocket. “All of my fellows would appreciate Peter’s keen insight, and I’m sure your lady friends would be interested in reading it, too.”
She spoke through gritted teeth and stared daggers at me. “Yes, I’m sure they would.”
“Let us go now, my dear, before the race begins without us!” Lord Trent announced as he bowed his head to me. “And thank you very kindly for the news, Miss Lucas.”
I returned the gesture and my eyes sparkled with glee. “My pleasure.”
The pair swept past us and into the old barracks. I handed out the few fliers I had left and slipped over to Sofia. She, too, had only a handful of papers to hand out, but her attention was fully on me.
“Did you have a nice conversation with Lady Trent?” she wondered.
I grinned. “You noticed that?”
“It was difficult to ignore such a venomous atmosphere, even among these crowds,” she told me as she handed out the last of her papers. “But shall we follow their lead and return to the tower? I for one have nothing to report.”
I sighed and swept my eyes over the crowds. “Me, either. There are so many people here that you could hide an elephant in it and I wouldn’t see it.”
Sofia slipped her arm through mine and led me into the arena. “An elephant?”
“Believe me, it’s a big animal,” I told her as we meandered our way through the people.
The crowds were so thick that I found it difficult to keep a hold of Sofia. We both clutched onto one another as we navigated the flow of people. One of them in particular bumped hard into me. I didn’t even get a good look at them before they disappeared into the throngs.
We reached the opening of the arena and found that the wall that divided the outside stands from the interior had been slid outward, granting everyone a view of the entirety of the course. The new stand in the middle of the tract was also now occupied, and I had my first glimpse of the legendary emperor and the former owner of the rare item attached to my arm.
Callidus the Third was a man past sixty with a short white beard and mustache. He wore a cloak of bright green edged with gold, and his vest and pants were the color of freshly fallen snow. The man held himself with all the bearing of one with confidence and good breeding. It was an imposing stance, but a smile lay on his lips that softened the seriousness. He leaned down often to speak with the other men around him, and many had their attention on the thunders that were even now lining up for the race.
“Halt,” a voice commanded us.
Sofia and I came to a stop before one of the green-and-gold-clad guards. He held out his hand. “Your badge.”
I offered him a smile as I dipped my hand into my pocket. “Of course.”
Unfortunately, there was nothing in there. The badge was gone.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE
Sweat brokeout on my forehead as I futilely tried to find the badge. The guard’s patience grew thin. “Do you have a badge?”
“I did,” I insisted as I checked all over myself. My blood froze in my veins when I recalled the person with whom I’d collided.
The guard crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at us. “You can’t go in without a badge.”
“I have a badge.” I was relieved to hear Ben’s voice as he came up behind us with his badge in hand. “And these ladies are with me.”
The guard checked the badge for a moment before he nodded and handed it back. “You’d better hurry to the tower. The race is about to start.”
We three hurried past him and over to the tower. Grant and Chase were nowhere to be found, but a quick scan of the fence line showed us that the company men were still handing out fliers to the crowds. They were taking their time because of their careful attention to the faces of the people, and because of constant stops to chat.
Ben stopped us at the foot of the tower and turned to me. “What happened to your badge?” His question was more curiosity than accusatory.
