“No comparison. Rossi thought he was going to be better than any horse in history if he could find a jockey capable of riding him.” She grimaced. “All of the horses in that herd the nomads raised were superfast. Remember the descriptions of those ancient Niseans being bigger and more powerful than other horses of their time? Well, it would have been perfectly natural they’d be a hell of a lot faster, too.” Her hand was clenching on her cup. “The minute that race shines a spotlight on Chaos, it’s like a gun being aimed at both Sasha and the horse. What do you think happens when a horse with that kind of speed erupts onto the racing scene? He becomes a phenomenon. He sets records and he captures the imagination of everyone around him. Everyone will want a piece of him. The way an owner makes the big money on a racehorse isn’t from the purses he wins. It’s the stud fees. And since he’s a Nisean, and supposedly one of a kind, those stud fees will be enormous.” She was speaking fast, gazing into the fire. “Once Masenak and Reardon realize what they’d have in him, neither is going to let him go. They’ll end up by fighting each other, and whoever wins, Sasha loses. Because she’s the pawn and they’re both greedy. They’ll try to force Chaos, speed up the process of making him king of the turf. There’s a good chance that they’ll end up killing him.” Her voice was hoarse with pain. “But Sasha won’t let that happen. She loves that damn horse. She’ll fight them no matter if she has a chance of winning or not. And what kind of chance do you think she’ll have by herself surrounded by all those scumbags at Jubaldar?”

“Perhaps better than you’d believe considering how well she handled herself in the Szarnar Jungle,” he said gently. “I’ve never even met your Sasha, but I’ve become a fan.”

“And so you should be. No one deserves it more. I tried to tell you that from the beginning.”

“Be fair. At the time you were throwing all that psychic business about Margaret and her dog at me, too. Somehow your horse whisperer, Sasha, got caught up in the mix.”

“Yet you used Margaret and her dog when you went after Masenak.” She stared him in the eye. “And you’ve just told me that you respect Sasha. Does that mean that you’re leaning toward believing that they’re both exactly what I say they are?”