20
I WANTED TO run after him, but Thayu held my arm.
“What the hell is going on?” I spread my hands, rolling my eyes at the ceiling.
“Shhh,” Thayu said. “You’ll get to talk to the zeyshi now.”
“But it would have been so much better if Risha was also—”
“Shhh.” Her expression was serious. She continued in a soft voice. “Listen, this is what we learned when we went with Asha: when the Exchange went down, Risha challenged.”
I stared at her, then down the passage where the old man had just vanished.
“Risha?” That was ridiculous. But then . . . why was he here? I put the facts together. “He challenged, but he didn’t win.”
Thayu signalled yes.
And he somehow managed to escape being killed. But then who was in charge of his half of Asto’s society?
“The inner hub went into lockdown and wo
