"This will be a special bout without the protections that are normal for the games today.It's about designed to punish a traitor to Aetheria, a vicious supporter of the former empire!"Marcus is clearly trying to turn the crowd against Selene."On this side of the sands, I give you Selene Ravenscroft!"
Some of the crowd boo, the way Marcus obviously intends, but plenty cheer.I don't know if they're cheering for her or just for the spectacle that's going to follow.I'm not sure it matters, as the gates at one side of the Colosseum open and Selene steps out onto the sands.I half expect her to simply ignore the cheering of the crowd, but instead, she salutes them with her curved blade, moving out to a spot in the middle of the Colosseum where the people can get the best view of her.She turns in a slow circle, acknowledging even the ones booing her, as if she's some favored gladiator and not someone being sent to her death.
Marcus is clearly determined to regain control of the situation."And facing her, we have a true favorite of the city's fighting scene, a veteran of the Colosseum, the man who slew a deadly lizard on these very sands.I give you Sorrel!"
Sorrel comes out, twirling his metal staff like a baton, making sure it catches the light with every turn.People cheer him, and there are no boos mixed in with those cheers.It’s clear the crowd know he’s meant to be the hero of this event, the brave gladiator sent in to slay the villain Selene has been depicted as by Marcus.Sorrel walks out onto the sands, takes a sweeping bow, and then looks to the imperial box expectantly.
For a moment or two, tension hangs in the air, then Marcus chops his hand down sharply.
“Begin!”Marcus calls out.
Sorrel and Selene start to circle one another carefully.Sorrel rushes in, but pulls out of the charge with impossible swiftness as Selene raises her blade.He's clearly testing her responses, trying to work out the patterns of her movements.She sends a bolt of violet energy his way, obviously able to do that much, even with the dampener around her wrist.Sorrel sways aside from it, swinging his staff low, then high, so that Selene is forced to give ground.
The crowd are cheering, in a way they didn’t for Cesca’s match.They’re leaning forward, watching every swing of the weapons, every precise burst of magic with total absorption, clearly understanding that any one of these attacks might prove fatal.
Selene staggers as Sorrel’s staff connects with her, falling but then rolling to her feet in time to parry the next attack.A dart of power strikes Sorrel’s armor, only to dissipate thanks to the runes embedded in it.
“Blood!Blood!”the crowd starts to chant, as the two continue to fight.
It's a real contrast in styles.Sorrel is fast and wild, his telekinesis allowing him to change direction almost from moment to moment, making his attacks unpredictable and hard to parry.Selene moves surprisingly well, though, able to use footwork and her blade to defend herself, while the empty rear hand that seemed like a liability before is actually an asset.She throws darts of energy, each a long way from the power she would be able to bring to bear before, but still dangerous in their precise probing of Sorrel’s defenses.
Sorrel seems to be getting frustrated.It's clear he thought this was going to be an easy fight, that his skills as a fighter would overcome Selene’s magic swiftly.He swings his staff at her, and now she uses a fraction of magic to deflect it.Despite the limitations on her power, Selene still has all the knowledge she's built up in a long life and the skills to apply her magic in many different ways.
She uses a flicker of illusion now, creating a burst of light Sorrel needs to react to in case it's some more deadly threat.It means her blade can lick out to score a simple cut across his arm.Blood drips to the sand for the first time in the bout, and the crowd roars its approval.
Sorrel tries to make her pay for the attack with a cascade of blows that seem to come from every angle as he pushes himself to the limits.It's clear he's trying to overwhelm Selene’s defenses, forcing her to give ground, deflecting some of the attacks with small shields of power and others with her blade.He lands another glancing blow, sending Selene to the ground, but she rolls away before he can land the attack that would finish her.Sand sprays into the air instead as Sorrel’s staff impacts the ground, and momentarily, both fighters are obscured from view.
When I can see them again, Selene is standing again, but slightly off balance, her head open for a blow that might kill her.Sorrel seems to notice the opportunity in the same instant, bringing his staff around with all the force of his telekinesis behind it.
Too late, I see him realize that it's a trick as Selene ducks.Even with Sorrel’s power, he can't stop this attack because he's put that power behind the blow.It means his staff sails over her head as Selene reaches up and touches one of the un-armored areas of Sorrel’s skin, just below the shoulder of his right arm.There's a flare of violet power, and Sorrel cries out, dropping his staff involuntarily.Selene kicks it away, and even as Sorrel tries to scramble back, she sends a small dart of power into the flesh just above his knee.
It brings him stumbling to the floor, and Selene kicks him onto his back, setting the tip of her blade to his throat.But she doesn't finish him.Instead, she looks up at the former imperial box expectantly, waiting as so many gladiators have in the past, for those within to pass judgment on their foes.
“This bout is at an end!”I call out, rushing to the front of the box.It's the only thing I can do to save Sorrel’s life.“Selene Ravenscroft is the winner.”
The crowd goes wild for her, but she still stands there a moment longer, making me wonder if she might kill Sorrel anyway.If she does that, now that the bout is ended, I have no doubt Marcus will see her executed.I can feel my heart beating faster at the prospect of her doing it, and I'm sure she's looking right into my eyes, drawing out this moment deliberately, making me feel that fear.
Then Selene steps back and raises her blade in a fresh salute to the crowd.She's victorious, and people aren't booing her now.They're cheering her as the winner in the first real gladiatorial battle they've seen in a long time.
What have we done?We've given the former arch magistrate a chance to gain support, with Marcus and Rowan both assuming that she'd be killed when it's now clear her skills are more than enough to cope even with having a dampener around her wrist.Selene walks from the sands even as healers rush on to carry Sorrel back into the preparation areas below.
Selene turns back, giving one last bow to the crowd before handing her weapons to a guard and heading below.She’s made her point: she won’t be so easy to kill, and she allowed herself to be taken for a reason.She's realized that here in the arena, she can build support.If she survives her seasons in the arena, Selene will be free, absolved of her crimes and with a substantial fan base behind her.
It will be everything she needs to take power within the city again.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“How could this happen?”Marcus asks, as the cheers of the crowd wash over us.“She wasn't meant to win.”
“From what I saw, the odds were stacked against her pretty heavily,” I say.“And yet she still managed it.”
“You sound almost as though you admire Selene,” Marcus replies.He leads me deeper into the box, where we won't be seen from outside.
“I respect her abilities and intelligence,” I say, carefully not pointing out that neither he nor Rowan did when they went along with this scheme to have her fight in the Colosseum.“A simple dampener wasn't ever going to be enough.I know from personal experience how it's possible to work around that.And if the dampener ever comes off with her full powers unleashed…”
“That won't be permitted to happen,” Marcus says.“We'll find a way to deal with this, and with her.”
It's clear he's talking about killing her, and that makes me uncomfortable.Marcus has so many fine qualities, but this kind of brutal pragmatism isn't one of them.It's a side of him that worries me because it makes him think in ways that are far too close to the ways things were done under the empire.
