I can see them spreading out in a ring of white and gold.There are enough of them that I doubt that even Alaric and his followers would be able to fight their way out.
Alaric curses, clearly realizing that we risk being trapped.
“Was this your plan?”Alaric asks, sounding paranoid as he stares at me.“Were you going to bring us all here then bring the guards down on us?”
“I didn't know this was going to happen,” I insist.“I didn't even know you were going to try to storm the event.And I wouldn't have warned you if I wanted you to be caught.”
“It's not as if Lyra and I are exactly safe right now either,” Marcus points out.“We're in the middle of an obviously illegal event.We would be arrested along with everybody else.”
At the very least, that would lead to questions in the senate.Possibly, it would even result in imprisonment or punishment for us.I could try to argue that I don't have anything to do with Marcus’s event, but then I would have to explain what I'm doing here.If I tell people the truth and say I'm here with one of Alaric’s people, there are those on the senate who will assume that I'm a traitor.If I say nothing, they'll assume that I'm here with Marcus, a part of the organization of the matches.
“Alaric,” I say.“For now, the best we can do is try to get as many people out of here as possible.All of us.”
Alaric looks as though he might refuse, but then he glances back towards the main temple area, obviously thinking about his people there.
“All right,” he says.“But how are we going to get them out?”
“There are ways out,” Marcus says.“Do you think I would run something like this in a place where there weren't escape routes?There are connections to the tunnels beneath the city.”
“Then we need to get people into those tunnels,” I say.I don't want to just abandon people if I can avoid it.
Marcus sighs, but then leads the way back into the main room.
“Guards!”he calls out.“The guards are coming.You need to run!”
People abandon their fights, turning to flee.Some of them head for the front exit, but others head for the rear of the temple, back towards a spot where a statue swings aside, revealing a set of stairs leading down.People start to pour down those stairs, and Marcus, Alaric, and I are among them.
Even as we do it, guards start coming through the front of the temple.
I'm not sure how many people are grabbed in those first few moments.Alaric’s people have left plenty incapacitated, and I'm sure there's more than a few of Alaric’s followers who've been hurt to the point where they can't run.
Everyone else scatters.
“Run!”I shout.
Alaric, Marcus and I take off down the tunnels, initially as part of a wave of people running from the guards, but then alone as the tunnels branch and people scatter down different paths, obviously reasoning that the guards can't follow all of them.Marcus lights the way for us with a flicker of lightning while Alaric frantically works illusions behind us so that it looks as if rocks have fallen across the tunnels we're heading down.
“That should slow the guards for a while,” he says.“I hope my people got out.”
“If you didn't want to put them in danger, don't bring them to attack my businesses,” Marcus replies.“Thanks to you, probably several of my people have been seized.I don't know what the city will do with them.”
“No doubt you'll find a way to interfere on their behalf,” Alaric says.“Just as you'll probably push for the execution of any of my people who get caught.”
“The two of you need to stop fighting,” I say.“We need to work together if we're going to get out of here.”
I've let go of my control of the birds, but I reach for other animals.There are always creatures down here: rats and scuttling things, even a crocodile or two on the lower levels.Through their eyes, I start to get a sense of where I am.
“Work together?”Alaric says, with a note of disbelief.He shakes his head.“No.We've gone far enough together.Lyra… I'm not sure where you stand, but I know what he stands for and I won't go any further with him.”
“Just as I won't spend any longer with a traitor,” Marcus replies.
I stand caught between the two of them, each of them looking at me expectantly as if assuming that I will go with them.I clearly hesitated for too long, trying to work out what I should do because the truth is that I care about both of them.
“Can't you see that you're both talking about trying to help the city?”I say.“If you stopped fighting and worked with each other-”
“That's not going to happen,” Marcus says.
Alaric shakes his head.“That's one thing I can agree with him on.And maybe one day you'll see it, Lyra.There's no working with people like that.”
