“And how did that go?”Thalia demands, with a brittle smile.
We both know the answer.Domitian and others worked to make the games more “exciting”, by which he meant more dangerous.People began to be hurt.A young man called Kai was killed.
“So you’re working with Alaric?”I say.
Thalia nods.“Your precious city is still corrupt, Senator.The nobles and the merchants still exert power to get what they want.The games are still an abomination.We won’t stop until they’re torn down and all those who hurt the ordinary people of the city face justice.”
I can’t help but feel a note of sympathy as she says that.I agree with much of what Alaric and his supporters want.I’m just not convinced about the way they’re trying to achieve their aims.Violence and disruption only seem likely to harden the resolve of Aetheria and its senators against them.As one of those senators, I can’t be seen to support them directly.
“Why isn’t Alaric here?”I ask.
Thalia shakes her head.“He can’t risk it.There was a brief respite after Domitian’s uprising, but that doesn’t mean his enemies have stopped looking for him.He can’t even trust that they won’t be watching now, using you to get to him.”
“I would never do that,” I insist, angry that she would even suggest it.I’ve saved Alaric’s life.I’ve fought for him, almost died for him.I would never betray him like that.
“Really?”Thalia says.“Not even if the handsome Senator Marcus asks you to?”
It’s clear that she knows about the relationship between me and Marcus, but then, it’s hardly a secret.The former champion of the arena and its most popular senator being in a relationship is fuel for plenty of rumors around the city.
“So, he won’t see me?”I ask.
“He wants me to meet with you instead,” Thalia says.“I’m one of his lieutenants.I can get a message to him if needed.”
“And answer questions for me?”I ask, trying to hide my disappointment at not getting to see Alaric, and at him not trusting me enough to meet with me directly now.
Thalia considers it.“If they don’t harm our organization, maybe.”
“I’ve heard about fighters disappearing from Ironhold,” I say.“I’ve also heard rumors of secret death matches in the city.Do you know anything about those?”
Thalia nods.“They move from place to place, but you have to know the right people to get in.I don’t know where the next one is yet, but I know that Barthus, the bookmaker, is taking bets on it.”
It isn't much information, but it's something.Maybe it will be enough to let me find the location of the fights.Maybe I'll be able to get more from the bookmaker and work out how this moving network of fights is meant to operate.
I want to ask Thalia so much more about herself, the underground movement, and Alaric.There's no time to do it, though, because I can see the patrolling guards heading back towards our location.
“I can’t be seen with you,” Thalia says.“It’s time to go, Senator.If you need to contact me again, don’t wander the city shouting your intentions to everyone who’ll listen.Just leave a black stone here by the statue.I’ll see it and contact you with a time and place to meet.”
It’s a paranoid system, but given that Alaric’s followers are still being treated with suspicion, as only one step short of being traitors, the caution might be necessary.I hurry away, leaving Thalia behind and hoping Alaric is safe.
I can’t focus on him now, though.I need to find the death matches, and that means getting information from Barthus.
CHAPTER FOUR
I’m careful to disguise myself before I go out looking for answers.I’m easily recognized in the city, and while the adulation of the people and the authority that comes from being a senator are mostly good things, neither will help me here.If people know who I am, then they’ll also know that I’m against the violence and corruption of the games.No one will trust me with the location of the death bouts.
I need to become someone theywilltrust.I dye my hair a deep red and apply makeup so that people will need to look closely to realize who I am.I consider my choice of clothes carefully, finally selecting poorer clothes that might be better suited to a servant.I wrap a cloak around myself, then slip out of the palace again.
I head into the merchant district, making my way to its seedier edges, where it and the entertainment district mingle, and there are paths out into the slums through the walls, paths that shouldn’t exist, but do.
I use the eyes of animals around me as I walk, watching for danger, but also keeping track of the guards.I don’t know how they’ll react to me wandering around in disguise.Even with Domitian imprisoned, I don’t know how many of them might be in the pockets of corrupt senators.It’s better to keep my distance.
And maybe that adds to my disguise.The kind of person I’m pretending to be, a servant sent to get information for her employer, would be furtive and careful, worried about being spotted by the guards and careful to keep her cloak in place around her.
"I'm looking for Barthus," I say to a tough-looking man on a street corner.I slip him a couple of coins as he looks me over.
"And why does a pretty thing like you want a used-up old man like Barthus?"the man says."I can show you a much better time."
He reaches out for me, and it would be so easy to take him down, to break his arm or just knock him out.But doing something like that would make it clear I’m not just a simple servant.Taking down some street tough is something Lyra, the champion of the colosseum, could do, not something some serving woman might manage.
