Maybe I’m not being fair to him with that. At least part of his hatred is because she’s a symbol of the empire that took Marcus’ family from him when his father crossed the emperor, but I’m not in the mood to befairwith him right now, not when he’s probably still running illegal death bouts beneath the city’s streets, even as he pushes for the return of such bouts to the normal games.
I pull my attention back to the colosseum, looking out over it from the senate’s box, the one that used to belong to theemperor. I’m the only one in it for now, so that it makes me look like an empress surveying her people. It’s not an image I enjoy, but Idolove the spectacle of the games even now. I love the way they’re able to bring so many people together, gathered around the sandy surface below, joined in a common purpose.
I just wish that purpose wasn’t to watch people fight, and bleed, and maybe even die.
The colosseum fills, the procession winding its way inside. The entertainers pull away, while Marcus hurries up through the arena, leaving Selene and the other gladiators standing there in their brief armor, carrying weapons designed for spectacle more than efficient violence. Marcus arrives in the senate’s box, looking over at me with an expression of longing and pain for a moment before approaching the front of the box.
“My friends,” he says, and the magic woven into the box makes his voice carry to all those within the colosseum. “Fellow citizens of Aetheria, welcome to another set of holy days, and the games that come with them!”
The crowd roars in response.
“We have a grand spectacle for you today,” Marcus assures them. “There will be fights against terrifying beasts. There will be a grand naval battle right here in the colosseum. And at its culmination, we will see the vicious traitor, Selene Ravenscroft, take on one of the darlings of the arena: Cesca!”
Cesca steps forward. She's a short, dark-haired gladiator with a lithe figure that she shows off in almost scandalously brief armor. She twirls a slender blade, sending sparks of lightning dancing along it. Ordinarily, she's a fan favorite, but now it isn't her name the crowd chants.
“Selene! Selene!”
I expect to see anger on Cesca’s face, but instead she seems resigned, as if she knew this would happen. She and the other gladiators retreat to the preparation areas beneath the arena toget ready for their fights. Already, hawkers are calling out in the stands, selling food or wine, while the bookmakers are shouting odds on each bout.
The first bout is, as Marcus promised, a bout featuring animals. A gladiator faces off against a bear with razor-sharp claws, dodging aside from the swipes, never letting it get close as he stabs it with a slender blade again and again. But he's too slow with one of his attempts and the bear's paw slams into him, sending him tumbling to the ground. Huge claw marks form parallel slashes across his chest. The bear rises over him, and Marcus looks at me.
I’m already reaching out for the bear, wrapping my mind around its and pulling it back from the gladiator before the beast can finish him. I send it back towards the gates leading below, and trainers rush out to contain it, even as healers run onto the sands to carry the gladiator from them.
The crowd boos. It’s obvious they don’t like the fight being cut short like this, but I’m not about to allow there to be a death down there.
“Citizens of Aetheria,” Marcus calls out. “Show your appreciation for Tersus and his bravery!”
They continue to boo, though, as Tersus is carried off.
The next bout requires a major change to the arena. Mages who specialize in water manipulation step in even as valves are opened in the sides of the arena. They flood it, a whole lake’s worth of water flowing into the colosseum in a way that quickly provides the setting for the next bout.
Gladiators come out on small boats, maneuvering for position, swiping at one another when they get close enough. The crowd cheers their efforts, seeming more enthused by this than by the fight against the bear. But as the gladiators start to knock one another off the boats, the crowd’s reaction seems to be more amusement than excitement. The gladiators exchangeblows, throw blasts of magic at one another, but the water isn’t running red with their blood. Still, they cheer loudly enough when the last gladiator stands atop his boat, then flips into the water with a splash. That water drains away, leaving them there to receive the applause of the crowd.
But now, as they leave the sands, it’s time for the main event.
“It’s time for our final bout of the day,” Marcus says. “On this side of the sands, we have the beauty of the arena, a woman who can send sparks through all of you: Cesca!”
She comes out to cheers, bowing and twirling, making a show of her presence.
“And on this side, we have a traitor who is here to pay for her crimes: Selene Ravenscroft!”
Marcus says it as if he expects boos, but there are cheers from every side instead as Selene walks out. Her armor is almost as brief as Cesca’s, her blade similarly slender, leaving her rear arm free to throw magic. The dampener around her wrist limits how strong that magic is, but even so, I’m surprised Cesca took this contest. The last gladiator to face Selene died.
They square off and start to circle one another. Selene sends out darts of magic, which Cesca dodges, or which are absorbed by her armor. She lashes out with her blade, the weapon crackling with electricity. Selene must dodge in turn, because parrying would only send that lightning arcing along her weapon, into her hand.
Their fight resembles a dance, both forced to rely on movement and grace to avoid each other’s attacks. The crowd responds to every near miss with gasps and cheers, caught up in the knowledge that one slip for either fighter might mean disaster. Cesca sends out sparks of lightning, trying to catch Selene off guard. Selene alternates between focused beams of purple power and dexterous swings of her blade.
Cesca parries one of those swings, sending lightning darting out along the blades in a way she’s done so many times before. She might not have huge power, but it’s more than enough to stun someone and leave them twitching on the ground.
For a moment, my heart is in my mouth. Is it possible Cesca will be the one to kill Selene?
But Selene spots the move. She drops her weapon and reaches out for Cesca, hands glowing with purple power. Cesca is thrown back, flying to land in a spray of wet sand that clings to her like mud. Her blade has fallen from her grip, while Selene advances on her with power glowing in her hands.
Cesca has her own hands up as if she can ward off that power.
“Please,” she calls out. “I yield! I yield!”
She crawls back across the sand, defeated and humiliated. Selene advances on her, picking up Cesca’s weapon in place of her own, moving forward with the slow grace of a cat that’s cornered its prey. She sends bursts of power to strike the sand on either side of Cesca, sending sprays of sand up into the air.
