CHAPTER TEN
“Are you ready for today's games?”Marcus asks me as we sit in the emperor's box, the morning sunlight spilling over us as the crowd pours into the arena.
The Champions’ Challenge hasn't finished, and it seems the near miss yesterday has only added to the excitement of the crowd.The Colosseum feels as though it's fuller than it has ever been, people piling into the benches until it feels that there's a sea of them around the arena.
“I just hope no one gets hurt,” I say.
“Then you’re missing the point of the games,” Domitian says, from further along in the box.I guess I should be grateful that he's here, if only because it means he isn't plotting anywhere else.
The box is full today with more senators and their servants, and of course several have their own boxes.Olivia is casually sipping wine in hers, and seems to have attracted the attention of Lady Cassandra of Arboria, who’s sharing the box.
“We need everything to go smoothly,” Marcus says.“Especially in front of the visiting dignitaries.They need to go back to Arboria with the impression that the Republic is a safe, trustworthy partner.”
“Thankfully, today's events should be sufficiently impressive,” Domitian says.
That worries me because it implies he's had a hand in whatever the match is going to be today.I can see stakes set in the ground, and I'm afraid that they will be to tie creatures to.Except that the reality is worse.They bring out a series of gladiators, including both Cesca and Sorrel, chaining each to one of the posts by an ankle.
“Begin!”Marcus calls out.
Thenthey release beasts.
They aren’t wolves or lizards or any other predators.Instead, they’re rushing, flightless birds, each taller than a man, each with claws and spurs that look as though they’re long enough to eviscerate someone.Their feathers have sharp edges too, and I see one of the gladiators wince in pain as one of the birds rushes past him, feathers slicing across his arm.
“What is this?”I demand.
“The birds won’t attack them,” Domitian says.“They are notoriously fearful of people.And the gladiators aren’t even fighting one another.They merely need to catch or defeat a bird to win.”
He smiles as he says it, knowing that he’s found a way to introduce real danger without my being able to complain.Domitian must know there’s the potential for this to go very wrong, but he’s made it sound as though it’s something carefully considered and safe.
I’m forced to watch as the gladiators flail at the passing birds with their weapons, trying to stun them or bring them down.One runs to the limit of the chain around his ankle, trying to use it to trip one of the birds.It leaps over the chain, claws scraping across his torso.
I wince again, wanting this to stop.These Champions’ Challenges are every bit as bad, in their way, as the old games were.The crowd are cheering and calling out, clearly enjoying every drop of blood spilled, every attempt by the gladiators to catch the birds.
Then it gets worse.
People rush down from the stands, waving flags and banners in the air, having to dodge the birds as they do so.A lithe, dark-haired young woman stands on the railing of the Colosseum, her voice carrying in a way that suggests it's augmented with magic.
“Stop the games!”she yells.“Stop this madness!Can’t you see what you’re doing?”
The birds are still rushing around the arena floor, and now the gladiators seem to be trying to keep them away from the people who’ve rushed down onto the sands.The only good thing about it seems to be that the birds aren’t actively attacking anybody, just running around, trying to keep out of their way.Even so, another cut opens on the arm of one of the gladiators, and Cesca reaches out to send one of the birds twitching to the ground, her lightning running through it.
“People of Aetheria!”the young woman calls out.“Can’t you see how wrong this all is?We fought to overthrow the tyranny of the games, the corruption that comes with them.By taking them away, we took away the tool the nobles of Aetheria used to control us!”
People in the crowd are starting to stare at her.She has their attention, and it’s clear that she isn’t done yet.She points up at the emperor’s box, at me and the other senators.
“These people are bringing it all back, little by little.They brought back the games, and they were supposed to be safe.They’ve made them more dangerous, little by little.They strike deals in back rooms and carve up the city between them to make profits at our expense.They don’t have slaves anymore, but they keep the people of the slums so poor that we must do everything they want anyway!”
Below her, the people on the sands are starting to chant.
“Stop the games!Stop the games!”
At first, they're just a small cluster of voices set against the general noise of the crowd.Some people are even booing them for interrupting the contest they were enjoying.
“My friends, stand with us,” the young woman says.“Show the Republic that we will not allow a return to the old ways, that we will not permit corruption to exist at the heart of the city!”
“Stop the games!Stop the games!”
Now, it seems the chant is being taken up by more people around the stadium so that it echoes and reverberates.There are scuffles breaking out in the stands, and some of those on the arena floor are using magic to send bright lights up into the sky.It's loud and eye-catching.
