“Maybe Iwantpeople to see,” Marcus murmurs back.
Our relationship isn’t a secret.People know, but that’s not the same thing as displaying our affections so publicly.Too much public attention might be difficult politically.I can feel the eyes on us, nobles watching us with hints of jealousy or amusement, or maybe calculating what it means for them politically.Everything in Aetheria seems to be political.
I’ve gone from taking on enemies with weapons and magic to having to deal with ones for whom words are the most dangerous weapons.Although far from the only ones.At least one hidden enemy has sent men to beat or kill me in the past few months.
“Where were you?”Marcus whispers to me.
“I was watching the fights,” I say.“Cesca came close to killing her opponent.”
“I’m sure she was just putting on a show,” Marcus says, in a soothing tone he seems to use with me far too often.
“You weren’t there,” I reply.Marcus never seems quite as concerned as I am when the games take a dangerous turn.
"No," he replies."I was here, talking to several merchants and nobles who are sponsoring the games.You know I was.And they want to speak to you, Lyra.I'm not impressive enough for them.The champion of the Colosseum, the woman who killed the emperor, is the one they want to meet.Please, Lyra."
I sigh, letting him take my hand and lead me through the receiving rooms.Even now that I’m a senator of the Republic of Aetheria, it seems people want to be seen with me.I let Marcus lead me towards one of the side rooms, and I hesitate, just a fraction.
“What is it?”Marcus asks me, obviously sensing my reluctance.I can hear the concern for me in his voice.
“This… this is the room that used to belong to Lady Elara,” I say.
Lady Elara, my former patron.The head of an organization of beast whisperers who were determined to overthrow the empire in a tidal wave of dominated creatures running through the streets.The woman who trained me and put me in dangerous situations.The woman I had to kill, in the end, to stop her.
“I’m sorry,” Marcus says.“I didn’t know.There aren’t records of which patron used to use which room.I just chose one that was available.”
Of course, he wouldn't know which room Lady Elara used to choose.
“Can you still go in there?”he asks.“If you can’t, I’ll find a way to handle the nobles without you.”
I shake my head.“No, I’ll manage it.I know how important this is to you.”
“To all of us,” Marcus says.“These sponsors of the games help to make them as spectacular as they are, help to bring in money for all of us.”
There’s no doubt that the gamesarebringing in money.I see rebuilding efforts wherever I look in the city and more guards on the street to keep order, at least in the wealthier areas.I know the benefits the games bring to Aetheria.I'm just not sure whether they're worth the dangers.
I go into the side room with Marcus, and he’s smiling that big, open smile he uses when meeting people.He’s good with people, charismatic and intelligent, interested in them and interesting in his own right.
There are probably a dozen nobles and wealthy merchants in the room, seated around a grand table laden with food.There are servants waiting around the edge of the room, ready to rush forward to serve them.They’re talking and drinking, but they fall silent when I walk in, staring at me, at Marcus, at the two of us together.Marcus’ arm is around me in what is probably a protective gesture, but one that also makes it clear the two of us are together.
“Lyra Thornwind,” a fat, balding man dripping with jewelry says.“We must congratulate you on another wonderful set of games.”
"As if you saw any of them, Acteon," another slender man in his fifties retorts."You spent the whole game in here."
“As I’m sureyouspent them trying to build allies for your next deal, Justinian,” Acteon retorts.
"But isn't that at least part of the point of the games, my friends?"Marcus says, leading me to the table."Isn't it just one more thing their return has brought about?It's given us a space in which to conduct our business and meet people we would never meet in other places.I'm sure everyone here has profited greatly in the last six months."
"Of course we have," a woman in her forties says.She wears an elaborately embroidered dress and plenty of golden jewelry.She extends her hand towards me."I'm Gallea.It's a pleasure to meet the great Lyra Thornwind."
“I’m not sure I’m that great,” I say.
“Fishing for compliments?”Gallea says, arching an eyebrow.
Marcus just smiles again."Lyra often doesn't remember just how much she's achieved.The strongest beast whisperer in Aetheria.The champion of the Colosseum.The killer of the emperor.And now a senator of the Republic."
He lists my achievements the way an announcer might say them at the start of a bout.I know that to everyone else, they must seem impressive, but for me, they were simply what I needed to do at the time.
I settle in beside Marcus, taking a few delicacies from the table and starting to eat.
