“Exhibition matches,” he says.“Fights that wouldn’t be to the death.Ones that would merely display the skills of the fighters involved.”
“And why do you want them?”I ask.
“How about if we talk more once we’ve eaten?”Marcus suggests, because his servants are bringing plates of food to us.“I would feel bad, simply jumping into politics with you.The truth is that I want to get to know you, Lyra.I hope that we can be friends.”
“Friends?”I say.
“Is the concept so unfamiliar?”
“It’s just thatsomeonetold me that anyone on the senate would want to use me for their own ends,” I point out.
He sighs.“I did say that, didn’t I?But I’m serious, Lyra.I’d like to get to know you better.It isn’t every day that I get to meet a champion of the arena and a hero of the city.I didn’t realize you would be so fascinating, or so beautiful.”
The compliment catches me off guard, making me reach for the food to disguise the slight flush of my features.I take some bread and sliced meats, eating carefully.It’s simple fare, less complex than anything I might have been served in most noble homes.I appreciate the simplicity of it.
“Tell me about yourself first,” I say.
“I’m not sure I’m as interesting as you,” he replies.“My family… we’ve been merchants for generations, under the empire, and now under the republic.My grandfather and my father used to deal in dubious things, things that made me uncomfortable, but then they upset the emperor, and lost almost everything.I’ve worked to change things since I got control of what was left of our merchant fleet.I’ve been trying to build new trading routes for the Republic, trying to find ways for us to trade that don’t rely on simply seizing people or riches.”
“And you became a senator,” I say.
He nods.“The various merchant houses got to put forward candidates.I was one of the few people they could agree on, and maybe… maybe they decided they needed someone who wasn’t too tainted by associations to the old regime.The whole world has changed in just a year.Honestly, I’ve been scrambling to keep up.”
I look around at the house.“Something tells me you’ve done well out of the changes.”
Marcus spreads his hands.“Should I pretend that I don’t have money, Lyra?That would be a lie, and I don’t want to lie to you.”
“To me in particular, or to the world in general?”I ask.
He actually pauses and considers that, treating the question with seriousness I don’t expect.“I try not to lie if I can avoid it.Politics… I’m finding day by day that it calls for compromises and speaking carefully, but I would rather be honest where I can.And certainly with you.”
“So if I ask you again about your plans to restart fights in the arena?”I say.
Marcus brings his fingers together, looking at me over them.“The city has plenty of problems.One of them is that the people lack spectacle.Overnight, we took away their biggest entertainment, the thing they would look forward to in order to distract them from the difficulty of their lives.”
“You make the ordinary people sound like children, distracted by pretty lights and the clash of blades,” I say.
Marcus shakes his head.“I don’t mean to insult them.Or you.I’m just saying that we can’t change things so completely without consequences.The games gave people a moment of coming together, a moment to remember that they were a part of the city.They were also important economically.People spent money on gambling, on food, on drink and entertainment.The games were like an engine, driving the city forward.”
“At the price of people’s lives,” I point out.
Marcus looks serious.“I know that, and I understand why Rowan is opposed to them.Why you might be, after all you’ve been through.But what I’m saying is that we might be able to have the good aspects of the games, without the death and bloodlust that were at their core.”
He sounds passionate about that, and I can appreciate his directness, as well as his willingness to try to find a compromise between the positions of those who want to return things to the way they were and those, like Rowan, who don’t want the games back in any form.
“You make a convincing case,” I say.
“Maybe you should tell that to the senate,” Marcus replies.“Now, tell me about yourself, Lyra.”
“What should I tell you?About my fights?About the battle for the city?”
“If you wish,” Marcus says.“Although I would rather hear aboutyou.Where are you from?What was life like for you, growing up?”
“I’m from the village of Seatide, up on the coast,” I say.“My mother is the village healer.I grew up trying to copy her.”
It’s surprisingly easy to talk to Marcus, to tell him about growing up, and about being taken by the empire.To tell him about training at Ironhold, and about the fights I had to stay alive within it.Time passes faster than I expect, and pretty soon, it’s dark outside.
“You’re a fascinating woman, Lyra,” Marcus says.“You could make a real difference in Aetheria.”
