I just hope they won’t become like the old ones.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX: LYRA
I stand on the edge of the city, near one of the entrances to the crypts, wearing my formal toga.Kai’s funeral pyre has been built here, logs stacked neatly with him atop them.He has his weapons by his side, and it's still dressed in the armor in which he died.Clearly everyone decided that he should be sent to the afterlife dressed as the warrior he wanted to be.
For all that the crowds chanted his name, there are few enough here for his funeral.A few people who look like they might be from the pit fights.A few common folk from the slums.A priest.
“We are gathered here to send our brother Kai’s spirit back into the stones of Aetheria.He stood and fought with bravery and honor.We should recognize that.”
I bite my tongue, not saying the obvious things: that Kai’s magic will already have flowed back into the stones beneath the city.That there was nothing honorable about his death when both he and his opponent were going against the rules of the new games.I'm not here to cheapen this moment, but simply to pay my respects to a young man who saw me fight in the arena and learned all the wrong lessons.
Could I have done anything to turn him from his path?He didn't listen to me when I spoke to him, but maybe there's something else I could have done.Maybe I could have prevented him fighting at all using my position.Maybe I could have insisted that his magic was limited within the colosseum.In the end though, I wasn't able to do anything to help him.Now all I can do is stand by as the priest sets light to the pyre using a flicker of magic.
A figure steps close to me as the flames rise.I half expect this to be another attack on me, from those who know I'm going to stand against the games, but no, it’s Alaric, standing there with a cloak wrapped around him.
“You didn't leave the city,” I say.“I saw you in the colosseum.”
“I know,” Alaric replies.“And I saw you.I can only guess how much it must have hurt, not being able to save this young man.”
“You're not going to say that you told me so?”I ask.“That you told me the violence of the colosseum couldn't be contained?”
Alaric shakes his head.“I'm not your enemy, Lyra.I'm sorry for all the ways I've hurt you.I know… I should have been better, back in Seatide.”
“And I should have seen that it was a place that was never suited to you,” I reply.“I'm sorry, Alaric.I'm sorry I didn't listen to you.”
Alaric spreads his hands.“You're always going to have your own thoughts and opinions, Lyra.Are you going to stay in Aetheria?”
I nod.“I can't walk away from it now.I've seen what people will build without me.I’m a senator of the city.I still believe I can do some good here.Are you going to stay?”
“For now,” Alaric replies.“Seeing what happened in the games has shown me that I'm needed.That there's still plenty of work to be done within the Republic.Work I ignored when the emperor fell.”
“What kind of work?”I ask.
Alaric shakes his head.“It's probably better if you don't know.And this isn't the moment.But I want you to know that I never stopped caring about you, Lyra.Even in the moments when I cursed you, I still loved you.It’s just… this city, and everything in it, makes things too difficult sometimes.”
“Too difficult for the great Alaric Blackthorn?”I say, raising an eyebrow.
“It was easier when I didn't care,” he replies.“I think you made me care, Lyra.I don't know whether to thank you for that or hate you.”
“You always cared, Alaric,” I point out.“It's just that you did a very good job of hiding it for a long time.”
“Maybe,” Alaric replies.He looks me up and down.“Is that the toga just to show the world that the senate is taking an interest in this young man's death?”
“Partly that,” I say, “and partly because I'm headed to the senate chamber next.I'm going to see if I can put a stop to the games.”
“Good luck,” Alaric says.“Something tells me you'll need it.”
***
By the time I arrive in the senate chambers, there are already plenty of senators gathered.Rowan is in his seat, and there are many onlookers in the public viewing galleries.The only person I can't see is Marcus, which catches me by surprise.I start to move to my seat, but I can hear the debate that's going on between the senators.
“Whatever else you think,” Domitian says.“You cannot deny that the games were a success.”
“The goal was to have safe games, Domitian,” Rowan shoots back.
“The goals, first senator, were to quell the unrest in the city, provide an economic stimulus, and entertain the masses,” Domitian retorts.“Can anyone deny that it's done those things?”
“At what price?”I call out, stepping to the middle of the senate chamber.“Before, I argued that the games might be able to go ahead with sufficient controls.I voted in favor of them.But now I must call for a new vote.I propose that no future arena games are permitted in Aetheria.”
