“But in trying, you exposed yourself to danger,” Alaric says.“And there are better ways to build influence.”
He takes me down to the large chamber on the ground floor of the colosseum, where bookmakers vie for the custom of the public and hawkers sell everything from food to items they claim once belonged to famous gladiators.
I hear a cheer from beyond the chamber, accompanied by a groan of disappointment from many of those within.I realize that the match I was watching must have concluded.I look through the eyes of the birds outside once again, and I see the most surprising sight of all: the bodies ofboththe scholar and the sailor are impaled upon the spikes below the platforms.Both must have fallen while they struggled with one another, tumbling to their deaths even as they sought to achieve victory.
Healers are running onto the sands, trying to pull them from the spikes, but I can already see it’s too late to help either gladiator.They both have the stillness of death, and both stare sightlessly at the sky above.
Was this the outcome Selene wanted for the bout?I assume she wanted the scholar to win to show the superiority of magical learning, but maybe if the sailor won, she would have claimed the importance of practical magical power in a single discipline over theoretical knowledge.With a closely matched bout like this, it’s possible Selene was ready to claim that either winner demonstrated her point.She’s clever enough to have prepared to take advantage of any outcome.
But there's a risk that I give her too much credit with that kind of thinking.Selene is highly intelligent, and she plans ahead well, but she isn't omniscient.She doesn't have the former emperor Tiberius' command of time magic to see the future.There's no way she saw this double death coming, and I'm sure it took her by surprise.
Around me, betters are snapping the wooden betting tokens they’ve been given, or arguing with the bookmakers about why their favored fighter died last, and so their wagers should still be paid out.
“You need to convince the ordinary people,” Alaric says, “not the nobles.Speak to them.”
I look around, trying to think of something I can say, but I don’t need to think for long.
“You’re disappointed,” I say, raising my voice.People turn to look at me and a low murmur goes through the crowd there at the presence of a gladiator.“You all thought you knew which fighter would win here in the arena, the way Selene Ravenscroft is certain that she knows how the city will change in the next few weeks."I pause for a moment.“But no one knows for sure how things will turn out.”
I gesture back towards the floor of the colosseum.“Selene probably wanted that to be a lesson for you all, about the superiority of magic, about why you all deserve to be less than she is.And thereisa lesson there, but not the one she wants to give you.It's a reminder that the colosseum is a place of death, pain, and blood.It's a reminder that it'sthosethings Selene is offering you.She’ll set you against one another to try to gain power for herself.”
“What canwedo to stop her?”one man calls out.“She’s an Archon!”
“Yes, she’s powerful,” I say.“But that doesn’t mean it’s inevitable she should rule.How many people are there in this room?I’m one of the strongest gladiators in the games, but if you all attacked me at once, I wouldn’t stand a chance.The power of one person, even an Archon, doesn’t count for much against the will of all the citizens of Aetheria.”
I can see a couple of guards on the edges of the chamber starting to move closer, but I’m protected by the press of the crowd around me.I don’t know if I’ve convinced them, but Idoknow they want to be close to the beast whisperer who was a champion of the arena.People reach out for me as if merely touching me will bring them luck.
“I saw your fight against Vex,” one of them calls out.
“Everyonesaw that,” another man says.“I was there for her very first bout, where she summoned a shadow cat.I bet on her.”
“You didnot,” a woman says.“No one did.”
They crowd around me, a sea of humanity wanting to bask in my fame.I don’t know if I’ve been able to persuade any of them the way Alaric wants, but at least they seem less hostile than they were when everyone believed I was a traitor who’d tried to free Domitian.
"Will you sign my betting chit?"a man asks, and instantly, there are a dozen others wanting the same.There are too many people pressing in too close.Suddenly, I'm drowning in that sea of people, overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.
I see Marcus approaching a few moments later, his senatorial toga making him stand out from the crowd.
“Enough,” he calls out.“Enough!”
He sends out jolts of lightning to force people back, then plucks me from the crowd.
“I’m sure Lyra is grateful that so many of you care so much about her, but for now, I must take her home.She has another fight coming, and I’m sure you all want her to be prepared.”
His authority is enough to let him drag me from the crowd, leading me from the colosseum.Even so, as we leave, I hear a low chant sounding behind me.
“Lyra, Lyra, Lyra!”
It’s just that, just my name repeated over and over again.I look to Marcus, expecting him to be pleased with me for having built up so much support, but instead, he looks angry and worried.
“What were youthinking, Lyra?Putting yourself in danger like that?What were you thinking?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
I can feel the tension between us for most of the walk back to Marcus’ villa.People wave to us on the streets, treating us as if we’re one more piece of entertainment in a city filled with the wonders of magic.I try to remember to wave back, but it’s obvious that Marcus isn’t happy.
I can sense the frustration in him, the way I can feel the emotions of the people around me.My magic lets me manipulate those emotions when I need to, tapping into the animal instincts of people to make them afraid or calm, eager to chase a foe, or too angry to think clearly.
