I must admit that, even though I have every reason to hate the games, the atmosphere around the colosseum is spectacular.A huge crowd of people is making its way down the broad boulevard leading to the colosseum’s gates, lined with hawkers and entertainers, the air filled with the scents of food and the raucous sound of music.
They part to let us through, either because of Marcus’ authority as a senator or because they see me, one of the competitors, approaching.Even the guards on the gates step back without challenging us, letting us through, into the vast stadium’s interior.
There are plenty of people already milling around there, trying to get to the betting booths that offer odds on the coming matches, or on who will win the whole tournament.Selene remains the favorite for that, but my own odds have shortened considerably now people are aware I’m no longer constrained by a magical dampener, designed to limit my magic.
I’m careful to keep playing the part of Marcus’ obedient servant, the slave Selene and her followers believe they’ve made me into in all but name.Still, I glance up at the betting boards, trying to get a sense of who I’ll face today.I see the name Jor and wince.He’s a huge, hulking barbarian from the mountains to the north, filled with wild magic and with a sense of brutality that stalks his every step.He’s a dangerous opponent indeed, and a good matchup for me.
I realize most of the other matches have been just as carefully arranged.Selene’s path through the tournament seems clear, although I doubt her followers will give her quite the mismatch she faced in her first round.The other bouts seem to pit fighters from different factions of the city against each other, and I suspect that’s deliberate.Selene wants to show the world in her terms, demonstrating on the sands of the arena that magic counts for more than anything else, and that the old order is ready to be rebuilt in new ways.
The Grand Tournament is a story Selene is shaping for the benefit of the crowd.Even my own first bout, against Lorelei of Arboria, played into the story she’s trying to tell here.She used me to show our nearest neighbors that Aetheria is stronger than them, wrapping me up in her plot effortlessly.Every time I fight here, I advance the vision of the world she’s trying to push.
But I can’t stop.I need to be here to have a chance of stopping Selene.All I can do is fight and put forward my own argument about what’s right.I just hope it will be enough.
“Come on,” Marcus says.“The games will begin soon, and I’ve been asked to bring you to the senate box for the first bouts.”
I wince, but I can’t say no.Nor can Marcus.As one of the organizers of the games, he’s expected to be in the senate’s box looking over the arena.And if Selene wants me by his side, well...that’s where I must be.
CHAPTER TWO
I kneel in the senate box while, out on the sands of the arena, people are dying.
The Grand Tournament begins each day the same way the old games used to begin: with executions out on the colosseum floor.A group of captured gang members is currently facing off against a pack of slinking shadow cats, the great dark cats slipping from shadow to shadow with the magic of their kind so that they can pounce on their prey and tear them apart.
The crowd roars as they do it, and the stadium is full to a degree that wouldn't have been possible in the old days, before it was rebuilt for these games.There are people of all ages and backgrounds in the stands, from the nobles in their private boxes to the common citizens, the merchants, soldiers, and more.Many of them are shouting their excitement at the blood and death below, although there are some who seem to hold back.I can feel their disquiet, even as I sense the bloodlust of so much of the crowd.
I can feel the hunger of the cats, too, as they hunt the gang members around the arena.The gang members have swords and knives, but no armor, just the colors of their former gang.I recognize one of the gangs controlled by Senator Yarrow, who wields power throughout the slums.I assume that this execution is a message to her, a reminder of where she stands in the new order Selene is creating.
One of the shadow cats slips out of the shadow of one of the gang members, rending his flesh as he screams.I desperately want to reach out with my magic to stop this, to force the shadow cats back to their cages, but I can’t.If I interfere that openly, I risk being executed myself, while the gang members will merely be killed another way.All I can do is watch.
“Are you enjoying your position, Lyra?”Selene asks as I kneel next to Marcus.Marcus is sitting on one of the couches there, next to Selene, but I don’t get that luxury.Selene seems determined about that small cruelty, a reminder of my situation as Marcus’ prisoner.
I glare back at her, not saying anything.
Selene looks regal as she sits there.When she fights, later, she will no doubt wear armor of shifting scales, designed to show off her slender frame to best effect.Here, though, she wears robes of purple and gold, in a deliberate echo of the colors favored by the empire, before the Republic of Aetheria overthrew it.Her jet-black hair is carefully braided, while she wears a few discrete pieces of jewelry, rather than the gaudy displays some nobles might favor.Her violet eyes look me over with amusement, glowing with magical power.
“Lyra is doing all I could wish of her,” Marcus says.It’s a politician’s answer, letting Selene guess at exactly what he commands me to do.Most likely, she assumes he’s taken me as his lover again, the way we used to be.
Thanks to her magic, Seleneshouldbe able to see exactly what we’re doing and the ways we’re plotting against her.Among her many magical skills as an Archon, Selene has learned to use psychomancy, the mind magic that can let her control others or read their surface thoughts.Thankfully, Marcus acquired protections against such things years ago, after the emperor used a psychomancer to destroy his family, while my own skills as a beast whisperer seem to give me some defense against such things.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying her,” Selene says, reaching out to put a hand on Marcus’ knee.“I like to reward my friends.”
"And I'm glad to be your friend," Marcus replies.It's a lie, given that he's working against everything she's trying to do in the city.
“Good,” Selene says.“I’m sure you’ll prosper as the city changes, Marcus.I do hope you get all you want out of Lyra quickly, though.She might not be around much longer.”
“You think I won’t fight my way through the games?”I say.
Selene smiles."I'm sure you will.And then I'll kill you in front of the whole city.Don't worry, Marcus.I'll find you someone to replace her."
Marcus’ expression tightens slightly.“You’re very kind.”
“I’m exactly what I need to be, for the good of the city,” Selene says.
Down below, the last of the gang members is being torn to pieces by the shadow cats.Selene looks over to me.
“Why don’t you send them back to their cages, Lyra?I’m sure you want to.Alternatively, we can see whether the trainers can catch them again without being hurt.Or maybe just have the cats shot by archers.”
It sickens me to have to do what she wants, but I know that in this, as in so many things, Selene has controlled the situation to get her way.Idon’twant to risk the lives of the trainers or the shadow cats.So I reach out with my magic, connecting with the minds of the creatures still prowling the colosseum floor.
