“When we founded our Republic,” I say, looking around at the people in the stands.“We wanted to bring an end to the cruelty and violence of the empire.We wanted to create a version of Aetheria in which all the people of the city and its provinces could be safe and free.”
I give them a second in which to imagine that possibility.
"Instead, we got people trying to twist the Republic of Aetheria from the start," I continue, with a sweeping gesture that takes in everyone and no one, all at once.I'm not going to pin the blame on just a few people.I'd rather let everyone in the stands consider their own part in the way Aetheria has turned out."There were those who thought life would be better if they could only return to the days of the empire, and those who sought to protect the privileges they'd built up under it at the expense of the ordinary people.Almost at once, corruption and bribery became the norm, with systems designed not for the good of the citizens but to placate the factions and interests within the city.Everyone talked about our great Republic and how much better it was than the empire, but almost from the start, people were trying to erode everything it stood for."
I wonder if I’ll persuade any of the people there.I wonder what it will take to show them that Aetheria can be a better place.
“Look around you at the other people in the stands,” I say.“Selene Ravenscroft tried to tell you that only some of you were worth anything.That only those with the greatest magic count in Aetheria.It’s true that it’s a city of great magic, but that isnotthe source of its strength.It's you, all of you.The people of this city are what make it into something beautiful, and this city should work for"
"No!"Selene's voice sounds behind me, and I turn to see her rising, her blade back in her hand."No, this isn't done!This will never be done!"
She lunges for me, blade ready for a killing stroke.I have no weapons, and I've used so much magic already that I don't have anything left to throw at her.Our bout is over, and I wasn't expecting her to attack me so suddenly.It means I have no way to stop the sword blow that's coming.Selene is going to cut me down, and it won't matter that I was the one who won our bout.Selene is going to take the throne regardless.
That’s when the ground beneath us rumbles, the rubble shaking so hard that I’m thrown from my feet.So is Selene.She falls, still struggling to get up, still trying to find a way to kill me.
A spike of stone rises from the rubble, the scattered stones reforming themselves into something sharp and deadly that grows with almost impossible speed.
It slams into Selene and she gasps as it punches through her body, lifting her into the air, high above the colosseum.I see Rowan standing at the far side of the arena, his hand outstretched as he uses his power over stone to form the pillar of rock that impales Selene.His face is creased in concentration.This must be right on the limits of his abilities, even with the amplification effects of the colosseum.
“It’s forbidden to attack once a bout is done,” Rowan says, striding forward while Selene twitches atop the spire of stone.She goes still, her body hanging in grim imitation of the ones that once hung over Ironhold, disobedient slave gladiators slain and displayed for all to see.
It's a shocking sight, one that stuns the crowd in the colosseum to silence as Rowan comes over to me, helping me up.He lifts my hand in victory, and now the crowd cheers as one, celebrating my win in the arena, or maybe Selene's death after all the misery she's caused.
“Thank you,” I say to Rowan, as a wave of relief spreads through me.I know, without his intervention, I’d be the one who’s dead, not Selene.”
“I couldn’t let her kill you,” Rowan says.“The city needs you too much, Lyra.”
Rowan keeps his grip on my arm as he leads me over to the throne Selene set on the floor of the arena.I know what he intends, and I’m already shaking my head as I approach it.
“No,” I say.“I don’t want to be empress.I don’t want to rule.”
“And that’s exactly why you should, at least for a time,” Rowan says.He picks up the golden crown of laurel leaves.His grip is strong enough that he holds me in place effortlessly as he sets it on my brow, before turning to the audience.
“All hail Empress Lyra of Aetheria!”
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
We march from the colosseum with the crowd following behind us like a flood that fills Aetheria’s streets.Alaric is beside me now, and when he puts his arms around me to kiss me deeply, plenty of people with us cheer, as if it’s one more part of the entertainment of the games.
As we march, I see guards ahead, forming a line.I can sense the tension of the people around me, and I try to calm them as best I can with my magic, but I’m exhausted now.I used so much magic in my fight and in my attempts to calm the city that I'm not sure I could do more than call down a few birds if this came to a fight.
Thankfully, Alaric seems happy to deal with this for me.He strides forward, gesturing to me as me might to some performer in the theater he wants to highlight.
“Ah, gentlemen.Come to protect your empress?”
The guards hold firm.One of them, apparently their captain, steps forward.“This isn’t our-”
“Of course it is,” Alaric says, cutting him off before he can say anything that might escalate the situation.“The rules around the final contest in the arena were clear.Lyra Thornwind won.The senate was quite clear that the winner would become the ruler of Aetheria.”
The guard captain looks as if he might still command his men to take me into custody, but Rowan steps forward.
“Selene Ravenscroft is dead,” he says.“Now, you have a choice.You can either let us pass, or you can try to take on the full might of the people of Aetheria.”
He makes the cobblestones shake to punctuate his point, and that seems to be enough for the guard captain.
“Stand aside,” he tells his men.“The empress of Aetheria is coming through.”
I wince every time someone calls me the empress.It feels as though Selene has won even as she loses, forcing me to be empress based on nothing more than my greater magical might.She enacted the social order she wanted, even as she died.I can imagine her laughing at me cruelly from beyond the grave, anticipating all the ways in which I’ll become just like every other emperor, given time.
