“So they can profit from death and misery,” Alaric says.He doesn’t like the games, and certainly doesn’t like those who make their money because of gladiators dying.Marcus, meanwhile, is happy to make some of his vast fortune through running underground fights and betting venues.
"It means they know about Jor," Marcus says, seeming to pointedly ignore Alaric."He has the ability to summon spirits into himself.He's supposedly skilled with an axe, and he won't feel much pain.It will be a long, drawn-out fight."
Alaric is already shaking his head.“You can’t afford that, Lyra,” he argues."You need to finish this quickly.You have more fights to come, and you can’t afford to get injured in this one.”
“Lyra needs the crowd on her side,” Marcus says.“The way to do that is by giving them the contest they’re looking for.You need to wound Jor and wear him down, the way you might with a charging bear.”
“With a bear, I’d use my powers to persuade it to leave me alone," I point out.
“I doubt that will work with a gladiator who wants to kill you,” Alaric says.“Trick him, persuade him that you’re weak, and then strike decisively.”
“If Lyra looks as though she’s running, the crowd will hate her,” Marcus snaps back.“Besides, they’re reconfiguring the arena as we speak to create an environment filled with hazards and traps.That’s part of what I came down here to tell you, Lyra.”
Even in this, the two of them have very different ideas.They’re both here to support me, but they’re pulling me in opposite directions.Do I go with Alaric’s strategy, because he’s the one who’s spent time fighting in the arena before?Or do I go with Marcus’ greater knowledge of my opponent and the arena as one of the organizers of the tournament?
It’s a difficult choice for me to make, and one I know I’ll have to make soon in other ways.Alaric and Marcus won’t be content with this constant tension between the three of us.Sooner or later, I’ll have to choose between them romantically.Even if it’s after I’ve defeated Selene, there will be implications to that choice beyond my own happiness.Both men have their own visions for the future of Aetheria, and by choosing one over the other, I’ll be helping him to advance that vision and bring it into reality.
I could still become the glorious, noble wife Marcus wants, standing beside him as he becomes First Senator.I could still help Alaric to tear down everything about Aetheria, seeking to rebuild it from the ground up in the name of the ordinary people.
I'm grateful that I don't have to choose now, but I know that choice is coming, and it worries me.I don't know yetwhatI’ll choose, because my only focus for now is on trying to survive the games.It’s almost enough to make me happy that my bout is coming up quickly.Fighting in the arena, I don’t have to focus on the different demands of the men who care about me, just on surviving an opponent who has no doubt been selected specifically to slay me as spectacularly as possible.
CHAPTER FIVE
I stand before the gates of the arena, waiting to be called out to fight and maybe die.I rub dirt on my hands, determined that the sweat on my palms isn’t going to interfere with my grip on my trident and net.I check the curved dagger at my belt, knowing that it might be the difference between life and death if my opponent gets in close to me.
I’m alone in these seconds before the bout, aside from a couple of guards there to control the gate.Alaric has slipped away, ready to keep working to undermine Selene in the city.Marcus is probably back up in the senate box by now, sipping wine and pretending to be Selene’s ally even as he works politically to bring her down.
I must trust that they’re able to handle those machinations, because I can’t let my focus slip away from what’s in front of me.In just a few more moments, I’ll be fighting for my life, and I’m sure I’ll be shown no mercy if I lose.My heart beats faster with the prospect of the conflict to come, and I reach out to look through the eyes of some of the birds that are always present near the arena, there to feast on scraps dropped by the crowd, or on the carrion of fallen fighters.
Through those borrowed eyes, I can see a sea of humanity below, with more people crammed into the stands than seems physically possible, all eager to see the fights to follow.They encircle what looks like a lush landscape from above.Somehow, the arena has been reconfigured to create the impression of a jungle on multiple levels, complete with rocky outcrops rising from the foliage and even a small waterfall.
I can feel animals down there: snakes and spiders that must have been released to make the arena more dangerous.Any false step might mean death in this place.
Selene stands, announcing the contest, where normally, it would be Marcus.
"For our next bout, we'll feature two wild and dangerous gladiators," Selene says, with a gesture to the landscape below."So it's only appropriate that we created a suitable setting for them.In this corner, we have a gladiator who carries the power of his ancestors with him and who hails from the mountains far to the north.I give you Jor!"
He stalks into the arena, dressed in furs and carrying a broad headed axe.His dark beard is bushy and braided, while his hair falls loose down his back.He’s heavily muscled, but moves with the grace of a cat.Some of the crowd cheers, and Jor raises his axe to acknowledge them, but through the eyes of the birds, I can see his attention is on the gate from which I’ll emerge.I can feel the anticipation building in the crowd, but even through it, I can feel the thread of aggression coming from Jor.
I can feel more than that from him.It’s like there are a dozen people standing waiting for me, rather than just one.Given what I’ve heard about Jor’s magic letting him carry spirits with him, I wonder if that means he has literally allowed himself to be possessed for this fight.I don’t know, but I suspect that he’s planning to throw himself at me the moment I come into view.
“In this corner,” Selene says, gesturing to my gate.“We have a beast whisperer without peer, a creature as wild as the ones she tames.Lyra!”
There's a roar of approval from the crowd, mixed in with some boos from those who believe I'm a traitor, or who side with Selene.I come out into the arena, and that's when Jor charges me, with more speed than a man his size should have been capable of.
I spin aside, whirling my net as I try to snag his legs on the way past, but he dodges easily.He turns towards me, already swinging his axe, and I barely deflect it with my trident.We break apart, and now I throw myself into the foliage, using it for cover.When Jor swings at me again, I swear I see afterimages following the movement, as if someone else is swinging the axe along with him.The blow is almost enough to topple the tree I hide behind.
I dodge and I move, determined not to stay in one place while the hulking barbarian attacks me.He whispers something under his breath, and now I see the ghost of a woman standing beside him, holding out her hand even as Jor raises his to throw a blast of fire that engulfs the next tree.Clearly, one of his ancestors had the gift of fire magic.
“See the power our northern neighbors possess,” Selene says.“That which one of them can do, their descendants may tap into, because they don’t send magic back into the stones of the city, as we do.Does that make them stronger?Or does it mean that, when Jor falls, the magic of all those before him will feed the stones?”
It’s a tenant of Aetheria’s priests that all magic in the world flows from the city, and specifically from the glowing stones that are embedded beneath it.When the colosseum was rebuilt, several of those stones were incorporated, both to absorb the magical essence of anyone who dies here and to enhance the abilities of the fighters as they entertain the crowds.Perhaps Jor is the strongest he’s ever been, the abilities of his ghostly companions enhanced until they become deadly elemental attacks.
Even as I think it, another ghost flickers, and Jor throws a blast of ice at me, forcing me to wheel away, hiding among the trees.Our bout becomes a game of cat and mouse as the mountain warrior stalks me, trying to find me even as I look for an opportunity to attack.
I extend my senses, watching him through the eyes of the birds above, but also borrowing traces of strength from the animals around me, even as Jor borrows from his ancestors.I move with the speed and grace of a scuttling spider, hurrying from one piece of cover to the next.
Some of the crowd boos me as I do it.Perhaps Marcus is right, and they will only support me if I give them a suitable show.I give them a hint of counterattack, taking control of one of the snakes slithering through the trees and having it strike at Jor from the side.
