It’s also a place for important announcements.
“You absolutely do,” Marcus says.“We need the people on your side when you go into the colosseum, and this is the way to do it.”
He makes it sound so easy to rally the citizens of Aetheria to my cause, but I suspect it won’t be quite that simple.
I'm dressed in gladiatorial armor, and after so long since being seen out in public in it, I'm a little self-conscious about the way it reveals as much of my flesh as it protects.I carry a spear and a net, because Marcus is determined I must look every inch the gladiator when I stand before the people.
“Won’t the guards be worried about a criminal carrying weapons through the city?”I ask him.
“When accompanied by a senator?”Marcus counters.“Hardly.You need to do this, Lyra.All the other gladiators did.”
Maybe not all of them, but certainly most.The gladiators entering the Grand Tournament need to lodge their name and intention to fight with the officials of the colosseum, but most have also announced themselves in much more public fashion.The goal is simple: to enthuse the crowd and gain their support, so that when the games come, there will be plenty of people shouting and betting for each gladiator.
“So I need to stand in the middle of the forum like I’m about to walk into a bout?”I say.
Marcus shrugs.“You should count yourself lucky I’m not having you ride around the city on a chariot like Lorelei or climb one of the highest towers of the Scholars’ District like the gladiator Narro did.”
I haven’t heard as much about the stunts the different gladiators have performed for attention as Marcus has.I’ve been too busy training, trying to make sure I can use the trickle of magic flowing through my dampener to the greatest effect in the games.But I can see some of the graffiti daubed on the walls of houses we pass, in simple depictions of different gladiators, or sometimes just their names.One person seems to have gone further, creating small illusions of a slender man in spiked armor that appear whenever someone gets too close.
“Karubus,” Marcus says as we pass them.“Something between an illusionist and a psychomancer.His power is to create illusions of people’s deep fears, and if they believe in them too strongly… those illusions can harm his opponents as surely as real creatures and weapons.”
He sounds like a dangerous opponent to face, but then, all of the gladiators entering the Grand Tournament will be dangerous, their powers amplified by the stones beneath the colosseum.Defeating Selene is my goal, but I have no doubt I’ll have to fight through several rounds in the arena just to get to her.
A crowd is starting to gather in the forum.That's a combination of Marcus and Alaric's work, using their respective resources to spread the word that something important would be happening in the forum today.There are merchants and common folk there, even a couple of bored-looking nobles, waiting to see if this is going to be something to distract them for a while.
I've stood in front of far bigger crowds in the colosseum, spoken in front of the senate, and helped to lead a rebellion, but still, I feel nervous as I approach the forum.The last time I was here, Selene was whipping up the surrounding crowd, trying to persuade them of her vision of an Aetheria ruled by those like her with the most magical power.Now, I need to persuade them to follow me.
“Shouldn’t she be locked away?”a merchant demands, pointing at me.
“Lyra Thornwind is in my custody,” Marcus says.He’s wearing his senatorial toga, clearly trying to project as much authority as possible today.
A murmur goes through the crowd.Some of them don’t sound happy.I can see a couple of the resistance among them, clearly watching out for any trouble.Because I have a fraction of my powers back now, I can also watch for danger through the eyes of a bird circling above.As far as I can tell, no one is pushing forward to attack, but I still keep a careful watch on what’s happening around me.
It's necessary, after the assassins came to Marcus’ home.Selene might have assured me that they had nothing to do with her and that she’s told her followers to leave us alone, but there’s always a chance one of them might not be listening.Olivia, or someone else, might still feel it’s possible to gain advancement by killing Marcus, or to protect Selene by killing me.
There's even a chance someone could try to attack me for simpler reasons, deciding that I'm the traitor I've been accused of being and deciding to mete out their own form of punishment.But for now, the crowd is simply standing and watching, waiting to see what will happen next in the forum.
No one else is speaking in the forum today, which is a rarity.Or perhaps it’s simply the consequence of pressure from Selene.Her supporters have been quick to target anyone who speaks against her or the way she wants things to be.And, with her control over the senate now, the guards are on her side.Aetheria isn’t the free place it briefly was in the first days of the Republic.
There’s a broken column near the center of the forum that serves as a kind of raised platform from which people can speak.I step onto it and Marcus steps up there with me.I lift the spear I’m carrying, making sure the light catches the head of the weapon, glinting to attract the attention of the crowd.
Marcus speaks first.We’ve decided on that because of my status as his prisoner.I can’t simply announce that I’m going to fight, because I don’t have enough freedom to do that.We have to tell a different story to the crowd.
“My friends, people of Aetheria!Today is a momentous day.In just a couple of days, the Grand Tournament will begin in the colosseum.As many of you know, the former champion of the colosseum, Lyra, is a prisoner in my home.I have decided that she will fight in that tournament, facing the greatest dangers and the deadliest foes!”
There’s a cheer from some of the crowd.Marcus is making it sound as though he’s throwing me into the tournament, rather than me having to persuade him to let it happen.
“She will be fighting for all of your entertainment,” Marcus says.“But for far more than that, too.Lyra will be fighting to show how committed she is to the city and its ideals of magical might and martial skill.She’ll be fighting for the people, and for redemption.”
“How can a traitor be redeemed?”someone shouts from the crowd.
Marcus looks as though he’s going to answer, but I beat him to it.
"I'm no traitor," I call back."Everything I've ever done has been for Aetheria.I've fought to protect it from those who want to bring back the empire and harm the ordinary people.I'm going to continue to do that, even if it means fighting them in the arena."
I don’t say Selene’s name, but I’m sure the members of the crowd know exactly who I mean.If I’d just come out to argue against her, I’m sure someone would have tried to stop me by now.But the people want the most spectacular fights they can get in the colosseum, and the prospect of me fighting Selene is one that seems to catch their attention.
It means they follow as Marcus and I set off in the direction of the colosseum.Some of them run ahead, and the news seems to have traveled even faster, because people are lining the way now, coming out to see what’s happening.I’m sure Alaric and Marcus arranged for that news to be spread, wanting as many people as possible to watch this.
