Page 12

The next morning, details of my next match are up on the board. It is to be a pair’s match, in which I am due to fight alongside Cesca, against a pair of opponents whose names I do not recognize.

I collect my armor and take my place in the procession down to the city. I find Cesca along the way, walking close to her, hoping that we can coordinate our tactics. She looks over at me as I approach, and there is something calculating about her stare.

“Are you looking forward to our match?” she asks.

“I never look forward to any of it,”

I say. “But we need to work out how we're going to fight together. I don't know much about these opponents.”

Cesca shrugs. “They’re both glimmers. Barca is a brute who has just enough power to make his muscles swell to something monstrous. Zax is fast, and he can make small puffs of air to send sand up at people.”

It's obvious she's done her research on this. Neither of our opponents’ talents sound overwhelming but each has the potential to give them an edge if we aren't careful. We will need to work together well in order to win.

“So how do you want to do this?” I ask.

“With those long weapons of yours, it makes sense if you herd them, and then I move in to finish them. I can shock people pretty well with my talent.”

She holds up her hands, sparks of lightning flying between her fingertips. In the colosseum she uses a long, slender sword which can conduct the lightning along its length. It means that even a touch from it will let her stun her foes.

Stunning them sounds good to me because it means I might have not have to kill them. Not unless the emperor commands it. But to avoid that, we will have to give him and the crowd a good show.

“We should draw the fight out a little,”

I say. “Hit and move. Give the crowd something to cheer for.”

Cesca smiles at that. “Oh, they’ll cheer.”

Around us a crowd is already cheering, watching the procession as we head to the colosseum. I walk through the marching gladiators, drifting away from Cesca for now, determined to see what I can of our opponents before the moment comes to fight them.

I'm surprised when Rowan falls into step by my side. He hasn't been talking to me, so why would he want to be so close?

“You can’t trust Cesca,”

he says to me, keeping his voice low.

“What?” I reply.

“You can't trust her, not today. I overheard her and the nobles she was with yesterday.”

I think back to the memory of Cesca sitting with the noble couple, then getting up to go to one of the private rooms with them. I had assumed that she was simply giving herself to them to forge connections.

“They want her to betray you during the bout. They think they can make a fortune on the betting, and she's agreed. Of course, she has when they've offered to be her patrons.”

I wince at the truth of that. Cesca has spent her time in Ironhold, latching onto one strong figure after another, trying to find someone who will keep her safe. Perhaps she has decided that suitable patrons will make her time easier, or that they will give her a better life once she is done here.

Anger and fear mix in me now. Anger at what she has planned. Fear, because I’m not sure if there’s anything I can do to survive it. A part of me wants to walk up to her and smash her to the ground, but I know I can’t.

“How did you learn all of this?” I ask.

Rowan shrugs. “They were eager to get Lady Tyra on their side. Nobles seek alliances as quickly as any gladiator.”

And he was by Lady Tyra's side, because she is controlling him now, as surely as the emperor is controlling me.

“Thank you,” I say.

Rowan nods, but then moves away from me. It's clear there's a difference between not wanting to see me killed and having forgiven me for suggesting rebellion to him.

We make our way down to the colosseum and wait in the spaces beneath it for our matches. I have my weapons now, my spear and net, along with my short dagger. I can feel the tension rising in me as I hear the sounds of battles from outside, the clash of steel and the cries of pain. It is not just the usual nerves before a fight.

My bout was balanced, something I stood a good chance in, perhaps something where I wouldn't have had to show any of my powers, because I could leave much of the work to Cesca. Now, though, I will be facing not just my two opponents but her as well.

When will she attack me? Will she leave it until our foes are down? That makes the most sense, since it will mean she doesn't have to fight two gladiators alone, but I will have to watch my back the whole time. And I will have to find a way to survive. I'm not sure I can do that against three opponents.

“It’s time,”

a trainer says, coming to collect me and taking me to the iron gate. Cesca is waiting there, dressed in a few scraps of armor designed to show off her figure as much as to protect her. She holds a slender sword, balanced as lightly as if it is a baton.

Should I confront her with what I know? I can't. If I do then my only advantage is gone. She will know that I know and adjust her plans accordingly. I can't even go to the trainers with the news. This kind of interference is common enough that it is not punished harshly.

“I give you your gladiators, Lyra and Cesca!”

the announcer says.

We step out onto the sands and I reach for the eyes of the birds, looking down on the fight as well as through my eyes. I use those eyes to scour the stands for Alaric, wanting to see him, wanting to know he is safe.

I see him there in his fine box, surrounded by guards and servants. He is looking out at me with obvious worry.

I return my focus to myself and Cesca. We step out together, listening to the cheers of the crowd. It is not long before our opponents step through the gate at the opposite side of the arena.

“I give you Barca and Zax!”

the announcer says.

Barca goes bare-chested, and even as I watch, the muscles of his chest and arms seem to swell. It seems that Cesca was right about his magic. He wields a great hammer, which he slams down into the dirt as if to demonstrate his strength, sending up a shower of sand.

Zax is slender, dressed in mobile plates of armor. He follows in Barca’s wake, using a sword and shield. Even as the sand comes up into the air, Zax sends it my way. In this, it seems that Cesca has underestimated him because it's like standing in a sandstorm. The battle is joined without warning, and I must move to react in time as our two opponents charge at us.

I wheel away from that charge, raising my spear and my net, ready to advance on them. Even as I do it, the eyes of the birds show me the figure moving in behind me, sword already raised for a killing blow.

If I weren't expecting the attack, I suspect that Cesca would be able to land it on me before I could react. As it is, I whirl with my net, wrapping it around her quickly, whipping her feet out from under her. She goes down with a cry, which is only made louder as I use the bottom of my spear to knock her sword from her hand. She tries to struggle free from my net but I wrap the trailing rope of it around her, pinning her arms to her sides and then tying the end of it said that she will not be able to escape the tangling net.

Some of the crowd cheer at that development, while some make sounds of shock. Cesca glares at me, struggling against her bonds, but I'm already moving away from her. I can see Alaric looking down with worry.

I have taken Cesca out of the fight, at least for now, but I don't know how long it will be before she breaks free. In the meantime, I am fighting two gladiators with just a spear. I dodge the next attack, borrowing a hint of speed and agility from the birds to be able to lean back far enough to let a hammer blow pass above me. I cartwheel out of the way of a thrust from Zax, then move back, knowing that I can't allow the two of them to flank me.

We exchange attacks. I thrust with my spear and they attack into every opening I give them. Even when they are vulnerable I cannot press the attack against one of them, because to do so would be to leave me open to the other. They are ignoring Cesca. Perhaps they have decided that she is out of the fight. Perhaps they think they can just finish her at their leisure.

It means that their full focus is on me, and fear starts to fill me as the bout goes on. I can feel my strength starting to wane. I'm having to do so much just to survive these two opponents that I know I will not be able to keep it up forever. Already, sweat is dripping from me, meaning that the sand Zax sends at me sticks to my skin. I am starting to breathe heavily, and the two of them seem to take that as their cue to intensify their attacks.

I need more if I'm going to fight them and win. More strength, more stamina, more power. And I know where to get it. It is simply that doing so is dangerous, risks changing me forever.

I reach out with my talent, feeling the creatures of the beast pits below the colosseum. I reach for them, and I take what I need. I take strength from a great ape, there to crush criminals. I take stamina from a mighty iron hide, the rhinoceros-like creature I have fought before. I borrow agility from the birds and speed from a snake. I take a little from each place, hoping that if I spread it out enough, I will not destroy the creatures I am borrowing from.

I sway aside from Zax’s attack, lashing out with my spear to sweep Barca’s legs out from under him. The big man goes down with a thud, roaring as he comes up. He charges at me and I sidestep, parrying another of Zax’s attacks as I go.

“Lyra! Lyra! Lyra!”

The crowd is chanting my name now, and I spin my spear, turning its movements into a web of attacks and defenses. Barca grabs for me, but I duck at the last moment, thrusting up with my spear so that my movement drives the weapon through him. I abandon my grip on it, throwing myself forward into a roll even as I draw my short, curved dagger.

Zax swings at me, but I'm under the level of his attack thanks to my roll. I slash at his hamstrings as I go past him, feeling the impact as my blade tears through his flesh. He cries out in agony and falls. I come to my feet and the crowd are roaring my name now.

My heart is still beating far too fast. I look up to the emperor's box. It is obvious that the fight is over in all but name, but will he demand that I kill these foes as he did with Aya?

There is a brief pause, presumably as the emperor makes up his mind. What would I do if he demands that I kill all three of my foes? I hate it, but I already know the answer. I will do what he wants. I have no choice.

A gong sounds though, signaling the end of the bout. The announcer steps forward.

“The gladiator Lyra and her teammate Cesca are the victors of this bout!”

The idea that we're a team is a fiction, one that the crowd can see right through, but my victory is real enough. Barca is lying on the ground in agony with a spear still protruding from his guts. Zax is crawling, blood pouring from the back of his legs. I don't know if even the healers here can give him back the ability to walk. And Cesca lies where I left her, still bound.

I leave her there as I walk from the sands, slowly returning the attributes that I borrowed from the animals beneath the colosseum. It is a pointed move, showing the crowd what I think of her betrayal. I hope that my victory has been a powerful message to anyone else who wants to betray me, but even as I walk from the sands with the cheers of the crowd ringing in my ears, I can't help feeling a note of pain.

It isn't just that Cesca has betrayed me. No, this pain comes from the realization that if I hadn't taken the emperor's offer, I would be just one fight away from freedom. Just one fight from being able to call myself a noble of Aetheria, and being able to leave, to go back to my home.

I could have all that if I were willing to abandon Alaric to his fate. If I were simply willing to walk away I would be able to take my freedom and step away from all of the plots and the intrigues of the colosseum. I could ignore the various groups vying to overthrow the emperor, and simply let the city of Aetheria devour itself in the coming violence.

But I cannot simply bring myself to abandon Alaric. I cannot allow the emperor to execute him. And that means I'm stuck in the middle of all of it. A wave of violence is coming, and I do not know which way to go when the time comes.