Page 18

I sit there, trying to work my way through the tangled web of the problems facing me. It seems obvious that I cannot continue the way the emperor wants me to. Doing so only buys time, but does nothing to save either myself or Alaric.

I sit there silently in the receiving room, looking around at the nobles and at the servants who must obey them. There are other gladiators in here as well, while I can hear the sounds of the crowd. It will not be long before the end of the day and if I'm going to do anything I should probably do it now. Tomorrow will be the last day of these games, then after that I will be shut away in Ironhold, with fewer chances to achieve anything.

I think about the twin pillars of Aetheria: martial virtue and magical might. Those are the foundations of the city, but there are more sources of power than just those. The people of this city are every bit as important as its magic or its warriors.

I think I can see a way through this, but I know that neither Vex nor Lady Elara will be happy about it. Each will attempt to take power as soon as anything happens, and they may have enough strength to succeed in doing so.

I know what I need to do. I go to Salene the servant, hoping that the reputation I've built up through the games will be enough to get her to do what I want.

“Excuse me, would you inform my patron, Vex, that I wish to speak with him if it's convenient? Tell him that I am ready to give him what he wants.”

I frame it as the kind of polite request that any gladiator might make down here in the receiving rooms. To the servant, it probably sounds as if I'm ready to offer myself up to Vex, but he will know what I mean when he hears it.

The servant nods and hurries off, leaving me to wait. Vex comes to me quickly, ushering me into a side room. “You've decided to be reasonable then?” he says.

I nod. “You're my best chance of getting Alaric out of this alive.”

“I will do everything I can for him,”

Vex promises, although that's a long way from promising that he will keep him alive regardless of what happens. Vex may have a very different idea of what everything he can do entails than me. “Do you have the information I requested?”

“The spectral covenant meets in an ancient temple of the goddess Deira, beneath the city,”

I say. “They will be meeting tonight.”

“I will need directions to it,” Vex says.

“I can draw you a map if you get me something to write with.”

He nods and leaves the room for a minute or two before coming back with parchment and ink. I draw him his map, describing the way through the tunnels beneath the city. This is a betrayal of the beast whisperers, and I know it. They rely on secrecy to stay safe, but I have made my choice and must go through with it. I think I have found a way through this, but every step now will need to be perfect.

I draw Vex his map. I hand it to him, and he hurries off, obviously determined to put an end to his competition for the empire. It means he's abandoned me with the ink and the parchment, so I take the time to write a simple note.

Vex is coming for the spectral covenant. He knows where you are.

I take that note and I cannot risk it with a servant, so I step out into the open air and I call a bird to me. I have it take the note in its beak, then guide it in a search for Lady Elara. I find her in her box, looking out over the crowd and the empire as if trying to judge which parts she will keep and which must be destroyed by the beast whisperers. She looks up as the bird approaches, obviously sensing that I have control of it. I drop the note in front of her, then let my control of the bird fade.

I have talked to two of those I need to, but there is still a third, and he is more dangerous than the others put together. For this one I do not go to a servant, but instead approach a guard.

“I have information I believe the emperor will want to hear,”

I say, trying not to show any of the fear I feel at what I'm about to do. This is a betrayal on a scale that I cannot justify for any reason other than love. If I did not love Alaric so much I would not be able to do any of this, would not be able to contemplate what I'm about to do.

The guard looks surprised, but I am one of the foremost gladiators of the games, and I have been brought before the emperor many times before. They are used to taking me to him, and in this case, the promise of information is a useful bargaining tool. The guard leads me through the colosseum to the emperor's box, where Emperor Tiberius is sitting watching the games from his throne. He looks around as I enter.

“What are you doing here Lyra?”

he demands, as I fall to my knees, the way I am required to in front of him.

“I have information my emperor. But…”

“You want something for it,”

he says, his eyes locking onto mine. He gestures for the guards to leave. He clearly doesn’t fear being here alone with me. He knows I cannot act against him.

“I want you to promise me that Alaric will never be executed,”

I say. “I want you to give him his freedom.”

“What information could possibly be worth that?”

the emperor says.

“I can give you the people plotting against you,” I say.

A look of interest crosses his face. “The spectral covenant?”

“Not just them,”

I say. “There is a group of nobles who wish to unseat you for their own reasons. They are planning to meet up with the spectral covenant tonight.”

His look of interest turns into one of hunger. “Tell me where they will be.”

“First, you need to give me assurances that Alaric will be safe,”

I say. “Not just safe for now, but permanently.”

“You're trying to bargain with me? I could have you taken to a torture chamber and get every scrap of information from your mind.”

“Could you do it in time?”

I counter. “Alaric’s safety.”

The emperor doesn't look happy, but he nods. “Very well. But I feel I should give you a choice. Tomorrow is to be a battle royale between the gladiators who remain in the games. I could remove you from that, take away the risk to your life. Alaric is in no immediate danger. I have been keeping him at my palace. I could give you your life as a reward, rather than his.”

It is a cruel choice to give me a moment of deliberate pain to inflict on me. Or it would be if I thought of it as a choice at all.

“Alaric’s safety is more important to me,” I say.

The emperor looks as though he cannot quite understand that, but he nods again. “As you say. If this works out, then his life will no longer be on the line. I may even choose to release him.”

May. That word makes it clear that the emperor plans to do as little as he can, but I have done what I can to keep Alaric safe. More than that, I know where he is being held now.

“Now tell me where and when the spectral covenant and these nobles will meet.”

I tell him. I draw for him the same map that I drew for Vex, albeit with a few subtle differences. I give him the information he will need to send soldiers in to attack those plotting against him. I betray Lady Elara, and Vex, all at once.

I just hope it will be enough.