Chapter Ten
We are relieved of our weapons as we go to the receiving area within the Colosseum. It is a large marble-walled room, filled with couches on which nobles are already lounging, hung with silken drapes, decorated with frescoes and statues. Servants stand around with jugs of wine plates filled with delicacies. I see one nobleman pluck a bunch of grapes from such a tray, looking us all over with clear interest.
The soft music of a lyre plays in the background, and the air is filled with the chatter of the nobility, dressed in their finery. None of us has had a chance to change out of our armor after the first trial so we look like something violent and barbarous by comparison.
I see the other gladiators spread out, each of us approaching the room in a different fashion. Vex moves with a haughty gaze, as if unsure that anyone is really his equal even now that he is walking among fellow nobles. Ravenna selects a couch and is quickly surrounded by admirers vying for her attention, and to be the one to take her into one of the side rooms to entertain her further. Malira stands looking fierce while a couple of nobles attempt to engage her in conversation.
“Your performance was wonderful,” one says.
“So strong,” another says. “Have you given any thought to what you will do once you make your five seasons?”
I turn my attention away from her. So long as she doesn't have a weapon she can use to try to kill me, I don't want to worry about her.
Rowan looks uncomfortable, and not just because the healers have yet to work on him. In the other games he has always tried to avoid this part as much as possible, because it brings back too many memories of his former life, but now it seems that it is impossible for him to be anywhere else.
I go to Alaric, knowing that I can't let anyone see we're together but still wanting to be near him. In this place, people are expecting us to celebrate and to be in a good mood, so maybe they won't care if we're close. They will just put it down to the excitement of the moment.
“How was it?” I ask. “You weren’t hurt, were you?”
Alaric smiles. “Hurt? Me?”
Of course it's the arrogant version of him that’s on display here. The one that could never imagine being injured during a trial. I respond even to this side of him, because he is still beautiful, but it hides his best qualities, his vulnerability, his honesty, his care.
Very briefly, the mask slips. "No, I wasn't hurt, but I was worried about you. How did you get past all the creatures? Were you able to work around your dampener?”
I nod. “A little. I also had help.”
I look across to where Vesper is standing alone. None of the nobles seem to want to engage with him. It's almost as though there's a bubble of peace and silence around him. He seems perfectly happy with that.
But there are more nobles around us now, and I know Alaric and I cannot speak openly or freely. Instead, we play the parts they expect, of gladiators grateful for the attention of those who would honor us. A small crowd of admirers is gathering around us, but I see Alaric look past them.
A woman is approaching, her dark hair shot through with grey, dressed in an elegant gown of dark silk. She has a flash of color on her shoulder, and I realize it's the same noble colors as Alaric wears pinned to his gladiatorial uniform. I realize who this must be:
His mother.
“Go to her,” I whisper to him, even as more nobles try to crowd in around us. I deliberately step in the way, taking the attention so Alaric has a chance to go to his mother, his patron.
I see him go to her, bowing formally, letting her lead him to a side room, as if she were just another noble there to get the attention of the gladiators. It means I'm alone in the middle of a crowd of them, some of them reaching out to touch my armor, as if it's good luck, some of them staring at me. It's enough to make me feel uncomfortable, but I'm not the only one.
I can see Rowan, stuck in front of a noble woman in her forties, with deep red hair, a pale green dress, and enough gold and silver ornaments on her arms to buy an interest in any gladiator she chooses. Rowan actually looks scared, and I see him touching the silvery scar on his face. I know who this is, too, and almost without thinking I head through the crowd of nobles, towards the two of them. The nobles make noises of complaint about me abandoning them but I have other priorities in this moment.
“You must be Lady Tyra,” I say, moving up beside Rowan.
She looks at me with sudden dislike. It's obvious I've interrupted something.
“Do you mind?” she says. “Rowan and I were just in the middle of a conversation. We were about to retire to one of the side rooms.”
“Somehow I doubt that's what Rowan actually wants,” I say, meeting her gaze easily. “Do you want that, Rowan?”
Rowan shakes his head. I'm used to him being so strong, so powerful, but now he feels like a much younger and more frightened man.
“So you see,” I say. “He won't be going with you today.”
"If I pay for the time, I get the right to"
I step in closer to her. “You lost that right at the moment you cut him to make sure no one else would want him.”
“Is that how you think the world works, dear?” Lady Tyra says. “You know I could have you whipped just for confronting me like this.”
“Confronting you?” I say. “I'm just having a whispered conversation with a potential noble patron. Now that conversation is concluded. Goodbye, Lady Tyra.”
She takes a step back. I doubt I’ve scared her, but I suspect that she doesn’t want to cause a scene here. “Very well. But Rowan, you might want to think about what I said. After all, your sisters still serve me. That service can be more or less pleasant, depending on your choices.”
She walks away, leaving me standing there with Rowan. He's shaking in a way he never would after combat.
“What was that all about?” I ask him.
“What it’s always about with her: she wants to control me. She wants to be my patron. I've caught her attention again and she doesn't see why things can't pick up exactly where they left off,” Rowan says. I see him shudder at the thought. “The worst part is that she can make this happen. She can pay to be my patron, and with the power she has over my sisters… I will have to do everything she wants.”
He sounds so vulnerable in that moment that I put a hand on his shoulder without thinking about it, trying to give him some kind of comfort. I notice eyes looking our way, the nobles clearly trying to decide what, if anything, we mean to one another.
Lady Elara is there then, moving gracefully through the crowd of nobles, who seem to move aside for her, letting her glide her way over to me.
“Ah, Lyra, there you are,” she says, moving in to take my hands in a gesture that is more familiar than usual with her. It also means that I have to take my hands off Rowan, and I suspect that's partly the point of it. “You won me a lot of money earlier. Come on, we should go celebrate.”
She pulls me towards one of the side rooms, making it all look as if she is just an excited patron, wanting to spend time with her favorite gladiator. I go with her without complaint, even though Rowan gives me a questioning look, obviously wondering if he should save me the way I saved him from Lady Tyra. He looks almost disappointed when I go with Lady Elara willingly.
She leads the way into a cool, calm space, with a couch at the center of the room. She leads me to that couch and sits with me there. With another noble, this might be the first move in some attempted seduction, but her eyes harden as she sits down.
“What do you think you were doing, making an enemy of Lady Tyra?” she asks. “If the emperor finds out, it will be bad for you.”
“That’s Rowan’s former mistress,” I explain. “I couldn't let her just-”
“You can't do anything to stop her,” Lady Elara shoots back. “That's the point , Lyra. That's how this whole system works. She's a noble, and you and… Rowan, was it? You're both not just gladiators, but slave gladiators. If she pays enough to be his noble patron, she can do more or less as she wishes with him. If he rebels against her, she can have him punished. If he tries to fight, he would be executed. That's a part of how the city works.”
“It shouldn't work like that,” I say.
She nods. “I agree with you, Lyra, but that doesn't mean things will change unless we change them. Unless we overturn the whole system. And in the meantime, you can't afford to make enemies. Even your trial today… you weren't getting the crowd on your side."
“Should I have bled more for their amusement?” I ask. I don't know what she wants from me. It was all I could do to survive the trial today.
“You could have made someone else bleed,” Lady Elara says. She gives me a serious look. “You need to be more ruthless. Embrace the violent side of the goddess, as well as the peaceful one.”
“Who should I have attacked?” I ask. “Malira? I think I only survived that encounter because Vesper intervened.”
Lady Elara looks troubled. “You need to be careful around him too. You must not put too much trust in someone you don't know.”
“I'm just meant to trust you and your plans.”
“Those plans will change things for all of us,” she promises.
Even if she does so, she stops. The sound of booted feet comes into the room, and she rises, carefully pulling her dress from one shoulder, so that it looks as if much more has been happening in this room than a simple conversation. The rumors that Lady Elara has taken me as a lover protect our true secrets, not giving people a reason to look deeper.
Two soldiers come in, and Lady Elara glares at them.
“I believe the tradition is not to interrupt nobles when they're alone with gladiators,” she says in a sharp tone. “A few moments later and...”
She leaves the rest to their imagination.
“Apologies my lady,” one of the soldiers says, “but we have been commanded to come here by the emperor himself.” He looks over to me. “The emperor Tiberius requires your presence, Lyra Thornwind.”