CHAPTER TWELVE LYRA
“No, hang the flags there! These aren’t ordinary games!”
In the colosseum, all is chaos as servants and trainers rush to put on a set of games at short notice. There weren't due to be any for another week, and it seems that's far too long for Marcus to wait to see Selene Ravenscroft die.
Which means he's here, overseeing every small aspect of the preparations. I'm by his side for most of it, both because of our relationship and because I'm meant to be one of the organizers of the games.
“No, don't put that post there!” Marcus calls out. “I know obstacles make the fights more exciting, but if you put one too close to the arena edge, Selene Ravenscroft might use it to get up into the crowd.”
I shudder at the thought of the chaos that would ensue then, although the real danger with her is what would happen if she were able to unleash her full magic on the people of Aetheria.
“I'm still worried about this,” I say.
“I know,” Marcus replies, turning to me and taking me in his arms. “Please, just trust me. We can get this done. Selene will die, and the threat from the remnants of the old empire will be gone.”
He makes it all sound so simple to simply bring about someone's death like this.
“What about the rest of the fights for these games?” I ask.
Marcus shrugs. “I thought perhaps a couple of warm-up bouts, all according to the new rules, all as safe as we can make them.”
He says it as if he's trying to reassure me, but I can also hear that he doesn't share my need for everything to be safe. It's clear he's doing it for me rather than because he knows it's the right thing to do.
“And then straight into the bout between Selene and someone else?” I say.
“I've asked the trainers at Ironhold to find someone who's willing to fight her under these rules,” Marcus says.
“And what are the rules?” I ask. “Is it a straight fight to the death?”
I can't keep the harshness out of my voice as I ask that.
Marcus shakes his head. “It's more like the rules were in the old days: they'll fight until one of them is incapacitated, and then…”
“…and then the people up in the emperor's box get to make a decision,” I say.
Marcus nods. It's already obvious what the decision will be if Selene loses. He’ll order Selene’s opponent to finish her. The thought of what’s going to happen here only tomorrow is enough to make me feel uncomfortable.
“Are you sure we can get everything ready in time?” I ask, wanting to find a reason to delay.
Marcus nods. “And there's plenty of demand to watch these fights. The colosseum will be full.”
“You know I hate this, right?”
Marcus kisses me, as if that's an answer, or maybe as if he can sweep away all my thoughts with the depth and passion of his kiss. I must admit he comes close, leaving me breathless.
“I know, but try not to think about it. This might not be what we were expecting to happen, but now it must happen. We don't have a choice, so let's make sure it goes according to plan. I need to take care of things here; can you go up to Ironhold to supervise the fitting of the dampener?”
“You want me to be there while they put that on her?” I say.
Marcus nods. “Rowan is too busy running the city.
I need to supervise the preparations for the games, and one of us needs to be there to make sure no one tampers with the dampener as it goes on Selene.
We need to know she's restricted the way she should be.” He takes my hands.
“Can you do that, Lyra? Can you make sure she won't be a threat to everyone here?”
I nod because, when he puts it like that, I don't have a choice. Selene is going to be here tomorrow, is going to fight someone, and she can't have her full powers when that happens. With those powers, if she chose to break free, she could cause untold carnage.
“I'll go now,” I say.
“Thank you,” Marcus replies.
I set off back through the Colosseum, out into the city, and then beyond it.
As I pass through Aetheria, I can see the streets have already taken on a carnival atmosphere, with performers on almost every corner and people stopping in the middle of their normal work to join in the celebrations.
There's a sense of anticipation in the air, as though people know the fight that's going to happen tomorrow is going to be different from anything that's gone on in the last few months.
I can feel that excitement in the slums, and since I'm not traveling in disguise, people call out to me.
“Finally, we're getting some real matches in the arena!”
“Selene Ravenscroft deserves everything she gets!”
I keep walking, heading out to the city and over to the imposing granite fortress that is Ironhold. The guards on the gate step back to let me enter.
“I'm here to oversee the dampener being put on Selene Ravenscroft,” I say. They nod and one of them leads me through the training ground, to an area that has been turned back into a prison for gladiators. Or at least for one gladiator.
Selene is sitting in a cell, clad now in the kind of brief training gear I would have worn.
It's a long way from the elaborate robes she used to wear.
She also has a circular brand on her shoulder, identical to the one that decorates my left shoulder; only she doesn't have the five neat, identical lines through it that mine possesses, a symbol of the five seasons I survived in the Colosseum.
If she achieves the same, she’ll be free. I don’t know how many fights she’ll have in each set of games, whether they’ll be against humans or animals, or what additional conditions will be imposed, but each time she survives them, it will earn her one branded mark.
A trainer is there, along with a nervous looking magical practitioner, who’s holding a very familiar looking band, designed to go around someone's wrist like a manacle.
“The dampener’s ready?” I say.
The practitioner nods, then swallows nervously. “I'm glad you're here. If she decides she doesn't want this around her wrist, I'm not sure what I could do.”
He seems to be assuming that I have the power to stop Selene.
As a precaution, I reach out for the animals in Ironhold, the creatures that are down in the beast pens below it even now.
Maybe I can borrow some of their strength and speed if it comes to a fight, but even then, I'm not sure what we'll be able to do against her magic.
“I'm ready whenever you are,” Selene says, with the same unearthly calm that she always seems to possess. She stands waiting for us as we open the door to her cell and enter.
“Ah, a dampener,” she says. “I assumed someone would order this. Very well, put it on.”
She holds out her wrist, and the practitioner fastens it into place. I feel the magic pulsing through it, spreading out to contain Selene’s power. It won't cut her off from it completely, but it will reduce the amount she can use.
“I recall I put one of these on you, Lyra,” she says.
She doesn't look at me directly. I don't think she's looked at me the entire time I've been here.
“As I recall, it wasn't enough to ensure you were killed. It just started a chain of events that led to the death of an emperor. I wonder what effects this one will have.”
She smiles as she says it, still not looking at me directly. It's unnerving. Most people would be more afraid in her position, especially when their biggest weapon has just been taken away from them. She doesn't seem bothered in the slightest.
I step from the cell, and Selene calls after me.
“I'll see you tomorrow, Lyra Thornwind.”
Fear is like a knot in my stomach. I don't know what she's planning, but I know she's planning something.
I walk from her cell, back out into the open air.
“Do we know who she's fighting yet?” I ask one of the trainers. “Marcus said you were looking for volunteers.”
“And we've got one,” the trainer says. “I think he knows him, Senator. Sorrel?”
The name catches me by surprise. Of course, I know Sorrel. I spoke to him the last time I was here. I was partly responsible for him being dragged into a prison cell when he came to meet me before Domitian’s attempted coup.
“Why him?” I ask. “Why is he volunteering?”
“You'd have to ask him that yourself,” the trainer says. “All I know is he's the one who's going to be fighting her.”
The thought of Sorrel in danger in the Colosseum fills me with unexpected fear for him.
I don't want to see him hurt, don't even want to see him win because I know I will think less of him if I see him slay Selene at the end of the bout, having already beaten her.
Because that's what it will come to. If he avoids her magic long enough to disable her with the metal staff he favors as a weapon, I have no doubt that whoever is sitting in the emperor's former box will demand Selene’s death.
I can imagine the moment now, with him standing over her, staff held poised and ready.
I imagine the order to finish her, and in my imagination it comes from Marcus.
I imagine Sorrel swinging the staff down, with the kind of speed and power his telekinesis can give him, in a blow aimed right at Selene’s head.
I imagine all of it, right down to the bloody consequences of the impact and the sudden roar of the crowd at the death. Has Sorrel really agreed to do something like this? I know he's ambitious and wants the adoration of the crowd, but is this the way he wants to do it?
I don't know, and I intend to find out. I need to find him, wherever he is here in Ironhold.