CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Days pass without Marcus and I speaking. We see one another in the Senate, but we don't sit together. It's as if, now we aren't together, he wants to distance himself from me as much as possible.
I'm sure that's deliberate. Marcus has spent a lot of political capital trying to protect me, but by creating more distance, he frees himself to speak to others. In the ante-chambers beyond the Senate, I see him whispering with Domitian one moment, Rowan the next.
Now that I’m not caught up in Marcus’ orbit, I can see him from outside, watching the ways in which he plays the system.
He acts as a kind of broker, going between different factions, balancing and manipulating in a way that makes him powerful in turn.
By becoming the center of the wheel, the fulcrum over which a lever is applied, he gives himself power he wouldn’t otherwise have.
Meanwhile, almost no one is talking to me, at least not about anything of importance.
In meetings to do with the games, no one says anything of note.
The committee is a place of small announcements about logistical issues now: whether there’s enough food for all the spectators, how long it will take to set up an opening ceremony for the next games.
“We mustn’t forget that the Anniversary Games are coming up,” Domitian says. “We need them to be spectacular.”
“The games haven’t been running again for a year yet,” I point out. It’s too early for an anniversary games.
“The anniversary of the founding of our Republic,” Domitian retorts. “Perhaps if you hadn’t fled as soon as the emperor fell, you would remember that.”
He's somehow found a way to insult me, even when it comes to something like this.
I grit my teeth as we start to work through the details for the games, knowing that I can't speak out against them when they're in celebration of something so important.
If I try to stop these anniversary games, or even to rein them in, then I'll be seen as acting against the Republic.
I won't find support, and it will probably only isolate me more.
I can feel the pressure of not being connected to Marcus anymore. I used to at least have the backing of some within his faction, given because Marcus pushed them to support me. Now, it feels as though I’m alone. It means the meeting feels as though it takes forever.
When the meeting is done, I return to my rooms, dealing with a stack of missives and requests, changing out of the formal toga of a senator and wondering what I’m doing.
I feel as though I’m not achieving anything now, as if I don’t have any control over events in the city, despite being nominally one of the most important people within it.
There’s another note waiting for me, this one from Alaric.
Come to the Colosseum. Come see what we have planned.
A.
What does he mean? What is he planning, and why is it at the Colosseum? I don't know, and not knowing terrifies me. Is Alaric about to do something extreme? I do know I can’t just ignore a message like this.
I hurry from the palace, heading down into the city.
I briefly wonder if I should alert the guards to what Alaric’s doing, but two things stop me.
The first is that I don’t know exactly what he’s planning to do.
The second is that I don’t want the guards to capture Alaric.
We’ve chosen very different ways to try to help Aetheria, but at least I’m certain Alaric is trying to help.
I’m not going to set guards on him who might well be in Domitian’s pocket, and who have already shown themselves willing to lash out at Alaric’s supporters.
I'm worried about what he has planned, though, worried about what his supporters might do.
What would it take to stop the games? I start to run through the city, dodging around people as I go.
My sandals clatter on the cobbles as I make my way towards the Colosseum, hoping I can reach it before anything dangerous happens.
What might Alaric be about to do? I hope it won’t be anything violent. I don’t think it will be, and if I did, I would have gone to Rowan with the message Alaric sent me. Even for Alaric, I won’t let people be hurt.
But his last stunt wasn't about violence.
It was about speaking out, trying to get people to see the truth of the Colosseum.
It's possible that he might escalate from there, to try to burn down the Colosseum or destroy enough of its structures to prevent games being put on there, but I think it's more likely to be a new stunt designed to grab the public's attention.
The Colosseum is just ahead. Even on a day like today, when there are no games scheduled, the streets outside throng with people.
A kind of market has sprung up around the Colosseum, hawkers setting up booths wherever they can, selling a shifting mixture of goods, food and small services.
One man is sharpening knives, another writing letters for those who don't have the skills to do it themselves.
Even as I approach, I hear a loud bang from within the Colosseum and fear knots in my chest. I worry that Alaric might have done something violent or destructive after all.
Then, brightly colored smoke starts to pour out from every opening of the stadium, filling the air around it in a way clearly designed to catch the attention of the citizens around the Colosseum.
A group of people comes running out from the stadium, spreading out among the crowd, handing out leaflets wherever they can.
One shoves a leaflet into my hands. I have time to see the headline: The Corruption of the Colosseum! Before a figure steps out onto a balcony overlooking the square beyond the arena.
It’s Alaric.
"My friends, you know me! I'm Alaric! I fought in the Colosseum. Many of you will have watched me there. You'll have seen me fight, seen me kill, for your entertainment."
People are stopping to watch and listen. Part of it might be down to the colored smoke still pouring from the Colosseum, but I suspect a big part of it is simply that it's Alaric, and his name catches attention.
"You're probably excited that the games are running again.
I understand that excitement, but it isn't all that's come back.
The old corruption has returned. Nobles and senators use the games to line their pockets and to have power over you.
They run illegal fights in hidden corners of the city.
They make everything more dangerous to distract you. Here, we have proof!"
Alaric flings papers from the balcony, which flutter down towards the waiting crowd.
"We took these documents from within the Colosseum. They show some of the bribes, the deals you weren't meant to hear about! Read them, my friends. Read them, and know the truth about what the games have become."
He looks as though he might say more, but at that moment, guards come rushing through the crowd, pushing them out of the way and trying to get to Alaric and his people.
I see a small child knocked out of the way, almost trampled underfoot.
I move to grab the child, pulling her out of the way, and a guard lifts a club.
I fix him with a hard stare. “I’m Senator Lyra Thornwind. If you swing that, you’ll regret it.”
The guard hesitates and backs off, but the rest of the guards aren’t doing so. They’re pushing forward through the crowd, trying to get to Alaric’s supporters, lashing out at anyone who gets in their way.
I see them grabbing one of Alaric’s supporters, beating him even as they go to tie his hands. Another guard is struggling with a supporter, a flash of steel showing before the man reels back, clutching a wound.
Around me, people are screaming, trying to flee in every direction, or watch what’s happening, or fight back.
There are so many guards that their presence seems almost overwhelming, so it’s like being stuck in the middle of a battle, with violence all around me.
People are screaming, weapons clash, and the guards seem to be lashing out indiscriminately.
I try to step into their path, stopping them from hurting innocent people, but I can’t be everywhere.
I think of reaching out for the animals close by, trying to create a distraction, but I'm not sure it will do any good here.
It would only add to the chaos, resulting in more people being hurt.
I can't risk it. All I can do is stand and try to keep people safe, watching the attempts by the guards to capture Alaric's supporters and dragging them away along the streets.
Eventually, the conflict fades into silence, the space in front of the Colosseum emptying except for a few guards. Discarded pamphlets litter the floor. There's no sign of Alaric. I can only hope that he found a way to escape before the guards got to him.
I don’t know what to do for several seconds, but then I turn and head back towards the palace. With something like this, I know that there will be an emergency senate meeting. I need to get to it to try to limit whatever damage is going to come from this moment of chaos.