CHAPTER TWO
I kneel in the senate box while, out on the sands of the arena, people are dying.
The Grand Tournament begins each day the same way the old games used to begin: with executions out on the colosseum floor.
A group of captured gang members is currently facing off against a pack of slinking shadow cats, the great dark cats slipping from shadow to shadow with the magic of their kind so that they can pounce on their prey and tear them apart.
The crowd roars as they do it, and the stadium is full to a degree that wouldn't have been possible in the old days, before it was rebuilt for these games.
There are people of all ages and backgrounds in the stands, from the nobles in their private boxes to the common citizens, the merchants, soldiers, and more.
Many of them are shouting their excitement at the blood and death below, although there are some who seem to hold back.
I can feel their disquiet, even as I sense the bloodlust of so much of the crowd.
I can feel the hunger of the cats, too, as they hunt the gang members around the arena.
The gang members have swords and knives, but no armor, just the colors of their former gang.
I recognize one of the gangs controlled by Senator Yarrow, who wields power throughout the slums. I assume that this execution is a message to her, a reminder of where she stands in the new order Selene is creating.
One of the shadow cats slips out of the shadow of one of the gang members, rending his flesh as he screams. I desperately want to reach out with my magic to stop this, to force the shadow cats back to their cages, but I can’t.
If I interfere that openly, I risk being executed myself, while the gang members will merely be killed another way. All I can do is watch.
“Are you enjoying your position, Lyra?” Selene asks as I kneel next to Marcus. Marcus is sitting on one of the couches there, next to Selene, but I don’t get that luxury. Selene seems determined about that small cruelty, a reminder of my situation as Marcus’ prisoner.
I glare back at her, not saying anything.
Selene looks regal as she sits there. When she fights, later, she will no doubt wear armor of shifting scales, designed to show off her slender frame to best effect.
Here, though, she wears robes of purple and gold, in a deliberate echo of the colors favored by the empire, before the Republic of Aetheria overthrew it.
Her jet-black hair is carefully braided, while she wears a few discrete pieces of jewelry, rather than the gaudy displays some nobles might favor.
Her violet eyes look me over with amusement, glowing with magical power.
“Lyra is doing all I could wish of her,” Marcus says. It’s a politician’s answer, letting Selene guess at exactly what he commands me to do. Most likely, she assumes he’s taken me as his lover again, the way we used to be.
Thanks to her magic, Selene should be able to see exactly what we’re doing and the ways we’re plotting against her.
Among her many magical skills as an Archon, Selene has learned to use psychomancy, the mind magic that can let her control others or read their surface thoughts.
Thankfully, Marcus acquired protections against such things years ago, after the emperor used a psychomancer to destroy his family, while my own skills as a beast whisperer seem to give me some defense against such things.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying her,” Selene says, reaching out to put a hand on Marcus’ knee. “I like to reward my friends.”
"And I'm glad to be your friend," Marcus replies. It's a lie, given that he's working against everything she's trying to do in the city.
“Good,” Selene says. “I’m sure you’ll prosper as the city changes, Marcus. I do hope you get all you want out of Lyra quickly, though. She might not be around much longer.”
“You think I won’t fight my way through the games?” I say.
Selene smiles. "I'm sure you will. And then I'll kill you in front of the whole city. Don't worry, Marcus. I'll find you someone to replace her."
Marcus’ expression tightens slightly. “You’re very kind.”
“I’m exactly what I need to be, for the good of the city,” Selene says.
Down below, the last of the gang members is being torn to pieces by the shadow cats. Selene looks over to me.
“Why don’t you send them back to their cages, Lyra? I’m sure you want to. Alternatively, we can see whether the trainers can catch them again without being hurt. Or maybe just have the cats shot by archers.”
It sickens me to have to do what she wants, but I know that in this, as in so many things, Selene has controlled the situation to get her way.
I don’t want to risk the lives of the trainers or the shadow cats.
So I reach out with my magic, connecting with the minds of the creatures still prowling the colosseum floor.
“Go back,” I whisper to them. “Return to your cages.”
The shadow cats snarl, but they do it, turning and slinking towards a patch of shadow that they pass through as easily as if it were a doorway.
A part of me wonders whether I could summon them back and set them on Selene, but I can’t just murder her in the senate box in cold blood. I need to bide my time.
“It’s time to announce the first true bout of the day, Marcus,” Selene says. The circular brand on her left shoulder still only has four lines through it. Nominally, she’s still a prisoner until this set of games is completed, but she’s still the one giving orders here.
Marcus nods and stands. Like so many other parts of the colosseum, the box is augmented by magic, so that his voice carries effortlessly around the arena as he stands at its front.
“Citizens of Aetheria!” Marcus says. “That was no more than an appetizer for the day ahead. Are you ready to see a real bout?”
The crowd roars in readiness. Marcus has always been able to get people to respond to him.
“Well then,” Marcus says, gesturing. “Let’s begin. On this side of the colosseum, we have a scion of a noble house, a representative of the great traditions of the games. I give you Haramis.”
The crowd cheers as an elegantly armored nobleman steps out onto the arena floor.
His dark hair is bound into a single braid, while he carries a jeweled sword that is probably a family heirloom.
He performs a flip and seems to hang in the air impossibly as he does so.
It seems his magic will allow him feats of agility beyond the natural.
It’s a potentially useful magical talent, if not the strongest in a city where the majority of people possess at least some minor gift.
“And his opponent,” Marcus says. “From the slums of our city, having fought his way up from nothing, I give you Exio!”
The man who steps out onto the sands from the far gate is much less elegantly dressed.
He wears rough leather scraps and carries a hatchet that looks more like a carpenter's tool than a finely crafted weapon.
Yet, as he walks, the sand around Exio seems to ripple, his power echoing through every footstep.
The contrast between the two combatants couldn't be clearer.
"Begin!" Marcus calls out and then returns to the couch on which Selene is sitting while the fighters stalk one another.
Instantly, Exio flings a sharpened blade of magical force that shimmers through the air. Haramis barely dodges, even with his impossible agility.
“I’d love to stay and see this bout,” Selene says, standing, “but I should go prepare for my own fight. Lyra should do the same, don’t you agree, Marcus?”
Marcus nods and starts to stand, but Selene waves him down.
“No, no, I’ll see she gets safely to the preparation areas,” Selene says. “You stay and officiate here.”
Marcus looks as though he might argue, but he doesn't. That would imply that he doesn't trust Selene, after all, and he can’t afford to let her think that. He nods, instead.
“A good idea,” he says. “I look forward to watching your bout, Selene.”
“I’ll strive to make it more interesting than my last,” Selene says. She beckons to me. “Come along, Lyra.”
She says it casually, as if expecting me to obey.
I have no choice but to go with her, especially not when she’s right: I need to get ready for my upcoming bout.
So I go with Selene down through the interior of the colosseum, and I can feel the eyes on us as we walk.
Why wouldn’t people stare at us? Two of the most famous gladiators in Aetheria, the most powerful beast whisperer for a generation, and the only Archon-level magic user in the city, walking together. Of course, we attract attention.
“You know I’m going to kill you at the end of this?” Selene says, in an almost companionable tone.
“You’re going to try,” I reply.
“And I’m going to succeed. There’s no way you can stand against me. You represent things about the old order: a foolish attachment to believing everyone around you is your equal, a desire to let the masses make decisions. They must be shown that such ideas are weak.”
Which explains why she wants me in the games so badly. Or at least part of it.
“And I’m the only real challenge for you here,” I guess.
Selene shrugs as we keep walking, down into the depths of the colosseum. We’re out of the public eye now, and it occurs to me that Selene could simply attack me here, or I could attack her. We could finish this here and now, in the back corridors of the colosseum.
But we don’t. I don’t want to be accused of murdering Selene when I’ll have a chance to face her on the sands.
“A challenge?” Selene says. “I suppose so. Certainly, you’ll give the people a spectacular fight.”
And that’s the part that matters to her. Selene’s weakness is that she craves that spectacle. It’s not enough for her to win. She needs to be seen to beat her opponents. She wants to beat me out in the middle of the colosseum, when she could have had me quietly killed.
Which means neither of us kills the other as we head down to the preparation areas beneath the colosseum.
I can see through the gates to the arena, where Exio is currently parading around, holding up Haramis’ head to the crowd while they call out their approval.
Selene has made her first point in the arena. I’m sure there will be many more.
I head to the spot where my trident and net wait for me. There’s a trainer there too, and for a moment, his features shimmer, revealing Alaric’s beneath. He’s here for me, ready to help me prepare for my fight.
First, though, it will be Selene's turn to enter the arena. I want to see that. I need to know what she's capable of. And I need to find a way to stop her.