CHAPTER SIX
I sit in the space given over to the healers for a brief time, seated on the edge of a stone slab while they work on me with magic to close cuts and scrapes I received in my fight with Jor.
I don’t have any serious injuries, and I’m happy about that, because it means I’m able to stand ready to leave within a few minutes.
The quicker the better, when there are already bodies laid out on the slabs, waiting to be collected for burial or displayed publicly, in the case of the criminals.
Marcus is waiting for me at the entrance to the healers’ room, looking excited as he holds out a hand to me.
I take it, of course, and not just because it fits with my cover as his prisoner and servant.
He doesn’t seem to mind that there’s still dirt on me from my fight.
If anything, I suspect he likes me looking like this.
Marcus always did like to get lost in the excitement of the games.
“You were incredible out there,” Marcus says, as he starts to lead me up through the interior of the colosseum. “I was worried at first that you were going to lose the crowd, but you gave them the show they wanted at the end with that dive from the waterfall.”
“I’m happy I could entertain them enough,” I say, unable to keep a hint of bitterness out of my voice.
“You’re angry with me?” Marcus says.
I shake my head. “I just think it’s wrong to get too excited about the bouts when people’s lives are at stake in them.”
“No one died in yours,” Marcus points out.
“And did you see how the crowd reacted?” I say. “They liked it. I don’t think everyone here is as excited by blood and death as Selene wants to believe.”
As Marcus seems to believe, too, given that he’s often pushed for the return of “real” fights to the arena.
“Maybe I underestimated the common folk a touch,” Marcus says. “Although your mercy is made more powerful precisely because there’s a real chance of death for both you and your opponent.”
“Selene showed mercy in her fight, too,” I point out.
Marcus nods. “That’s a political move. She wants the soldiers on her side, and Legio has a lot of influence with them.”
It must be strange, seeing the world as Marcus does, where everything is a move in some grand game and every action must be weighed for its political consequences.
Even when he suggested that I should marry him, it was as much about the impact we’d have on the city as a couple as because of what was between us.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance we can simply head back to your villa?” I ask him.
Marcus shakes his head with a smile. “You know we can’t. The fight on the arena floor isn’t the only battle to be waged today, and we’re expected in the receiving rooms.”
I can't stop a sigh escaping my lips. The receiving rooms are my least favorite part of the colosseum, because they symbolize all the inequality and corruption inherent in the games.
They're a large central chamber, lined with frescos and with bright mosaics on the floors, with gilded statues of famous gladiators and marble columns.
There are couches set at intervals, along with tables filled with the finest food.
Servants stand ready to provide wine or other entertainments as the noble patrons of the rooms require.
Doorways lead off to a series of private rooms where, in the days of the empire, nobles would be attended by gladiators or servants, either to talk or for more intimate encounters.
The receiving rooms have always been a way for the wealthy to bask in the reflected glory of gladiators, fresh from risking their lives upon the sands.
Aetheria has long prized martial prowess and magical might above all else, and these rooms are a way for those with money to associate with those who possess both traditional Aetherian virtues.
At best, they're a place for gladiators to acquire noble patrons and start to make connections in the higher ranks of society.
At worst, they're a place of intrigue and backbiting, betrayal, and secrets.
The receiving rooms currently hold several nobles and senators, lounging on couches and attended by servants. Selene isn't here because she no longer needs to gain the attention of the nobles this way. They will come to her, now.
As soon as I walk in on Marcus’ arm, nobles approach us, a couple of them applauding me loudly.
“A most impressive bout from your gladiator, Marcus,” a noble named Quintus says. He’s young and handsome, in a dissipated kind of way, with long dark hair and thin features. I note he congratulates Marcus, not me.
“I’m sure Lyra will do far more impressive things than that before these games are concluded," Marcus assures the noble.
"I'm sure," Quintus says. He looks me up and down, and I'm all too aware of just how little my armor covers. "I don't suppose you want to let me borrow her for a while, Marcus?"
He speaks as if Marcus owns me. But then, the terms of my release from Aetheria's prison mean that he all but does.
Marcus took responsibility for me and for making sure that I stay contained.
He has the absolute authority, even the obligation, to punish any transgression I make.
I'm meant to obey his every command or risk being sent back to the prison at best, executed at worst.
With anyone else, that would have made my situation dire indeed. It’s an arrangement Selene allowed because it’s a slow move towards bringing slavery back to Aetheria, when First Senator Rowan outlawed it as his first act in power.
Marcus gives Quintus a hard look, and the noble raises his hands.
“All right, all right. I know she’s yours. But you can’t blame a man for asking. Especially not when she won’t be around much longer. There’s no way she beats Selene, after all.”
“Are you so sure of that?” Marcus asks.
Quintus shrugs. “Everyone knows the way things are going to be. Selene will win the games, then she’ll take power in the city. It’s inevitable.”
"Is it?" Marcus asks, putting an arm around the noble and leading him away to one of the side rooms. I guess he intends to persuade Quintus against Selene's cause, although, if so, he's acting far more openly than he normally would.
Marcus has carefully built the reputation of being one of Selene's allies.
Acting against her might invite danger for him and all those around him.
But maybe this is a moment when he needs to be more open.
Selene is closing in on power too quickly for subtlety now.
I should probably follow the two, but instead, I spot several figures who wear furs that seem similar to those Jor wore.
There are men and women there, all looking uncomfortable amid the finery of the receiving rooms. I go to them, and an older man looks up from one of the couches.
His face is scarred, his hair thinning, but there's still a sense of strength in his expression.
“You’re the one who defeated my grandson,” he says.
“You’re Jor’s grandfather?” I ask.
He nods. “I’m Lorik, of the Tribe of the Moon. Why did you let Jor live, city dweller?”
I shrug. "He was my opponent, not my enemy. I have no wish to kill anyone, I don't have to."
“So it wasn’t to demonstrate how much stronger your city is than us?” Lorik asks.
I shake my head. “That’s Selene Ravenscroft’s story about Aetheria, not mine.”
Lorik regards me evenly for several seconds. “We’re due to meet with her. She wishes peace with the mountain lands. But peace on her terms.”
I consider my next words carefully. “Then you should meet with her. But you should also meet with Senator Marcus Larius.”
“I hear he’s Selene’s lapdog,” Lorik says.
I spread my hands. "Perhaps you heard what he wants people to hear for now. And perhaps he can make a better peace with you. If you're willing."
This is a dangerous game, one that could put both Marcus and me in danger, but I think it may be worth the risk. Anything, to peel potential allies away from Selene.
“We will think on it,” Lorik says. He stands, turning to leave. The other mountain folk go with him.
As he leaves, I spot a familiar figure at the other end of the receiving rooms, one I wouldn’t normally expect to see here in the colosseum.
“Rowan?” I say, hurrying forward.
Rowan is currently the First Senator of Aetheria, the holder of the highest office in the land.
He wears the white toga of a senator over a muscular frame, that makes him look like he's carved from stone.
That's appropriate, when his magic gives him control over stone and earth of all kinds.
His auburn hair falls over his face, partly covering a scar on one cheek inflicted by the woman who once owned him, before he went into the games.
His green eyes fix on me as I approach, and he smiles.
“Lyra, I was hoping I’d see you here.”
“And I didn’t think I’d see you in the receiving rooms,” I say.
Rowan shudders as I say it. “They’re a vile place, with too many bad memories, but I’m prepared to put up with it now if it will help me save Aetheria.”
I wish he’d had the same attitude before, when others were using the games to gain popular support and slowly wrest power from him. If Rowan had been able to bring himself to preside over the games, maybe Selene wouldn’t have had the opportunity to use them to gain more power.
“Things in the senate must be serious if you’re here,” I say.
Rowan nods. “More than you know. Selene already has enough votes in the senate to control it and push through anything she wants, but now, she’s ready to go a step further.”
“She’s going to declare herself ruler?” I guess.
“It’s more complicated than that,” Rowan says. “The proposal in the senate now is that the winner of the Grand Tournament will be rewarded with a position at the head of the senate, and above it.”
It’s a shock that Selene would try to take power in such a way.
Why not just have the senate declare her empress?
Because Selene truly believes that she deserves to rule based on the extent of her magical abilities.
She genuinely believes what she says about those with the most magical power deserving to rule.
Which means, if someone can display even greater magic, they will deserve to rule, not her.
Even if she somehow loses in the colosseum, Selene is still trying to create the kind of society she wants. She’s forcing whoever wins to play into the idea that they deserve power because of it. She’s trapping whoever wins in her web, even if it isn’t her.
Besides, I have no doubt Selene believes she’ll win. There are plenty of powerful gladiators in the games, but Selene has magic beyond any of us. For her, that makes her unbeatable. So much so that she wanted me in the games so she would have a chance to defeat me.
Selene wants to win the tournament, and when she does, the people will acclaim her as she takes power.
The senate’s proposal will give her a mechanism to make it official, and the foreign delegates who’ve gathered to see the spectacle will only lend the moment authority.
Selene will gather every faction of Aetheria beneath her, and anyone who tries to stand against her will find themselves crushed.