Page 1 of Ironhold: Trial Five

Prologue

They met in the spaces beneath thecity. Not in the temple of Deira, the goddess of beasts; Elara could not riskthat when she did not trust those she was meeting. None of them deserved to bethere, in any case.

But the city of Aetheria had morethan enough places that it had built over in the course of its existence. Therewere sewers and levels of buildings that had sunken crypts and tunnels.

The current space was in the middleof one of those crypts, flanked by lines of urns containing the ashes of thedead. It was a place with many ways in and out, a place where they could meetwithout fear of being ambushed. It was lit by small magical stones Elara hadbrought for the purpose, to avoid the choking smoke of torches.

There were plenty of figures there.Many wore cloaks, disguising their identities, but Elara had watched themthrough the eyes of creatures as they approached. Even now, they underestimatedthe power of her kind.

There were many differentindividuals there, representing the various factions within the city. Therewere members of the spectral covenant, of course, her fellow beast whispererswaiting for the chance to change things, to rise up and tear the throats fromthe world that had pushed them down for so long. There were people wearing thecolors of the various gangs within the city slums, who ran things in theirareas as much as the empire ever did. There were a few merchants, a fewrepresentatives of each of the guilds and the trades.

There were even some nobles. Elaradidn’t know how much she could trust them, but it seemed that they were asdetermined to change the city as she was, just in their own way. She suspectedthat each faction had its own ideas about how the city should be run oncethings were changed, that the nobles probably just wanted a change of emperorwhile maintaining the current system, that the gangs probably wanted the kindof anarchy in which they could profit.

It was vital that things changedherway.

What did Elara want? She had askedherself this question over and over. Did she want just a version of the empirein which beast whisperers such as herself would not be persecuted, not berooted out, rounded up and executed? Where she had influence, perhaps thethrone itself.

Or did she want revenge? Did shewant to pay the empire back for everything that had been done to her kind? Didshe want to reduce it to ashes so that she could rebuild in the aftermath?

The answer to that question wouldrely at least a little on how this meeting went. Today would decide whether shesought continuity and stability, or to tear down everything in her path.

She stood in front of the others,next to a tomb. She had chosen this spot for reasons other than the ease withwhich they could escape if it came to it.

“This is the tomb of MarcusAlexis,” she said. “Three hundred years ago, he led the ruling council of theRepublic of Aetheria.”

There were a couple of intakes ofbreath around her. She suspected that some of the figures there didn't knowmuch about the history of the city, at least this part. It wasn't somethingthat was taught because the emperors didn't want it known.

“No one talks about this period ofour city's history because they want to make it seem obvious and natural thatwe must have emperors, that we must be ruled by a single family who claim tohave given us everything.”

“You wish to deny the role EmperorTiberius’s ancestors played in discovering the way magic flowed out from thestones beneath the city?” a figure asked. He was one of the nobles, of course.

Elara looked over to him. “Theyplayed a role in it, certainly, and then they parlayed that into control,declaring that since they had given the city this magic, they should be theones to rule it. They used their own magic and that of their followers to takecontrol.”

“And so now you want to givecontrol back to all the people?” one of the representatives from the merchantssaid. He sounded nervous, as if worrying about the effects that such a thingwould have on his business.

“Don't sound so scared,” one of thegang leaders said with a laugh. “We wouldn't takemuchof your gold.”

Elara knew that she had tointerrupt. Joke or not the comment exposed too many of the splits between them,the different ways in which their interests pulled them.

“I wanted to remind you that it isnot inevitable for one of Emperor Tiberius’s family to rule in Aetheria.”

“No, you would rather have beastwhisperers running the city,” the nobleman said. “No doubt we would have togive our firstborn to be devoured by your kind.”

“We are not animals,” Elara said,keeping her temper in check with an effort. “We do not eat people, we do not goon rampages, and we are not controlled by our passions.” Not yet. “Those arerumors that were spread under the emperor in order to justify pushing us out.”

“We've heard plenty of rumors aboutyou,” one of the gang leaders said. “HowisLyra Thornwind?”

Elara had started most of thoserumors herself, that she had taken on Lyra’s patronage to become romanticallyinvolved with her. It was something expected of patrons, because many of themsaw these young strong gladiators and realized that they could buy power overthem. Many of them did exactly what the rumors said she had been doing withLyra.

“She is ready to play her part,”Elara said. She looked around the crypt. “What is the heart of Aetheria?”

“The games,” the nobleman said,without hesitation.

“And who is currently the favoritegladiator within the games?” Elara asked. She needed them to see the role thatLyra could play.

“I take your point,” the noblemansaid. “But that doesn't mean things will be easy.”

“When was anything worthwhile evereasy?” Elara countered. “Our noble sons and daughters throw themselves into thegames, risking their lives for honor and glory. Our lower classes live liveswhere they do not know where their next meal is coming from. The city enslavesthose it wants from beyond its borders, to live lives of drudgery even if theyare not thrown into the colosseum.”

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