Page 30 of Ironhold: Trial Five

That name catches me by surprise asI realize why she looks faintly familiar. Her features have echoes of Alaric’sface. This is the patron he has been seeing in secret. This is his mother.

That fact is enough to get me tosit there, although I don't know what I can say to her.

“I guess you must hate me,” I say.After all, if it weren't for me, her precious son would not be held, awaitingexecution.

She puts her hand on my shoulder, asurprising amount of sympathy in her eyes.

“How could I hate you when my soncares about you so much?”

I laugh bitterly. “I'm not sure hefeels the same way right now. He told me that he wished he had let me die andthat I should do the same for him.”

I hear her sigh. “Alaric always wasdramatic. And he knows how to wield words. You realize that if he saidsomething like that, it was for a reason, not because he meant it.”

“What reason could he have thatexcuses that?” I ask.

She smiles gently. “I heard whatyou did for him. I heard about you agreeing to keep fighting. The rumors aboutthat are starting to flow out. The emperor is letting the right people knowbefore he announces it to the crowd, so that they can all bet on the outcome.His way of rewarding loyalty.”

“And you’re loyal to him?” I ask.

“He let me know so that I wouldknow my son is not going to be killed straight away,” she says. “Anotherway of ensuring that loyalty.”

Holding him as a hostage over therest of his family as much as over me. It just shows how twisted the situationis, but I'm not sure it helps with anything.

“Alaric is trying to be noble andgive you a way out,” Lillian says. “And if he has been cruel my guess is thathe has done it deliberately to try and make youtakethis way out. Tomake it less painful for you. You've seen, I guess, that he's an expert inputting on the mannerisms of the arrogant and unfeeling nobleman when he wantsto.”

“I have,” I admit.

“Then you will also have seen thatthere is far more beneath it. He pretends that he is not, but Alaric is someonewho feels everything deeply. When he is hurt, it is to the bone. When he loves,it is with all his heart. Do not doubt what he feels for you. He's trying to beselfless, trying to throw his life away as if it's nothing, but we both know itmatters so much more than that.”

“I…” I nod. I know she's right,just as I know I can't simply walk away, rejecting the emperor's offer andallowing Alaric to die. I cannot go back to Seatide and watch the empire devouritself from a safe distance. At the same time, though, I know that I cannotkeep fighting forever.

I need another option. I need anoption that will allow me to save Alaric, to free myself, and to do more thanthat. I want to make things better for everyone trapped in the games, everyonein the city, and the empire.

I'm not sure that any of the sideswho have come to me are offering that. I don't think I can trust Lady Elaraanymore, not with the horrors she plans to unleash. IknowI can't trustVex. As for Bella… I cannot allow the wildfire of mob violence either. Oh, andthe emperor is still waiting for me to hand him his foes.

I need to find my own way, forAlaric’s sake, for mine, and for that of everyone in the city.

Chapter Seventeen

I sit there, trying to work my waythrough the tangled web of the problems facing me. It seems obvious that Icannot continue the way the emperor wants me to. Doing so only buys time, butdoes nothing to save either myself or Alaric.

I sit there silently in thereceiving room, looking around at the nobles and at the servants who must obeythem. There are other gladiators in here as well, while I can hear the soundsof the crowd. It will not be long before the end of the day and if I'm going todo anything I should probably do it now. Tomorrow will be the last day of thesegames, then after that I will be shut away in Ironhold, with fewer chances toachieve anything.

I think about the twin pillars ofAetheria: martial virtue and magical might. Those are the foundations of thecity, but there are more sources of power than just those. The people of thiscity are every bit as important as its magic or its warriors.

I think I can see a way throughthis, but I know that neither Vex nor Lady Elara will be happy about it. Eachwill attempt to take power as soon as anything happens, and they may haveenough strength to succeed in doing so.

I know what I need to do. I go toSalene the servant, hoping that the reputation I've built up through the gameswill be enough to get her to do what I want.

“Excuse me, would you inform mypatron, Vex, that I wish to speak with him if it's convenient? Tell him that Iam ready to give him what he wants.”

I frame it as the kind of politerequest that any gladiator might make down here in the receiving rooms. To theservant, it probably sounds as if I'm ready to offer myself up to Vex, but hewill know what I mean when he hears it.

The servant nods and hurries off,leaving me to wait. Vex comes to me quickly, ushering me into a side room.“You've decided to be reasonable then?” he says.

I nod. “You're my best chance ofgetting Alaric out of this alive.”

“I will do everything I can forhim,” Vex promises, although that's a long way from promising that he will keephim alive regardless of what happens. Vex may have a very different idea ofwhat everything he can do entails than me. “Do you have the information Irequested?”

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