Page 34 of Ironhold: Trial Five

I can see signs of fighting in thecapital as we make our way down into it, suggesting that the battles betweenthe nobles, the beast whisperers and the soldiers have broken onto the streets.There are more burnt-out houses, suggesting spots where the fighting has beenintense, yet it seems the games are going to go ahead as normal. I assumed thatwould be the case. I am betting on it.

We are brought down to thecolosseum, paraded before the crowd, and taken below to wait. There is only onebout today, but the rest of the gladiators have been brought anyway, presumablyto entertain the nobles in the receiving rooms. I hope when the moment comes,they will be able to do their part. I look over to where Rowan is standing withhis armor and weapons in place. He looks determined. I go to him.

“I'm sorry I pushed you into this,”I whisper.

“No, don't be sorry. You're right.It isn't enough for me to fight just for myself or even my sisters. We mustfight for everyone.” He takes my hand. “Whatever happens. I'm glad I knew you,Lyra Thornwind.”

It sounds far too much like he'ssaying goodbye to me.

I am given my spear and my net,along with my small curved dagger. I wait with the others, and then we aremarched out into the colosseum.

“Citizens of Atheria,” the emperorsays. “Last night, a plot was discovered against our empire. It was stopped bymy guards, and those responsible for it will soon be brought to justice.”

That suggests that his guardsweren't able to destroy Vex’s faction completely, or Lady Elara’s beastwhisperers. If he could have, he would have brought them into the colosseum tokill them publicly. At least some of them must have survived, but I saw thelosses that all sides suffered. I look around the arena now. Are there as manyguards as usual? I'm not sure there are. How many ofthosedied in thefighting?

“To celebrate that triumph, I giveto you a battle such as has never been witnessed in this arena before. Not onegladiator against one, not pairs of them, but a whole horde of them, fightinguntil only one remains standing. They do this for the glory of the empire!”

The crowd cheers that but I can seethat some of them look uncomfortable at it. They know as well as I do that sucha mass battle will result in the death of many gladiators. Whoever theirfavorite is among us, that gladiator is as likely to be struck down as anyoneelse in the chaos.

The emperor doesn't seem to care.He only wants the spectacle, and to him we are all replaceable.

“Begin!” the emperor commands.

But we do not begin. We do not dowhat he wants. Instead, we stand together in a ring of steel, facing outwards,ready to deal with the threat we know will be coming soon. The emperor will nottolerate this long.

“I commanded you to begin,” theemperor says. “You will do it, or my guards will come down to deal with you.You can fight one another the way I command, or you can find yourselvesexecuted for your failures.”

Venom drips from his voice as hemakes the threat. I know he will make good on it if he can, and I know that adozen gladiators is not enough to stand up to every guard in the colosseum. Butthis is not just about the dozen of us standing here, or even about the otherswho even now will be starting to seize weapons and move from within thecolosseum’s interior.

No, this is about far more thanthat. I step forward, raising my voice.

“Citizens of Aetheria! You know me.I am Lyra Thornwind! Some of you call me the mistress of beasts. You have beentaught to fear me as you have all other beast whisperers. Maybe many of youknow why: because the emperor had a vision that a beast whisperer might bringhim down. He let me live because actually he doesn't know whether I'm going tokill him or save this city.”

I look around at them slowly.

“I say, why not both?”

I give that a moment to sink inbefore I continue.

“I say that Aetheria does need tobe saved. It needs to be saved from the emperor and from all those who would bean emperor. Last night I put a stop to two plots that would have seen otherpeople on the throne, but I did not do it for Emperor Tiberius’s benefit. I didit for all of you!”

I can hear the murmurs starting inthe crowd, the people talking among themselves, trying to make sense of this.

“The spectral covenant of beastwhisperers wanted revenge for the years they have been held down. They wouldhave unleashed animal fury on the city. A plot by the former gladiator Vexwould have seen him as emperor. He would have put you all beneath his heel inthe name of order.”

“Be silent!” the emperor commands,but I ignore him and keep going. If I stop now, I am going to die. We all will.

“You have seen me bleed on thissand, and you have watched me kill. You have stood there and watched, becausethat's what the emperor wants you to do. He wants to entertain you so that youdo not think about his rule for too long. So you don't think about the way hefeeds the life force of the young men and women of this empire into the stonesthat power its magic. How many people here have lost friends, family to suchbrutality?”

I gesture to the emperor with myspear. “You could stand by and watch today. Your emperor is going to send hissoldiers at us. You can stand and watch as twelve gladiators are cut down bythe guards, although we will make them pay a fearsome price for it. Or you canstand up and take this city back from the man who has let families starve andexecuted any who spoke against him.”

There are cheers from the crowdnow. Among them I can hear a single word repeated. A name.Myname.

“Lyra! Lyra! Lyra!”

Lady Elara had planned to use me injust this way. She knew that if I could become loved by the crowd I could stirthem up, get them on our side. But she saw it as a cynical manipulation, a wayto get them to put beast whisperers in charge until they could take theirrevenge. I do not want to manipulate the crowd into being on my side. I wantthem to realize that all of the gladiators here in the colosseum are on theirs.

“Enough of this!” The emperor callsout.

---