Page 29 of Ironhold, Trial Two

Lady Selene looks over to Lord Darius, who shrugs. “The instruction came down from the emperor. He wanted a more interesting bout. Said that if we were going to have beast whisperers in Ironhold, people should see everything they are.”

“Tiberius commanded it, but didn’t stay to see any of it?” Lady Selene says. I’m not sure which is more shocking, the use of the emperor’s name so familiarly or the note of disapproval in her tone.

“The emperor does as he wishes,” Lord Darius says.

“Yes, I suppose he does,” Lady Selene replies. “And we’re not talking about Tiberius. We’re talking about what to do with Lyra here.”

Lord Darius raises an eyebrow. “I would have thought that was obvious. She's too dangerous to keep in the arena. We should kill her now.”

“Convention dictates that we do not merely murder gladiators,” Lady Selene points out. “I'm sure that if it didn't, Tiberius would have had this young woman killed already. I assume that's why he's had such dangerous creatures thrown at her?”

Lord Darius looks troubled. “It's not my place to question my emperor, or yours.”

“I am the arch magistrate. I'm fairly sure I'm meant to question everything, Darius,” Lady Selene says.

“In this case, you wouldn't be killing her for nothing. She set that thing on the crowd,” Lord Darius says.

“Her actions resulted in it fleeing into the crowd,” Lady Selene corrects him. “And you know as well as I do with beast bouts that there is always a chance that the creature gets out of control.”

“And I'm saying she was controlling it the whole time,” Lord Darius says.

Lady Selene looks my way. “Were you controlling it?”

I feel the brush of something against my mind and realize that Ravenna might not be the only one with the power to touch it. It's clear she's looking for the truth. I do not dare to lie.

“I don't think so,” I say. “I went to try to control it, to try to beat it without hurting it. Then it ran from me. It's as if it was afraid of what I could do to it.”

Lord Darius looks from me to Lady Selene in disbelief. “You're going to just accept that?”

“Darius, you know as well as I do that I can see the truth of things,” she says. “And in this case, I believe her. Lyra did not deliberately set a dangerous creature on the citizens of Aetheria. I don't think we can see her set on a spike for that.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, but the arch magistrate goes on.

“However, intentional or not her actions did result in several citizens being trampled in the rush. There must be some punishment for that. A conscripted gladiator who is not even a citizen cannot bring about such deaths with impunity.”

Lord Darius thinks for several seconds. “Let her be cast out of Ironhold, then. We will declare her the loser of the bout, since you were the one who had to slay her foe for her. She will no longer fight as a gladiator. Instead, she will be taken and sold on. I'm sure there are plenty who might buy her. Maybe even the emperor himself.”

I gasp in horror at the thought of what he is proposing. As much as I hate the violence of the games, surviving my seasons in the Colosseum is my only route to freedom. If I make it through here I can be a citizen of Aetheria. What Lord Darius is proposing would rob me of that chance. As a former gladiator, he knows better than anyone just what he would be taking from me.

And what would happen to me then? Is he right? Would the emperor himself buy me? If he did, it would only be to kill me, probably slowly. And even if it were someone else… I don't want to have to live out my life that way, serving at the whims of whatever noble can afford me. It's all too easy to think of the ones back in the receiving area, who made me promises but really just wanted me.

Worse, Lady Selene seems to be considering it. Perhaps she sees it as a lesser fate than the alternatives. If so, she doesn't know what it means to be forced to serve. She doesn't know what it means to fight here, hoping for freedom. I know the way Rowan speaks of his days as a slave to a noble woman. I know I would rather die than be stuck like that.

“Please-” I begin, but Lord Darius cuts me off.

“Silence!”

It is not my choice. The arch magistrate will decide, and nothing I can say or do will change her decision.

Then another figure comes into the room. Lady Elara slips inside as elegantly as if she were joining a party.

“I do hope I'm not too late,” she says. “I had to fetch something.”

“Elara?” Lady Selene says. “What are you doing here? You can't be here while I’m rendering judgement.”

“Actually, I think I'm obliged to be,” Lady Elara replies. “After all, I am Lyra’s patron.”

The arch magistrate pauses. “Ah, that changes things. You're here to speak for her?”

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