Page 23 of Ironhold, Trial Three

I know it, but that doesn't mean I like it. Having to parade before the crowds is one thing, but having to go into the receiving room after the games each time is a different kind of attention. It is something more personal, when the nobles are close enough to touch me, and when they think they have the right to. Only the patronage of Lady Elara has kept me from them so far. They look at me and don't just see a victorious gladiator, someone to be seen with. They see a conscripted gladiator, someone without the freedom to say no to them.

So I stay there in the best pens with Alaric as long as I can. Eventually, though, the guards and the trainers come down to find us. We must go and mingle with the nobility once more. We head up through the colosseum, making our way to the receiving room, where the nobles are already admiring some of the others, making sure they are seen with them.

"When the third elemental came at me, that's when I knew I had to use all my blades at once."

Vex is standing with a collection of nobles, sipping wine with them as if he is simply another one of them. He seems to be telling the story of his bout, although he seems to be missing out the part where Alaric was there, doing half the work.

Ravenna is there, with a young nobleman perched on the edge of the couch where she is sitting, looking at her with admiration. There are a couple of singe marks on her outfit, but nothing serious.

“She persuaded her opponent to walk off the edge,” Alaric whispers, before slipping away. This is one place where we can'tbe seen to be a couple. It would make things more dangerous for both of us. And, of course, ruin Alaric’s dashing allure in the eyes of any watching noblewomen.

I think about the way Ravenna won her bout. It's just another reminder of how dangerous she is. Especially since she seems to be looking my way. She stands and moves over to me, ignoring the nobleman as he looks at her with pleading eyes.

“A dangerous move in your bout today,” she says. “Having someone else help you like that. I assume it was Alaric.”

“I never asked anyone to help me,” I say.

“I wonder what they would do if you were found to get outside help in the middle of a match like that? If they could prove it? Probably they would have you impaled. I'm sure the emperor would be very pleased.”

I can feel a familiar pressure on my mind. My hand flashes out, grabbing Ravenna's wrist and squeezing as hard as I can to distract her.

“I just told you that I didn't ask anyone for help,” I say. “And you know that Alaric’s powers don’t work for other people, just for him. If someone from the crowd chose to intervene, that wasn't something I had any choice about. Now get out of my mind.”

Ravenna looks surprised, but nods. “You should be more careful, Lyra. Your position is growing more tenuous. And every time you treat me like this, the way back becomes harder. When you realize that you need my help, I'm going to make you grovel for it.”

“Thankfully,youare not Lyra’s patron.” Lady Elara walks up to us. “Now, if you will excuse us, I wish to speak to Lyra in private.”

Ravenna bows her head, then sweeps away from us. Lady Elara gestures towards the private room that she has spoken to me in before. I go with her, and I can see Ravenna watching us.I wonder how much she saw in my mind before I instructed her to leave me alone. Even if she saw everything, would it count for much? Aetheria has its laws, but so much here seems to be about ways in which people skirt the edges of them, about power and influence.

I head into the side room with Lady Elara. She sits on the couch there, picking up some grapes and looking worried. I stand before her.

“Ravenna is right about one thing,” she says. “This is a very dangerous situation for you. Do you know that Lord Darius wanted you punished for the way your bout ended?”

“So why am I not being dragged away to be executed?” I ask. Not that I want that. Fear fills me just at the thought of it. But everybody seems to be warning me about the same thing, something I can't stop or change. At this point, I just want to know for sure how much danger I'm in.

“Partly because I interceded,” Lady Elara says. “Partly because they can’t prove who did it. Partly because they're not sure you knew anything. And… partly because other forms of influence and interference are so common. If you bet a large amount of money on a gladiator, it is not uncommon to poison their opponent, or arrange for them to have substandard equipment.”

“Is there nothing honest about this place?” I ask.

The question seems to amuse Lady Elara. "The Colosseum or Aetheria? In both cases, the answer is no. They are both places of blood and magic, but what they don't tell you is that they are places of whispers and subtle influence, just as much. In this case, don't worry. The emperor declared that you obviously didn't arrange any of it. And I think he was impressed by the way you finished the fight. He seems to like it when you're ruthless.”

Her words take me back to the moment when I pushed Malira, sending her tumbling into the flames. I can still hear herscreams, still smell the scent of scorched flesh, lingering in my nose and throat as if I will never be free of it.

“That was just… it was the only way not to die,” I say.

“You did what you had to do,” Lady Elara says. “Just as you did when you took from the bird.”

She looks me straight in the eyes as she says that. I realize that she knows exactly what I did in my fight, the way I borrowed speed and agility from the bird above. The fact that it died for it.

I almost feel worse about doing that than I do about pushing Malira. The creature died while Malira is with the healers and will probably survive. More than that, she was actively trying to kill me, and the bird was just an innocent creature in the wrong place.

“I didn't want to kill it,” I say.

"But you also didn't want to die," Lady Elara replies. "Remember that, Lyra. Remember that we must do what is necessary for our survival and for victory."

Is she talking about my fights now, or about whatever treason she is plotting with the spectral covenant? I do not dare ask her because I suspect this place is not entirely private. The wrong words overheard could see us both impaled on spikes.

She rises, taking my hands. “You are growing in power. And that last bout has helped your popularity. Youneedto be popular. You need the crowds to love you. But at the same time, power and popularity will make you enemies amongst some people. It will mean more money is being bet on you. It means more people have a reason to interfere in your fights, especially now that they've seen it is possible. And the emperor… what did he speak about when he talked to you?”

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