Page 40 of Ironhold, Trial Three

She continues the insinuations of the rumors about me and Lady Elara. Those rumors have kept us safe, because they have hidden the fact that she is teaching me the skills of a beast whisperer, but now, they increase the danger.

“My emperor,” Ravenna says. “I call on you to declare Lyra a heretic, suborning the holy nature of these games. I call on you to have her executed, here on the sands, to appease the gods and the crowd!”

The crowd roars and boos, their fury obvious. In this moment, if I do not speak, I will be condemned.

“My emperor, may I speak against these charges?”

The emperor nods. “But speak well, Lyra, because the accusations are serious, and they fit with what we've seen.”

“Deliberately so,” I say. I point at Ravenna. “I am not the one who has been manipulating these games; she is. She has been using her powers of the mind to manipulate the matchups. You will find evidence of her and her friends making money from betting on the lineups of the fights. I believe that she has manipulated this whole set of trials to cause me pain, to make me look guilty, but also to give herself the easiest route through the trials that she can.”

A murmur runs through the crowd at my counter-accusation.

“Lies!” Ravenna says. “Are you suggesting that even I am powerful enough to manipulate all of the organizers of the games?”

That has been the argument that people have made to me throughout these trials in the face of my suspicions. They all know the limits of Ravenna's power, or they think they do.

“Not alone,” I say. I look at her. “You shouldn't have had Vesper help me in the maze, Ravenna. You shouldn't have sent him to get close to me. But I guess you had to in order to make the fourth trial work.” I turn my attention to the emperor, trying to ignore the pain I feel at that betrayal. Because itisa betrayaland a big one. Vesper made me believe that he was my friend, that he was there to help me. Instead, he was only out to help himself. I have been told again and again that it is the way of things in the colosseum, but that doesn’t make it hurt less. "The gladiator Vesper also has the magic of the mind, but his focus is on boosting the powers of others. Here's the reason that even with a dampener around my wrist, I was able to control a herd of thunder hooves. Imagine what he could do for Ravenna's power when she is not restricted in the same way. With his help, she could control Lord Darius. She could do it without the arch magistrate sensing anything."

“Lies!” Ravenna says. “Nothing but lies!”

“The logic is sound, Tiberius,” a woman’s voice says. There are few people who would call him that, and I know the voice in any case. Lady Selene Ravenscroft, the arch magistrate, steps to the front of her box. She is younger than her white hair suggests, only in her thirties, shorter than I am, with a slender figure encased in white robes, but she is one of the most powerful magic users in the whole empire. I have seen her blast a wraith into nothingness with barely any effort.

The emperor stands there, looking to each of us. He nods to Selene. “Find the truth of this.”

Selene gives a brief bow, then steps from the edge of her box, floating down to the ground as if it is nothing. She lands between me and Ravenna, moving towards Ravenna.

“I will look into your mind and find the truth,” she declares.

“I am a free noble of the empire,” Ravenna snaps. “You have no right to do such a thing.”

“I have been instructed to do so by the emperor,” Selene retorts. “That gives me every right I need.”

"Well, I will not let you into my mind," Ravenna says, and that is no idle declaration. She is powerful in her way, and whileshe couldn't take on the arch magistrate in a straight fight, she may be able to keep Selene out of her thoughts.

Selene produces something from within her robes. I recognize it as a dampener, similar to the one I'm wearing. She moves forward, and Ravenna looks as though she might try to stop her from placing it on her wrist, but then seems to realize the foolishness of that. As powerful as we all are in Ironhold, there are those within the empire with more power, and it possesses an army, filled with people who all have their own minor talents. If she strikes at Selene, she might not be declaring her guilt, but she will be guilty of attacking a noble woman.

It means she must let Selene strap the dampener around her wrist. The archmagistrate seems to concentrate for a few seconds. I can see Ravenna's eyes clouding over.

“Tell us the truth,” Selene says. “Did you conspire with the psychomancer Vesper to suborn the trials.”

I can see the tension in Ravenna's body as she tries to fight, but she doesn't have the power now to hold back the arch magistrate.

“Yes,” she says. “I did it.”

A gasp goes out around the crowd.

“And what were you seeking to achieve?” Selene asks, in a stern tone.

“Money, power, fame,” Ravenna says. “If I built Lyra up into a villain, I could guarantee myself an easy ride through these trials, with her as my final opponent. By making everyone hate her, I could make myself into a hero when I killed her. Even the emperor would be grateful.”

“And now I am not grateful,” Emperor Tiberius says, in a tone that promises violence. “Guards, seize the gladiator Vesper and take him to the dungeons to be executed at my leisure.”

I feel a wave of sadness at that. I know I would not be alive right now if it were not for him. He helped me so much in thegames. But he also did that purely because it suited Ravenna’s interests. His betrayal is too painful to ignore right now.

“Seize Ravenna,” the emperor continues. “She can be executed now on the sands. As she pointed out, that is the fate of those who suborn the games.”

Ravenna looks horrified as she sees her plan unraveling, and she understands the consequences of it.

---