Page 20 of Ironhold, Trial Four

I shake my head. “The emperor wants to know who sent him, and for that he's set me the task of finding out.”

“So Callus is here?” Alaric says, sounding as though he can't quite believe it. “And you were with Rowan because… you think that he will attack you anytime he gets a chance?”

“Is it such a shock that someone would want to hurt me?” I say.

“It's not that,” Alaric says. “Is the idea of someone doing it here? You know how things are here. Oh, it’s a violent place, but we can't just attack people outside of bouts. We're punished if we fight.”

“I know,” I point out, because I have been punished for exactly that, even when it wasn't my fault.

“Well if we kill someone outside of the colosseum, that's murder and we are looking at execution.”

“You've killed people for insulting you,” I say.

Alaric shrugs. “That's different. I got them to agree to a duel, and Lord Darius went along with the idea. If I had just killed them in the corridors, noble son or not, I would be on an impaling spike by now.”

The brutal order of this place does not make me feel better. It's just a reminder of how cruel our lives are, how divorced they are from the usual reality of people’s existence in Aetheria. The citizens of the city, the wealthy ones at least, have easy and peaceful lives filled with magic and all the wonders that can provide. We get lives filled with violence and training for violence.

“Rowan doesn't think that Calluswill respect the usual rules,” I say. “With his powers he can make it look as though I've just died in my sleep, or drowned in the baths. No one will be able to provehis part in it, even if they suspect something. It's why I can't be alone.”

“I see that,” Alaric says. “And as much as I hate to say it, Rowan is right about this. Someone must be watching you at all times now. At least until we can work out a way to get Callus out of here.”

He takes my arm, leading me back towards his rooms.

“Alaric, the way things have been going between us, I’m not sure I want to spend the night in your rooms,” I say.

“We can head to yours if you prefer, or I can escort you to someone else,” Alaric says. “But I’m not leaving you alone, Lyra. Nothing needs to happen. Nothing isgoingto happen. I just need to make sure that you’re safe.”

“I thought you didn't care what happened to me,” I say.

“If you think that, then you haven't been paying attention,” Alaric says. “The idea of being parted from you… it hurts so much it's distracting me, Lyra. Can you understand that? Can you understand how dangerous that is? This is my final season,so they're going to throw all kinds of things at me. I thought it was better if I tried to build up a wall between us.”

“It isn't better,” I say.

“I know.” Alaric looks crestfallen. “Come on. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Callus keeps giving me ugly looksas we make our way down to the colosseum in the morning. I feel sure that if he had a chance to do it he would lunge at me and finish the job he started on the sands. But he knows that if he tried that, he wouldn't live long enough even to kill me, let alone to get away with it.

So, for now, he bides his time, and I am free to process with the others down to the colosseum. I salute the crowd with the others, then head into the depths of the arena to wait my turn to fight. Today, I'm to be matched up against some kind of beast, but I have not been told what kind.

If I didn’t have the dampener on my wrist, I would not fear such a matchup. I would be able to control any creature thrown against me easily. As it is, though, with access to only a fraction of my power, a sufficiently strong creature may be able to resist my attempts at control. Even if I can manage it, the time it takes may give the creature time in which to strike me down. I have no doubt that any creature I face now will be fearsome.

I wait in the depths of the colosseum, and probably here I am safer than anywhere else from Callus, since there are plenty of guards to keep us apart. I start to prepare for my bout, making sure that my muscles are moving smoothly. I get a massage, one of the servants of the arena rubbing warm oil into my skin. I hope that will make it harder for anyone to get a grip on me, and it also eases my muscles, ready for action. The massage does nothing to relax me, tension building in me instead as I wait, counting the heartbeats until my bout.

I sit beneath the colosseum, listening to the sounds of the arena. I can hear the clash of weapons and the cries of pain. I do my best to ignore them, knowing that I can't do anything to change things for the people in the arena. I just hopethatwhatever injuries are being suffered out there, they are ones that healers can help with. I try not to think about the injuries I might suffer in my bout if it goes wrong.

Finally, it is time for my bout. I take my spear and my weighted chain, moving out into the arena confidently, feeling the sunlight on my skinas the crowd roars its approval for my entrance. I know I must stride out there with energy and vigor, showing that I have recovered from what Callus did to me yesterday. I am surprised to find that Ihaverecovered, at least in part. It seems thatif he doesn't kill his foe, they have a chance to revive with enough rest.

I just hope that the small moments of lingering tiredness in my muscles don’t slow me down to the point where I am killed.

“Today,” the announcer says, “Lyra, the mistress of beastswill face a terrifying creature!”

There are some cheers at thatand a few boos, because there are those in the crowd who want to see blood and who believe I'm as likely to pacify a creature and lead it back to the gates as to kill it.

The announcer seems to be makingsomething of that, though. “Will she slay the beast? Will she tame itand make it kneel before her? Will she try to befriend it and find herself killedas she overreaches?”

There are people running to the betting booths, and it occurs to me that they might not just be betting on the outcome of the bout but on what I do with my opponent. I wonder what odds they're getting on me killing a creature versustaming it and bringing it back safely? At this point, the outcomes of my bouts with creatures are well known.

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