Ironhold, Trial One (Ironhold #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

The worst part of what comes next is the people congratulating me for killing.

“That was incredible! I’m glad I bet on you this time!” Lord Marus says, grabbing me by the arms and spinning me around. It occurs to me that I have the training to throw him down on the floor of the grand chamber where I have been required to go be seen by the nobles as soon as the healers have stitched my wounds .

But if I do that, I know I will be punished. Maybe I will even be killed for it. So I don’t, waiting for him to pull back instead.

I'm in the same grand chamber as before, where the nobles gather to celebrate the successful gladiators, to be seen with them, to build connections with them for one night finally complete their time in the colosseum. As before, it is a place of fine food and decadence, of servants standing respectfully by, waiting for commands, and of nobles who lounge on elegant couches, occasionally heading back out to their boxes so that they can watch more of the violence.

Zara is already there, looking bored as she turns down some proposition from a nobleman. I head over to her as soon as she is free, because that gives me at least some protection from being talked to by the nobles around me.

“Lyra, you survived!” she says, throwing her arms around me.

She sounds slightly surprised.

“You didn't think I would?” I ask.

She hesitates. “It's just… this whole thing you have about not hurting people. It's hard to believe that you can win bouts without doing that. And I saw who you were up against. Braxus is tough.”

“He's dead,” I say, my voice flat. “I killed him.”

Zara’s eyes widen slightly at the news, obviously taking in the implications. “It’s your first time killing someone?”

I nod.

“It gets easier.”

“I don’t want it to get easier,” I snap back, then realize how harsh my tone is. “I’m sorry. It’s just… I don’t like that they can make us just slaughter one another.”

“Braxus was a cruel brute who liked to hurt people as much as possible,” Zara says. “You shouldn’t feel bad about him being gone.”

Maybe not, but I do feel bad about being the one to kill him. Being forced to do something like that is a huge step. I don't want Zara to be right, I don't want it to be easier now that I've done it once. Killing someone should mean more than that, but the system of Aetheria means that none of us have any choice.

“I saw your bout too,” I say to her. “With the water.”

“It's not a trick that will work on everyone,” she says. “I have to hit them just right with the vial. And there's only so long I can hold it. But it worked today, which means I get to live a little longer. I hope we never have to fight one another.”

I hope so, too. I think of Zara as a friend, but the reality is that we could be made to fight. And if we do, I have no doubt she will fight just as ruthlessly as she did in her first bout. She will do whatever it takes to survive. And so, it turns out, will I. It is something I wish I did not know about myself, but the colosseum has stripped away all pretense in that regard.

“Well, you're both looking glum, considering that you're victorious.” Ravenna approaches. She still has blood on her, but doesn't seem to care. It probably isn't hers. She is still in her scandalously brief armor, and I can see the eyes around the room on her, on us.

“Don't you mind that people watch you like that?” I ask.

She shrugs. “It's a part of what all this is. We celebrate youth, beauty, strength.”

“So the nobles get to stand around wondering which of us they’d like to bed most after watching us try to kill one another?” Zara asks.

Ravenna shrugs. “It's simply the way of things. And it can be useful. When I finish my fights, there will be a dozen wealthy young men who want to be my husband.”

“I thought you were already wealthy?” I say.

She hesitates. “I am noble, but as for wealthy… these things are relative. My family has some money, but not as much as the very finest. Not like Alaric’s family, for example. No, I must come here, show what I can do, show myself off, in the hopes that when this is done one of my horde of admirers will prove to be a suitable match.”

She's risking her life, just for a better marriage? Except it's not just that, is it? For Ravenna, a better marriage means greater wealth and prestige, being closer to the power in Aetheria. I hope that she achieves all she wants. For now, she seems to be looking around the room, smiling at this noble or that, then looking away before they can be certain that she means any of it.

Yet, she is not the one who attracts attention first. Instead, when a servant comes up to a small group, it is with a message for me.

“Lady Elara requests the pleasure of your presence,” the servant says.

Lady Elara is the strange woman who talked to me yesterday. Who said she would be watching me? Do I want to speak to her again? It seems better than standing here, so I nod.

“It seems someone has an admirer,” Ravenna says, as I turn to go.

“It’s not like that,” I insist.

“Oh, dear, it's always like that. They always want something from us.”

Those words echo in my mind as the servant leads me through to a private room, draped in silks. Lady Elara is sitting on a couch. Today, she is wearing a flowing white and gold dress fastened at her shoulder. There is a table with an ewer of water on it in front of her.

“I thought you would want to have a chance to clean the blood from your hands,” she says. “I know it can be painful to kill for the first time.”

I’m grateful for that, and I start to wash my hands and arms in the water.

"Everyone says that as if it's something to get out of the way so that I can get better at it next time," I say.

It’s hard to read Lady Elara’s expression. “You are in a situation where killing may mean the difference between life and death. You made the choice you needed to make in order to survive.”

“It was barely even a choice,” I reply. “I just…”

“Just what, Lyra? Just got so caught up in the flow of things you were seeing through other eyes that you acted instinctively?”

That takes me back, because how could she know what was happening to me in the arena? Everyone else seems to think that I simply overcame my opponent through greater skill and ruthlessness. I have told no one about seeing through the eyes of the birds.

“How do you know that?” I ask, cautiously.

“I felt what you did,” she says. “A connection with beasts is one of my talents. You have heard, of course, that beast speech only allows people to talk to animals, to communicate?”

I nod. Until the last couple of days I had believed it to be the limits of my own powers. Beast speech is a weak talent compared to so many others.

“It is a lie,” Lady Elara says. “Oh, it's true for many of those with a connection to animals, just as the majority of those who can someone illusions can only create a few brief lights, and most of those who manipulate minds can only make strangers are a little better disposed to them. The magic of Aetheria does not touch all equally.”

“So I'm just a stronger version?” I say.

She smiles, then looks around as if watching for anyone who might be listening. “Those of us with more used to be called beast whisperers. But it is a talent that is looked on with suspicion. There was a time when those who had it were killed out of hand. Certainly, no one teaches those who have it how to reach their full potential. No one except me and… a few of my friends.”

I stand there, staring at her. “Is that why you're showing an interest in me?”

She laughs. “Did Ravenna convince you that I really was just trying to seduce you after all? That is how she thinks. Given her talent for mental manipulation, it’s hardly surprising. But no, I represent a group. We have been called many things, but the name people know best is the spectral covenant. It is a group dedicated to helping beast whisperers, such as yourself.”

I have never thought of myself as that, did not even know the term existed until a few moments ago.

“Tell me, are the others at Ironhold looking at you with more suspicion yet?” Lady Elara says.

I think of Vex and the other free gladiators. “Perhaps a couple, but that’s just because they didn’t think I would last before.”

“It’s more than that,” Lady Elara assures me. “Rumors are already starting about you. But everyone assumes you will be killed in the arena, and people aren’t quite sure what kind of threat you represent.”

“I’m not a threat,” I insist.

Lady Elara laughs again. “You don’t know what you are yet, Lyra. But I can help you find out. I will help you to harness your talents. But remember, there are dangers to that. The more power you show as a beast whisperer, the more people will fear you.”

“But why?” I insist.

Lady Elara is silent for a moment or two. “Because a beast whisperer is destined to overthrow the emperor.”