Ironhold, Trial One (Ironhold #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Eventually, I leave, slipping out quietly. Although not so quietly that Zara doesn’t see me. She gives me a smile and a nod of encouragement, obviously imagining every detail of what just happened, even though nothing did.

How do I feel about that? Should I correct her, explain that this wasn’t some snatched moment, that nothing happened?

Even as I think that over, though, a figure comes running over to me. I recognize Finn, with his spikey hair and lean frame.

“Lyra, I’ve been looking for you. You weren’t in your room.”

“Rowan was wounded. I needed to make sure that he got back here safely,” I explain.

“Oh. Oh . I wasn’t… interrupting something, was I? Only I heard that you and Lady Elara…”

It seems that everyone around here is making assumptions. More to the point, how does Finn know any of this?

“There’s nothing going on with me and the noblewoman,” I insist. “Or with me and Rowan. Nothing happened.”

I add that part hurriedly. It seems that rumors can spread quickly around here if left unchecked.

“What did you want, Finn?”

"They've put the pairings for the doubles bout up in the dining hall," he says. "You and I are going to be on the same team against Vex and Lazlo."

“I don’t know Lazlo,” I say, but the thought of fighting Vex again is frightening enough. I got lucky last time, the shadow cat coming to my rescue. I know he’s a dangerous fighter, and his ability to control blades in the air means that attacks could come from anywhere.

“He’s tough,” Finn replies. “He uses kinetics, similar to Vex, but he does it to make himself faster. We need to practice together if we’re going to fight together in the colosseum.”

It’s already getting dark, but I nod. I know that Finn and I will need to work together smoothly if we’re going to survive. I don’t want to be the reason that he is hurt or worse out on the sands.

So we go out to the practice yard. There are still a few people training by torchlight. The guards don’t seem to care. It only matters to them that we do not try to escape. Finn and I take up positions near one of the practice posts. I have my trident and net, while he has his daggers.

“We're both fighters who rely on hitting and moving,” he says. “We will need to play into that but not get too far from one another. The moment both of them corner one of us, it's over.”

I know what he means. Fighting one skilled gladiator is difficult enough. Trying to take on two at once would be almost impossible. Finn and I need to stick together.

We start to work on tactics. With my net and my longer trident, my job will be to keep the other fighters off us. Finn will try to use his illusions to distract them, either giving me an opportunity to strike, or allowing him to slip forward to attack with his knives.

“What about when Vex starts throwing knives our way?” I ask.

“You were able to get some of them when you sparred with him,” Finn says, although he doesn’t sound certain. “We need to stick to our plan, Lyra. Lots of movement, a distraction, and then a decisive blow.”

I know it's our only option, but I don't like having his life in my hands. Finn is depending on me to deal with any knives that come in. I only hope I can do it.

Eventually, we break off. Working together will help, but not if we're both so tired that we cannot fight properly. We both leave the practice area, Finn going first while I put my weapons away. I'm surprised to find that Finn is not heading in the direction of his room.

Instead, he seems to be heading for the quarters where the free gladiators are housed. I follow, sticking to the shadows as best I can. Ironhold still holds the sounds of celebration, as some of those who have survived today insist on making the most of it with singing, drinking and loud storytelling. I see one young gladiator slip into one of the rooms as we pass, obviously on his way to a tryst of some kind. The constant threat of death seems to have brought out the need to celebrate life among all those in Ironhold.

Maybe that's where Finn is going. Maybe he has just attracted the attention of one of the noble gladiators and will be spending the night in a bed other than his own. Yet there is something about the furtiveness of his movements that makes me keep following him. And the location is not one of the gladiators’ rooms.

Instead, it is the museum like space, given over to the glory of previous gladiators. I sneak up to the door, watching.

“What took you so long?” a voice asks. It is one I recognize, even before Vex steps into view around a statue.

“I needed to train with her to get ready,” Finn says.

“How much do you really need to train if you're going to betray her?” Vex demands. “You do still remember our arrangement, thief?”

I see Finn nod. “I abandon her out on the sands. I make you look good, and in return, you beat me without killing me.”

“Exactly,” Vex says. “The alternative is that I cut you to pieces out there alongside her.”

“Why do you hate her so much?” Finn asks.

“Aside from her setting a cat on me? Aside from her making me look bad in front of everyone else? There's the part where she's been getting a lot of noble attention, even from Alaric. And then there's… what she is.”

“What she is?” Finn says.

“She can control beasts,” Vex says. “You know what that means. The emperor will want her dead at some point. If I'm the one to kill her, I'm sure he will be grateful.”

I have to cover my mouth to stifle a sound of surprise. Finn looks around anyway.

“What is it?” Vex asked.

“Nothing. I just thought I heard something.”

That's my cue to leave. I've heard enough in any case. I slip away from the room, heading back through Ironhold in the direction of my own quarters. My heart is hammering in my chest as I do it, and not just because of how close I came to being discovered.

Finn is planning to betray me.

What am I going to do about that? What can I do about it? I'm so busy thinking about the danger I'm in that I don't see a figure stepping out into the corridor in front of me until it's too late and I almost run into him.

“Lyra?” Alaric says. For once, he looks like a noble rather than a gladiator with a scrap of noble colors thrown over his gear. He's wearing a purple tunic embroidered with gold and sandals that are decorated with silver. "What are you doing here? Is it that you have finally decided you cannot resist my charms? But no, that can’t be it, because you were with Rowan.”

“What does that even matter to you?” I ask.

“Oh, it doesn’t,” he replies, just a touch too lightly. “Nothing affects me. It’s not like I care . But you still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing up here?”

“I…” I wonder how much to tell him. “I followed Finn. He was having some kind of secret meeting with Vex. They’re… they’re trying to prearrange the doubles bout tomorrow.”

“The one you’re fighting in?” Alaric says. A flash of anger crosses his face. “That’s… it happens, but the idea of them doing it to you.. .”

“I thought you said you didn’t care,” I point out.

Alaric waves my objection away. “What are you planning to do about it?”

“What can I do about it? Go to Lord Darius?”

“With what proof?” Alaric counters.

I know he’s correct. Without proof, there is no reason for Lord Darius to believe my word over that of a noble like Vex.

“Well, what can I do?” I ask.

Alaric considers it. “You could kill Finn.”

“What?”

“Kill him now, and then you would get a different partner. Obviously, you would need to do it subtly, so it couldn’t be traced back to you, but-”

“ Are you really talking about me murdering someone in cold blood?” I ask. “You get that's not something I can do, right?”

Alaric looks momentarily surprised. “Well then, I guess I could kill Finn.”

“Alaric-”

“Oh, don’t think of it as some grand gesture. I don't mind killing nearly as much as you do, Lyra.”

“No one is killing Finn!” I insist. “Could you not… I don't know, speak to Vex or something?”

Alaric shakes his head. “I doubt he would listen to me, and if I did, then he would know that I know, and he would change his plan. It would make things worse, not better.”

“So what can we do? Without murdering anyone?” I feel I need to remind him of that part.

Alaric frowns. “I’m… not sure. I’m sorry, Lyra.”

He rests a comforting hand on my shoulder, but it’s not a comfort. Because tomorrow, I will be fighting in my last bout of this season of trials in the colosseum. And if I do not think of something, I will effectively be taking on two gladiators alone.