CHAPTER ELEVEN
I don't know what to do about the problem of Selene. I sit in my rooms at the palace, contemplating the ways I might be able to stop her.
I try to work through potential plans. An obvious one is to try to prove which individuals are controlled by Selene, and then to try to undo what she's done to them. That would mean finding a psychomancer of our own, though, one powerful enough to overcome Selene’s efforts.
Even if we could find such a person would we be able to trust them with the minds of the senators?
The powerful mind mages I've met so far have all shared the same hunger to control others, the same willingness to do so for their own benefit.
If we show such an individual that it's possible to gain control of so many of the senate, isn't there a danger that they'll simply pick up where Selene stops?
There are other problems with the plan, too. It won't be easy to find a psychomancer of that power, let alone persuade them to stand against Selene.
What other options do we have, though? Alaric and I have been working to identify those individuals affected by Selene’s magic, so would it be possible to sideline them until the senate can vote to do something to stop the former arch magistrate?
Doing so would mean working around dozens of people, as well as persuading those who remain that there really is a threat from Selene. I'm not sure it's possible.
I look out from my room towards the colosseum.
It's night now so the structure is lit by glowing lamps from below that render its contours in a shifting procession of colors.
Is the answer there? Selene is already fighting in the colosseum, so is the answer to give her a match up she cannot survive?
Wouldn't that solve all of our problems at once?
I laugh bitterly at the turn my thoughts are taking.
I'm all too aware that it's probably the same way the emperor thought about me, probably a conversation he had with Selene.
His time magic told him that a beast whisperer would bring about his fall, so he tried again and again to make sure I died on the sands.
In doing so, he only pushed me to become stronger, and eventually precipitated the very downfall he was afraid of.
Would I risk doing the same with Selene? If I send more and more powerful people against her, do I create the conditions for her to become stronger, to gain more support with the people, and eventually to overthrow the Republic? Would it be playing into her hands?
My worries are about more than just those practicalities, though.
Do I really want to be someone who simply has her enemies killed in the arena?
I have stood against the violence of the games for so long, tried my best to make them safer.
Am I really about to undo that now by trying to find someone who can kill Selene for me on the sands?
I don't know. It isn't something I want to do, but I also know how dangerous this situation will be, not just for me but for everyone I care about, if Selene continues to gain power.
She might only have partial influence over some of the senators at the moment, but how long will it be before that translates into more?
I have no doubts about how she’ll use that power once she has it.
She will be ruthless with it. She’ll destroy those who’ve opposed her, including me.
If she wishes to restore the empire, Selene will probably seek to kill or exile those like Rowan, who are at the heart of the Republic's functioning.
Alaric will be a target as well because his resistance movement will fight back against her.
Even Marcus seems likely to stand up and speak out against a woman who he blames for her role in the destruction of his family and their fortune.
I'm still contemplating that when a knock comes on my door.
Because this is the palace it's not unusual for people come to my rooms late at night.
Sometimes it's servants bringing a message.
Sometimes it's other senators, trying to persuade me before a vote the next day. I go to the door and throw it open.
Marcus is standing on the other side, and I stop, caught by surprise by his sudden appearance at my door. He's carrying a scroll, which he holds out to me without saying anything.
“What's this?” I ask him. This is all too mysterious for my liking.
“Read it first and then I'll explain,” he says.
I take the scroll, stepping back inside the room and allowing him to follow me.
I hadn’t thought I’d be inviting him into my room anytime soon, especially not when Marcus carefully closes the door behind us.
Just a few weeks ago it would have been normal to have him in my room at night, or, more likely, for me to be over at his villa, in his rooms. Now it feels strange, the two of us in the same space together.
I can feel… not attraction exactly but more like the memory of it, as my body remembers all the times Marcus and I have spent together.
All my old feelings for him rush to the surface.
I can't deny that I care about him; it's just that I can't stand by and ignore the things he does.
“Please read the scroll,” Marcus says.
I spread it out on the desk in my rooms, reading carefully.
There are names there, and beside each name there are details of their involvement in the death matches, but also in other things.
There's a note about a money lender who employs thugs to hurt and kill those who do not pay.
There are details of bribes to different officials.
There are careful notes about smuggling, about which priests still sacrifice people to the stones of the city, about those individuals who make slaves of people in all but name.
I understand what this scroll is now, but I want Marcus to be the one to say it.
“What am I reading, Marcus?” I ask him.
“These are the details I've been getting by continuing to run the bouts,” Marcus says. “You can see how much I've gotten already, but there's a chance for more the longer I keep going. Consider these names a gift, Lyra, to do with as you will.”
“A gift?” I echo.
Marcus shrugs. “Well, I know you're not really someone who would appreciate a piece of jewelry or a fine wine, so this was the next best thing.” He grins briefly, looking boyish and handsome, but then his expression turns serious once again.
“And I wanted to prove to you that I'm serious about what I'm doing with the matches.
Someone like Alaric might talk about rooting out corruption, but I'm actually doing it.
I'm the one identifying the dark dealings of the city, the people involved in every criminal activity.”
“By being a part of it all,” I point out.
Marcus nods. “Because it's necessary. If my life has shown me anything, it's that you should never shy away from doing what's necessary. Things only get worse if you do.”
I can't imagine what it took him to rebuild his family's fortunes and their trading fleets.
I worry that not everything will have been right or ethical.
Marcus is quick to justify what he's doing, but can I deny what he's just given me?
If I bring this evidence to the guards or a judge, I could bring down large portions of the corruption within the city at a stroke.
Of course doing that will expose what Marcus is doing.
It will make him a target to everyone he's currently working alongside in the underground matches, and it might see him punished for his involvement in those matches.
Do I really want to destroy corruption in the city like that? Do I really want to hurt him like that?
What he's done with this scroll is to put his safety and freedom in my hands. He's shown me what he's doing but he's also shown me that he trusts me with his life. It’s a gesture, but it’s a powerful one.
“How should I use this scroll?” I ask him.
“Maybe don't use all the names at once but you could start to leak pieces of information. I am, some people I think I can trust.”
“It's hard to know who to trust when Selene is using mind magic to get her way in the city,” I say.
Marcus nods his agreement. “But I hope we won't have to worry about her much longer.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that she'll have another match tomorrow, and I intend for this one to be her last.”
It’s what I was thinking about but Marcus seems to have simply done it. In his way, he's far more pragmatic than I am. I don't know whether to be impressed by that or worried by the ease with which he can talk about killing someone.
“How do you intend to make sure of that?” I ask. Do I really want to know the details?
“I've hand-picked this opponent,” Marcus says.
“It's one of the other things I've been doing in the death matches.
By observing them I've been able to establish who the strongest fighters are when it matters.
And by sparing the right people at the right times, I've been able to make sure that there are now several gladiators who owe me their lives.”
I sigh. “You know how all this sounds don't you, Marcus? All this manipulation and double-dealing?”
He moves closer to me, taking me in his arms. “Like I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to protect you, us, and the city?”
There's no denying his strength as he holds me, the kind of strength that would take on anyone to keep me safe. Only I wonder if Marcus would do that if he felt that I was an obstacle to the things he wants to achieve. His lips brush mine, but I pull back from the kiss.
“It's too soon, Marcus,” I say. “Your scroll tells me there's more going on with your involvement in the death matches than I assumed at first, but you've still spent a long time lying to me. I can't help feeling every time I'm with you that you have some game going on in the background.”
He touches my face. “I have so many games in the city, but none of them are designed to hurt you, Lyra.
I wish I could make you believe that. I hope that once you go through the scroll, and start to use it to remove some of the corruption in the city, you'll see that I'm sincere. Soon, Selene Ravenscroft will be gone, the corruption in the city will be gone, and we can work together to make Aetheria everything it should be.”
I can almost see the vision of the life together he's offering me.
I can imagine us both standing together in the senate box of the colosseum, while the crowd cheers for us.
Only I find myself wondering whether it will be cheering for us or for the death of some gladiator far below, while Marcus stands as something close to an emperor.
I have so many feelings for him, but I don't know if I can go along with everything he wants for the city.
“I should leave,” Marcus says. He heads for the door, and a part of me wants to call him back. But I don't. I have a lot of thinking to do.