CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“You should leave this to me,” Alaric insists, as we both make our way through the streets towards the senate.
Every step makes me wince with the effort, but I still shake my head.
"I need to see what's happening there," I say. There are only a couple more rounds left in the Grand Tournament, and it feels like everything is reaching boiling point in the city, too.
“I’m not sure what we can even do there,” Alaric says.
“And yet you’re still going,” I point out.
The truth is that we both need to know what’s happening. We need to see whether there’s still a chance that my efforts in the colosseum will be enough.
I watch the streets around us using the birds above as we hurry through the city.
That’s probably just as well, because there are still armed groups of people out on the streets, chanting slogans and clashing when they meet one another.
There are groups of guards, too, but they’re outnumbered and unable to stop any of the violence.
It feels as though the city is spinning out of control, with Selene’s supporters and those who oppose her ready to turn Aetheria into a battleground. If that happens, there’s no telling which side will win. Worse, we might all lose, given the threats from Arboria to invade if there’s chaos.
Will our neighbors actually go through with their threats?
My instinct is that they will. I can almost count Lady Cassandra as a friend, but I can't deny the hardness in her and the ways she believes strength matters above all else.
She's told me enough about the way her kingdom works to know that, if Arboria's queen believes we cannot hold our lands, its armies will be quick to seize them.
Which makes it even more important that we stop what Selene’s planning before the situation can get worse. And part of that is knowing exactly what she’s attempting to do now.
Alaric and I make our way through the noble quarter, heading for the palace. There are guards on the gates now, barring entrance. Alaric quickly uses his illusions to shift his features to resemble Marcus, though, so that the guards take one look at us and open the gates again to let us through.
“Senator, I didn’t realize you were out in the city,” one says.
“He wanted me to be here,” I say, trying to provide an explanation the guard might believe why Marcus might have left the palace. It seems to be good enough for the guard, because he steps back to let us into the palace grounds.
They’re a beautiful space, maintained by a team of gardeners whose magic helps the plants to grow. There’s also a menagerie of creatures collected by the former emperor, from peacocks whose tails flash with illusions, to more dangerous animals kept in cages.
I hurry past them with Alaric, heading for the viewing gallery of the senate chamber.
There are a few people in it already, but fewer than usual, given the restrictions on access to the palace.
Lady Cassandra is there, watching with obvious interest. There are nobles, too, all accompanied by their bodyguards, as if afraid to go out into the city alone.
Below, the senators sit on stone benches, all wearing the white togas that denote their status. Senator Olivia is standing there, festooned with jewelry, her blonde hair bound up with strands of gold.
“The violence on our streets is unacceptable,” she says. “These so called supporters of Lyra Thornwind are causing chaos.”
“It isn’t just them,” Marcus insists, from his place on the benches. “Selene’s supporters are causing at least as many problems.”
“Are you trying to blame this violence on the arch-magistrate?” Olivia asks.
“Selene Ravenscroft hasn’t been the arch-magistrate in a long time,” Marcus says.
"And perhaps that lack of real authority in Aetheria is part of why we have this chaos," Olivia says. She seems determined to back Selene to the hilt, even though it must be obvious to her by now that Selene doesn't care about her and certainly won't reward her.
“The lack of law on the streets is disturbing,” Senator Octavio says. “Steps must be taken to restore order.”
“Yes,” Olivia says. “Which is why I propose that martial law is imposed on the city. Anyone found outside should be arrested. Anyone engaged in violence should be summarily executed.”
“Does that include anyone going to attend the games?” a senator asks.
The stone benches rumble as Rowan stands up from the one true seat in the room, shaking his head. His power over stone makes it easy for him to command attention.
“No. This chamber will not impose martial law on the city,” he says. “I won’t let Aetheria slide into a dictatorship.”
“Are you trying to tell the senate how it should vote, First Senator?” Olivia asks. “Well, then, I say we should start with a simple proposal: for the removal of Senator Rowan as First Senator.”
There’s a gasp in the chamber, but it doesn't last long. I think everyone, including Rowan, has been expecting this moment sooner or later.
“A bold proposal, Olivia,” Rowan says. “Who supports it?”
Senators start to stand up, one after another.
Normally, this is a process that would involve each of them speaking as they stand, casting their vote one way or the other, but now their sheer numbers seem to be the most persuasive thing.
Rowan looks around at them, obviously counting even as I do.
I hear his sigh, even from up in the gallery.
“Very well,” he says, stepping aside and moving to the ordinary benches. “I assume this is where those senators Selene has bought or threatened hand her the role of First Senator?”
Olivia shakes her head, though. “That would allow those like you to pretend that she only got the role through such machinations. And anyway, we’ve all seen just how ineffective the role of First Senator is.”
I hold my breath, wondering what she’s about to propose.
“The truth is,” Olivia says, “that Aetheria has become chaotic and ungovernable in the days since we had an emperor. That is why one must be crowned.”
“You’d dare?” Rowan demands. “That goes against everything we fought for.”
“We fought against a mad emperor,” Olivia says. “But that doesn’t mean the idea of a strong ruler is foolish. The senate has a place, but we need someone who can act when it’s needed, without having to wait for the majority to decide.”
I hadn’t thought Selene would dare go this far, this quickly.
I assumed, like Marcus, that she might try for First Senator initially, and try to elide the difference between that role and the power of an empress.
Instead, it seems she’s using the violence in the city to justify simply grabbing power.
“You’d really return us to the days of empire?” Rowan demands. “You can’t do that.”
“This senate can make any decisions it wishes,” Olivia says.
“And you wish to simply hand power to the woman who controls you,” Rowan snaps back.
Olivia looks angry at the insult, but she shakes her head.
“As I said, we won’t allow people to make those accusations.
That’s why Aetheria will run as it always should have done.
The one who can prove themselves the strongest in magic and martial might will be crowned.
The winner of the games should be recognized by this senate as empress. Or emperor, of course.”
This is the same plan Selene’s supporters were putting forward before, the one violence in the streets disrupted only a day or two ago. Only now, that violence has let them push for more, for the full role of empress to be given as a prize in the games.
“This is insane,” Rowan says, standing. “I won’t have any part of this plan.”
“Then leave, Senator,” Olivia says. “But a vote will still go ahead. Does anyone else want to speak against the proposal?”
She smiles with the certainty of someone who knows she has the numbers on her side. But still, a figure steps forward. It’s Marcus.
He walks into the middle of the senate chamber, looking around at the other senators as if seeing them for the first time.
“My friends, my fellow senators of Aetheria,” he says. “All of you know me. In recent times, I’m sure some of you have come to see me as one of Selene Ravenscroft’s most ardent supporters.”
There are nods from around the room, although some there clearly look suspicious. After all, Marcus has been trying to slow down the passage of the proposal from the start.
“But the truth is, I’m not,” Marcus says. “I never have been. My loyalty has always been to Aetheria. I’ve gone along with Selene because I didn’t think there was another option, and because I wanted to see what she intends for our city.”
He gives the other senators a hard look.
"Some of you already know what she plans.
She's spoken about it in her salons and her meetings.
For the rest... I'll spell it out. Selene Ravenscroft intends to create a version of the empire where those with the most magic rule over those without it, where nulls are little more than slaves.
Where her enemies are killed in the colosseum.
Already, she uses psychomancy, bribes, and threats to control people around her.
Olivia says Selene isn't mad like Tiberius was, but that only makes what she's doing worse.
She seeks to recreate the horrors of the empire, not out of insanity, but in a cold blooded attempt to give herself the most power possible. "
He gestures to the benches now.
“There will be those among you who think you can profit from her gaining power, but ask yourselves this: how much magical power do you have? How much do those you love possess? Which of them will be pushed to the lowest parts of the social order because of Selene’s ambitions?
Selene has proposed that the winner of the games should be empress?
Well, I say that Selene is a traitor for demanding such a thing and should be punished accordingly. "
The senate chamber is in uproar now, with senators shouting on all sides, so it’s impossible to know what’s happening. Rowan might not be First Senator anymore, but it’s still his voice that rings out.
“Clear the chamber! Clear it!”
We head through to the ante-chambers beyond. I can feel the tension in the air. Marcus is there, surrounded by a gaggle of senators. As soon as he sees me, he hurries over.
“Lyra, what are you doing here?”
“I needed to see this,” I say. “I needed to see if there was anything I could do to stop it.”
Marcus shakes his head. “There isn’t.” He looks across to Alaric, who has switched disguises, but is sticking close to me. “This is all getting too close to call. I think it’s possible my words had an effect, but I don’t know what will happen next. You should take Lyra back to my villa, Alaric.”
“You think I’m going to wait there to find out if we’re suddenly going to have an empress?” I demand.
“Please, Lyra,” Marcus says. “I need to know you’re safe. I’m going to do what I can here, but you need to go prepare for the possibility that Selene will try something out in the city.”
Alaric puts his hand on my shoulder. “He’s right. We can’t do anything here. You aren’t a senator anymore, Lyra.”
I still feel as though I should be able to do something. But the truth is that I can’t.
“Please, Lyra,” Marcus says. “I can still fight this, but I can’t do it unless I know you’re safe. I need to focus on the fight here. My kind of fight, not yours. Go back to my villa. I’ll join you as soon as this is done.”
I don't want to go, but I don't feel as if I have a choice. Reluctantly, I step back. The fate of the city might well be decided in the next hour or two, and all I can do is wait and hope.