CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“We shouldn't have left,” I say, pacing the main living area of Marcus’ villa.
“We didn’t have a choice,” Alaric says. “Marcus was right: it’s a battle of words, not blades. Staying there would have distracted him.”
“So we were meant to just abandon him?” I say.
Alaric shakes his head. “To trust him.”
“Since when do you trust Marcus?” I shoot back, continuing to pace.
Alaric intercepts me, putting his hands on my arms to stop me.
“I trust that he’s on our side for this part, even if I don’t agree with him about the way Aetheria should be run afterwards.
I trust that he’s a skilled politician, and that, if anyone can talk around a senate chamber that Selene has gained control over, it’s him.
I know you don’t want to be patient, Lyra, but that’s all we can do at the moment. ”
He’s right: I don’t want to be patient at all.
I want to march back to the palace and demand that the senate rejects Selene.
I want to use my powers to influence their emotions, making them fear what will happen if they vote the wrong way or inspiring such anger towards Selene that they order her killed.
I want to shout at the senators there for their stupidity in ever following her.
Maybe that’s why I can’t be anywhere near the senate chamber, though. If I interfere with the senate’s debates, I only risk driving them deeper into Selene’s arms.
But that means I must wait, and waiting is anything but easy.
“How long has it been now since we got here?” I ask, trying to judge the time by looking out of the windows of the villa. It’s dark, and the moon is up, but it’s hard to be precise.
“It’s been hours,” Alaric says. “But I would expect something like this to take hours.”
“How can you be so calm?” I ask him. “Don’t tell me you’re trusting in the senate to make the right decision, when you’ve barely trusted the senate from the start.”
Alaric shrugs. “Maybe that’s what makes this easier for me. I know that, if it comes to it, I’ll just keep fighting with the resistance the same way I have been. I’ve never expected the senate to solve our problems.”
“That isn’t comforting, Alaric,” I say.
“I know,” he replies, putting his arms around me. “But you need to remember that this isn’t the end, whatever happens. You can keep fighting. I can keep fighting. Even Marcus will find a way if the vote goes against him.”
I know Alaric wants me to stay positive, but it’s hard when I’ve heard what Olivia proposed in the senate chamber.
It’s worse than anything I expected, not even pretending to continue with the Republic and its laws.
Our only hope now is that Marcus can persuade the other senators to strike down the proposal, getting them to see just how far they’ve stepped away from the Republic’s ideals.
For now, though, all I can do is wait, and I hate waiting.
There's a commotion near the gates of the villa, and I tense, half-expecting an attack. I reach out with my powers, looking into the night with the eyes of night crawling creatures. What I see out there makes me run towards the villa's gates.
“Lyra, what are you doing?” Alaric demands.
“It’s Marcus!” I call back to him. “He’s hurt!”
He’s more than hurt. I can see him staggering to the gates, hammering on them with the last of his strength.
I run to him with all the speed I can muster, throwing open the gates just as he collapses.
I catch him, and Alaric is there too now to help me drag him back inside, past startled looking servants.
We lay Marcus down on a couch, and I see the full extent of his injuries. One of his legs is twisted, and there are bruises all over his body, as if he's been beaten to within an inch of his life. There are stab wounds, too, some oozing blood, some bleeding faster.
“Fetch Thalia,” I say to Alaric. “We need her healing.”
“I don’t know if I can get to her fast enough for these wounds,” Alaric says.
I want to curse him for not trying, but the worst part is that he’s right. At the rate Marcus is losing blood, he’ll be dead long before Alaric can get to Thalia’s home and back.
But not before I can get her here.
I reach out for the birds of the city, connecting with any I can find that might be able to do what I want. I find a parrot sleeping in the boughs of a cedar tree and force it into wakefulness, sending it flying with all the speed I can muster from it.
I send it to her shop, slamming it into the shutters claws first again and again until she opens them. I force words from the parrot’s throat, cursing the limitations of the creature’s vocal range even as I do it.
“Come to Marcus’ villa at once. He’s hurt. Maybe dying. Please. Run.”
I expect Thalia to argue, but she doesn't. Instead, she grabs a roll of what I take to be healing supplies, hurrying from her home.
I start to lead her through the city streets, keeping ahead of her at a pace that forces her to run to keep up.
I use the other birds around Thalia to watch for danger, leading her down streets that aren’t watched by guards or caught up in violence.
Dimly, I’m aware of Alaric putting pressure on Marcus’ wounds, trying to save his life despite the differences between the two.
I pull more of my attention back into the room, trying to help Marcus as well. He’s conscious, just about, his eyes wide with pain.
“They attacked me as I left,” he manages. “They hated that I’d betrayed Selene.”
“She sent people to do this?” I ask.
Marcus shakes his head. “Her followers. They didn’t like me trying to stop her rise to power.”
“And did you?” Alaric asks. “Did you stop her, Marcus.”
Marcus coughs, blood spattering his chin. “No. I couldn’t turn enough of them from her. She... if she wins, she’s empress.”
That news is almost as frightening as the sight of Marcus injured like this. I can’t believe the brazenness with which Selene’s supporters would attack a senator, but the vote they’ve forced through is worse. In one act, the senate has all but undone the Republic.
It has created the kingdom ruled by those with the most magic, Selene envisions, even if she somehow loses. It means that whoever wins the tournament will have authority only because of the power of their magic.
Thalia comes bursting into the villa, running up to the couch Marus is lying on. She looks at him with obvious concern.
“This is bad,” she says. “Very bad. I... I’ll do what I can, but you need to be prepared for the worst.”
She kneels by Marcus, pouring healing energy into him, even as his eyes slip closed. I feel fear for Marcus, hoping he’ll be all right, that he’ll survive, at least. But as I see the strain on Thalia’s face, I know that’s far from certain.
“Give me room to work,” Thalia says.
Alaric moves me back from Marcus, leading me away from the room.
“Come on, Lyra,” he says. “You know Thalia will do all she can.”
I know that, but it’s hard to see him lying there bleeding and not do anything.
“What are we going to do, Alaric?” I ask. “You heard Marcus. Selene’s won the vote. That means martial law in the city, the potential for her to take the throne.”
“I know,” Alaric says, looking troubled. “I should start getting messages to my people. We need to be prepared for what will happen if Selene takes power.”
“Prepared?” I say.
“To rise up,” Alaric replies. “Or, failing that, to get as many people to safety as possible.”
But I know there will be nowhere safe, not with Selene in power.
She’ll hunt down those who oppose her. She might not be behind what’s happened to Marcus, but it’s a message, nonetheless.
It’s a reminder that all those who stand against her are in danger now, and that there’s no one they won’t hurt.
It seems like forever before Thalia comes out from working on Marcus. She looks exhausted, so unsteady on her feet that both Alaric and I have to grab her arms to support her.
“Will he live?” Alaric asks.
"It's still too early to say for sure," Thalia says. "I closed the wounds and repaired what I could, but... there's a lot of damage. Too much for me to heal at once. Maybe too much to heal at all. Even if he survives, he'll be badly hurt."
It’s news that hits me like a physical blow.
As I’m sure it was intended to. This was a move designed to break my resolve as much as punish Marcus.
Or maybe it was intended to lure me into taking blind revenge.
I’m sure Olivia and those like her will have plenty of guards around them right now, just waiting for me.
But that isn’t how I’m going to avenge this attack on Marcus. No, I’m going to do it in the colosseum. I’m going to fight my way through to face Selene, I’m going to beat her, and I’m going to take the throne she wants so badly away from her.
That’s my revenge, and I’m more determined than ever to take it now.