“As you requested, we’ve brought you before the senate to answer for your crimes,” Rowan says.“You will have the chance to speak before we render judgment.”
“And what are my crimes?”Selene demands.“What do you accuse me of?”
Marcus stands.“You were complicit in all the worst excesses of the empire,” he says.“You were a part of all its worst cruelties, and you helped to oppress the people of Aetheria.How many people have died at your hands in the name of the empire’s justice?”
Selene doesn't look fazed by the accusation.“I was the arch magistrate, so yes, I enforced the empire's laws.Nothing I did was in breach of those laws.Are you going to punish me for that?”
“When what you did contributed to the suffering of the people?”Marcus counters.“Absolutely.Then there's the part, well, you've been killing beast whisperers out in Arboria.”
“Isn't that rather beyond the jurisdiction of this senate?”Selene says.“I was doing what was necessary.”
“You killed at least one on Aethereian soil,” I point out, but Selene pretends not to hear me.
“You all want to make accusations against me, but let's not pretend this is anything other than political,” Selene says.“You want me dead because of my connections to the empire.You think you can't go ahead with your new Republic before getting rid of the last of the old guard.”She's looking to the viewing galleries, not to the senators, as she says it.“You’ve decided it's more convenient to kill me, even though I haven't broken any of your laws in the time that this Republic has been in existence.”
“You came back when you were exiled,” Marcus points out.“The penalty for that was set when you left.It was commanded that you could be killed the moment anyone saw you.This hearing is a courtesy, nothing more.”
“It's a sham,” Selene says, still looking at the audience in the galleries.“You've already decided what you want to do, haven't you, Marcus?”
“I want to give you a chance,” Rowan says.“Maybe you didn't realize that you were exiled.Maybe you didn't understand the consequences of returning.So, if you wish to leave and go into exile again, you can.Just don't return, because then youwouldbe executed.”
It's obvious Rowan is trying to find a way out of this that resolves the situation peacefully, but I can also see how it plays into Selene’s hands.
“Listen to the first senator,” Selene says.“Already he's making decisions as if he's an emperor.The truth is it's inevitable that an emperor will arise.I'm surprised it's this common born stone shaper, though, rather than…”
She looks around, not specifying who she's thinking of, in an obvious tactic to make every senator there think about whether they could be the ruler of the city.Do her eyes linger on Marcus a fraction longer than anyone else?
“You’re simply trying to divide us,” Marcus snaps.“Even this hearing shows what a danger you are to the Republic.First Senator Rowan, I move that Selene Ravenscroftisn’tsent into exile, but instead is taken from this place and impaled, her body left where the citizens of the Republic can see the fate of those who support the old empire.”
It's a harsh, even cruel, thing to call for, and the venom in Marcus's voice catches me by surprise.The other senators in the room seem to be considering it, though, looking to one another as if wondering if they can dare send this powerful magic user back into exile.
“Then we'll need a vote,” Rowan says, although he doesn't look happy about it.“We need to vote on whether we send Selene Ravenscroft back into exile or whether we have her executed.”
“Before you do any of that,” Selene says.“There is one more thing I need to bring up.”
“And what's that?”Marcus demands.
She smiles faintly.“Why, my right, as a powerful magic user, to trial by combat in the arena.You've accused me, but I have the right not to wait for you to render judgment.I can submit to the arena, and if I survive my fights, I go free.”
There’s instant uproar at her words, senators talking over one another, the people in the gallery trying to work out what’s going on.
Rowan stands, shaking his head.“Those are the old ways, the ways of the empire.We don't have fights to the death!”
“But did you change the law to stop anyone from doing this?”Selene asks, her smile only widening.
Rowan hesitates, and I know that he hasn't.It must have seemed obvious that no one could opt for this when the games weren't running, and it's just as obvious it goes against the spirit of the reformed games.I see him looking to Senator Octavio, hoping that the senator who has the greatest knowledge of our laws will find a way to prevent this.
Octavio shrugs.“Technically, the possibility is still there.”
“No,” Rowan says.“We can't allow this.”
“You’re going to go against your own laws?”Selene asks.
Rowan curses.“All right.A vote.All those in favor of allowing Selene to fight in the Colosseum to earn her freedom?”
Hands start to rise.Maybe half the room, although not half the senators, given how many are missing.
“And those against?”Rowan says raising his own hand.
