I slip into the inn and make my way to the same room where I spoke with Thalia before.She's waiting for me, dressed as a wealthy merchant and looking impatient.
“What took you so long?Much longer, and I was going to leave."
“I didn't see your message until just a little while ago,” I say.“Why are you dressed like that?”
“I’m trying out my disguise ahead of the fight.Did you think these people would invite one of Alaric's rebels into their fights?”Thalia counters.“But a wealthy merchant with money to spend and lose is a different matter.”
I frown.“I already tried to get into the pit fights using a disguise as a noble.”
“And that was the mistake,” Thalia says.“People know who the nobles are in this city.If one comes along they don't know, they're more suspicious.And they tend to assume that nobles want power and control.Whoever's running this now doesn't want to share, so they select who they let in carefully.But a merchant is all about money, and they want money.My guess is that this is at least partly about pulling in more money to finance something else.”
“So you're going as a merchant,” I say.“Presumably, I'm not going as myself.Am I another merchant?”
Thalia shakes her head.“It's not as though they generally travel in pairs, and I was only able to secure an invitation for one person.”
“So how do I get in?”I ask.
Thalia has already laid out clothes on the bed: a dress that's almost sheer and clinging, gilded sandals, cheap jewelry that's obviously glass.
“They won't object to a merchant bringing her companion with her.”
“Companion?”I say.
“Courtesan, servant.You can use whatever term you like.I'm sure they will.”
“Staring at my body the whole time,” I say.
“Better your body than your face,” Thalia points out.“With this disguise, they won't expect you to speak, won't ask you questions or demand to know anything.Most of them won't even look at you beyond a brief glance.They'll never know it's you, and that's the important thing when you have one of the most recognizable faces in the city.”
I take her point, but I can't help feeling the choice of disguise is also partly to humiliate me a little.Maybe Alaric’s lieutenant is getting some small measure of revenge for me hurting him by not being with him.Or maybe she just likes to play games.I don't know her well enough to be sure either way.
“So, I get dressed and we go?”I say.
Thalia shakes her head.“The fight isn’t until tomorrow.I’m wearing my disguise now because I've been wearing it most of the day, making sure I'm seen around the city.I need to make sure that if anybody asks, Jada Nessus is known to enough of the merchants as a visitor from the fringes of Aetheria.”
“So we're going to meet tomorrow,” I say.“When, and where?”
“Here, at sunset.And don't be late this time.You'll come here making sure you aren't seen.You’ll change your clothes, and people will assume that Jada has found herself a stunning companion for the evening.”
“Stunning?”I say, eyeing my disguise warily.I don't think anything about it is going to make me look stunning.
“Trust me, once we get enough makeup on you, and get you dressed, you’ll look like the most expensive courtesan in… well, at least coming out of the slums.”
She quirks a smile as she says it.
“You're enjoying this far too much,” I say.
Thalia shrugs.“Alaric said I was to work with you.He didn't say anything about being nice.”
“How is Alaric?”I ask.
Thalia shakes her head.“The less I tell you about it now, the better it is for both of you.He wants to keep his secrets and his distance.When he chooses to do things differently, you'll know.”
It's a frustrating answer, and I can't help feeling that all the men in my life have problems.Rowan… well he's not in my life anymore that way, but his role as the first senator has changed something in him, exacerbated his need for stability and order, so that he's worried about doing anything dynamic for the good of the city.Alaric has become paranoid and secretive, going from being a noble to some kind of rebel figure determined to tear down either the corruption of the city or the city itself depending on who I ask.As for Marcus…
More and more with Marcus, I'm convinced that there's something he's not telling me.It's not just his determination to see Selene Ravenscroft killed.It's his support for the more violent aspects of the games.It’s the way he positions himself to get the maximum attention within the city.It's a hundred small things that don’t quite fit with the image of the clean-cut senator that he's always portrayed.
Well, no, not always.There was a point where he played the part of one of Domitian’s confidants so he could get closer to him and take him down.It meant that we had at least some proof of Domitian’s intentions, but now it makes me wonder if Marcus ever shows the real version of himself to the world.I also find myself wondering just how close to reality the version of himself he showed to Domitian was.Is Marcus the kind, gentle man he is when he's with me, or is he another version?
