Maybe I really have no choice other than to swallow my concerns and vote for her death.
I return to my rooms, dress in my toga, and try to think of a better option. I’m still thinking when a servant enters my room.
“Your presence is requested in the senate chamber,” the servant says.
I frown. “What’s happening?”
“I only know an emergency senate meeting has been called.”
An emergency meeting like this could be about any number of things. It could be something to do with the games, or about the rebuilding in the slums. It could be to announce an impending threat from beyond the city, or could be about something else I haven’t even thought of.
Somehow, though, I feel certain it’s about Selene.
I hurry through the palace to the senate chamber. The other senators are pouring into it, all dressed in the white togas that mark their status, while simultaneously serving to disguise the differences between them. This isn’t a place where the nobles should outshine poorer members with their rich silks, or the military can intimidate the others with their armor. They all find ways, though, whether it’s the jewelry they wear with their toga, or the bracers on their forearms.
The stone benches of the senate chamber are quickly filling up, with Rowan already in his seat as First Senator. Crowds of onlookers are gathering above, in wooden balconies that make me feel as though I’m back in the colosseum, with crowds waiting to see me fight, and maybe die. The battles here are fought with words, but they’re no less important. They can still make the difference between life and death, for the inhabitants of the city, if not for the senators.
I hurry in and take a seat, not far from Marcus. It's one of the only ones left, and he smiles over at me as I sit. I'm sure there will be plenty of others here who will note that smile, quietly calculating to determine what it means for them and their factions if we're on friendly terms again. Together, Marcus and I are able to command plenty of support, but for now, at least, I must disappoint his friends. He still hasn't done anything to prove to me that he's serious about trying to cut out the corruption of the city from within. For now, at least, it's just a story he's told me too many times for me to believe it.
“Do you know what this is about?” I whisper to Marcus.
He nods, and now his expression tightens. “I got it from Octavio. It’s about Selene Ravenscroft.”
Sudden fear fills me. I’ve left it too late to do anything about her plans. I heard from both Octavio and Olivia what they planned. I was too distracted by Marcus and Alaric to find the proof I needed. Now… now it seems that they’re truly going to push for her to be given a seat on the senate.
Rowan stands. “Come to order, everyone,” he says. He looks worried, as if he’s heard enough about what’s being proposed to frighten him, but knows he can’t stop it. “Senator Octavio, I believe you have a proposal for us?”
The aging senator stands, flinty eyes sweeping over the room. “My fellow senators, I’ve come to speak to you today about Selene Ravenscroft.”
A murmur goes through the senate chamber. A louder one comes from the public gallery.
“Quiet,” Rowan says. “Octavio, whataboutSelene?”
“We cannot deny that since her return, she has demonstrated her considerable magical prowess, again and again,” Octavio said.
“In arena bouts,” Marcus shoots back. “Which she’s fighting in because she’s an enemy of the Republic.”
“Isshe, though?” Octavio asks.
“Of course she is,” another senator, whose name I think is Viatus, calls out. “Youknowthis, Octavio. You’ve told me it enough times.”
“But we can all change our minds,” a senator named Raccus calls back. “I’ve met with her. She’s assured me that this is all a grand mistake on the senate’s part.”
“A mistake?” Marcus says, sounding shocked. “You think supporting the emperor, then being a part of the worst excesses of the empire, is a mistake?”
Raccus hesitates briefly, and I’mexpectingthat hesitation. It’s the same hesitation I saw in Cesca, in Octavio, in Olivia. The hesitation that seems as though he’s hearing words being whispered into his ear by another.
“A grand mistake,” Raccus repeats. “One we should work to correct.”
Selene has gotten to him as well.
“And how do you plan to ‘correct’ it?” Marcus asks, raising his voice slightly. I can hear the anger there. He blames Selene for being part of the system that cost him his family, feels sure that she must have played some part in it. If I’m being less generous, maybe he also sees her as a rival, when he seeks to establish himself as the most famous figure in the senate.
“I’ll tell you, Senator, if you let me finish,” Octavio says. “As I said, Selene Ravenscroft has shown her considerable magical abilities, and her knowledge of such matters is second to none. That’s why I wish to propose that she is given a position consulting with selected portions of the senate as an advisor on magical matters.”
For several seconds, there’s uproar in the senate chamber, with senators shouting at one another.
“Are you mad?” one senator asks. “You’re going to give her a position connected to the senate?”
