“You can’t do this!” another yells.
“Of course we can, we must!” a senator calls back.
The stone benches of the senate shake like we’re in the middle of an earthquake. Rowan stands as the chamber falls silent.
“Enough,” he says. “I will not have this chamber descend into the kind of shouted argument better suited to a tavern. One at a time. Octavio, why are you suggesting this?”
Octavio hesitates briefly. “There is no indication that Selene has broken the laws of the city. We’re holding her as a prisoner, but eventually she must go free.”
“You’re arguing for her freedom?” Marcus demands in an incredulous tone, but Rowan shoots him a sharp look.
“Eventually, it must happen,” Octavio says. “She has broken no laws of the city.”
“And she’s winning her fights in the arena,” Olivia puts in, standing. “Eventually, she’ll win all her seasons and be free. It only makes sense that we start to integrate her into the senate before then.”
“You say that as if it’s inevitable she’ll be a part of the senate,” I say.
Olivia smiles that cat like smile of hers. “Isn’t it? She’sexactlythe kind of person we need. Unlike some.”
Fear is building in me at the way this is going. I might not have any proof, but I know I have to state my suspicions before the senate.
“Senators, I believe you aren’t making decisions here of your own free will,” I say. “I believe Selene Ravenscroft may be using psychomancy to influence you.”
Another cacophony starts around me.
“Nonsense!”
“How dare you!”
“Is it true?”
“Couldit be true?”
Rowan sends another tremor through the stone seats.
“Quiet!” He stands looking at me. “Have you found evidence of this yet, Lyra? When you came to me with it, you didn’t have anything.”
He sounds disappointed that I’ve come out with this. Maybe he was hoping to hold it back until the right moment.
I’m forced to shake my head. “I don’t have proof yet, but I want to ask that this vote is delayed until I’m able togetproof. I want the senators here to be examined by a psychomancer and-”
“I must protest!” Octavio calls out. “How do we know that this isn’t some ploy so that Senator Lyra Thornwind can influence us in that way?”
“You really think Lyra would do that, Octavio?” Marcus snaps.
“A vote!” Olivia says. “I demand a vote on the issue. Should Selene Ravenscroft be given a position assisting the senate with magical matters? I vote yes!”
“So do I,” Octavio snaps, his tone clipped.
I look at Rowan, but he shakes his head, looking helpless. He’s the First Senator, but heisn’tan emperor who can stop a vote of the senate or set it aside. Neither of us can stop what's happening.
“I vote against,” Marcus says, “and I hope those who would reckon themselves my friends will do the same.”
He looks around the room with a glare that makes it clear he expects everyone in his faction to vote his way.
But not everyone does. Senators I know to be his friends stand and vote in favor of the proposal. My own vote against is just one of a small scatter of them.
“It’s decided,” Rowan says at last, in a leaden tone. “Selene Ravenscroft will be made an advisor to the senate.”
