“I’m here to check on your dampener,” I say. “I know what you’re doing, Selene.”
“And what am I doing?” Selene asks.
“You’re using psychomancy to influence the senate and gain power within the city,” I say.
“You imagine I’m controlling the whole senate?” Selene says with a smile that doesn’t begin to deny it. “To do something like that would require more power than any psychomancer we’ve seen in Aetheria for a generation.”
“We all know you’re powerful,” I say. “And I’m starting to understand some of what you did in exile: training and getting stronger so you’d be ready for this moment.”
Selene holds up the arm that has the dampener. “There is the small matter of the restrictions on me.”
“That’s why we’re here,” I counter. “I’m here to check your dampener, to make sure it’s still working. For the safety of the games.”
Selene nods as if I’ve just scored some kind of point against her. “You’re learning to use your position and the laws. It’s a pity you turned down my offer to work with me.”
“I’m surprised you aren’t simply controlling my mind tomakeme do what you want,” I reply.
Selene sighs. “Beast whisperers are always tricky to control. It’s just one of the things that makes your kind so dangerous. It’s not too late to join me, you know.”
“Just let me check your dampener,” I reply.
Will she refuse? Will she try to fight us even here. My heart beats faster in my chest with the possibility of violence.
Then Selene holds out her arm. I stare at the dampener. I can feel its power, feel the familiar, nullifying magic of the thing, but I’m not an expert on this. Thankfully, I’ve brought officialswith me who know about such things. A couple of mages stare at Selene’s arm, examining the dampener as closely as they can.
“There are differences here,” one of them says, in a worried tone. “The runes have been changed to permit the flow of more power in specific areas.”
“Including psychomancy?” I ask. I’ve got her. I have the proof I need that Selene is tampering with the politics of the city.
The mage blinks, then looks at me blankly. “I’m sorry?”
“Has the dampener been tampered with to allow Selene to use psychomancy?” I demand.
The mage blinks again. “The dampener hasn’t been tampered with.”
“You just said it has been,” I insist.
The mage shakes his head. “No, I didn’t. The dampener hasn’t been tampered with.”
The other mage nods. “Everything is fine.”
I glare at Selene and she smiles back. We both know what she’s doing. She’s controlling the minds of these men, implanting one small suggestion that they can’t overcome. I take a step towards her.
“What are you going to do, Lyra?” she asks. “Attack me here? In a place filled with guards? Do you think they’d come to your aid, or mine?”
I hesitate, because I don’t know the answer. Selene has outmaneuvered me here.
“I can still go back and tell the senate what I saw here,” I say.
“And would they believe you?” Selene seems very satisfied with herself. “When the experts you brought with you say the opposite? Who’s to say that any official you talk to will let you finish? Do you know which ones you can trust?”
Real fear rises through me at those words, because Selene is right. I don’t know how far her influence runs. I have no way of knowing whether anyone I speak to will have been influencedby her suggestions, no way of being certain I can get enough senators together to take her on.
“You should leave now, Lyra,” she says. “Your officials and your guards have seen what they need to see. Go back to the city. I’m sure you won’t want to miss what happens next.”
I back away, still wondering if I should try to fight. I can’t risk it, though, not here. I leave with the others, heading back in the direction of the city. I don’t plan to head back to the senate chamber when I get there. I don’t know who I can trust within it now. Rowan will do what he can, but the senate will never vote to stop Selene now.
Alaric and his resistance are our only hope.
