“Then you truly do not know?Interesting.”
“Don’t know what?”Rowan demands.“What aren’t you telling us?”
“Oh, plenty of things,” Lady Cassandra says.“But in this case, simply that one of your exiles has been taking our people, abducting them and perhaps murdering them.Your kind have always sought to enslave ours, claiming that any magic we possess must flow from your precious city.”
I can hear the anger there in her voice.
“And you think it doesn’t?”Domitian demands.
“Magic flows from the earth and sky,” Lady Cassandra says.She moves her hands and illusory images form, of a land dominated by trees, where people live in cities grown in harmony with them.“Some of our people learn the skills to use it.Perhaps not as many as here, but we don’t slay our practitioners in pointless combat, either.”
“Sacrilege,” Domitian breathes.“Everyone knows that Aetheria is the magical heart of the world, and that all magic stems from here.It’s why we must bring mages back into the embrace of our city when we find them.”
“Enslave them.Make them serve you or die,” Lady Cassandra counters.“Sacrifice them to your precious stones.That’s what you mean, isn’t it?”
There’s real anger in her voice, and it seems to be matched by the expressions of some of the senators.They clearly don’t like this stranger, this foreign diplomat, coming to them and speaking ill of Aetheria.
“You said someone was abducting your people.Do you know who?”Rowan says, clearly trying to focus on the most important part of what Lady Cassandra has to say.
She waves her hands again, and an image forms of a dark-haired woman with eyes that glow violet with power.A woman wearing robes embroidered with magical symbols.A woman whose face I know.
“That’s Selene Ravenscroft,” I say.“The former Arch-Magistrate of Aetheria.”
A murmur goes around the room as other people there recognize her.I imagine most of the senators must.Selene Ravenscroft was one of Emperor Tiberius’ most trusted advisors, as well as probably the most powerful magical practitioner in Aetheria.Her skill and precision meant she could achieve almost anything.
Yet, when it came to it, Selene stood back rather than destroying the rebels in Aetheria, the way the emperor wanted.She let us kill him, then vanished into exile, quite literally, using her magic to disappear and flee the city.
I thought we wouldn’t hear anything more of her, that perhaps she would find a quiet place in the world to study and work on her magic.It seems I was wrong.
“Why would Selene Ravenscroft abduct people?”Marcus asks.“It makes no sense.”
“You tell me,” Lady Cassandra retorts.“I only know that she’s abducting magical adepts, either to bring them to some unknown cause, or for reasons of her own.And she seems to be focusing on those who speak to beasts.”
“Beast whisperers?”I say.
“If that’s what you call them in your tongue, yes,” Lady Cassandra replies.She looks straight at me.“Those like you.”
That detail makes me feel uncomfortable and frightened.What would Selene Ravenscroft want with beast whisperers?Why would she target them…us?Is it revenge for the role I played in the emperor’s downfall, or is it something else, something more dangerous?
“We have no way of knowing for sure if this is even true,” Olivia says.
“Are you accusing me of lying?”Lady Cassandra retorts, in the tones of someone hoping for a fight.
"I'm saying that perhaps your information is incorrect or mistaken," Olivia replies."I have no wish to insultanyone.”
“You look like someone who’s happy to do so,” Lady Cassandra says, “so long as it’s behind their back.”
Olivia looks momentarily furious, but regains her composure.
“In any case,” Senator Octavio says, the old senator rising unsteadily from the stone benches.“We must consider whether this has anything to do with us.Even if Selene Ravenscroft is causing trouble for our neighbors, I’m sure Arboria will deal with her soon enough.She’s an exile from Aetheria.She is no longer a problem for the Republic.”
It seems every senator is talking at once now, and Lady Cassandra is talking too, insulting people again in some kind of bizarre test of our manners or to have an excuse to fight.
Finally, Rowan makes the very stones of the chamber shake using his magic.“Enough!”
We settle down.
“We’ve heard enough,” he says.“And arguing like this won’t help.Lady Cassandra, we welcome you to Aetheria.You are welcome to stay in the city and set up an embassy to discuss relations between Arboria and Aetheria if you wish, but I must ask that you stop insulting my senators.The rest of you, we’ll discuss this further in the morning.”
