Marcus nods.“I wanted to remind you that wedohave a chance against Selene?”
“We?”Yarrow says, raising an eyebrow.
“Unless you want her to pick you off one by one,” I put in.Some of the gang members give me unfriendly looks.
“The last I heard, Selene had given Lyra here to you, Marcus,” Yarrow says.“Does she speak for you, now?”
She’s obviously trying to bait me, but I don’t react with anger.
“Lyra is here as my partner in everything we’re trying to do,” Marcus says.“And Selene cannot make a slave out of her, no matter how much she might wish to.”
“The question is whether you want it for all of your people,” I point out.I look around at the gang leaders.“Yesterday, in the arena, she had gang members torn apart by shadow cats.She tolerates you for as long as you support her cause, but once she seizes power, do you think she’ll let you keep going with your affairs in the slums?”
I can feel the disquiet in the gang members.
“Maybe there’s profit to be made if Selene returns things to the way they were before,” Yarrow says.
“But will you be the one making it?”Marcus counters.“She’s tried to push you out of plenty of the gangs so far.Do you really think she won’t remove you so she can gain control of the rest?”
Yarrow hesitates, but then nods.“You have a point, but what are we about to do about it?She has all the power in the city.”
“Notall of it,” Marcus insists.“I have plenty of friends and allies.You have your people.She’s succeeding because she’s persuading people there’s no other way.”
“She’s still the most powerful magic user in Aetheria,” Yarrow points out.“With her at the head of her followers, it will be hard to stand against her.”
“Andthatis why I brought Lyra with me,” Marcus says.“To remind you that Selene isn’t the only one with power.”
“It isn’t just me,” I say.“Aetheria is filled with magic and those who can use it as a weapon.Wecanstand against her.”
“But you’ll be the one doing it in the colosseum,” Yarrow muses.She looks thoughtful.“Yes, you can have our support.But it’s contingent on you beating Selene.Until then, the gangs will stay neutral.”
Meaning that they won’t lift a finger to actually fight if it comes to that.Their help is only going to come once we no longer need it.Yarrow is making sure that, if I lose, she can go back to being Selene’s ally, picking the winning side.
“Of course,” Marcus says, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.“Now, if you’ll excuse us, please enjoy everything my establishment has to offer.”
Marcus leads me from the room while I struggle to contain my frustration.
“They aren’t going to help,” I say.
“Not until they see you succeeding,” Marcus agrees.“You’re the symbol around which everyone else will rally, Lyra.They’ll flock to you the way they never would to me.”
“That’s a lot of pressure,” I say.
“More than an Archon wanting to kill you in the colosseum?”
Perhaps not more than that, but at least I can control some of what happens in a fight against Selene.
Marcus isn’t leading me back to the palanquin.Instead, he takes me to a side room.
“Another set of people to talk to?”I guess.
Marcus shakes his head, though.“Just wait.”
The room is a fine one, with an elegantly carved table at its heart and a couple of gilded couches nearby.The walls are painted with scenes of satyrs and nymphs feasting and dancing.The table is set with food and wine, clearly waiting for us.
“I thought you’d appreciate a chance to relax,” Marcus says, guiding me to one of the couches.I recline on it and take a grape from one of the platters on the table.
“So you arranged all this?”
