All around me, people are using whatever magic they have.Many just have small talents, but some have enough to tear cobblestones from the streets to throw them at the guards, or conjure bolts of power with which to attack, or send spikes of pain into their enemies.
Looking at the chaos from above, I can see the ways in which the advance on the palace has become a battle in the street.There are followers trying to break into it from every side, and I don’t know what they’ll do if they get in there.Will they burn the palace?Will they kill those within?It’s about as far from what I want for Aetheria as it’s possible to get.
And I can see the guards advancing through the streets in neat formations, ready to defend the palace and take on those who would attack it.Once they arrive, the people who've come here will be arrested and imprisoned at best, slaughtered at worst.
I need to find a way to resolve this situation before that happens.
I can see people looting homes and houses near the palace, taking whatever they can get their hands on.There are obviously people in the crowd who don't even care about any kind of cause; they're just there to get involved in the fight and to have the chance to rampage through the city.
I start by summoning animals.I reach out for every rat, every beetle, every bird, and I throw them into the worst of the violence, trying to drive people back through the sheer threat of force.It isn’t enough, though.The weight of people involved in the fighting is too great to turn around like that.I need to do more.
I reach for the feelings of the people around me.Their animal instincts are running hot, in a mixture of rage, violence, and pain.There are avarice and lust in the mix too, along with a hot need for blood that feels more like the mind of a predator than something human.
I could send out waves of fear, like I did with the fight in the forum, but I want to do more than that.I take the emotions that are building up in me at the sight of all this: my disgust, my guilt, my shame at their actions.I ball them all up inside, and then I fling them out with a force I hadn't known I was capable of.It's like a scream of emotion, carrying even over the violence around me, harsh enough that people pause, some of them stopping even in the middle of hurting others.
“Stop this!”I yell, and the words are echoed through the throat of every bird nearby that can mimic the human voice.“Turn around!Go home.Do you think this is the right thing to do?Gohome!Before the guards get here.”
As I say those last words, Idothrow out fear, and now people turn to run, hurrying away from the palace as if a whole army is at their heels.I send them scattering back into the city, running for safety, and I know I need to go with them.
Alaric is there then, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the palace.
“Come on,” he says.“We can’t be seen here.”
I know he’s right, but even so, does he really think no one will realize I had something to do with this?People were chanting my name.Animals plunged into the crowd.And, ultimately, these people came here because of me.I feel nothing but shame for that.
Marcus, Alaric, and I have sought to build a popular movement to counter Selene.If today has shown anything, though, it's just how easily that can spin out of control.If we aren't careful, everything we're doing to save the city could just as easily burn it to the ground.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I feel a flood of relief as Marcus returns to his villa in the evening light, looking unharmed.Alaric has gone back out into the city, presumably to try to quell the violence and bring his resistance movement back under control.He doesn't want the people to be hurt in this upswell of fighting any more than I do.
“Are you all right?”I ask him as he returns.
Marcus nods.“The guards were able to keep the mob back until they broke up and were driven away.It’s still not clear what happened to make them flee.Some of the senators are talking about more guards advancing on them, others about psychomancy.”He looks straight at me.“A few of them report seeing animals driving back those attacking the palace.”
“I intervened as soon as I heard what was going on,” I say.“I can’t believe people would try to attack the palace like that.”
“Why not?”Marcus replies.“It’s what the Republic was founded on, after all.People rising up to violently overthrow the tyranny of the emperor.You called for that revolution, if I recall correctly.”
“I didn’t call for them to do this,” I say.“I wouldn’t put you and the other senators in danger like that.”
“I believe you,” Marcus says, putting a hand on my arm.He leads me deeper into his villa, to one of the couches there.“And, in this case, it may have come at an opportune time.”
It’s hard to believe that anything good might come from the violence in the city.
“What do you mean?”I ask him.
“I mean it forced us to break up the session of the senate, just as it was getting ready to move to a vote on Selene’s proposal,” Marcus says.He looks hurt.“I tried everything I could think of to stop it, tried to bring as many people as I could to my side.I stood in the middle of the chamber and I denounced the proposal as an act of despotism, and I’m still not sure it made any difference.If the attack hadn’t come when it did, Selene would already have the authority she seeks.”
I don’t know whether to be grateful for the attack or not, now.It stopped the vote, at least temporarily, but I can’t condone what people did in my name, and I hate that people were hurt doing what they thought I wanted.
“We need to find a way to bring the people supporting us back under control,” I say.
Marcus nods.“It’s always the problem with using the mob.It’s possible to point them in one direction or another, but it can be hard to rein them in.It’s one of the reasons I don’t trust Alaric.He's too quick to rely on the common people.”
“And you’re quick to make deals with the richest ones,” I point out.“Even when you know that helping the ordinary people isn’t in their interest.Besides, you were happy enough for me to speak at the forum.”
“Having popular support is necessary,” Marcus says.“It’s just that we must recognize its limitations.It’s a tool to be used, but it can quickly become a tidal wave, carrying you along regardless of your original intent.”
