My stomach drops.
"I'm so sorry, Temp. The older residents, the ones who were here when the treaty was signed, and some who arrived when we did ..." He swallows. "They can't survive without their amulets."
I set my elbows on the table and bow my head. "So when the Shroud falls ... they’ll die?"
"I'm sorry."
I shake my head. "Lenora's journal mentioned a reversal elixir."
"It won't work on them." His voice is hollow. "Too many stones have turned black. Those people are already gone. The amulets are the only thing keeping them here. If the Shroud vanishes, it powers them off."
My stomach lurches. I press a hand to my mouth. All those people. So many stones in those tunnels. So many lives, already hollowed out.
"The newer residents should be fine. The ones who arrived after us."
My eyes fly open. "What about Arlo? Cas? Bastian?"
"Arlo and Cas take theirs off regularly. But Bas …” He looks away. "I don't know."
I think of Margot and bite my lip to keep it from trembling. Gods. It's too much.
"Did you know the Council was using different elixirs?" I whisper.
"I suspected. Draven remembers his life, and he took the same elixir as everyone else."
"Do you know what makes it different?"
"No. But while I was 'recovering' at the Hall of Reflection, I overheard a healer. She said some duelers came in for treatment. The way they described feeling at the amphitheater ..." He pauses. "It was like they were being controlled."
"Controlled how?"
"Their minds." He meets my eyes. "Is it possible an incantation could do that?"
"Only at the amphitheater?"
"I don't know." He starts pacing the small space. "The amphitheater was one of the first structures built in Lunaris. The temple in front of it, too. And according to Arlo, there are no tunnels beneath it. Something is blocking them."
He stops. Turns to face me. "What if that's where the main concentration of stones is? What if that's what makes people susceptible to Constantine?"
"His mind control?"
"Maybe. I don't know." He shivers. "Is it possible to control someone's mind without an elixir? Or is it the elixir he gives them when they arrive? I can't figure it out."
I think of the history we've studied. The patterns. "I don't think it takes much to control someone's mind. They just need to be susceptible."
"Gods." His voice is barely a whisper. "And having no memories makes them more vulnerable."
I nod, horror mounting, and remember something else. "The poisoned arrow that hit you that day. It seemed aimed at you specifically."
Jordi shakes his head. "It was a new legion guard.”
“They shot several of them right at you.”
“He shot a few people. He shot his own foot, too. He claimed he was seeing things that others said weren’t there.” His mouth twists. "He was taken to the Hall of Reflection. He didn't survive."
"Are you sure?"
"Fairly sure." He shrugs. "Why else would it only have happened that day?"
