“Oh, it’s nothing as crass as simple bribes,” Salbus says.“That might work with the senators, but when we already have money, it hardly makes a difference.No, she just pointed out all the ways the Republic has been bad for business.Take your plaything.”He gestures to me.“I assume you have to pay her for her services?And there are still plenty of limits on what you can do with her?Whereas, in the old days, you would simply have bought her and done as you wished.”
He reaches out towards me, and I tense, because whatever he’s planning, I’m not about to allow it, even though I know it risks breaking my disguise.Alaric’s hand flashes out, though, snake fast, to catch his wrist.
“As you point out, Salbus, Ihavepaid for her for the evening.Making her mine, not yours.”
“Of course,” the rough featured merchant says.“My apologies, Edrus.”
I wonder what he would have done if Alaric weren’t there, and I’m glad I didn’t have to find out.
“Now, to business,” Alaric says.“If Rok doesn’t have weapons for the colosseum anymore, who’s going to supply them now?Do I sense an opportunity here?”
Rok laughs.“Of courseyou’dtry to take advantage of my misery.But in this case, I can still fulfil my contract.I have a shipment coming in a couple of days from now that will cover it.”
I’m impressed by Alaric’s direct approach to getting information.He could get this kind of thing from informants, but thanks to his illusions, he can simply be who he needs to be to find the information instead.He sits and laughs with men who believe he’s a fellow merchant, while I sit quietly and hear all I can.
By the time we slip from the tavern, it’s evening, the growing darkness of the city punctuated by the glow of magical lights and bright illusions that seek to lure people into the finest pleasure houses.Anger bubbles through me as we walk, Alaric letting his illusion fall, before pulling a cloak up around his face.
“Selene’s building too much support,” I say.“Men like that want her in power because she’ll give them slaves again, and let them plunder the world like pirates.”
Alaric nods.“Which is why Rok’s going to find his ship mysteriously sinking as it comes into harbor.But we have other concerns right now.”
“What other concerns?”I ask.
“The other part of how Selene’s trying to achieve power,” Alaric says, leading the way through the darkening streets.
I can hear people chanting and shouting ahead, the noise of it carrying even over the usually raucous entertainment district.
“Give us the true games!Give us the true games!”
“Come on,” Alaric says, leading me closer.We don’t keep to the streets, but instead take to the rooftops, clambering up onto one via a series of boxes, then making our way across a plank to the second.
“You knew there’d be an easy way across up here?”I ask.
Alaric shrugs.“In the slums, the gangs connect things together like this.They’ve started to expand the idea into the main city, and my people have been doing the same.The more ways there are to move between spots, the fewer chances there are of being caught in some dead end alley somewhere.”
That danger is a real concern for Alaric and his followers.The guards still try to arrest them whenever they cause disruption, and they risk being thrown into the prison tower near the city walls.
Or worse, now.Olivia’s proposal created conditions to let people be thrown into the colosseum again as punishment for their crimes.Members of the resistance could find themselves forced to fight to the death on the sands, against impossible odds.It’s a terrifying thought, and one that makes the stakes of what Alaric’s doing all too clear.
We hurry from one roof to the next, finally looking down as a sea of humanity is spread out below us.A chanting mob has gathered, marching through the city streets while the guards look on helplessly.Thisis the other side of Selene’s power, this ability to command the mob, making it look as though all the ordinary people of the city are on her side.
Selene has control of the Senate, she has the merchants on her side, and the common people march through the streets at her behest.I don't know nowwhatwe can do to stop her, but we need to think of something.
If we don’t, she’ll impose her vision for Aetheria on the city and the surrounding lands.Whatever Selene’s followers are doing now, we need to stop them.
CHAPTER EIGHT
We follow the mob of Selene’s supporters through the streets, sticking to the rooftops so we won’t be caught up in the middle of them.If any of them recognizes me or Alaric, we’ll probably have to fight our way out.
I can feel the tension in the streets, quite literally, thanks to my powers.The emotions of the crowd are surging, a whole composed of many, many component parts.I can feel the emotions, the animal instincts, of the people down below, an undercurrent of violence rising in the mob.
Someone throws a stone, and that undercurrent turns into something far more dangerous.
The crowd surges forward, people smashing their way into homes and stores.They’re still chanting the same things as they go, but now it’s a battle cry, not just a demand.
“Give us the true games!Give us the true games!”
The street below is in chaos, and worse, the guards don’t seem to be moving to intervene.They’re keeping their distance, as if they think it’s best to treat this violence like a wildfire: as something to contain and then deal with once it’s burnt out.
