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Castelporziano was nestled in a forest. Arcturus helped me take a few walks. My muscles were tense from the slashes – a stiffness that mimicked that of a corpse. I needed to keep my body moving.

Arcturus had always been reserved, but now he was barely saying a word, even to me. I let him grieve, knowing he would open up in his own time. My only small comfort was that Terebell had known about us. Otherwise they would have parted with a lie between them.

One afternoon, we sat under an oak, listening to the birds. My left arm was snug in a sling.

‘Arcturus.’ I looked up at him. ‘How did we escape?’

He was silent for some time.

‘I do not understand what happened,’ he said. ‘The Colosseum was to be destroyed. The Emim surrounded us. And then the golden cord appeared to change, and so did you. A force came from your dreamscape – akin to the pressure you release when you dislocate your spirit, but far more powerful, charged with ethereal light. Many voyants in the vicinity sensed it. Maria compared it toa shockwave in the æther. When I woke, the Emim were piled up around us, hollowed out, stripped of their spirits. Only their physical shells remained.’

I stared at him.

‘Mistry heard them all fall silent. That was how he persuaded Draghetti to revoke the order to destroy the Colosseum. The Sargas loyalists fled,’ Arcturus said. ‘None of us had ever felt a force of that magnitude. It came from you, Paige.’

I tried to remember the way it had felt.

‘I think it was us,’ I said. ‘Not just me.’

‘You would not let go of me for hours, even though you were unconscious,’ he said. ‘We must ascertain what happened. I will consult the other Ranthen once the dust has settled.’

‘Once you have a new leader?’

‘Yes.’

I rested my head on his shoulder, and his arm tightened around my waist. We sat that way until the sun went down.

After another day of convalescence, my stubborn headache faded. A few hours after Nick conveyed this to Mistry, the Council of Kassandra summoned us both to a meeting. A black car took us back to Rome, where the Prime Minister of Italy was lying in a nearby morgue, along with over three hundred others, including Cardinal Alexandre Rocha. Most people had gone inside when the sirens went off, but many others had been caught on the streets.

The Council had assembled in the Basilica Arcana. Maria waited by the door for me. She had a few cuts and bruises, but had otherwise escaped the fight unscathed.

‘We have matching slings. On the same arm,’ she observed. ‘It’s like showing up in identical outfits. I don’t know if it’s adorable or mortifying.’

‘Mortifying, I think,’ I said. ‘How are you?’

‘In one piece, thanks to you and your party trick. I expect an explanation later.’

‘I’m not sure I can give you one.’

‘Another mystery to solve. We’re going to have a long few years.’ She nodded me in. ‘The Council has requested that you stand beside Jaxon. My deepest condolences.’

Inside the Basilica Arcana, Rohan Mistry greeted us with a nod. I was still thoroughly impressed by his nerve. Beside him, Carter sat with folded arms. The archangel was nearby, watching over proceedings.

Jaxon was on the marble sun, fingers clasped on top of his cane. I went to his side, neither of us speaking. I detested him, but he had chosen not to let me fall to my death.

‘Good afternoon,’ President Sala said. ‘I cannot express my relief that you all survived the attempted conquest of Rome. We mourn our friend, Erika Sato, who died while defending a group of civilians. May the æther embrace and carry her.’

The sentiment was echoed in murmurs. From the way Carter looked, Sato had been one of the sibyls.

‘Despite this appalling loss,’ Sala went on, ‘we have a great deal to celebrate. For the first time in history, an incursion by the Republic of Scion has been stopped. And by voyants.’

A loud round of applause followed.

‘Scion will return,’ Sala said, her eyes like dark stone, ‘but we have time to prepare. Since their attempt to crush us failed, they must wait until the Second Inquisitorial Division has anchorised Spain and Portugal. This victory would not have been possible without the Underqueen and her Ranthen allies. We mourn for Terebellum, Warden of the Sheratan.’

Terebell had been weaker than usual when she fought Kornephoros. If not for the Council of Kassandra binding her with poppy anemone and exposing her to pure alysoplasm, she would have stood a better chance of beating her cousin. She might still be here.

‘I have brought us all together here to discuss the outstanding matter of London,’ Sala said, before I could decide whether or not to hold my tongue. ‘Now more than ever, we must work together against the anchor. The Mime Order is the most important of the European syndicates, the largest organised group of voyants within the Republic of Scion, and is holding strong in the heart of theempire. We have unanimously agreed with our sponsors that this organisation deserves our financial support, but only with the right leadership.’