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Sadly, those things don't involve simply falling into bed with one another for a couple of weeks. There is too much to do in the city for that. Too much to organize, and it seems that everyone is talking to me now to organize it. I'm the one who must tell people to begin the clean up, who must arrange for the squads of gladiators and other folk who keep the peace in the days that follow, and who fight against the few pockets of those loyal to the emperor that remain.

At least, I do that in the day. At night… at night, I sleep wrapped in Alaric’s arms within the palace, grateful for something I thought would never happen again.

A knock comes at the door.

“Wake up, you two!”

It's Rowan’s voice. Thankfully he has more sense than to open the door. “We're almost ready for the meeting of the council.”

I sigh, even though this was my idea. It seemed to be the only way of bringing people together in the city, finding a new way of ruling that wasn't dependent on emperors.

“Do we have to go?”

Alaric asks. “The council will be filled with so many common people, and I'd rather spend my time here.”

It seems that even nearly dying hasn't quite cured him of his arrogance. It's just as well I find it one of his more endearing qualities.

“Do I need to remind you that I'm common?”

I point out.

He pulls me into a kiss. “You are anything but common.”

I pull back from him and dress in a pale gown edged with silver, a long way from the training gear of Ironhold or the armor needed for the colosseum. The iron collar is gone from around my neck as well. As for the brand on my left shoulder… that is burned into a perfect black circle, the interior filled in completely, thanks to Lord Darius's power. It marks me, as it marks all of those few who fought in the colosseum in that last bout, showing the role we played, and the price some of us paid.

“Come on,”

I say. “Your mother will be there.”

That at least gets him out of bed and dressed in his noble finery. We head through the palace, making our way towards a large meeting room within it. Others are already gathering within it, representatives of the different factions within the city: the different trades, the nobles, the beast whisperers, even the gangs. I can see Rowan standing there, dressed in simple but well-made clothes. Two auburn-haired young women stand near him, presumably his sisters. As with me, none of them wear their slave collars anymore.

I step in front of the rest of them. I should be nervous, talking in front of so many people, but I have rallied the crowd in the colosseum to the cause of revolt. I have talked down the beast whisperers. I have faced up to foes more deadly than I could have imagined when I was a little girl. I've done all of that. Compared to that, what is one council meeting?

“My friends,”

I say. “Thank you for coming here, to this council. We have much to discuss.”

For a moment it seems as if all of them are talking at once, trying to put over different points. I hold up my hands for silence.

“Each of you will get a turn to speak,”

I say. “For now, we must discuss the situation in the city.”

I start by turning to the beast whisperer representative. She is a woman whose voice I know. I get the feeling she was one of those who helped test me when I sought to become one of their number.

“What has happened to the beasts?” I ask.

“They have been driven from the city,”

she says. “The dangerous ones have been accompanied far away before being released. Some of the others have been taken to places that will suit them.”

“When it comes to the dangerous ones, we should keep watch,”

I say. “If beast whisperers show that they use their powers to guide dangerous creatures away from people, it will go a long way to show the citizens that we are not a threat to them.”

And I have made it clear to them that we are not a threat to the citizens. Most seem to be accepting it for now. I turn to a representative of the gangs. As distasteful as it is to deal with them, it's better to include them than be stuck fighting against them as a whole.

“Are things more peaceful in the slums?”

I ask. “Is food getting to the people who need it?”

“We're doing our part,”

their representative says. He will not show his face even here, as if afraid of being identified later.

“Make sure you do,” I say.

The nobles are next, with Alaric’s mother speaking up on their behalf. “The noble houses are still worried that you plan to seize everything they own.”

“Aren’t we?”

the gang leader says, and it seems only half in jest.

“Not everything,”

I say. “But the days of them owning people are at an end.”

That is one thing that I will not budge on. I have seen what it is to be owned, and my captivity was not as bad as some others’. I had the prospect of freedom ahead of me, and I was valued for my fighting skills.

“This will damage the economy!”

One of the merchants says. “The slave markets are a source of wealth for"

“If your wealth is built on the misery of others,”

I say, “Then maybe you do not deserve to be wealthy. But I'm sure you'll find another way to make money. For now, how are the grain shipments?”

“They are on their way, as promised,”

the merchant says.

On and on it goes. There are so many issues. In spite of my efforts to limit the damage, there are portions of the city that must be rebuilt. There are decisions to be made about what to do with the gladiators who suddenly find themselves free and with nothing to do. There are those who want to reopen the colosseum. That is another point on which I've been firm. Maybe in future they will open it in some less deadly form, but for now it sits empty and closed.

“There is another matter,”

one of the nobles says, a man I do not know. “When is your coronation going to be?”

That catches me by surprise. “What coronation?”

“There is no need to be coy. You have seized the city and killed the emperor. You are empress in all but name. So when are you going to make it official?”

I shake my head. I want to say that I have not been acting like an empress, but even in this council I have been making the decisions. It's all too easy to see how I could become the ruler of all Aetheria. I can almost imagine it, living here in the palace with Alaric as my consort, having servants to run to meet my every need. With my power over beasts, the city would be safe because any threat could be dealt with by those creatures, and anyone trying to plot against me would not know whether a rat in the corner was listening in to their conversation…

I can imagine all of it, which is why I cannot do it.

“I am not going to be crowned,”

I say. “I am not going to rule here.”

“You say that,”

the nobleman says, “but you're already giving us commands. Freeing the slaves? Shutting the colosseum? The priests are declaring it heresy!”

“I have done what I needed to do for the good of this city and its people,”

I say. “I will not apologize for setting free people you have treated like chattel. I will not apologize for stopping something that has cost the lives of people around the empire for generations. Those things are non-negotiable. Think of them as the conditions of surrender for the city, if you like. But beyond that? I called you here not to crown me your empress, but to form a council that will rule this city. Maybe if you all work together, there's a chance you'll work in the interests of all the people of the empire.”

“We still need a leader,”

Lillian Blackthorn says. “If not empress, then maybe you could be the leader of the council?”

It's a tempting offer. In some ways, it's more tempting than the possibility of becoming empress. I have seen the evils that an emperor does, but it's easier to convince myself that I could do good as the leader of the council. But I know that doesn't work either. The temptation would always be there to simply rule, to force my path on the empire. Aetheria needs a fresh start. And in truth, I don't want to. I can think of other things I would much rather do with my life than spend it arguing in council chambers.

“I cannot lead the council,”

I say. “In time, I'm sure you'll find ways to choose your own leaders, but for now I would like to recommend Rowan.”

“But he isn't even noble,”

the nobleman says.

“Nor am I,”

I point out. “And in any case, that's kind of the point. This council can't just be for the nobles, or for the merchants, or for the beast whisperers. It can't be for any one faction. Rowan did as much to bring down the emperor as any of us, and I know he will be a steadying influence on the city.”

He will also be an influence who won’t give ground on the issues that matter. He will protect the ordinary people of the empire and won't allow the nobles to grab control for one of their own. He will do all that, but he won't become a tyrant in his own right. He doesn't have that in him.

“All those in favor of Rowan as council leader?”

Lillian says, obviously trying to push it through before anyone else can object.

Hands go up around the room, some quickly, some with reluctance. Many of those there seem to realize that, even if Rowan is not the person they would have chosen, at least there is no chance he is going to side with the factions they hate the most.

I smile and turn, walking from the council chamber. Rowan follows me, catching hold of my arm and turning me back to him.

“You can't just make me the council leader,” he says.

“I'm fairly sure I just did,”

I reply. “Besides, I can't think of anyone better. You know what it's like to be brought to the city as a slave, to be a gladiator, but you also know about the ways nobles work. People seem to trust you, and you will be able to balance the factions within the city.”

“And if I can't?”

Rowan asks. “If it all falls apart and another emperor rises?”

“Then every beast of the city will rise against him,”

I promise. “I'm leaving, but I won't be going so far I can't hear news of Aetheria. It's the greatest city in the world after all.”

“Where are you going?”

Rowan asks. “If you're not going to run things here, what are you going to do?”

I smile as I look back to where Alaric is sauntering from the council chamber. I had thought he'd be upset about me turning down the role of empress. Instead, he looks pleased.

“I'm sure I'll think of something.”