Page 178 of The Dark Mirror

He left me, and I was alone in the dark again, knowing very well that I had been outflanked.

I lay in silence in my cell. The golden cord felt thinner when I took alysoplasm, but I could feel its stifled movements. Arcturus was checking on me.Stay away. I pushed those words along it.Don’t come here.

At some point, Maria was hurled into the next cell. I heard Verca protesting in furious Italian before the door slammed.

‘Fuck.’ Maria clutched her arm, panting. ‘That sinister old skeleton. He’s usurping you!’

‘I noticed,’ I said.

‘Apparently this Council of Kassandra thinks it should have the final say on who rules our syndicates. They’ve been trying to meddle in Scion voyants’ affairs for years,’ she gritted out. ‘Jaxon is even claiming he killed Hectorforthem. They want to plant their own approved puppets in our citadels, so they can take control once Scion is defeated. Now Carter says they need to question you, as if they have a lick of authority over an Underqueen.’

‘Why have they put you in here?’

‘Jaxon gave me one smirk too many. I tried to burn off his eyebrows, but they have three hydromancers. At least I ruined his waistcoat.’ Maria gripped the bars. ‘Does Warden know you’re here?’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘but I don’t want him to come. Not when the Council clearly hates Rephs. What time is it?’

‘The middle of the night.’

‘Sala doesn’t have long before Cade arrives. She needs me, or she has no protection.’

‘Jaxon is claiminghecan protect her, saying his boundlings can expel any intruders in her dreamscape. You can tell that Sala is a politician, switching loyalties every few hours. Well, fuck Beatrice Sala, fuck Binder and fuck the horses they rode in on. No matter how long you’ve been away, London is yours by right, and if they think they can take it—’

The door to the jailhouse opened. Rohan Mistry stepped into the corridor.

‘Underqueen.’ He was holding a set of keys. ‘Sorry about the sedation. The Council of Kassandra has summoned you.’

‘I’m going with her,’ Maria said.

‘Of course.’ Mistry unlocked our cells. ‘This is not a trial, and you are not under arrest.’

‘Then why is the Underqueen in handcuffs?’

‘For her own safety, and that of the Council.’

Three guards waited outside. I was escorted at gunpoint out of the Tullianum, back in to the Basilica Arcana. The cuffs were tight on my wrists, worsening the pain.

The Council of Kassandra had assembled again, or perhaps never left, but the table had been moved closer to the columns, leaving more of the floor clear. Jaxon was back in his seat with a glass of wine.

‘Paige—’

Nick stood in the corner, held back by guards, while Verca hovered beside him, looking uneasy. One of the guards took Maria to them, while I found myself being steered on to the marble sun. Eliza was nowhere to be seen.

Eliza Renton, the child from the Bone Season.

‘Underqueen,’ Carter said, pursing her thin lips. ‘I see you’ve calmed down.’

‘Not much else to do in a cell,’ I said.

She looked at me with a strange mix of pity and frustration. Her hair was in a sleek bun, her gold token hanging below her collar.

‘Underqueen,’ President Sala said, ‘for months, I have heard conflicting opinions about you and your reign in London. I want your help against Fitzours, but given your conduct just now, I see no choice but to call an emergency hearing, so the charges against you can be considered.’

‘What charges?’

‘We’ll come to that,’ Rohan Mistry said. ‘For now, I must inform you of the proceedings. The Council of Kassandra was founded as the first representative body for clairvoyants, but also as our first court of justice, where voyants may be judged by one another, notby amaurotics. We have claimed jurisdiction over all the clairvoyants of Europe.’

‘Bold of you,’ I said, ‘considering most of us have never heard of the Council.’

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