Page 144 of The Dark Mirror

‘I can think of about a thousand better uses for that money,’ I said frostily. ‘Sala could have put the Council of Kassandra in any old building. Why all this showboating?’

‘Do at leasttryto think it through, Paige. The Roman Forum is the ancient heart of this city. An undeniable symbol of power,’ Jaxon said. ‘In London, voyants are forced underground, stripped of heritage and standing, cast beneath amaurotics’ boots. Sala will force them to meet us by daylight. In any case, we still have coin aplenty. There are voyants abroad who have used their gifts to gain influence, make sound investments and rise beyond the constraints imposed on us by Scion. Sala has established connections with them.’

‘You love Scion. You live and breathe London,’ I said. ‘Why are you here, Jax?’

‘You took London,’ he said. ‘And perhaps I am tired of living under amaurotic rule.’

We stopped at the end of the arcade, and he steered me back on to the burning plaza. He indicated a temple with a tawny roof, covered in scaffolding.

‘That will be the House of Guardians,’ he said. ‘Any furies that appear – other than the sibyls – will meet at the House of Change. And last but not least, the House of Dreaming, home of the seventh order.’ He pointed out the building ahead, which loomed above the plaza. ‘Let me show you inside. You will have a place of honour here, darling.’

My curiosity was rising. I followed him up the steps.

It was mercifully cool inside. While the building was pale marble, there were splashes of red, painted into alcoves and across the ceiling. A stone table stood in the middle of the chamber.

‘The oracles will come together here, to discuss their visions.’ Jaxon ran a hand along it. ‘To represent dreamwalking, I have commissioned a painting of the benandanti, the Good Walkers.They were Italian farmers who claimed to depart from their bodies at night, to do battle with evil forces, ensuring a good harvest. Our homage to your gift.’

I kept the table between us. ‘Why?’

‘No matter our differences, I will never stop believing yours to be the greatest form of clairvoyance. You could thrive as a member of the Council of Kassandra. After all, you are the only dreamwalker.’

He must not know about Cade. I hated the little stab of relief I felt, because the Pale Dreamer still wanted her mime-lord to think she was special.

‘I don’t have time,’ I said. ‘I’ve a citadel to run.’

‘You’ve been away from London for months, and you still have the gall to call yourself Underqueen.’

‘I am Underqueen.’

‘I doubt it. An Underqueen who forsakes her own citadel is unworthy of the Rose Crown.’

‘I won’t hear one more word out of you about the Rose Crown, Jax. You are a trafficker and a traitor. I ran you out of London and Paris, so you had to beg for another throne.’

‘Alas, the figurative throne belongs to Antoinette.’ He turned back to the entrance. ‘Allow me to show you one more thing, before I let you go.’

He went outside. I took a last glance at the interior before I trailed down the steps in his wake.

‘The Column of Phocas.’ Jaxon pointed out the free-standing pillar in the middle of the plaza. ‘We intend to build an identical replica elsewhere in the Forum, honouring a local voyant: Spurinna, the Etruscan haruspex who warned Julius Caesar of his impending doom.’

‘So now you plan tohonourthe vile augurs. Bit of a change of tune, isn’t it, having turned other voyants against them?’

‘At the time I wroteOn the Merits, the voyants of London were falling apart. They needed a reason to pull together.’ Jaxon walked up the steps at the base of the pillar, which was made of creamy marble. ‘In order to better themselves, they needed somebody to despise.’

‘That’s absurd. Any civilisation that needs to subjugate part of itself to survive is not worth saving.’

Arcturus had told me that.

‘A pretty quote. Not yours, I trust,’ Jaxon said. ‘Fear not. I have ended my vendetta against the vile augurs – theàuguri domiciliari, as President Sala has named them. She’s an oculomancer.’

I stopped.

‘Wait,’ I said. ‘Sala is voyant herself ?’

‘Obviously. Why else would she have done all this?’

I should have guessed sooner, but the possibility had never crossed my mind. No wonder Sala had taken such a vocal stance against Scion.

‘A voyant at the head of a country,’ I said at last. ‘That’s new.’

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