The Will of the Many

Vis meets Aequa and they travel to Caten for the Jovan Festival. He pretends to be curious about the naumachia, an enormous mock naval battle, hoping to use it as an excuse to slip away and meet with Sedotia.

Aequa tells Vis what she knows about Caeror’s death: During the Iudicium, there was a tragic accident, and Caeror believed he had killed someone. Though the person survived, Caeror killed himself out of guilt. Vis realizes that Ulciscor has made Vis’s task nearly impossible because, as he now has the Telimus name, everyone will suspect he is there for revenge. This leads Vis to suspect that Ulciscor does not have the backing of Military, as he claims. Finally, they arrive at the arena for the naumachia.

The massive Catenan arena has been filled with water for the naumachia. The lake is over a mile wide and holds an entire fleet. The sailors on board are mostly prisoners hoping to perform well enough to escape their sentences in the Sappers. Many will likely die in the attempt. Vis is horrified by this and the crowd’s bloodthirsty glee.

Vis slips away in the crowd. Sedotia finds him and leads him to sewers below the arena to meet Melior, the infamous leader of the Anguis. Shocked, Vis recognizes Melior as Estevan, one of Vis’s father’s most trusted advisors.

Estevan again tries to recruit him, but Vis has seen first-hand the atrocities the Anguis commit for their cause and refuses to be involved. In response, Estevan argues that inaction is complicity. He also claims that the Republic attacked Suus because Suus possessed a powerful secret, but he will not explain further unless Vis’s cooperates. Vis still refuses.

Estevan says he is free to go. Before Vis leaves, Sedotia cuts Vis’s chest with a knife, coating the blade with blood, and then gives it to Vis, warning that he must keep it as protection. Vis returns to the stands with Aequa. She is suspicious of his disappearance but becomes distracted as the naumachia begins.

During the mock battle, the arena rumbles and the Will-powered lanterns flicker off. Aequa realizes that no one can use Will. A voice declares that the crowd is responsible for their unjust world because they give power to the corrupt government. Estevan rises from the water on a stone structure. He offers freedom to the prisoners fighting in the naumachia if they leave now. A few do, but many attack him, hoping that if they kill “Melior” they will earn their release. However, no man can reach him.

A thrum fills the arena. Vis feels the air compress, and one section of the stands explodes in a “sickening, violent haze of crimson mist,” killing all those standing there. (182). The crowd panics, running for exits. Another section explodes. In the scramble, Vis leads Aequa to the sewers, claiming that he’d noticed them while he was wandering earlier.

Vis realizes the knife coated in his blood protects him from the explosions. He leaves Aequa to escape and rushes back to stop Estevan. He recalls his father’s words: “The power to protect is the highest of responsibilities [...]. When a man is given it, his duty is not only to the people he thinks are worthy” (186). He feels it is his duty to stop the violence.

Vis reaches Estevan, though many others have tried and failed. He holds a dagger to Estevan’s throat, begging him to stop. Estevan refuses, speaking again about inaction and complicity. Vis insists that there must be a better way. Understanding that Vis will not act, Estevan grips Vis’s hand and kills himself with the dagger Vis holds.

Vis drops the dagger, kicks Estevan’s body into the water, and then collapses. He wakes in his room at Ulciscor’s villa. Ulciscor says that thousands were killed in the arena, but Vis’s actions saved thousands more. The Senate hails him as a hero, calling him “Catenicus” (195).

Vis asks for the full story about Caeror and Ulciscor agrees it is time to explain. Veridius and Caeror were friends at the Academy, along with Lanistia. Caeror and Ulciscor were close, though Ulciscor was much older, and they wrote letters often during Caeror’s time away. Ulciscor received word that there had been an accident during the Iudicium. Veridius claimed that Lanistia was severely injured and likely to die. Caeror could not face the guilt and threw himself off a cliff. Lanistia survived but had lost her eyes.

Ulciscor did not believe the story but could prove nothing. After Caeror’s death, a letter from him arrived, sent before the Iudicium. Ulciscor discovered a secret message in the letter that mentioned translations, pre-Cataclysm powers, and a gate. It also said “Obiteum lost. Luceum unknown” and “Only Veridius knows” (199). It occurred to Ulciscor that the older letters might also contain secret messages, but he had since discarded them. Still, Ulciscor believes this last message confirms that Veridius is scheming. Unfortunately, Ulciscor has no other proof, and the only other witness, Lanistia, cannot help because large parts of her memory are gone.

With two weeks left until Vis leaves for the Academy, Ulciscor returns to the Senate. They will not be able to speak again until the school holiday for the Festival of the Ancestors.

A physician sent by the Senate arrives under the pretense of checking on Vis’s recovery. The physician questions Vis about the attack and takes a blood sample, claiming it is routine. After the physician leaves, Lanistia asks why he went back to stop the attack, risking his life rather than escaping with Aequa. She has seen the whip scars on his back and knows he hates the Republic. Vis insists he did it because it was the right thing to do and says: “maybe I’m a better person than you” (209). Lanistia says this will not help him at the Academy.

Vis asks Kadmos about the physician taking a blood sample. Kadmos says it is not routine but is likely harmless. They receive news that Relucia, Ulciscor’s wife, heard about events at the naumachia and may return from her travels earlier than planned. Catenan women are usually expected to marry, bear children, and stay at home. The fact that Relucia works abroad and has no children is unusual.

Vis trains relentlessly. Lanistia explains that his investigation will likely only be effective if he can get into Class Three, the elite class of the Academy. To do so he will need to excel. After two weeks of training, it is time to leave for the Academy.