The Will of the Many

Ulciscor arrives for the Military meeting. At an official dinner, Ulciscor parades Vis around to meet the senators. Quiscil questions him about the naumachia. Vis fears that Quiscil must suspect something, then realizes that he is interested in the mysterious weapon Estevan used. Emissa rescues him from the conversation and they stand in a corner to flirt.

Later, Ulciscor warns him to be careful around Emissa. Vis assures him he is. Finally, the dinner ends and Vis retreats to his room. He opens the secret passage in the fireplace to make sure he can still navigate the passages. Once satisfied, he returns to the room and sleeps.

The next day, Vis and others visit a beach. Indol and Emissa swim while Vis and Belli sit on the beach. Vis claims he does not like to swim, though he is really tormented by memories of swimming at this beach. Belli invites Vis to play Foundation, but Vis pretends he is not a good player. When Indol and Emissa finish swimming, they all walk into the nearby town. Emissa tells Vis she plans to sneak out after dinner for a night swim.

Fadrique gives them a tour of the town, including a local tavern famous for its food. The owner kicks them out, calling Fadrique a traitor and saying the Catenans are not welcome. Vis feels hopeful after the encounter—proud that some locals have not forgotten their murdered king.

After dinner, Indol reminds Vis that Emissa has gone for a night swim at a lagoon. Vis knows the lagoon has a deadly riptide. Terrified, he runs after Emissa. He arrives in time to see her being pulled under. He leaps in to help her, and they are carried down the coast. Getting out of the water, they camp in the cave overnight.

Emissa sees the whip scars on Vis’s back and is horrified. She also confides to Vis that Indol hates his father and intends to swear to Religion rather than Military when they graduate. It is an enormous secret to share, proving how much Emissa likes Vis. Despite the dangers, Vis kisses her.

In the morning, they return to the palace and Vis collapses from exhaustion. When he awakes, Ulciscor and Lanistia are there. Vis tells them about the Labyrinth in the ruins. Vis hopes this will be enough to satisfy the deal, but Ulciscor demands that Vis go through the Labyrinth and find out what is on the other side. Vis insists he is not good enough and will die, but Ulciscor threatens to put him in a Sapper if he fails. To Vis’s surprise, Lanistia agrees that Vis has upheld his end of the bargain, and this is asking too much, but Ulciscor ignores her, telling Vis he has no choice. Lanistia asks Vis not to die.

Using Emissa’s rescue as an excuse, Vis claims illness the next day. He sneaks through the passages that night to listen to the secret meeting between Quiscil and a select group that does not include Ulciscor. Vis takes notes with Relucia’s Will-imbued pen.

He learns that Military is monitoring senators and other wealthy families for suspected conspirators. He memorizes the names of three potential conspirators, leaving them out of his notes, hoping they may be useful later. Vis finally realizes that Military helped Anguis plan the naumachia attack, though they did not know about Estevan’s mysterious weapon. Now, they plan to sacrifice a naval ship named Navisalus to Anguis attack. These senators are passing information and funds to the Anguis in secret to incite fear among the populace. They know that Military is losing influence and believe that if the people are scared enough the Senate will give them more control. When the meeting ends, Vis returns to his room.

Fadrique is waiting for him. Fadrique explains that he accepted his new role to protect the citizens still living on Suus. He did not want to accept Will or be made a Sextus, but the Catenans insisted that if he “wished to act on behalf of Suus, then [he] had to accept everything that came with the job” (477). He suspects Vis came to Suus to exact revenge against Quartus Latani, a senator at the meeting who led the assault against Suus. Now, Fadrique offers to kill the man himself if Vis gives the order.

Vis refuses, but thanks him for the sacrifices he has made to keep his people safe. Fadrique shows Vis a storeroom of personal items from Vis’s childhood that he managed to save, including toys, and his mother’s bow. Vis is overcome with emotion. Fadrique admits that he took Vis to the tavern days ago so that the owner could see that Vis was alive, and so that Vis could see that some still resist.

Vis asks Fadrique if his romantic relationship with Emissa is wrong. Fadrique says that “they are the world [...]. Pride and self-respect may mean we never give in, but if they are all our enemies, we will never be happy” (483). He adds that “violence is no answer to grief” (484) and says that his father would be proud of him. Finally, he leaves.

Vis recalls his father once telling him that there is “no such thing as a good ruler” (486). Humans are flawed, and therefore every government made by humans is flawed. He added that the Hierarchy is built on the flaw of greed, which makes it rotten to the core.

In the morning, he joins Emissa and the others on the beach. While the others swim, he sits alone. Indol approaches and asks how long it has been since he was last home. Shocked, Vis tries to deny it, but Indol has seen Vis’s expressions of grief and recognition. Indol does not realize that Vis is the prince, instead believing he is the son of an advisor who lived in or near the palace. Indol promises to keep Vis’s secret.

The rest of Vis’s time on Suus is calm. When the break ends, they board the ship to return to the Academy. Vis realizes he needed this opportunity to see his home one last time, but also knows it is now time to focus. He has three months left until the Iudicium and he needs a plan to move from Class Four to Three.

While Vis was gone, Callidus and Eidhin became better friends. Vis asks if they can now do their training and language tutoring in the mornings so that he can run the Labyrinth in the evenings with Emissa. With Ulciscor’s threats, he knows he needs to get better.

One evening, Callidus admits that, when he was in Class Three, he believed himself in love with Belli. To help her, he stole important census documents from his father’s office to prove that Third and Fourth students are dying every year. Belli took the documents to blackmail him: News of his theft would destroy Callidus’s father’s standing in the Senate and likely result in Callidus’s arrest. Vis starts forming a plan to advance to Class Three and help Callidus at the same time.

Two weeks later, Vis shares his plan with Emissa, who agrees to help him. At dinner, they steal Belli’s Foundation board to play, gaining an audience as Vis purposefully lets Emissa beat him. Belli takes the bait and insults Vis, giving him a reason to challenge her. He then proposes that they play for stakes: if Vis wins, he gets Belli’s spot in Class Three, and if Belli wins, Vis will pledge to Governance (Belli’s pyramid). Belli agrees to the terms with two Praeceptors as witness.

Vis finds that Belli is a better player than he assumed, but eventually gains the advantage. Belli starts to panic, and Vis quietly offers to concede the game if she returns the stolen papers to Callidus. She agrees. They take a small break so that she can retrieve the papers and give them to Callidus. However, when they resume play, Vis continues to beat her, saying, “Not pleasant seeing your trust betrayed, is it?” (509). At last, Belli concedes, and Praeceptor Nequias welcomes Vis to Class Three.