A slaughter, Talin’s voice comes through our bond, alarmed. And I remember that she wasn’t awake during the killing.
I give her a grave nod.A slaughter, I answer. I decide not to recount the way Constantine blocked the entrances and exits of the arena, then sent his soldiers in to do his bidding. How many dead there were.
Talin’s heart twists, and I feel the twinge of agony from her.
“How did Constantine know we planned to make a move today?” someone asks.
“Because I told him,” the mayor replies.
There’s silence. Some in the crowd know; I can tell because they don’t react. Others suck in their breath sharply.
“I told him about the betrayal of his Chief Architect and his brother,” the mayor goes on, her eyes narrowing. “Raina’s mistake was in keepingher alliance with General Caitoman a secret. We are not here to hand power over to another Tyrus.”
There is a murmur of agreement.
“His mistake,” Jeran chimes in at the mayor’s words. “Without killing every rebel, he has simply made them martyrs.”
“But where do we go from here?” Adena asks as Jeran translates. “We’ve lost the element of surprise, now your original plans have been scrapped.”
Another rebel nods and speaks up. “She’s right. Constantine has retreated to hell knows where. We’ll have to find a way to root him out.”
“I know where he is.”
Talin signs her words in Maran, and Jeran speaks up for her, interpreting for everyone to hear. At that, every eye turns to her.
The mayor watches her. “You feel him right now through your bond with him?” she asks.
Talin’s signs are cutting and angry now, and within them, I see hints of all she has suffered under the Premier’s control. “When he wants to be alone, he retreats to his greenhouse across from the palace grounds.”
The mayor nods in understanding. “Of course he would,” she says.
“Why do you say that?” I ask.
The mayor is quiet for a moment, as if remembering something from long ago. Finally, she says, “The Premier’s mother ordered the building of that greenhouse. It was her sanctuary. I remember Constantine playing along the paths inside.”
The Premier’s mother. I hadn’t thought much of who she must have been. A silence follows her words, and in that silence, I hear the truth of how the mayor might have hated Constantine’s father, and why she has come to support the rebels’ cause.
There’s an unspoken understanding that passes between Talin and the mayor, although I don’t know what it is. Then Talin signs, “Constantine has a private chamber in that greenhouse.”
“A private chamber?” the mayor asks as Jeran translates.
“I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t stumble upon him there myself,” she answers.
“Are you sure he would be there now?”
Talin’s eyes flutter closed for a second, then open again. “I can feel his heartbeat,” she replies. “I’m willing to bet on it. It’s too close for him to have left the capital.”
Aramin nods at that. “We saw the number of patrols still stationed around the palace. Too many for there to be no one to protect.”
“We still have many supporters in the city,” a rebel tells us in a low voice. “Many who are alive and strong enough to fight. They’re all out there in the streets. What can we do to help them?”
“Arm them,” the mayor replies. “Send out equipment, weapons and food, medicine and bandages.”
“There are too many of Constantine’s loyalists still in the city,” another rebel says. “What happens if they come targeting these gates? They’ll find out soon that you’re harboring us all here.”
In the momentary silence after, Talin’s mother speaks up in Maran. “Well then. It means we have to root the Premier out before he can do the same to us. Isn’t that right?”
Jeran interprets her words to the rest of us, his voice ringing out clear in the air.
