tiny flight of stairs, until finally we find ourselves emerging through the wall that borders a dark alley at the edge of the main market square. We wander until the alley meets a side street, then peer out from the shadows at where the main square begins.
The square is crowded with people. Inquisitors line the streets, funneling the people down, and in the canals, gondolas sit idle. No water traffic allowed this morning.
“What’s happening?” Violetta asks.
“I don’t know,” I reply as I look from the crowd to the Inquisitors. We’ll have to wait—with my powers sapped, we can’t be out in the open with so many people around and risk being recognized by a guard. I hold my breath as a group of Inquisitors march past our narrow street. My back is pressed so hard against the wall that I feel like I can melt into it.
They pass by without noticing us. I let out my breath again.
I grab Violetta’s hand and pull us through the shadows. We make our way forward, slowly and laboriously, through winding streets until we finally reach the space where the main square opens up. Here, we crouch in the shadows of a canal bridge entrance and look on as more people file into the square.
The space is crowded this morning, as if it were a market day, but the people are all eerily quiet, waiting in fearful anticipation for an announcement from the Inquisition Tower. My eye wanders up to the rooftops, where statues of the gods line the ledges. They are crowded with Inquisitors today, but even now—somehow, hidden behind tile and chimney, the Daggers must be waiting in silence.
I’m still weak, but the square’s energy crackles with fear, vibrant and dark, and it feeds me.
A faint flicker of movement appears on the Inquisition Tower’s main balcony. A flash of gold robes flanked by white, the glimmer of a leader walking among his men. I tense. Moments later, Teren appears.
He wears formal robes, a shining coat of white armor under a flowing robe of swirling white and gold patterns. A heavy cloak is pinned over his shoulders and drapes behind him in a long train. The slant of morning light hits the balcony just right—a part of the palace’s intentional design—and illuminates him in brightness.
Then I notice that he brought a prisoner with him. “Oh,” I breathe, my heart seizing.
Two Inquisitors appear, dragging between them a boy with long dark hair, his slender frame weighed down with chains, his head tilted high as Teren now presses a sword against his throat. The boy’s rich scarlet robes are torn and dirty. His face is solemn, but I recognize him immediately.
It’s Raffaele.
It is my fault he’s here.
Teren raises his free arm. “Citizens of Estenzia,” he calls out. “It is with a heavy heart that I deliver this news.” He pauses. “The king is dead. In his place, Her Majesty, Queen Giulietta, will rule. Tomorrow evening, the king’s funeral will take place at the Estenzia arena. You are required to attend.”
He pauses before continuing. “There will be changes to how we deal with traitors and abominations. Her Majesty does not tolerate crimes against the crown.”
If Enzo had succeeded, he would have killed his sister, the queen, too. His nobles would have made their move, offering their support. He could be making his move now. But he won’t. Not with Raffaele held hostage like this. And I realize, suddenly, that this is why Teren, not Giulietta, is addressing the crowd. She knows she has to protect herself.
The king’s death begins to look more and more clear to me.
I look on as Teren tightens his grip on Raffaele. Raffaele winces as the sword digs into the flesh of his neck.
“Kneel,” Teren commands him.
Raffaele does as he’s told. His scarlet robes spill around him in a circle. The energy in my chest lurches painfully.
Teren nods at the crowd. “From this day forth,” he says, “all malfettos are banned from the city. They will be moved to the city’s outskirts and separated from society.”
The crowd’s silence breaks. Gasps. Mumbles. Then, shouts. Violetta and I just look on, our hands joined in fear. What will the Inquisition do to them, once they’re banished to the outskirts?
Teren raises his voice over the chaos. “Anyone who turns in defiant malfettos to the Inquisition will be rewarded with gold. Anyone resisting this order, or found sheltering malfettos, will be executed.”
Can I reach Raffaele? Can any of us? I study the square. It’s impossible to