“They won’t run,” Arista said. “There’s no place for them to go. We’re trapped in a walled city. There can be no retreat. Everyone will have to fight to the death. After this afternoon’s demonstration of the empire’s cruelty, I don’t think anyone will chance surrender.”

Hadrian nodded. “But how do you expect to incite the city to fight for you? They don’t even know you. You’re not like Emery, with lifelong friends who will lay their lives on the line on your behalf. I doubt not even Polish here has a reputation that will elicit that kind of devotion—no offense.”

Polish smiled at him. “You are quite right. The people rarely see me, and when they do, I’m thought of as a despicable brigand—imagine that.”

“That’s why we need Emery,” Arista said.

“The kid dying in the square?”

“You saw the way the people listened,” she said earnestly. “They believe in him.”

“Right up until they were flogged at his side,” Royce put in.

Arista stood straighter and spoke in a louder voice. “And even when they were, did you see the look in the faces of those people? In The Laughing Gnome, they already saw him as something of a hero—standing up for them against the Imperialists. When they flogged him, when he faced death and yet stood by his convictions, it solidified their feelings for him and his ideals. The Imperialists left Emery to die today. When they did, they made him a martyr. Just imagine how the people will feel if he survives! If he slipped out of the Imperialists’ grasp just as everyone felt certain he was dead, it could be the spark that can ignite their hopes.”

“He’s probably already dead,” Quartz said indifferently as she cleaned her nails with a dagger.

Arista ignored her. “We’ll steal Emery from the post, spread the news that he’s alive and that he asks everyone to stand up with him and fight—to fight for the freedom he promised them.”

Royce scoffed but Hadrian considered the idea. He wanted to believe. He wanted to be swept along with her passion, but his practical side, which had waged dozens of battles, told him there was little chance for success. “It won’t work,” he finally stated. “Even if you managed to take the city, the imperial army will just take it back. A few hundred civilians could overwhelm the city garrison, but they aren’t going to stop an army.”

“That’s why we have to coordinate our attack with the Nationalists’. Remember Emery’s plan? We’ll shut the gates and lock them out. Then the Nationalists can crush them.”

“And if you don’t manage to close the gates in time? If the battle against the garrison doesn’t go perfectly to plan?” Royce asked.