Lexi can’t even begin to find meaning in those words. “What are you talking about? I’m not a revolutionary. I’m not any kind of military leader.”

“No, of course not. But you will make a fantastic symbol. Better than your husband would’ve, I’m beginning to believe. We were quite distraught when he disappeared, you see.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, originally we were going to use him. Daian would’ve approached him at the proper time to confirm all his suspicions about what the Protectorate Ministry was up to. We waited too long, sadly. Then Daian was presented with an opportunity to get close to you. At first we hoped it might lead us back to Brio, or at least to whatever leverage he had over the Ministry, but now I see we don’t need him. We have you. It’s fascinating how these things work out sometimes.”

“What did you want Brio for? What do you want me for now?”

Burr seems genuinely delighted. “Because you’ve exceeded all our expectations. Oh, you should have seen yourself on the pleading floor of the Spectrum. You were a shining light for every dreg and vagabond in the Capitol. I never would have expected it from you, but the filthy peasants in those galleries were thoroughly unhinged. They would have named you their empress then and there. They loved your husband, and they now adore you. It’s absolutely perfect!”

The pieces revealed in Burr’s words begin to form a clear picture in Lexi’s mind.

“The Bottoms,” she says. “You want the people in the Bottoms to rise up and attack the Capitol.”

“I told you, we need a rebellion. The oppressed are traditionally the ones who rebel, are they not? And the Bottoms is filled with them. They’re angry and abused and gnashing their rotten teeth, ready to lash out. They simply need a flag under which to form.”

“Why would you want that?” Lexi asks, more aghast than outraged.

“Disorder,” Burr answers simply. “Chaos. Social breakdown. These are the things that create the greatness of opportunity. Opportunity we shall seize when the disorder reaches a healthy crescendo of blood and madness and destruction.”

“To what end?” Lexi demands. “What will you gain from sending the entire Capitol… the entire nation spiraling into chaos?”

“We will fill the void, my dear,” Burr explains patiently. “We will bring what’s left in the wake of that chaos under the yoke of nobility once more. The Crachian philosophy of submission through illusion is a fallacy. You do not gain control over a people by convincing them they are the ones in control. You do it by making them accept that they are your inferiors. They must all at once fear and revere the purity and power of your bloodline. They must know they can never be your equal. Then they submit. Then they live to serve.”