“You’re no better than me, Jack. Let’s work together – a fire would serve us both. I would be the undisputed saviour of Featherstone and you would have your people’s anger – their rage. You could lead them in any direction then.”

“Saviour of Featherstone? Listen to yourself, Sana. There is no Featherstone, you have nothing to save – this is a fight you can’t win. You need land and wealth. Setting our museum on fire, knocking down our statue, putting out the fire of judgement – it only wins you Saintstone’s ire. They won’t back down. You will never get all that you want.”

“Fight me then, Jack. It’s what you’ve wanted all this time, so come on.” Minnow glares, his hands poised as though ready to grasp her neck. He holds himself back, but only just. “Aren’t you going to stop me, Jack? Just think, all these books – this is where you’ve stored them, right? All I have to do is drop this lantern on those bales and your precious museum is history. You can’t just watch those skin books burn – I know you too well.” She pushes her hair out of her face and grins, eyes glittering. She shifts her stance, readying for the attack that will surely come.

But then, that laugh. The same laugh I heard when he showed me Gull. A laugh that gloats in victory already won.

“Why would I stop you?” Minnow breathes. “What kind of fool do you think I am? Your little tantrums are my very greatest political strength. Haven’t you noticed, Sana? Every time you hurt this town, the people’s love for me gets stronger. Every victory you celebrate has been planned by me. You only succeed when I allow you to: your miserable attempt to kill Longsight is ample proof. There is always only one winner in these fights: you get weaker and I get more glorious. Just imagine how they would praise the leader who raged against this latest attack. If I can be seen to weep over the loss of some skin books, these dull people will adore me.” He takes a step closer. “Oh, it’s fun to have an enemy – even one as pitiful as you, because it lets the people think they are in danger. And scared people are the easiest to beguile – it is so simple to exploit them. But of course, you know that.” Jack Minnow smiles at Sana. “Burn this whole place down, Sana. It will be the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”