I scan each corridor we walk down for Verity. The last time we spoke it felt like an ending – the end of a friendship that had been my anchor through life. Do we still love each other – or do we hate each other now? She was Longsight’s messenger, all the time I was in Featherstone. She hated how I came to speak of the blanks with compassion. And I hated hearing her admiration for the mayor. When we parted ways that last time, it split us in two.

We wait near the wide doors that lead to the square. Obel’s hands are cuffed behind him and I see the fingers of his left hand clench and release, as though he is warming up for a fight. His broken right hand simply hangs there.

Why has Longsight chosen him for this? The finest inker once, but now unable to hold a needle. Why not one of the government inkers?

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of music and cheers – a festive atmosphere has already been set. The sun is bright, and the sky is cloudless blue. Only a week ago, Mayor Longsight brought me out and paraded me as the spoils of battle – moments later he was covered in his own blood. And then he rose again, remember? says a little voice in my head, and I shiver. A trick, I tell myself. But how?

Jack Minnow arrives and stands at Obel’s side and I wish I knew what his secret was. He is too strong, and I am too afraid.

When the mayor arrives, surrounded by bodyguards, the doors are opened, and the cries of the crowd almost knock me back. A stage has been erected, huge speakers stand at the sides and swathes of deep red velvet cover every visible surface. This is going to be something big.

Mayor Longsight is led out by his guards with Jack Minnow at his heels. Meanwhile, Obel, Mel and I are pulled to a side door by Karl and the three guards. We emerge, blinking, in the bright sunlight behind the stage. We are hidden from the eyes of the crowd, but we have the best seats for the spectacle. I won’t miss a thing, even if I want to.

Jack Minnow steps up to the microphone which is front and centre of the stage. He calls for quiet.

“People of Saintstone – it has only been a short while since everything changed.” His dark eyes survey the crowd. “Since the miracle.” There is a sort of collective gasp from the crowd – a miracle is how they see it. “You must have questions. And now our leader is here to answer them. Prepare your hearts and minds for a new message – the new word from our exalted mayor, the only man to triumph over death.”

The roar from the crowd makes me draw back. The people of Saintstone have always been in Mayor Longsight’s thrall, but this is something new. It is adoration, wild worship. He has become their saviour – an incarnate deity. Faces are almost frantic with delight.