And all the time, Mayor Longsight stands statue-tall, soaking up the praise while humbly gesturing for quiet. It is many minutes before the people are calm enough to obey his request, but once he has their attention, they are rapt.

“I have put you through so much,” he says. “I can only imagine your fear and horror at seeing your leader assassinated just a short time ago – and in such a shocking and public way.” There is another murmur: a swelling, fearful sound. “And yet – and yet, my friends – I live.” The murmur turns to cries of joy, and Longsight looks out over the crowd, his expression euphoric. “You have allowed me to live again!” he cries. “The ancestors have spoken to me. It was your faith that they saw, and they have rewarded you. For this is a new era, a time of hope and change and victory.”

The crowd erupts once more, and I turn my head to look at Mel. There is a furrow between her eyebrows. If Longsight has been communicating with our ancestors, then she should have been the first person he told.

Mayor Longsight speaks to the people again.

“When I was in the clutches of death I heard a voice – a message so clear and so pure. I have longed to share this new word with you. I have had to show restraint – to wait until the time is right. I have been given a new teaching and it is good news – good news for all.”

Mel catches her breath beside me. The mayor waits. The silence swells. “You are all good people,” he says at last. “And yet – you all fear the same fate. That, one day, all of your ink will not be enough. That despite all we are taught, all that we know, our sins will catch up with us. Well, what would you say if I could assure you of peace? What if there was a way to absolve you, to atone before you are judged? To offload your sins. Would you believe me? Would you come and partake of this blessed freedom?”

And hope, like a traitor, rises in my chest. A worm wriggling free from a corpse. Yes, I think. Some certainty – a map, a guide, a signpost and a clear path. If I could be sure of a way to be remembered for ever, to be certain that my soul was good enough and that there was an eternity ready to embrace it – well, then I would run to that certainty and nail everything I have to it. I see the same hope shining golden in the eyes of each person in the crowd. Hungry mouths open in awe, ready to taste the bounty that Mayor Longsight is holding out to them.

I swallow. Poison can taste like honey, but it will kill you all the same. Wait and see, Leora, I tell myself. Patience.

“What is it that weighs you down?” Mayor Longsight asks, pausing so long I wonder if he’s actually waiting for an answer. “We mark our bodies to free our souls – but don’t you feel the weight of the ink that shows your evil, furtive, treacherous ways? Don’t you feel it heavy in your veins?” He looks down at his own left arm, empty of punishment marks. I see people in the throng follow suit, looking at their own marks. I let my eyes relax and I read the people closest to me.