I am made to stand on the dais, there for all the people to gaze upon while they wait for the show to begin. A while after I arrive. Obel and Connor are brought on to the platform too – I don’t know why – and they stand at the back. Mayor Longsight sits upon an ornately carved wooden chair. Minnow is behind him, alert and watchful. Longsight is enjoying the thrum of excitement that is building around us.

I refuse to keep my eyes down. I’m not here to be cowed or scared; I’m not going to behave as though I am guilty and ashamed. I stare into the eyes of every person sitting in row after row, until they are so high and so far above me I cannot make out their features. It’s the missing people I notice first – no Gull or Verity – although I can see Simon and Julia, Verity’s parents, and Seb sitting with them. He waves and my facade almost crumbles.

Mum is here. I see her face and I nearly cry out – I know the courage it has taken for her to even leave the house. She is sitting near the front, where she can’t see the stares from the people behind her. She has chosen to sit where I can see her, and when I look at her, all I see is love. It pulses from her, almost pounding at my heart. Her eyes, her face – that small, strong smile, the merest nod of support that feels like stadia of cheers. She is not broken; she is not crushed. I have never seen a human so strong, so noble, so beautiful as my mother at that moment. I keep my eyes on her and nothing else touches me because her love is a mountain, her love is armour, her love is a shield that cannot be destroyed.

When Jack Minnow steps forward, a hush inhales around the hall. Was this what he meant, when he said he had more in store for me?

He calls for silence with none of Longsight’s flourishes. When he speaks his voice is matter of fact and calm, but all the more impressive for it.

“Thank you for coming. Today is a day for justice: justice and celebration. I have been given permission to speak on our great leader’s behalf; it is thanks to him that this enemy of our custom – this terrible threat to our commonality – has been brought to be reckoned.”

I don’t know whether it’s because it’s Minnow saying it, or because the people finally have someone to unite them in hate, but Jack Minnow’s words are falling on willing ears. There is a murmur of warmth and support.

“And so, it is my honour to present to you our own Mayor Dan Longsight, whose wisdom and faithfulness is unsurpassed.”