So I only look at the face of the woman who had helped the Federation destroy so much. I only stare at the face of the man who must have smiled as he tormented my mother.

Everything happens in the span of a second.

The executioners shoot each of them from behind.

Their heads rock forward. They pitch to the ground.

Dead.

And it is all over.

A collective gasp ripples through the audience. Followed by startled screams. An undulation of indignant shouts from those who had expected more of a spectacle.

But most of all, there is the roar that comes with unrest.

With rebellion.

All around me, the arena explodes in chaos. People are on their feet, shouting their disbelief and anger, throwing things down at the center of the stage. They are the other rebels that must have worked with Mayor Elland and the rest of the rebellion, other teams unknown to me, those simmering in unrest throughout the city, waiting for a signal, hoping for a chance to take down the Premier. They are the reason why I’d felt the crowds were uneasy today. They’ve all gathered here, hoping initially to explode in a rebellion against the Premier. But instead, they have witnessed the deaths of two of their leaders.

This is a part of Mayor Elland’s plans.

I stare, numbed, around the arena at the unrest stirring to life before me. I remember that the rebellion is larger than I think. The edges of the Karensa Federation are beginning to fray, and for the first time, I see it for myself here, in the agitated crowds.

Mayor Elland was right. The rebellion hadn’t failed after all. She has simply built up the silo of gunpowder and then dropped a match in it.

Constantine’s voice reappears in my mind. In it, I hear something raw and cold and vicious. It is the sound of a man who has just killed the engineer of his entire empire. It is the sound of someone who has just ordered the execution of a brother he had loved. Who is now truly alone.

I do what I want, Constantine tells me. His voice seems to bleed.

The people will rip your city apart for this, I tell him.

I can almost see the tight, bitter smile on his face as he answers: Let them.

This is why he isn’t here today—he knew the rebellion was set up for this, that I would be a part of it. He wanted me to see it happen before my own eyes. He wants me to know how stupid it was for anyone to challenge his regime. That even his Chief Architect—even his own brother—won’t be spared.

And only then do I see the soldiers swarming the bottom gates around the arena. They are sealing them off. The gates are sliding closed, even as more and more scarlet-clad troops pour into the arena. Hundreds. No, thousands of them. With them come Ghosts, gnashing their overextended teeth in fury. At the sight of them, the stands still, then turn louder. I see some people starting to climb over others as they realize what is about to happen.