The mayor smiles thinly at me. “You, dear Skyhunter, will be the catalyst that flips the public to our side.” She taps at one of the papers in front of us. It’s a detailed blueprint of the arena where the games will be happening. “During the end of the games, we will call for the military to turn against Constantine. You, as the most visible symbol of his power, are to step forward with us. You will be the one to arrest Constantine and take him away.”

Something in me bristles at the idea of taking more orders from these Karensan nobles, but then the impossible appears in my mind—turning to face Constantine and forcing him down from his throne, to twist his hands behind his back and lead him out of a screaming arena. The ability to strip him of his power just by turning away from him.

I remember the way the people looked to me in awe during our arrival into Cardinia. The mayor is right. I’m the most visible example of his power. If the people see me turn away, they will know that Constantine has lost.

“Why not kill him?” I sign.

Raina looks away with a grimace. “That’s what I’d wish,” she mutters sullenly.

But the mayor gives Raina a stern look and shakes her head. “Assassinate him, and risk a civil war among the people along with poisonous conspiracy theories,” she says. “Turn the public against the Premier, though, and it will work even better than death. His ferocious demeanor is meant to hide his deteriorating condition. But the whispers are already out there. All we need now is a moment in front of the entire public where we can stage a proper coup. And you are the trigger for that.”

Raina shakes her head, as if in disgust, but doesn’t voice her objections. Again, I feel the hint of an old argument between the two women. “The mayor has a soft spot for Constantine,” she tells me with a sidelong glance.

To my surprise, the mayor doesn’t deny it. Her voice softens slightly. “I knew Constantine’s mother,” she replies.

The woman hesitates a little. In that hesitation, I hear something more than friendship. I hear an entire history that must have existed between this woman and the late queen. I hear an old, broken love.

“Mother?” I sign, and Raina translates.

“She died a long time ago,” the mayor says quietly. Then her gaze steels again, and she looks at both of us. “Constantine is a monster, just like his father. We follow the plan.”

Raina nods. “We follow the plan,” she agrees.

The walls I’ve put up around my heart lurch and threaten to topple. If all that I’m hearing is true—if there really is a chance for us to destroy Constantine and the Federation as it currently stands …

But then I remember why I’ve pushed away all thoughts of my old friends. Why I’m terrified when Red and I connect in our dreams. I remember my mother, riding in those borrowed luxury silks.