Page 84 of The Sin

My face panned out, and Geneva panned in with her crop of ash-silver curls and a sincere, deeply concerned expression softening her features.

“Geneva’s message only started playing a short while ago,” Mom informed me. “That was our signal that the Guard and the council had been contained, and to bring us out from the shadows with our show of weapons, naturally. But there hasn’t been much trouble.”

“Citizens of Capra,” Geneva said, her eloquent voice a smooth, calming presence that settled over the square. “The Eastern Coalition was founded on the fundamental principles of securing the future of mankind. We are committed to our cause. We always will be. But we have been children. We have dutifully believed, we have sacrificed so much without question, and we have been deceived by our council. The time has come for mutual consent. The time has come for mutual respect. The time for change is now, my fellow citizens. The time for the Sisters of Capra is here.”

The crowd didn’t erupt into an angry mob or a riot. But they didn’t raise a cheer of celebration, either.

I looked around, and started counting the number of Sisters milling around the edges of the crowd with rifles cradled in their arms. “Where is Dad?”

“He’s around here somewhere, I’m sure,” Mom said. “I left him to get to Berkley House a little after seven.”

“You told him what was happening? Does he know you’re part of the uprising?”

“Of course not, darling. I said I was meeting a group of ladies in the tearoom. He didn’t think anything of it. The curfew laws are loosened on the night of the Foundation Ball.”

“He shouldn’t be out here,” I insisted. “You should have sent him home.”

“Your father will be fine, Georga. There hasn’t been any trouble on the streets.”

“General Bickens’ knee was shot out.”

“That was terrible, but an anomaly, darling.”

“You’re patrolling the square with rifles,” I said, totally not understanding how she didn’t see the severity of the situation. My dad was a good man. He wasn’t part of the problem. “What happens when Sisters start shooting?”

Mom humored me with a smile. “I told you, darling, the weapons are just for show.”

“Geneva’s wasn’t.”

“Yes, well, it seems some Sisters came more prepared than others, but you needn’t worry about it. This isn’t war on the streets. We all have husbands and children on the square tonight.”

I dragged a hand over my brow, massaging the tension at my temples. Maybe Mom was right. Maybe General Bickens was the anomaly. Geneva had seized control, and no one appeared to be resisting—much to my utter amazement. Maybe this wasn’t the violent, blood-thirsty revolution I feared.

My dad would be fine. Besides, Mom wouldn’t allow any harm to come to him, and right now, Roman needed me more.

I left Mompatrollingin the square, working my way unnoticed around the crowd to the off-shoot street where the Guard Station was located.

26

At the Guard Station, I was stopped in the outer office by an armed Sister. I didn’t recognize her, and I genuinely hoped that was a show rifle like Mom’s, and not the Geneva version.

“Was Roman West brought here?” I asked her. “He’s a warden.”

“Oh, right, the warden.” She was a large woman, tall and broad, and I could see why Geneva might have put her in charge of the more important prisoners. I figured she was in her late forties, somewhere around my mom’s age. “Yes, we have him here.”

“And Daniel Edgar? Councilman Edgar’s son?”

“The heirs are here,” she said, responding to my questions, but with the bare minimum of detail.

I had what I needed, though. I didn’t give a damn about the councilmen. They could rot for an eternity wherever they were being held.

I looked passed the woman’s shoulder to a closed door. “Through there? I’d like to see Roman.”

She shifted uncertainly. “We’re not really permitting visits.”

I chewed on my lower lip, sizing her up. Okay, unloaded rifle or not, there was no way I could take on this woman. Actually, she could be a four-inch twig, and I’d still probably lose. I’d never been in a physical fight in my life. I thought of some of Roman’s moves from earlier, and wondered if it was time to learn.

Meanwhile, I had my fire. “Do you know who I am?”

---