Page 69 of City of Secrets and Shadows
“I am right here, you know,” grumbled Tavi, her arms folded across her chest as she glared up at him.
Something shifted in his expression — wariness giving way to cautious hope. “These meetings aren’t just talk. There are plans. Dangerous ones.”
“When has danger ever stopped me?” I offered a half-smile.
He didn’t smile back. “Are you sure about this?” he asked quietly, as people started making their way to the front of the room.
I thought of my parents, of their forgotten dream, of the blue beads in my pocket. “No,” I admitted. “But I’m here anyway.”
His fingers brushed mine in the darkness — the briefest touch, but enough to set my heart racing. “Then that’s a start.”
18
Iwasn’t sure what to expect from this meeting beyond the small comfort of being among those who might not flinch at the sight of my completely black eyes or the shape of my ears. When Suura had pressed me to come along, I hadn’t fully believed such a gathering could exist in the Imperial City — a place where those with Talfen blood might speak freely, where the Empire’s eternal war might be questioned rather than blindly accepted.
Yet here I stood in the abandoned tannery, the lingering scent of tanning agents masking our presence from casual passersby. I counted at least thirty faces in the dim candlelight, some bearing the marks of mixed blood like my own — the striking black eyes, pointed ears or white hair that marked Talfen heritage contrasting against the normal dark human colouring. But most surprising were the fully human attendees, their presence evidence that not all accepted the Empire’s carefully constructed narrative about the “savage enemy.”
We stood in loose clusters around the main floor, nervous energy palpable in the room. I had arrived early, uncertainwhat to expect but desperate for any connection to my father’s people beyond the slurs and contempt I endured daily. After my brief conversation with Suura yesterday, the promise of finding others who shared my blood, my history, had been too compelling to resist, despite the obvious dangers.
I had just finished speaking with another half-Talfen man — his pointed ears carefully hidden beneath a cap — when the distinctive knock pattern sounded at the door. Three sharp raps, a pause, then two more. A burly man moved to investigate while conversation temporarily hushed.
New faces seemed to bring apprehension, even my own, and there had been a few others tonight, recruited carefully from those current members who might be sympathetic to the cause. Each stranger represented another witness who might later identify us to Imperial authorities. I turned away, intending to find a less conspicuous position along the back wall, when a familiar voice halted me mid-step.
“I didn’t expect so many…”
That voice — I knew it instantly. Livia. But she couldn’t be — not here, of all places.
“People who see through the Empire’s lies?” I finished, turning slowly to confront the impossibility.
And there she stood her brown eyes widening in recognition. Octavia hovered, feeling uncertain at her side, looking as stunned as I felt. For several heartbeats, none of us spoke.
“Livia? What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same.”
I glanced at Octavia, then back to Livia, suspicion and hope warring within me. The last time I’d seen Livia, she’d chosen Septimus’s embrace over mine. The memory still stung, but now confusion overwhelmed the hurt. Livia at an anti-Imperial meeting? How on earth had she found out about it?
“This isn’t a game, Livia,” I said quietly, urgency sharpening my tone. “These people risk everything to be here.”
“I know.” She stepped closer. “I’m not here to play games, Tarshi. We met Suura today, and when she invited Octavia to this gathering... I thought of you. Of what you face every day. I wanted to come.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Suura invited Octavia?” Octavia had never been outwardly cruel at the ludus, or even since we’d arrived in the city, but she only spoke to me when necessity demanded it, and it was clear she avoided my presence. The idea of her supporting those of Talfen blood was surprising to say the least.
“I am right here, you know,” she grumbled, her arms folded across her chest as she glared up at me.
“These meetings aren’t just talk. There are plans. Dangerous ones,” I said to Livia. I hated the fact she was putting herself in more danger, but the idea she’d done it for me made a warmth grow inside me. I studied her for a long moment, weighing her presence against the risk it represented.
“When has danger ever stopped me?” She smiled at me but I couldn’t return it.
At the front of the room people began to gather near to the temporary platform they’d built, and I could see Korden stepping up along with Suura. She’d introduced me a little earlier to the Imperial legate who secretly worked from inside the Imperial palace to bring the war to an end.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked her quietly. I could still get them out until the speaking started.
“No, but I’m here anyway.”
Whatever Livia’s reasons for being here, she deserved to hear the truths the Empire had buried for centuries.
“Then that’s a start.” That simple declaration — the willingness to step into uncertainty when conviction faltered— embodied everything that had drawn me to her from the beginning. Before I could reconsider the wisdom of it, I let my fingers brush against hers in the darkness, the briefest touch, but enough to reveal my own vulnerability.
