Page 70 of City of Secrets and Shadows
The main floor of the tannery had been arranged with scattered crates and barrels serving as makeshift seating, forming a rough semicircle around a small raised platform — likely once used for inspecting hides. Korden stepped into the middle of the platform as the last arrivals found places to stand or sit.
I positioned myself near the back wall, with Livia beside me and Octavia on her other side. The press of bodies offered a strange kind of privacy — too crowded for anyone to pay close attention to our hands, which hung mere inches apart in the semidarkness.
“Brothers and sisters,” Korden began, his deep voice carrying easily through the room without rising to a level that might be heard outside. “Welcome to our gathering of truth-seekers. I see many new faces tonight.”
A murmur of acknowledgment rippled through the crowd.
“We gather here at great risk, as all of you know. To speak against the Empire’s war is to invite charges of treason. To suggest the Talfen might be anything other than demons is to mark oneself as a sympathizer — a fate often worse than death in our society.”
I felt Livia’s fingers brush against mine, hesitant, uncertain. The almost-touch sent a jolt through me, and I found myself holding my breath.
“For our new friends,” Korden continued, “I’ll first speak of why we gather, before we hear tonight’s testimonies. We seek three truths: historical truth about the origins of this endless war, personal truth about the nature of the Talfen people, and future truth about a path to peace.”
I felt Livia’s fingers brush against mine again, more deliberately this time. Without looking at her, I made my decision and gently took her hand in mine, entwining our fingers in the shadows. I heard her soft exhalation — relief or surprise, I couldn’t tell — but she didn’t pull away. Instead, her grip tightened, and something loosened in my chest.
Whatever had happened between us, whatever lay ahead, in this moment we stood together, united in this dangerous pursuit of truth. The realization flooded me with warmth. She hadn’t known I would be here, yet she had come anyway, risking her carefully constructed cover and perhaps her life, because she thought it mattered to me. The depth of feeling this simple act inspired threatened to overwhelm me.
Korden’s voice pulled me back to the present. “The Empire teaches that the Talfen are inherently violent, incapable of reason or peaceful coexistence. That they attacked our ancestors without provocation when humans first settled these lands. That they practice blood rituals and sacrifice human children. That they cannot be negotiated with, only exterminated.”
Nods around the room acknowledged these familiar claims — the foundation of Imperial education regarding the Talfen.
“But those of us with Talfen blood know differently,” Korden said, gesturing to several attendees with the telltale black eyes or white hair. “And those of us who have fought on the frontier have seen evidence that contradicts the Empire’s version of history. Tonight, we have several who wish to share their experiences.”
He stepped aside, yielding the platform to an older woman whose silver-streaked white hair marked her Talfen heritage. I recognized her as Eleni from Suura’s brief description when she had invited me to the gathering.
“I speak first of history,” she said, her voice carrying the measured cadence of someone accustomed to teaching. “Beforemy heritage was discovered and I was expelled from my position, I discovered manuscripts dating to the early settlement period — documents deliberately excluded from the official records.”
The room fell silent, attendees leaning forward in anticipation.
“These texts tell a different story of human arrival in these lands. Not of peaceful settlers met with savage aggression, but of conquest. Our ancestors did not find empty lands awaiting cultivation — they found territories already inhabited by the Talfen. The early human settlements were military outposts, not farming communities.”
I felt Livia’s hand tighten in mine.
“The First Emperor, lauded as our great unifier, ordered the systematic clearing of Talfen settlements to make way for human expansion. What the Empire calls the ‘First Talfen War’ was actually a desperate counterattack after years of encroachment and forced displacement.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. This version of history directly contradicted everything taught in Imperial schools, yet it aligned with the fragments of history my mother had shared before she was taken from me.
“The manuscripts also spoke of early attempts at coexistence,” Eleni continued. “There were treaties, trade agreements, even intermarriage in some border regions.” She gestured to her own mixed features. “We who bear mixed blood are not abominations, as the Empire claims, but living proof that cooperation was once possible.”
As she stepped down, Korden introduced the next speaker — a barrel-chested man whose face was concealed by a half-mask. “Not all who join our cause can show their faces,” Korden explained. “Our brother currently serves in the Imperial Army’s eastern division.”
A collective intake of breath greeted this revelation. An active soldier at our gathering represented both tremendous risk and invaluable insight.
The masked soldier stepped forward. “I’ve served the Empire for fifteen years,” he began, his voice deliberately altered. “I believed in our cause, in protecting our people from Talfen savagery. I believed it until I saw with my own eyes what truly happens on the frontier.”
His gloved hands clenched as he spoke. “A decade ago, my company was dispatched to a border village reportedly devastated by a Talfen raid. But when we arrived, I found no more than four guards dead.” He closed his eyes and swallowed before opening them. “The orders were given as we arrived. Slaughter the villagers. All of them, leave none alive. Arrange the bodies to suggest ritual violence that never occurred. We weren’t there to protect the villagers, we were there to create a massacre they could blame on the Talfen.”
Shocked whispers filled the room. I felt Livia trembling slightly beside me and squeezed her hand in silent support.
“When I questioned my Commander, I was told the villagers had been suspected of trading with the Talfen. That sometimes ‘examples must be made’ to maintain the proper fear of the enemy.” The soldier’s voice hardened. “I’ve since learned this was not an isolated incident.”
He paused, looking down at the ground for a moment, then raising his head to gaze out into the small crowd. “I’m ashamed to say that day I followed the orders to the letter, and several after that. Eventually, I managed to arrange a transfer, but even though it’s been over a decade, the guilt and shame has not left me. The knowledge of what I did haunts me to this day, and now I work to change the future.”
A heavy silence followed the soldier’s confession, thick as the tannery’s lingering chemical smell. Somewhere in the shadows, someone wept quietly.
“I can’t undo what I’ve done,” the soldier continued, his voice cracking beneath the disguise. “But I can help expose the truth. The Empire doesn’t want peace. Peace would mean no more conscriptions, no more emergency taxes, no more justification for the Emperor’s absolute power.”
A second masked figure joined him on the platform — another soldier, judging by their bearing.
