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murmur of voices swelled and then quieted, and a tense silence swept the room.
    “My people,” he said quietly. “We have a grave matter to discuss.”
    Was I the only one who noticed how his hands trembled? I sat up straighter, frowning. He always began Assembly by reading the marks, our silly form of shaming those who didn’t keep all the little rules. Why was he changing it?
    A glance at Ann confirmed that her father’s behavior had her mystified, too.
    I opened my mouth to ask her when the door to the hall flew open, and more Farther soldiers entered. They dragged a man between them. I saw a patch of brown hair, a white face. Blood dripped from his nose.
    Everyone gasped, and Ann grabbed my arm. “That’s Edmond Dyer, Everiss’s father.”
    The whole room watched, spellbound, as the soldiers hustled the man to the platform and dumped him down at the Mayor’s feet. He lay in a heap, his head in his hands, groaning.
    “Edmond Dyer,” the Mayor said, looking down at the man. He spoke in a monotone, as if he were reciting a list of rules. “A friend to many in this town, a loyal member of this community...or so we thought.”
    Edmond lifted his head. “Please...” he rasped.
    One of the Farther soldiers kicked him, and he crumpled again. Rage began to simmer in my stomach. Ann’s grip on my arm tightened. The people around me muttered in outrage, but no one moved.
    “Edmond has trespassed against the safety of this town,” the Mayor said.
    Trespassed against the safety of the town? What did that mean? What was his crime?
    “As punishment, his property has been confiscated. He will serve a sentence of hard labor. His family will not be implicated in his crimes.”
    Gasps echoed all over the room as the words sunk in. His property, confiscated? Sentenced to hard labor? What could he possibly have done to merit this?
    Property was only taken from a member of the village if they were proven to be physically or mentally unfit to maintain it, or if they directly defied the orders of the Elders. What had Edmond Dyer done?
    I craned my neck, looking for Everiss, but I couldn’t spot her curly brown hair anywhere. Instead I saw Dan Tailor, her former suitor. He sat hunched over in his chair, one hand clenched in a fist with the knuckles pressed against his mouth like he was holding in a shout.
    “Our... coexistence ...with the Farthers has not always been easy, but it is necessary that we remain calm and continue to cooperate,” the Mayor said. “We must not tolerate attempts to sabotage this cooperation.”
    “What cooperation?” I muttered, looking hard at the Farther soldiers flanking him.
    Ann pressed her fingers into my arm, reminding me to remain silent.
    “Take him away,” the Mayor ordered hoarsely. His expression was blank, but he shut his eyes when the soldiers stepped past to hoist Edmond Dyer up again. He sagged between them like his legs were made of straw.
    “Please,” Edmond begged, this time addressing the crowd. His voice was raspy and low, tortured. “Please...I didn’t…”
    Every single villager sat frozen, stunned.
    Why was no one standing up? Why was no one demanding an explanation, a trial? I felt myself rising from the bench, but Ann yanked me back down.
    “Don't be stupid,” she hissed in my ear, fierce and un-Annlike. “He’d throw you to the Farthers without blinking, just like he’s doing to Edmond Dyer. Think of Jonn and Ivy.”
    The Farther soldiers grabbed Edmond’s arms and yanked him toward the door. He shrieked once, a shrill sound of complete agony. The heavy oak door slammed, and the sound reverberated through the room.
    I gripped the edge of the bench so tightly that my knuckles turned white, and I bit down on my lip hard enough to taste blood. Wasn’t this what we’d always feared might happen?
    It was the stuff of nightmares.
    Beside me, Ann shivered. Her eyes were squeezed shut.
    At the front of the hall, the Mayor grimaced and cleared his throat. “Let us