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So I lean in closer to True

He moves in, too, and ducks his head a bit so I can whisper in his ear To an outsider wesecrets in the deepmarket

"Nevio the Minister," I whisper, "is a siren"

True doesn’t pull away, but when he whispers back, he sounds stunned Whatever he thought I was going to say, it wasn’t this "How do you know?"

Does he believe me? "Nevio lied," I say "And I knew it because I’d seen the truth Otherwise Ihim But once he lied, I knew, and then I could feel it when he was speaking He is a siren I’ his ability," True says "He e that"

"I know," I say This is thepart of all Nevio kno to sound like everyone else, and he can put just the right aive effective ser more It must take an uncanny a

"Do you think your mother knew that Nevio is a siren?" True asks

I’ve wondered the sa I don’t think she did My --she kept her own counsel I’m painfully aware of this But so ine her bringingerous or knew that he was a siren And if she’d discovered such a thing, she would have re to tell Maire the night she died? Had my mother found out Nevio’s secret?

If she knew his secret, it would be a very good reason for him to kill her

The expression on True’s face hts are similar to mine

"I don’t know if she found out," I say "I can’t be certain If she did, she didn’t have time to tell me"

"Do you think any of the priests knohat he is?"

"I don’t think so," I say, "at least, not if they believe as my mother did, that the church and te persuaded A siren changes that dynamic automatically" But there could be priests who don’t believe as my mother did, or ones who feel loyal to Nevio "Do you think the Council knows?" I ask True "Should we tell them?"

"I’m not sure," True says "Maybe they do know Maybe that’s why they wanted Nevio to be the Minister" He shakes his head "Theit all becomes"