Summary

Chapter 3, narrated by Day in the present tense, begins with his arrival in Denver with Eden for the Independence Day banquet. Day leaves Eden with Lucy and heads into a shopping district with a Senator’s daughter, Faline, to find appropriate clothes. He sees soldiers on the street, increased from the usual number, and wonders if he and Eden should leave the Republic. He watches fireworks for Anden’s birthday and notices that the people on the streets are wearing red and gold for the holiday. He emerges on the steps of Colburn Hall, the Capital’s banquet hall, to applause by the gathered crowd. He walks into the hall through elaborately decorated pillars and under a massive portrait of Anden. As he questions why he is there, he spots June, who looks uncharacteristically uncertain. He sees Anden next...