“Yes,” Cicero says. “I cost us the assault on Phobos. I know that since then my opinion has been taken very lightly—justifiably so. I apologize. I put my planet…myinterests, ahead of this faction of ours. But I believe we have a moral obligation here. I believe we must disprove this theory that the Core has no honor. That is why I will volunteer my flagship and urge you all to contribute something to this venture. We should not allow civilization, even far flung, to be marauded by barbarians.”
Apollonius stands and prowls the room, combing his hair as he thinks.
“Lysander, I applaud your courage, but…be honest. Are you up to it?” Julia asks. “You can’t yet stand. The Lament is no idle matter—”
I put a hand out. “Rhone.” He is a little slow to help me up, but with his aid I gain my feet. “A Lune never stands without his guard,” I reply. “So it will be as it always was.”
Apollonius laughs and I know he’s thinking of all the glory he’ll take for himself when I’m gone. Julia rolls her eyes. “Well, since the Rain is called off, we need time to build our fleet here and over Venus. I’ll send Pallas with you.” She watches Apollonius hurl his razor thirty meters into the air, yawn, and catch it with his eyes closed. “Don’t die.”
—
Three hours after Diomedes left me in my bed, Rhone pushes my floating chair through the hangar toward the disembarking Raa army. The last of the Raa troops and engineers fall upward in the gravity column toward a vast aperture in theDragon Song. Rhone looks like he’s walking to the gallows. A thousand of my best Praetorians follow behind us. I’d take more, but mobilizing the whole legion will take at least a day, and the Raa are very punctual.
“Dominus,I must reiterate my concern,” Rhone says. “Leaving Phobos will put your territory in jeopardy. You leave the door open for Atalantia to snatch your allies. Never mind the risks to your own life.”
“You speak as if staying here with Atalantia would not be a risk to my life,” I argue. “Tell me, Rhone, if we were sailing to protect Mercury, would you sing that same tune?” I ask.
“Mercury deserves our protection.”
“I know you don’t trust the Raa, and the grudge you hold for them. But we can’t build a future if we cling to the past.”
Rhone stops the chair. “Dominus. I beg you not to do this. Not only is it a waste of your time, it is an insult to those of the guard who died at Ilium. I have held my tongue, but I must use it now. This venture is beneath you.”
I search his hard eyes. “You really should have woken me. I know you’re sworn to guard my life, but I hoped you knew my heart as well.”
“Your heart, like your friends, may not always be wise.”
“Remember, you are my Dux not my keeper. I value your counsel, but you obey my will, and the matter is concluded.” I hold his gaze. My eyes ache as if they’ve been stabbed. The Lament roves through my body like a cat around a house.
“Yes,dominus.”
Diomedes waits for me with his mother just shy of the boardingtroops. Neither looks pleased. Dido’s thick, dark-gold hair flows freely over her right shoulder. She spares me a meager smile that does not reach her eyes, and scans the Praetorians behind me. “Small change of plans. Potentially awkward, but not unnavigable.”
“Helios has taken imperium of both fleets,” Diomedes explains. “The Moon Lords are in a panic. Grandmother is punishing my mother for this war. When Helios discovered your intentions, he forbade you from traveling with my mother.”
“How did he find out?”
“I told him,” Diomedes says. “As was my duty.”
“My son. The stick in the mud. He mistakes stubbornness for wisdom, and loose lips for honesty,” Dido says. “But Helios may yet say yes. He gave you high praise for your performance at Phobos.”
“What praise?” I ask.
“He didn’t criticize you once,” Diomedes says.
“As raving an endorsement as you’ll receive from the old ass,” Dido clarifies with a roll of her eyes, then glares across the hangar. “Speak of the mule, and he appears.”
Helios and his castle of isolationists stride across the hangar. The god glove of theDustmakerglints on Helios’s right hand. Helios glares at the Praetorians.
“I hear you want to go on a propaganda tour,” Helios says to me.
“Pride has ruined better men than either of us,” I say. “We will come with you, if you let us, with myLightbringerfollowing with a small fleet. My people have been repairing her for two weeks now. She’s not pretty, but she still punches. Consider that fleet as insurance. If you do not need our fleet, do not use us, but let us show our respect for you. Or cancel our alliance here and now.”
Helios doesn’t hate that reply. “Tell me, Lune. Have you ever fought an Ascomanni from the Far Ink? Have any of your…Guard even seen one? Their tactics are as alien to you as their language. You will be lost.”
“Consul Lux, have you ever fought Darrow’s Volk shock troopers?” Diomedes asks. Helios’s eyes flash with annoyance at his too-honest protégé. “I have not. But the Praetorians have, and Fá seems to have recruited many of Darrow’s veterans.”
“You doubt our arms?” Helios asks.
