“If a man cannot learn from his mistakes, then what hope is there but to kill us all at first sin?” he replies. More Stoneside.
“Diomedes, for a decade, he has given mankind nothing but war.”
Diomedes nods. “And if you were born a Red on Mars what wouldyou have done?” Lysander flinches at the question in revulsion, unable to imagine such a thing. “When I was a boy, my father asked me that question. I said ‘rise up’ and he smiled.
“Darrow is not to blame for this war. Gold is. The hierarchy gave humanity the stars, but the decadence and cruelty of our rulers gave us this rebellion. You told me once that we have forgotten who we are, Lysander. You were right. We are not kings. We never were meant to be.We are shepherds. Shepherds do not rule. They guide. They nurture. They protect. Because they know it is not the shepherd who produces. It is the flock. Without the flock, we are just beggars with sticks and esoteric rites. It is our time to find humility. To show we are more than autocrats. I need you to be the man you claim to be, Lysander.”
Diomedes’s words seem to find Lysander’s heart. “I hear you, Diomedes. I do. But I have compromised once at the point of a sword. If I say no—”
“There is no sword to your throat. You may leave and consider our proposal aboard your ships if you wish,” Diomedes replies. “I am not my uncle any more than you are.”
I stand up. “Diomedes, you cannot just let him leave.”
“A man’s word may no longer matter in the Core, but it is all that matters in the Rim. Lysander came to help my people because I asked him to. He saved my life aboard theDustmaker.He came to this garden without his guards as my guest. As my guest, he may come and go as he pleases. Seek to harm him, you are at war with me.”
He means that.
“Not to mention, I’m your only hope of catching your uncle,” Lysander says. “He’s run circles around Darrow for years.”
Diomedes smiles. “That too.”
I admire Diomedes’s consistency, but at any other time in my life, I’d leap across the pool and hack Lysander’s head off. That would cost me Diomedes today, forever. There’s a friendship between these two men.
Lysander stands to leave. He pauses, conflicted. “Darrow, you would really consider this? Even though I killed Alexandar?”
I tame the anger. Instead, I look down into the reflecting pool. “We were on a hill overlooking Tyche as the waves came in when Alexandar asked to go down to save people who called him the enemy. I know what he’d want if he were here today.”
Diomedes says, “Your fleets will remain where they are. Io andEuropa. At nivalnight the Moon Lords will meet in the House of Bounty.Acta non verba,goodmen. I will have your answer there.”
“I need the shield as an alibi for this meeting,” Lysander says.
“The shield is for a true friend of the Rim. It will be waiting for you, I hope,” Diomedes replies. Lysander nods and departs.
When he’s gone I grimace at Diomedes. “You may regret that.”
“Come. You should wait on your ship. You have your own decision to make.”
—
With Diomedes as escort, I follow the tunnel from the shrine back to the grain warehouse where I left Cassius behind with theArchimedes.He does not wait outside where I left him. And when I call into the ship, he does not answer. My stomach sinks when I find a holodrop waiting for me on his captain’s chair.
I don’t need to listen to it to know where he’s gone. I rush out of theArchimedes.Diomedes turns with a frown and follows me to the open doors of the warehouse. I peer up to where theLightbringerforms a dagger in the sky. I frisk myself. Diomedes finds it for me. A listening device as small as a ladybug.
“Bloodydamn Bellona,” I mutter.
“Darrow.” Diomedes squeezes my arm. “Do not draw your weapon.”
Something whispers behind us. I step back from the doors to see a dozen shadows falling from the ceiling of the warehouse. They land quieter than cats. One already has a blade at my throat. More appear outside the warehouse. Dustwalkers.
Diomedes’s eyes narrow. “Grandmother?”
A woman clucks her tongue from the shadows. “My little storm, what in the worlds have you been up to?”
83
LYSANDER
A Way Out
