“Then where is Lune?” a Codovan woman asks. “Atlas. Lysander. It is easy to throw around their names when they are not here. Why does Lune not come and face his shame like Darrow has?”
“Lune has been unwavering in his respect toward the Rim,” Diomedes replies. “He sailed out here as a friend, as an ally. I have no doubt he will yet again prove himself to be a man of honor who seeks unity instead of division. When he joins us, he will bring the head of the puppet master to join that of the puppet.” He gestures to Fá’s head. “Then he will ask your pardon as Darrow has, for the concessions he made to Atlas.”
“When?” the Codovan asks.
“Soon,” Diomedes says with a glance at me.
I can barely think of anything but Cassius up there fighting the Fear Knight. He and Diomedes can’t both be wrong about Lysander, can they?
A Callistan asks very softly: “I do not understand. Are we not to seek vengeance then against the braves who did the raping, the killing, the burning? My moon is not just broken. It is ash.”
Diomedes considers. “An enemy sics a kuon hound on you. It rips out your liver, kills your friends. Do you spend your treasure, your life, hunting down the hound—or the enemy who unleashed it? Atalantia sponsored this attack. She helped lure us into the war. I would turn that kuon hound, the Volk, on her and watch with a smile as it rips her to shreds.”
“Am I to simply forget the wound Darrow rent in my moon when our docks fell?” the Codovan asks.
“Yes, if you want to keep your moon,” Gaia says. “Atalantia will come, not tomorrow, not the day after, but when she comes, she’ll kill everyone in this room who does not kneel. Even if you kneel, she will probably kill you and install one of her creatures in your ancestral home. She does not need to compromise. We cannot beat her alone, so wemustcompromise.”
Diomedes’s attention has shifted to a Green attendant signaling him. He motions the attendant over. The Green whispers in his ear and Diomedes lifts a hand for silence.
“We are receiving a tightbeam from the bridge of theLightbringer,” he announces with a smile and motions the Green to put it on. The hairs on the back of my neck rise.
“Why a tightbeam?” I ask Diomedes. “Why is Lysander not coming in person?”
87
DARROW
Casus Belli
The pyramidal holo casterglows to life. Hundreds of Golds fill the bridge of theLightbringerand stand arrayed behind Lysander. I recognize a few. Cicero au Votum stands at Lysander’s right wearing an expression of contempt. Lysander is covered in blood and horrific wounds. His cheek has been punctured. His chest too. His left arm is savaged and hangs limp. His face is swollen. Yet it is the darkness of his eyes that haunts me.
All hope and warmth drain from my body. Something is terribly wrong.
As Lysander speaks, the wound on his cheek reveals his molars.“Salve,brothers and sisters of the Rim. In the spirit of friendship, unity, and honor, when you cried out for aid, I set sail without hesitation. I called on my allies to set aside your past treasons. To forget that it was the Raa that slaughtered the Sword Armada at Ilium with Darrow and the Rising. To forgive the Raa who made the deal that sent the Rising to attack Luna and set fire to the Society.”
I look over at Diomedes. He is stricken with confusion, but Lune isn’t done.
“My allies showed the strength of their character. They forgave. They forgot. They sailed. They risked their lives, their people, their treasure, and delayed the siege of Mars all to help you. Only to find Darrow—our great enemy—once again a guest in your house drawing up schemes for war in the Core. Only for me, who vouched for you, to be attacked by assassins sent up from the Garter. I bear the marks of their efforts on my body. I live onlybecause of the sacrifice of Rhone ti Flavinius, one of our greatest patriots. I am sick with grief and disgusted you would send a man after me whom I once considered a brother. Look on what you’ve done.”
A body is dropped from above. It sways from a rope tied around its neck. His neck. I am gripped by a great stillness. My skin crawls. The world takes on a dreamlike quality. Words are muffled. Sight two-dimensional. I waver, struck dumb.
Cassius.
Pressure builds in my chest.
My beautiful, brave friend hangs like a carcass in a butcher’s freezer. He is naked and brutalized. His arms broken. Blood leaks from dozens of bullet holes and stab wounds. His sword hand is missing. The hand that used to reach over and squeeze my shoulder as we sat in the cockpit of his ship. The hand that used to grip my wrist to correct my blade form. The hand he drank with and would gesture with like a trained orator as he spoke. Tears pour down my face. I hurt all over.
He is dead.
Cassius.
This is a nightmare. I’ll wake up in my bunk on theArchiand find him yawning in the cockpit. I cover my mouth to stop myself from crying out in pain. Why did he go? Why did he have to go? Why didn’t he just wait for me on his ship? It’s such a waste. I just got him back. I can’t think of anything but him smiling on theArchimedeswhen I told him we were brothers and he agreed and how he then just sat there in such contentment. So safe with me. Why did he go? I don’t want to be here. I want to be home with Virginia’s arms around me. Or back with him in the cockpit. We should have stayed on Europa. We should have fought. Dying at his side would have been better than this. I’d trade him for all the ships. All these Moon Lords. He was worth them all put together.
Diomedes is talking. I can’t hear what he says. He’s enraged. I’ve never heard him so angry. Then I look over and see the tears streaming down his face. He points at Lysander.
“Lune, you are a liar. And your empty words are evil. We spoke of Atlas. You confessed his involvement—”
“Who would not agree to a fiction to survive a meeting with Darrow? I only escaped as a child because I put the Dawn Scepter in Virginia’s hand. But I ask you, where is the Fear Knight? Lurking in the shadows? So he mustbe all around us all the time. Too often the Rising has blamed him for every evil that besets it. One man cannot be everywhere. I know for a fact he has been seen in operations in South America. Hundreds of witnesses can attest. As my allies can attest to my character. Darrow has poured poison in your ear and called it honey.
