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“And you know how we treat with treason,” Aja says. “My father taught my sisters and me.” Her father, the Ash Lord. Burner of Rhea. Lorn did not like him.
“An apology from you is insufficient,” the Sovereign says.
“Wrong,” I reply.
The Sovereign is caught off guard by my tone.
“I said I should like to apologize. But the problem is, I cannot, because it should be you who apologizes to me.”
Silence.
“You little whelp,” Aja says, rising slowly.
The Sovereign stops her, words cutting clear and cold. “I did not apologize to my father when I took his head from his body. I did not apologize to my grandson when his mother’s ship was destroyed by Outriders. I did not apologize when I burned a moon. So why would I apologize to you?”
“Because you broke the law,” I say.
“Perhaps you were not listening. I am the law.”
“No. You’re not.”
“So you are a student of Lorn’s after all. Did he tell you why he abandoned his post? His duty?” She looks at Lysander. “Why he abandoned his grandson?”
I did not know the boy was Lorn’s grandson. My teacher’s retirement makes sudden sense. He always spoke of Society’s fading glory. How men have forgotten themselves mortal.
“Because he saw what you have become. You are no Empress. This is no empire. We are the Society. We are bound by laws, by hierarchy. No person stands above the pyramid.” I look to her killers. “Fitchner, Aja, you protect the Society. You ensure peace. You sail to the far reaches of the System to root out weeds of chaos. But above all else, what is the purpose of the twelve Olympic Knights?”
“Go on,” Aja says to Fitchner. “Play into his mummer’s farce. I will not.”
Fitchner drawls out, “To preserve the Compact.”
“To preserve the Compact,” I say. “And the Compact states, ‘A duel, once begun, cannot reach resolution until its terms are properly fulfilled.’ The terms were death. But Cassius is not dead. His arm will not suffice. I honor the iron ancestors and my rights stand inviolable. So give me what is mine. Give my the gorydamn head of Cassius au Bellona. Or reject the legacy of our people.”
“No.”
“Then we have nothing more to discuss. You may find me on Mars.”
I turn on my heel and walk toward the door.
“Work for me,” the Sovereign calls.
I stop in my tracks. These people are so bloodydamn predictable. They all want what they can’t have.
“Why?” I ask without turning.
“Because I can give you resources Augustus cannot. Because Virginia has already seen how true that is. You want to be with her, don’t you?”
“Why would you want a man who so easily trades his allegiance?” I turn and look Fitchner dead in the eye. “Such a man is little more than a common whore.”
“Augustus abandoned you before you abandoned him,” the Sovereign says. “His daughter saw it even if you don’t. I will not abandon you. Ask my Furies. Ask their father. Ask Virginia. I give a chance to those who stand apart. Join at my side. Lead my legions and I will make you an Olympic Knight.”
“I am an Aureate.” I spit on the ground. “I am no trophy.”
I stalk away.
“If I can’t have you, no one can.”
Then they come. Three Stained file through the door. Each a
