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I move back fro on?" I ask Lorn

"Look to your ship" He points upward in the night Through a break in the clouds, we can see er alone Ten torchShips co around the cover of Europa’s equator to capture the Pax

"A Praetorian death squad waits for you inside my home, Darrow Aja au Gri you before the Sovereign"

"You betrayed o They threatened What could I do? Kellan au Bellona leads their fleet It will destroy or capture your ship I can’t stop that But I do not want you to die So Icarus will take you to an island where I have hidden a ship for you Use it to escape"

"Will they hurt your farowls "That is the consequence of your decision and mine"

He stands with his back to the sea

"I want to fade in peace So please, leave and never return, Darrow"

He gestures to Icarus and I see a thin saddle upon the beast--the new toy of which he spoke But I do not need to flee I shake my head for what is about to happen

"I’m sorry, my friend But I cannot allow that"

"Allow?" he asks, turning

"You will join us in this war" My razor uncoils "Whether you like it or not" I speak intothe Howlers to prepare to rise and the Titans to bring the ships around

The blood drains from his face and he looks at the beast emblazoned upon my tunic "A lion after all"

29

Old Man’s Wrath

I prepared the trap before I even left the fleet All secrets find themselves whispered into Pliny’s ears and he would wish for nothing more than my timely demise, particularly after I provoked hi So he did his work He sche bad Darrow au Andron herself, a fact that I will be happy to share with Augustus as soon as possible

The Sovereign’s ships hid thest the ruins of a derelict space station that was once used as a base of terrafor operations Kellan au Bellona was ser secondary force--a detachment of Telemanus ships--which I hid behind another smaller moon’s shotting around the other side of the ain velocity With Roque in command, I’ll have ten Bellona ships to add to my personal armada by day’s end

"You knew," Lorn accusesme "You knew" And he knohat this means for him It is not simply my victory It is his defeat One way or another, he must ally himself And I’ve made it easy for him to pick a side