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Now a million of my men lie in the sands of Mercury and we have our Liberation Day
Were Wulfgar with ainst the Senate’s perht have tried to stop e For a spell at least
He spares a nod for Sefi “Njar ga hae, svester” A rough translation is “Respect to you, sister” in nagal
“Njar ga hir, bruder,” she replies No love lost between them They have different priorities
“Your weapons” Wulfgar gestures to my razor
Sefi and I hand his Wardens our weapons Muttering under his breath, Sevro hands over his as well “Did you forget your toothpick?” Wulfgar asks, looking at Sevro’s left boot
“Treasonous yeti,” Sevroas a baby’s body from his boot The Warden who takes it looks terrified
“Odin’s fortune with the togas, Darrow,” Wulfgar says to me as he motions for us to continue upward “You will need it”
Arrayed at the top of the steps of the New Forum are the 140 Senators of the Republic Ten per Color, all draped in white togas that flutter in the breeze They peer down at eons on a wire Red and Gold, mortal enemies in the Senate, bookend the row to either side Dancer isBut I have eyes only for the lonely bird of prey that stands at the center of all the silly, vain, power-hungry little pigeons
Her golden hair is bound tight behind her head Her tunic is pure white, without the ribbons of their Color the others wear And in her hand, she carries the Dawn Scepter—now a , with the pyramid of the Society recast into the fourteen-pointed star of the Republic at its tip Her face is elegant and distant A s eyes behind thick eyelashes, and a n of our Republic Here at the suht from my shoulders, the fear froh war and space and this daain, my life, my love, my home
I bend to my knee and look up into the eyes of the mother of my child
“?’Lo, wife,” I say with a smile
“?’Lo, husband Welcome home”
SILENE MANOR, THE SOVEREIGN’S traditional Luna country retreat, is nestled five hundred kilometers north of Hyperion at the base of the Atlas Mountains on a small lake The northern hemisphere of the moon, comprised of mountains and seas, is less populous than the belt of cities that girdle the equator Though Mustang governs froht in the Citadel, Silene is the true home of my family, at least until we return to Mars Built to resemble one of the papal villas on Earth’s Lake Coe of a rocky cove, and spills down to the lake by means of switchbacked stairs cut into the rock
Here the thin conifers whisper to heights four times those possible on Earth They sway nearly two hundredpad where the steward of House Augustus, Cedric cu Platuu, waits with reets Sevro andhis hand Thraxa runs past hier to find her mother