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Her mouth pinches “How diplomatic”

“But on Mars, ‘Romulus and Dido’ is still a fairy tale”

“A fairy tale If only” She smiles at that “When I came here for the first time, I was a foolish little sun creature raised in the court of Irah I fell in love with a pale wisp of a knight and thought our life would be a poem But once I arrived here, I felt the darkness, the cold my mother warned me about I missed the sun and hated this place Hated lass A crust of bread uneaten But then I learned one of Io’s er, by thirst, by e are always at siege It is not like the world of rows on every rock andIt makes us value e do have”

She looks around at her family with a warm smile

Seraphina clarifies “Father set a decree three o that rations are in effect until reserves are back to appropriate levels No Gold ricultural Reds do”

I’m startled “You mean to say even you follow the ration limit?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Seraphina asks, confused “It is law”

“Qualis rex, talis grex,” Dido says

“As the king, so the people But you have power,” I say, intensely curious “You can do what you like” Cassius shoots me a not-so-subtle look He wants aets the better of me My tutors called the Moon Lords impractical isolationists But there seems little here but practicality”

“An errant claim Romulus and I believe it important to teach our children to be more than just powerful” Dido slowly picks the ers “Gold was ree?”

Why does she bait me?

Cassius’s eyes tell me to be careful And so do Seraphina’s “I’ “My family wasn’t like yours”

“Oh, please Don’t be ponderous, boy Peerless aren’t the only ones with opinions Pray tell, do you agree? Speak plainly or don’t speak at all Were we meant to be more than just force? Weren’t we meant to inspire?”

“Yes But then we forgot it”

“See! An opinion” She looks over at Cassius “You really should let hi like that when he speaks his ood to quash the naturally inquisitive” She turns back to ed the Sons of Ares fro’s terrorists Out of curiosity, how many rebellions and terrorist attacks do you think Ilium has had in the last year?”