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Daxo ions worth such moral rectitude?”

“Possibly, yes He gouges us with prices, threatens the fabric of society with his attacks on unions and the common man Just last week, his automatons put a h he stole the Reds’Luna too!”

“It is unreasonable to expect her to give the Silvers nothing, Publius”

“It is ioverne,” Publius replies “I am sorry, Daxo, but it is a nonstarter The , not that I could tell a decurion from a centurion But I cannot vote for the bill if you cede to his demands It is an issue of principle”

I clear my throat and step out from behind the water wall Publius jumps to his feet, startled, and sweeps into a bow perfectly attuned to the sizable respect he has for my office

“Senator Caraval,” I say, kissing him on the cheek “I admit I’m surprised to see you here, of all places”

“Yes, well, desperate times call for sacrifices from us all,” he replies He casts a look around, certainly irked by the gigavok and the ostentatiousness of the office His own offices are kept in the sa where he served as a public defender for lowColors before the Rising His assigned offices in the Citadel are too grandiose for his tastes Before the Rising, I couldn’t iine a world where he and Daxo would ever be in the sa as relative equals MakesDaxo’s annoyance

“I was under the i a seat on a Turkish cushion

The Incorruptible nods and retakes his seat “A deplorable presumption on my part, I fear The numbers, you see While my assessment was based on the data I had at the tis his head “I am ashamed for that, but not the assesse a case based on its evidence You know I am loath to flimflam, flip-flop, or whatever they call it these days, but the situation has changed

What your husband did…staggering, ”

“And the moral ramifications?” I ask

He waves his hand before his face “Fascise Sometimes we must sacrifice to destroy it”

“So you no longer presuions lost”

“No,” he says “Your speech, Daxo’s dogged pursuit, the Battle of the Ladon, they have woken the slu theh tiers and leans forward “Yet I am in a bind I am from this moon I am expected to vote with the Vox”

“Even as they descend into fits of nonsensicalfrom Cassandra Syndrome?” Daxo asks