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He is not fast. Not injured and in dead armor. But he is determined and he is brave and he is tough and he is clever and he is daring. He is only things I admire in him in that moment, and none of the things I don’t.
At first Cassius runs through my fire, then he plows, trudges, stumbles, until the gun is empty and he sways. But he does not fall. Not Cassius au Bellona.
I feel like I am drowning. All my allies, all my people out here will be undone by this woman who is so old she will not live to see the future she steals from them.
I love you with all my heart. But you represent a past that fears the future. I will not accept that. So, if it is true that the young cannot teach the old, and the old must always teach the young: kill me, for I will learn no other way.”
“My little storm. I have waited so long for you to realize your strength is not in your arms.
I am the dusk now. You are the dawn.
Tears pour down my face. I hurt all over. He is dead. Cassius.
The Moon Lords, who have so far been entertaining Lysander’s tower of lies and allowing him to cast the shadow of doubt over Diomedes’s honor, show their true character. Without even looking at one another, they stand in unison against the ultimatum. Pride may be their folly, but it is also their beauty.
“You say the Slave King has saved you. Very well. Let the Slave King feed you.”
None of them yet understand that Lysander was just covering his ass before committing a war crime.
“Did he kill Atlas?” “Yes.” “Good. You didn’t deserve to kill that dragon. Cassius did. He was a true knight.
“I do not kiss feet,” Diomedes says after a long moment. He scans the Moon Lords, seeing similar sentiments in their ranks. “But I will clasp hands.”
“I’ll miss the prick,” he admits. “I’ll miss him a lot.” Sevro smells terrible, and like home.
“This man is the Hegemon of the Dominion now,” Gaia says. “The Moon Lords have resurrected Akari’s post for him. Show due respect. He is to be referred to as—” Sevro turns on Gaia. “Shut up, crone.
I don’t know what we’ll find when we return to the Core. Whether Mars stands or not. Whether there will even be a Republic navy left to rendezvous with us. “But I do know this. One way or another, this war will not last the year. A reckoning is coming.
Darrow, I am sorry about your friend. Cassius. He was the most handsome man I have ever seen.” Lyria snorts. Sevro rolls his eyes. “He was. A warrior must tell the truth. And I hear he was very kind. I wish I could have known him better. Lune will die. He has broken Lyria’s heart.
I’ve seldom been able to look at people and realize they are in love. With Diomedes and Aurae it is so obvious even the ash knows.
In another life, I might have loved him. But he didn’t need a woman’s love. He needed a brother’s.
“If we do not meet again, I will see you in the Vale with Cassius. You know the path.”
My hand trembles as it touches his hair, the only part of him that escaped the brutality of Lysander. His hair is no less golden now that he is dead.
Cassius had a heart like Eo, though it took him longer to find it.
Bloodydamn Bellona. The Man Who Killed Fear.
Together, now at the age of many of the Proctors who watched our antics from Olympus, we watch the three boys ride their horses across a moonslit plain. The boys were us once.
