Iron Gold

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of war, death, and racism.

A month after their capture, Lysander and his friends are on a ship travelling to Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. Lysander and Cassius now go by Castor and Regulus au Janus to hide their identities. Although they have not been tortured, their water is severely restricted. When Lysander accidentally drops his cup and spills his ration of water, a guard named Bollov refuses to give him another one. However, Diomedes intervenes in his favor.

Emboldened, Lysander tries to glean some helpful information from Diomedes and asks him about Seraphina’s unsanctioned journey inside the Republic. She was apparently meant to retrieve a datacube containing important information, but Lysander has no idea what or where it is. Diomedes, irritated by Lysander’s insolence, teaches him a lesson about respect by suspending him from the bottom of the ship, which is flying above the hot, rocky terrain of Io.

Lyria has settled down into a routine at the Luna Citadel of the Telemanus House. She serves Kavax, who has been teaching her. She also takes care of his pet fox Sophocles, who has been acting unusually violently toward the Citadel’s renowned pachelbel birds.