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While Pierce BrownsoriginalRed Rising trilogy technically concluded with 2016sMorning Star,the story is far from over.
Only the Obsidians do not move.
Credit: Del Rey
Sefi watches the reaction with a neutral expression, unreadable as ever.
Mustang turns on me in a fury.
He never wanted peace, I say coldly.
But he did send emissaries?
It was a ruse that I did not warrant worth the time of this body.
Mustang cant believe what shes hearing.
Scorpio au Falthe was on your ship and you did not report this to us?
Dancer asks, incredulous.
Someone in the Howlers.
How else would he know?
I fix my gaze on Dancer.
The Ash Lord burned Rhea.
He burned New Thebes.
Hed burn every city left to win back Luna.
He wants the home weve stolen from him.
Dancer shakes his head.
You had no right.
Caraval and those Coppers who cheered me watch with uncertainty.
Mustang has not moved from her chair, nor can she.
Whatever she says will be dismissed as a wife defending her husband and might indict her as well.
If they think she knew, shell be impeached, possibly worse.
Which is the very reason why I hid this from her.
My star is falling.
If she holds on, it will drag her down too.
Better to stay quiet, my love.
Better to play the long game.
I know better than to struggle.
A Red senator lurches up from her seat and rushes across the floor.
For a moment, I think she means to speak in my defense.
Then she spits at my feet.
Gold, she says.
Wulfgar eases forward to dissuade any others from breaking protocol.
And I suppose I tricked myself into thinking it wouldnt.
Im not surprised, but I am heartbroken.
I dont want to be the villain.
Wulfgar looks back at me pityingly, as if wishing he could carry me away from this public shaming.
Sevro is standing from his seat in a rage.
You fing backstabbing little rat .
he says to Dancer.
How can we trust you with our armies, Dancer booms, when you disobey the Senate?
When you lie to the People?
He does not give me time to respond.
My brothers and sisters, there is no place in our Republic for warlords or tyrants.
They are the death of demokracy.
Our seven
hundred years of slavery stands testament to that!
But tyranny did not just spring up.
It bubbled up slowly, as the leaders of Earth watched and did nothing.
Is our Republic ruled by its voice, or by its sword?
He sits, his work done.
Slowly, as if a long-forgotten promise is finally being delivered, she begins to smile.
Publius cu Caraval stands in the chaos.
If anyone could find something to say to defend me, it would be him.
I do not share all the convictions of the Red senator.
There cannot be peace while there is no justice.
But in one matter, I fear he strikes the mark.
You have overstepped, ArchImperator.
You have forgotten your oaths made to serve the People.
He turns to the senators.
There is little Mustang can do.
At her instructions, Republic Wardens come to escort all non-senators from the room.
I let Wulfgar guide me out.
Outside the building, the world is quiet and untouched by my humiliation.
Republic Wardens stand illuminated by the warm glow of orange lamps as we collect our weapons.
Dusk is over now and the sky is black.
Autumn leaves roll across the white marble expanse.
Darrow, you are not to leave the city, Wulfgar says to me.
Do you hear me?
He puts his hand on my shoulder again.
Am I under arrest?
you better step back, Sevro says, his fingers tightening around the razor at his side.
Wulfgar looks down at Sevro, who comes barely to his sternum, and steps back.
I descend the stairs away from the Forum, heading for the landing pads in the North Citadel.
Sevro catches up to me.
I stop and look back at the Forum as a loud cheer leaks out the open door.
Some little s told them, Sevro says.
I should carve Caravals balls off.
They cant actually arrest you, can they?
Long enough for the Ash Lord to make his move.
The Seventh Legion will have something to say about that.
Should I call Orion?
Kavax should be on his way back from Mars.
I look back to the Forum.
Inside, Mustang will be attempting to repair the damage done.
But with Copper lost, she wont have the votes to protect me.
Theres nothing more I can do here.
This isnt my world.
I knew it before, and Dancer just reminded me.
The man says all I know is war.
And he is right.
In my heart, I know my enemy.
I know his mettle.
I know his cruelty.
And I know this war will not end with politicians smiling at each other from across a table.
It will only end as it began: with blood.
Excerpted from IRON GOLD by Pierce Brown.
Copyright 2018 by Pierce Brown.
No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
