Iron Gold

Lysander steps into the arena because, despite their disagreement, he cannot stand by as Cassius is killed. He reveals his true identity to the stunned audience as Lysander au Lune, heir to the great House au Lune and descendant of the legendary Silenius au Lune, whom the Raas elected as their first Sovereign. He orders the safe to be brought to him.

Ephraim and Volga bring Pax and Electra to the Duke of Hands, while Lyria stays hidden in the trunk of the car. Ephraim is surprised when the Duke holds his end of the deal, paying them and releasing Ephraim from his debt. When the Duke starts slapping Pax, Volga is angered, but Ephraim knows they are powerless to stop it.

A sudden noise alerts the Duke’s men to an intruder, and Ephraim realizes that Lyria has escaped. The Duke brings in Cyra, one of Ephraim’s crew who volunteered to spy for the Syndicate and orders her killed for her lack of loyalty. Ephraim and Volga leave after the Duke offers them further employment, shaken by the encounter.

Lyria runs through Hyperion’s lower streets to escape the Duke’s Obsidians. Hyperion is built on several levels, with the lower classes living at the bottom and the wealthy living in high rises. The different levels are connected by lifts and trams, and Lyria tries to climb up out of the Syndicate’s territory. She tries to ask some Reds for help, but they identify her as a Gamma and start threatening her. Lyria shoots one of them with a weapon she stole from Philippe’s car before running away. She eventually finds abandoned stairways leading to the city’s upper levels, where she surrenders to some Watchmen.

Lyria waits in an empty room while the Watchmen alert higher authorities. News of the kidnapping has been kept secret, and Holiday ti Nakamura comes to collect Lyria on the Sovereign’s behalf. She binds and muzzles Lyria before taking her to her ship. Holiday is accompanied by the Lionguard, the Sovereign’s personal guard, and is tasked with protecting Lyria until she can be questioned.

On their way to the Citadel, however, they are intercepted by Victra’s ships. Victra wants question Lyria about her daughter’s kidnapping herself, but Holiday refuses to relinquish her prisoner. She orders her men to push through Victra’s ships. When they get to the Citadel, Kavax’s wife, Niobe au Telemanus, is waiting for them.

Darrow’s ship is commandeered by Tharsus’s people. When they land on Venus, they find a smaller fleet than they expected and assume that most of the Ash Lord’s ships are hiding on the other side of the planet. They are greeted by armed guards, and Apollonius orders them to spread the word of his return and kill all men loyal to the Ash Lord. Darrow, Sevro, and Apollonius find Tharsus swimming and drinking with his entourage. They kill Tharsus’s friends and take him prisoner.

After Apollonius and Tharsus reunite, Darrow is afraid that the brothers’ bond will prevail over his arrangement with Apollonius. Tharsus is terrified of Apollonius, who manipulates him by threatening his life then forgiving his betrayal. Darrow wants an audience with the Ash Lord, but Tharsus tells them that the Ash Lord has not been seen since an assassination attempt over three years ago. They must see his daughter Atalantia instead, but no one knows where she is. The Ash Lord lives in a fortified complex on Gorgon Isle, so Darrow will need an army to get there.

Lysander asks for Cassius to be taken to a surgeon, so Diomedes sends him to be taken care of by his own men. In the meantime, the safe is brought to the arena, and Lysander opens it. Seraphina finds two boxes inside, containing Lysander and Cassius’s family heirlooms. After confirming their identities, she removes the datacube hidden in the razor.

Dido tells the audience that she will show them evidence that Darrow tricked the Rim Lords into signing a peace treaty under false pretenses. She then projects the datacube’s video, which shows Darrow and Virginia ordering the Ganymede docks to be destroyed, immobilizing the Rim Dominion. The incident was blamed on House Lune, consolidating Darrow’s alliance with Romulus au Raa, but the Rim Lords now understand that Darrow conspired against them. They unanimously declare war on the Republic.

Lysander is taken back to his room with Diomedes’s assurance that Cassius will be well treated. Alone, Lysander recalls his first meeting with Cassius—as rising stars, they were pitted against each other at the Academy where Golds are trained for warfare. Though initially antagonistic, Cassius took a liking to Lysander. Now, Lysander is informed that Cassius has died and suddenly feels the weight of his responsibilities.

Lyria is brought to a room to be interrogated by Niobe, her son Daxo, his partner Theodora, and Holiday. They inform her that Kavax is still alive, but Niobe is furious and intent on revenge. Lyria answers their questions honestly, telling them about Philippe, the attack, and her escape, but they do not believe her. They think Lyria was working with the attackers because she resents the Sovereign for not protecting her family. Theodora, the Sovereign’s spymaster, decides to use an Oracle, a genetically enhanced creature, to torture Lyria. Just as they unleash the creature, Virginia enters the room.

The Sovereign orders everyone out except Holiday. She then asks Lyria to convince her that she is telling the truth. Lyria tells Virginia that she does not want Liam to grow up ashamed of his family or his origins, so she wants to set things right for him. Virginia believes her and resumes the interrogation, and Lyria can provide more details about Philippe and the Duke of Hands. The Sovereign understands that the Syndicate is behind her son’s kidnapping. After they analyze the fingerprints on the gun that Lyria stole from Philippe’s car, they identify Philippe as Ephraim ti Horn. Holiday reveals to Virginia that he is her brother-in-law.

As Ephraim and Volga prepare to flee Hyperion, Volga asks Ephraim how he feels about what they have done. With a combination of cynicism and self-loathing, Ephraim is flippant and pushes her away. When Volga walks away with hurt feelings, Ephraim realizes that he has ended their friendship for good.

Later, he books a flight under an alias and waits for Volga, but she does not come. Instead, when Ephraim boards the ship, he finds Holiday and Lyria waiting for him. Holiday tries to convince him to help them find the children. Ephraim tells them what he knows but refuses to help. Eventually, Holiday threatens to hurt Volga, who has already been caught, and forces Ephraim to agree to a deal. Feeling remorseful about the way he treated his friend, Ephraim demands that the Sovereign pardon him and Volga if he helps find her son. Virginia agrees.