Damocles sat at a table laden with food. Eris sucked in a breath at the sight of it all, but she schooled her features into polite interest. There were so many delicacies she hadn’t been able to eat since she’d fled this planet. Piles of sugar pears glistening in the soft light. The long, thin tendrils of the Mussuma fruit cut into perfect rounds, its violet flesh begging to be eaten. There was no rehydrated protein in sight. Fresh meat, creamy cheese, skewered meats, freshly baked bread. All foods that would go into rationing now that their resources on Charon were devastated.

Unless, of course, Tholosians were able to access the Evoli planets—by either truce or death.

Eris couldn’t afford to make a mistake.

The room itself was similar to her old quarters. Gigantic bed with a canopy of the royal arms. A chandelier of twisting, shifting holographic lights mirroring the colors of the sunset outside. Smooth walls and floors softened with rugs of living, russet-colored grass. Everything was tasteful, expensive. Completely devoid of Damocles’s actual preferences and personality. Eris doubted he spent much time there at all, except to sleep.

“General,” Eris said. “How lovely to see you again. And in a much quieter setting.”

Damocles stood and Eris bowed as etiquette demanded. It smarted to bare the back of her neck to him. If she hadn’t abandoned her true rank, he would have had to bow to her. She could almost feel that ghost next to her—the person she would have been if she hadn’t left it all behind.

Her brother studied her. “You look dressed for a ball, Zoe. I should have mentioned I preferred for us to meet in private.”

Eris knew he had done that on purpose. To unnerve her, throw her off balance. It was a show of power—nothing more, nothing less. “General, I think you’ll find I’m always slightly overdressed,” she said with a laugh. “I’m an arms dealer with expensive tastes. I like to be the fanciest woman in the room if I can.” She threw him a smile and turned to the large windows. “I see you didn’t exaggerate your description of this view the last time we met. I don’t know how you manage to get anything done with a sight like that.”

How long since she had seen a sunset on Macella? The whole world looked blue, purple, and orange. The mists lay over the ground, the skyscrapers and mountains peeking above and touching the sun as it dipped toward the horizon. Above, the two moons of Macella glimmered, half-full. The bright twinkling planets of Tholos and the smaller Agora, the other two Sisters, were visible in the sky. She hadn’t realized she could feel homesickness standing right at the heart of her old home.