Moon Lords

Io's battered Moon Lord survivors are liberated by Lysander, immediately embrace vengeance, and become indebted to the man hiding Diomedes's survival.

Story so far

The Moon Lords held in the Arbor of Akari emerge from Fá's captivity beaten, bald, barefoot, and physically diminished, but still carrying their dignity and political identity. They had once declared war on the Republic and treated Lysander's exile as evidence of his shame; now the destruction of Io's old order leaves them without much beyond rage, their surviving matriarch Gaia au Raa, and the force that has rescued them.

Lysander tells them the enemy fleet is destroyed, the Garter will be protected, and his control is temporary. He and Rhone conceal Diomedes's survival by saying he died escaping the Dustmaker. Gaia arms the survivors, and they kill the wounded Ascomanni and Volk prisoners in the courtyard before each kisses Lysander's cheek and says, 'Indebted.' Their gratitude gives Lysander a new claim on the Rim while their grief makes them ready for the war he promises against Europa.

Appearance

A procession of once-proud Golds reduced by imprisonment to bald, barefoot, wounded figures in tattered clothing, yet still moving with formal collective dignity.

Role

The Moon Lords are the traumatized political remnant of Io, now available as both a source of vengeance and a constituency for Lysander's rescue narrative.

Relationships

Gaia au Raa — Gaia au Raa is the surviving elder around whom the Moon Lords gather and whose wrath gives their grief direction.

Lysander — Lysander rescues and reassures the Moon Lords, gaining their stated indebtedness while hiding a consequential lie from them.

Diomedes — Diomedes is believed by the Moon Lords to have died, a falsehood that turns them toward Lysander's promised revenge.

Earlier in this series

Also appears in books you've already read — spoiler-safe to their endings:

Morning StarBook 3

Sources — 1 recorded facts, by chapter

Chapter 81

Io's battered Moon Lord survivors are liberated by Lysander, immediately embrace vengeance, and become indebted to the man hiding Diomedes's survival.