In Heliopolis, Lysander presides over ceremonial horse drives and chariot games meant to celebrate his victory and rally Mercury’s citizens. Bearing Darrow’s scar, he basks in public adoration while noting the city’s radiation-scarred populace. From atop a mobile triumphal arch, he manages optics with Praetorians and his whisper, Kyber, nearby.

Privately, Glirastes warns that loans are failing and urges Lysander to stop feeding legions and instead rebuild Mercury, avoid Atalantia’s game, and seek Bellona support. Rhone counters that strength must come first. Glirastes fears discovery of Lysander’s secret pact with the Minotaur—Apollonius—and dreads Carthii intrigue. Lysander insists power is required to enact any vision.

At the Hippodrome, Horatia au Votum briefs him on costs and the Lightbringer rebuild as Atalantia’s allies crowd unpaid boxes. Valeria au Carthii arrives, mocking the absence of gladiator deaths and the unfinished Lightbringer. She probes Lysander’s ambitions and demands her inheritance—dockyards Apollonius stole and Atalantia bartered—while he maintains legality and poise, framing himself as a peacemaker seeking power.

Tharsus au Rath, Apollonius’s brother, interjects theatrically, boasting that atomics aim at Carthii holdings, inflaming tensions. Meanwhile, Horatia reveals Cicero has entered the race despite promising not to. Lysander descends to the Gray ranks, places a bet, and receives a hero’s welcome as Cicero dedicates the race to him.

With drums thundering and teams introduced, the chariots line up. Lysander watches, politics unresolved and alliances in flux, as the horn sounds and the grand prix tears into motion.