Darrow waits beneath the House of Bounty, anxious for Cassius and Lysander to arrive with Atlas’s head. The chamber rumbles with the Moon Lords’ vote. Diomedes enters wearing the symbols of office, announces he is Hegemon, and escorts Darrow to the speaking floor when Lysander still has not arrived.

Following Rim custom, Darrow performs the guest rites and presents his gift: the severed head of Volsung Fá. The Moon Lords maintain formal dignity but reveal clear relief, led by Gaia’s staff strike of approval. Darrow then kneels and asks for formal pardon for destroying Ganymede’s docks after Ilium; the lords offer no recognition.

Diomedes explains why he invited Darrow, framing him as a product of Core tyranny and announcing his intent to restore alliance with the Rising. The chamber erupts, but Gaia shames the lords and yields the floor. Diomedes argues practicality: isolation is not a choice, the true enemy is Core tyranny now embodied by Atalantia, and he proposes a triumvirate of the Rim, Darrow, and Lysander.

Challenges arise from a Codovan woman and a Callistan about vengeance and past wounds. Diomedes urges they hunt the hand that unleashed the hound, not the hound itself; Gaia warns Atalantia will destroy them unless they compromise. As debate steadies, a Green signals an incoming tightbeam from the Lightbringer. Diomedes has it put through, while Darrow wonders why Lysander did not come in person.