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“Mr Horn Ephraim, my people deserve a future without war It cannot be done in a’s it may be I need her My people need her—”

Her world is Freihild on a hook Ozgard sche his way into halls of power Valdir butchering wo of the war I ran froa ever could be, and even she drowns in yellow death and deceit Noe’re adding barbarian enemies from the Ink? Fuck that

“This place would eat Volga like it’s eating you That girl ht have your blood, but I’ for yours If you want her as your heir, it’ll be overbody”

I FOLD THE NEWEST LETTER froht can catch the words Written on a strip of her juest yet The penether I se wo to cra is better, I knoords than the thief, and puzzle over the longer ones It’s a right shaot very far in our lessons Felt safe in that big , then leaning back with a smile to praise it

I squint down at the letter

You are lucky to have had a father, even if he was not so kind all the tihost stories of Golback the Dark Creeper It sounds like a legend I once heard in Hyperion froo, after the Dark Revolt, the Obsidians who survived the great purge went beyond the moons and there they became less than men In darkness, they learned to hunt other st the the Taker Eater offor new ships to eat They say he carries a chain of enemy skulls It is a ridiculous story but very scary Ha Ha

Your brother Dagan sounds much like Ephraim Very mean because he fears loss So he us better Happy people make me happy But there are so few of them I hope they are safe on Mercury If they are with the Reaper, they will likely cous showed you how to explore the vents All should explore I do not knohy they h Maybe to make it hurt more to explore Who knows Maybe they made Red women weaker than Red men on purpose? Ephraim says Obsidian women are weaker but smarter than Obsidian men I think we are smarter than all men Ha Ha

S myself unable to decipher only about twenty percent of the words, I flip the strip of cloth over

Like you I did not see the sun until I was grohen they sent me from Luna to Earth My world was s ridiculous about me? My body is backwards My liver to the left My heart to the right Not even close to center I don’t knohy they did that Maybe just to see if they could

I remember many needles, and they would watch us sleep, and sometimes hurt us if we did not obey A dark wo and many beautiful dresses And a necklace ave ht with that ship and dreaht one day, I would sail it and be a pirate like in the stories Not a bad pirate But not a good one Good is boring I would be dreadful but fair, and would only steal from bad people They deserve it, you knoould not have a bird like Orion xe Aquarii, but a gorilla Have you ever seen a jadeback gorilla? My Jove, they are scary Maybe e leave here, we can be pirates together You can have the sword, but only I get the gorilla Ha Ha

Tell n, if you do not mind I have alanted to , but not cruel That is the sign of a good ruler Strength, but decency Yes?

—Your friend, Volga

And I will have Manchurian steak, rare, with corn and greens e escape Your fresh fruit is boring Had too much on Earth Berries are for Pixies

She ends each letter the same “Your friend”

It seemed a quirk at first, but readsfor me to end my letters the same I won’t We ain’t friends We’re both just desperate to not disappear without a trace In the real world, she’s a killer I’ve seen her in action, all kitted up with hardware She was made in a laboratory anyway What the Hades do Golds make in a laboratory with Obsidians except weapons?