Epilogue“Jack, you won't believe this.”
He glanced over at Cherise from his favorite spot on the balcony of their suite high in the palace. Below, the vertigo Capital city sparkled, never sleeping.
The glow of her palmcom lit her face from beyond the rounded bulge of her abdomen. They'd married soon after his coronation, and now she was six months pregnant.
Jack's first year as Emperor was drawing to a close. He couldn't remember feeling so tired. The moment he'd taken the throne, every long-simmering dispute, every suppressed grudge, all the local conflicts, and every politician or military leader who'd pined for that next rung of the power ladder, had erupted in rebellion. Many had harbored long-standing resentments at having been subdued under the Torgassans, but some simply sought t
