Empire of Silence

Hadrian sits on a cliffside near the camp, ruminating on the nature of time, fate, and chance as he sketches in his notebook. Suddenly, Valka approaches. They have barely spoken since she caught Anais kissing Hadrian. Now, Valka suggests that it is good that Anais likes him if the two are to marry. Hadrian says that he does not want to marry Anais or stay on Emesh.

Valka says that her father, a xenologist, has died. He was killed by the Chantry’s Inquisition while on a dig. Hadrian asks if Valka hates him, and she retorts that he hates himself enough for them both. She remarks that he “wear[s] [his] Imperial mantle like it chafes [him]” (583), but she does not understand why, given that he can have everything, including the rule of an entire planet by Anais’s side.

Hadrian retorts that he did not choose to be a palatine or to be trapped by Balian’s machinations. He explains his plan to buy a ship with his myrmidon friends and go on adventures. Valka accuses him of having a “very romantic view of the universe” (584). She clearly means it as an insult, but Hadrian says, “I would like to, […] I’m just sorry the universe doesn’t share that aspiration” (584).