When history is a lie, how can you know who to die for?This is the second episode in the first season of Born to the Blade, an eleven-episode serial from Serial Box. This episode is written by Marie Brennan.After a sharp, violent start to their adventures on Twaa-Fei with the execution of the escaped Kakutan Golden Lord, Oda No Michiko and Kris Denn are settling into the tense life in the embassy that binds six nations in an uneasy peace. They are young and ambitious, and perhaps in over their heads. Michiko arrived to serve both her country and her empire, but the death of the Golden Lord has revealed him to be her grandfather, and his presence among the ancestors she communes with is overwhelming. As the Quloo warder Ojo Kante attempts to strengthen an alliance against the Mertikan empire, Michiko tries to suppress her grandfather and clumsily makes an effort to turn Kris away from the newly arrived -- and unduly charming -- Adechike and his uncle Ojo, who hopes to turn the young Rumikan into an ally. It ... does not go as planned.Youth and ambition cannot shield you from the storm. Oda no Michiko and Kris Denn have arrived to take their places on the Warder’s Circle of Twaa-Fei, where the warders are entrusted to settle disputes and avoid war among the nations of the sky. Some conflicts are resolved with diplomacy, some with duels of blade and magic. Michiko and Kris are young bladecrafters eager to prove themselves worthy — Michiko as junior warder for her home of Kakute, Kris as a challenger to earn a place for their home of Rumika on the Circle. But before they have even settled in, a power struggle erupts, a man's head is parted from his shoulders, and every good thing Michiko thinks she knows about the empire comes into question. A storm is coming, and Kris and Michiko stand at its eye. Will it bind the nations of the sky together... or tear them apart?What did you think of the episode? Let us know in the comments or leave us a review on Goodreads.
