‘Hello again,
She kept the wince from her face. Even the respectful term for her trade shamed her, when spoken in an angel’s voice. ‘Where is Argel Tal?’
Xaphen growled, like a desert jackal at bay. It took a few seconds for Cyrene to realise it was a chuckle.
‘The captain is attending a gathering of Legion commanders.’
‘Why are you not with him?’
‘Because I am not a commander, and I had my own duties to attend to. A conclave of the Chaplain brotherhood, aboard the
‘Argel Tal told me of those.’
Xaphen’s smile infected his tone, rendering the words almost kindly. ‘Did he? And what did he tell you?’
‘That the primarch speaks to one named Erebus, and Erebus carries the lord’s words to the warrior- priests.’
‘True enough,
‘Replacing my eyes?’ She felt her skin crawl. ‘I... I wish to wait, to see if they heal.’
‘It is your choice. Augmetics of delicate organs are specialised and rare. If you wish to have them, there would be a wait of several weeks before they were ready for implantation.’
The angel’s clinical tone was curiously unnerving. He delivered his blunt, kindly sentences with all the care of a hammer to the head.
‘Why are they considering it?’ Cyrene asked.
‘Because Argel Tal asked it of them. The Apothecarion on board
‘But I am of no value.’ She didn’t speak from self-pity, merely gave voice to her confusion. ‘I do not know how I could ever serve the Legion.’
‘No?’ Xaphen said nothing for a several moments. Perhaps he looked around the featureless chamber. His voice was gentler when it returned. ‘Forgive my laxity in visiting you,
‘Am I a slave?’
‘What? No.’
‘Am I a servant?’
The angel chuckled. ‘Let me finish.’
‘Forgive me, Chaplain.’
‘Several other Chapters encountered lost souls in Monarchia’s graveyard. You were not the only Khurian to join the Legion when we left, but you were the only one taken in by the Chapter of the Serrated Sun. You ask how you could serve us. I would argue that you already do. Argel Tal is my brother, and I know the paths his thoughts take. He brought you as a reminder, a symbol of the past. You are the living memorial of our Legion’s greatest failure.’
‘The perfect city was no den of sin.’ She tried to keep the offence from her voice. ‘Why do you always speak of it so?’
A pause. The slow release of a deep breath. ‘The city itself was not the sin. It was what the city represented. I have told you what the God-Emperor decreed that day. You have a keen mind, girl. Do not ask for answers you can shape yourself. Now, this desire to serve the Legion: tell me why it matters to you.’
She’d not really considered it before. It seemed the only course to walk, given her presence here. Yet there was a deeper reason, a desire that pulled at her in the uncountable hours she sat in silence.
‘I owe my life to the Legion,’ she said, ‘and I wish to serve because it feels right that I should. It would be fair.’
‘Is that all?’
She shook his head, with no idea if Xaphen was even looking at her. ‘No. I confess I am also lonely, and very bored.’
Xaphen chuckled again. ‘Then we will deal with that. Were you one of the faithful on Khur?’
Cyrene hesitated, and moistened dry lips with a nervous tongue. ‘I listened to the Speakers of the Word preaching in the plazas, and the daily prayers echoing across the city. Nothing stirred my heart. I believed, and I knew the scriptures, but I did not...’
‘Care.’
Cyrene nodded. Her throat gave a sticky click as she took a breath. ‘Yes,’ she admitted. She couldn’t help the twitch when Xaphen’s hand rested heavy on her shoulder.
‘I’m sorry,’ the young woman said, ‘for my lack of faith.’
‘Don’t be. You were right, Cyrene.’
‘I... what?’
‘You showed insight, and the strength to doubt conventional belief. Over countless centuries, humanity has achieved great things in the name of faith. History teaches us this. Faith is the fuel for the soul’s journey. Without belief in greater ideals, we are incomplete – the union of the spirit with the flesh is what raises us above beasts and inhumans. But misplaced worship? To bow down before an unworthy idol? This is a sin of the gravest
