face?’
‘Surely there comes a time when considerations of rank must necessarily remove you from the battlefield? If you were to fall—’
‘I will not.’
‘But if you did…’
‘I will not,’ repeated Horus, and she could feel the force of his conviction in every syllable. His eyes, always so bright and full of power met hers and she felt the light of her belief in him swell until it illuminated her entire body.
‘I believe you,’ she said.
‘Tell me, would you like to meet the Mournival?’
‘The what?’
Horus smiled. ‘I’ll show you.’
‘A NOTHER DAMNED REMEMBRANCER ,’ sneered Abaddon, shaking his head as he saw Horus and a woman in a green and red dress enter the embarkation deck. ‘It’s bad enough you’ve got a gaggle of them hanging round you, Loken, but the Warmaster? It’s disgraceful.’
‘Why don’t you tell him that yourself?’ asked Loken.
‘I will, don’t worry,’ said Abaddon.
Aximand and Torgaddon said nothing, knowing when to leave the first captain to his choler and when to back off. Loken, however, was still relatively new to regular contact with Abaddon, and his anger with him over his defence of Erebus was still raw.
‘You don’t feel the remembrancer program has any merit at all?’
‘Pah, it’s a waste of our time to babysit them. Didn’t Leman Russ say something about giving them all a gun? That sounds a damn sight more sensible to me than having them write stupid poems or paint pictures.’
‘It’s not about poems and pictures, Ezekyle, it’s about capturing the spirit of the age. It’s about history that we are writing.’
‘We’re not here to write history,’ answered Abaddon. ‘We’re here to make it.’
‘Exactly. And they will tell it.’
‘Well what use is that to us?’
‘Perhaps it’s not for us,’ said Loken. ‘Did you ever think of that?’
‘Then who’s it for?’ demanded Abaddon.
‘It’s for the generations who come after us,’ said Loken. ‘For the Imperium yet to be. You can’t imagine the wealth of information the remembrancers are gathering: libraries worth of achievements chronicled, galleries worth of artistry and countless cities raised for the glory of the Imperium. Thousands of years from now, people will look back at these times and they will know us and understand the nobility of what we set out to do. Ours will be an age of enlightenment that men will weep to know they were not a part of it. All that we have achieved will be celebrated and people will remember the Sons of Horus as the founders of a new age of illumination and progress. Think of that, Ezekyle, the next time you dismiss the remembrancers so quickly.’
He locked eyes with Abaddon, daring him to contradict him.
The first captain met his gaze then laughed. ‘Maybe I should get one too. Wouldn’t want anyone to forget my name in the future, eh?’
Torgaddon clapped both of them on the shoulders and said, ‘No, who’d want to know about you, Ezekyle? It’s me they’ll remember, the hero of Spiderland who saved the Emperor’s Children from certain death at the hands of the megarachnids. That’s a tale worth telling twice, eh, Garvi?’
Loken smiled, glad of Tarik’s intervention. ‘It’s a grand tale right enough, Tarik.’
‘I wish it was only twice we had to hear it,’ put in Aximand. ‘I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard you tell that tale. It’s getting to be as bad as that joke you tell about the bear.’
‘Don’t,’ warned Loken, seeing Torgaddon about to launch into a rendition of the joke.
‘There was this bear, the biggest bear you can imagine,’ started Torgaddon. ‘And a hunter…’
The others didn’t give him a chance to continue, bundling him with shouts and whoops of laughter.
‘This is the Mournival,’ said a powerful voice and their play fighting ceased immediately.
Loken released Torgaddon from a headlock and straightened before the sound of the Warmaster’s voice. The
‘Surely there comes a time when considerations of rank must necessarily remove you from the battlefield? If you were to fall—’
‘I will not.’
‘But if you did…’
‘I will not,’ repeated Horus, and she could feel the force of his conviction in every syllable. His eyes, always so bright and full of power met hers and she felt the light of her belief in him swell until it illuminated her entire body.
‘I believe you,’ she said.
‘Tell me, would you like to meet the Mournival?’
‘The what?’
Horus smiled. ‘I’ll show you.’
‘A NOTHER DAMNED REMEMBRANCER ,’ sneered Abaddon, shaking his head as he saw Horus and a woman in a green and red dress enter the embarkation deck. ‘It’s bad enough you’ve got a gaggle of them hanging round you, Loken, but the Warmaster? It’s disgraceful.’
‘Why don’t you tell him that yourself?’ asked Loken.
‘I will, don’t worry,’ said Abaddon.
Aximand and Torgaddon said nothing, knowing when to leave the first captain to his choler and when to back off. Loken, however, was still relatively new to regular contact with Abaddon, and his anger with him over his defence of Erebus was still raw.
‘You don’t feel the remembrancer program has any merit at all?’
‘Pah, it’s a waste of our time to babysit them. Didn’t Leman Russ say something about giving them all a gun? That sounds a damn sight more sensible to me than having them write stupid poems or paint pictures.’
‘It’s not about poems and pictures, Ezekyle, it’s about capturing the spirit of the age. It’s about history that we are writing.’
‘We’re not here to write history,’ answered Abaddon. ‘We’re here to make it.’
‘Exactly. And they will tell it.’
‘Well what use is that to us?’
‘Perhaps it’s not for us,’ said Loken. ‘Did you ever think of that?’
‘Then who’s it for?’ demanded Abaddon.
‘It’s for the generations who come after us,’ said Loken. ‘For the Imperium yet to be. You can’t imagine the wealth of information the remembrancers are gathering: libraries worth of achievements chronicled, galleries worth of artistry and countless cities raised for the glory of the Imperium. Thousands of years from now, people will look back at these times and they will know us and understand the nobility of what we set out to do. Ours will be an age of enlightenment that men will weep to know they were not a part of it. All that we have achieved will be celebrated and people will remember the Sons of Horus as the founders of a new age of illumination and progress. Think of that, Ezekyle, the next time you dismiss the remembrancers so quickly.’
He locked eyes with Abaddon, daring him to contradict him.
The first captain met his gaze then laughed. ‘Maybe I should get one too. Wouldn’t want anyone to forget my name in the future, eh?’
Torgaddon clapped both of them on the shoulders and said, ‘No, who’d want to know about you, Ezekyle? It’s me they’ll remember, the hero of Spiderland who saved the Emperor’s Children from certain death at the hands of the megarachnids. That’s a tale worth telling twice, eh, Garvi?’
Loken smiled, glad of Tarik’s intervention. ‘It’s a grand tale right enough, Tarik.’
‘I wish it was only twice we had to hear it,’ put in Aximand. ‘I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard you tell that tale. It’s getting to be as bad as that joke you tell about the bear.’
‘Don’t,’ warned Loken, seeing Torgaddon about to launch into a rendition of the joke.
‘There was this bear, the biggest bear you can imagine,’ started Torgaddon. ‘And a hunter…’
The others didn’t give him a chance to continue, bundling him with shouts and whoops of laughter.
‘This is the Mournival,’ said a powerful voice and their play fighting ceased immediately.
Loken released Torgaddon from a headlock and straightened before the sound of the Warmaster’s voice. The
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