Edict of Blood
‘Is this for certain?’ The voice of Brother-Captain Raul Stavian ground out roughly, clinched with the gravity of what he was being told. The vast hall around him stretched on vacantly both before and behind, imparting a sense of isolation to even the greatly armored Astartes and his lone companion. Beyond soaring windows of patterned glass, the warm crimson light of a mid-day sun threw down pools of fire across the tiled floor. He came to a halt at the centre of one, leaving his coal-black eyes to seek out the source of the light. As its touch spread across battle worn features he took some vague comfort in the harsh, glaring light of Reila’s sun, so much akin to that of his homeworld. The muscles in Brother Stavian’s jaw twitched as he attempted to process his thoughts, leaving the recollection of Cestus to dwindle away.
The woman walking next to him drew to a halt as well but said nothing to break the silence which had settled into the hall. Though nearly twice dwarfed by the size of the great Astartes her own presence rose to match it evenly, stern and resolute as befitting a Daughter of the Emperor. Embre Caelus, Sister Superior to the holy Order of Our Martyred Lady, turned her own gaze towards the window. That the vibrant scarlet and black of her livery robes stood complementary to the Chapter colors of the Red Ministers was pure happenstance; it was by no such incidence the two of them shared the same charcoal eyes and flame-touched hair,
‘It struck me quite so when I first arrived here as well.’ Sister Embre spoke gently, as if careful to preserve the quietude. Yet Even in such mild tones the harsh inflections of a Cestian tongue mirrored those in the Captain’s own voice, ‘The hue, the warmth…’ She trailed off a moment before continuing, ‘And yet you can look to the sky and there is the sun, brilliant and fierce… not shrouded behind clouds of filth and blood.’ Stavian formed the beginnings of a grin as his kinswoman spoke. Though the words ushered a notion of condemnation towards the place, there was an unmistakable tone of reverence and longing for the severity of their homeworld ingrained beneath them.
