The black rose chapter 23
The pyre stood ready in the great hall of the fortress. Rows upon rows of sisters filled the cathedral. Every single one of them dressed in plain, cream-white robes. The palatines and their sister superiors stood closest to the pyre with their heads wrapped in hoods, leaving only their faces exposed. They were standing facing the pyre, their eyes closed as they prayed. The sisters behind them where kneeling, their fingers slowly twirling the beads around their necks. Apart from their little mutterings, the hall completely was silent.
Standing next to the pyre was the Canoness. Unlike the other sisters, she was still dressed in her black armor with a book attached via its spine to her waist through a thick chain. Her left hand was resting on the hilt of her sword, the other held a burning torch, made of the same black metal has her armor. The promethium flames crowning it where guarded by a grid whose edges where glowing orange.
The doors to the great hall started groaning. The moment after they slowly moved aside, paving the wave for the Inquisitor. With one hard push, he pressed both doors wide open. He made a small grunt and adjusted his coat before proceeding. Four sisters followed him, each of them dressed in the same robes as the other sisters. Between them they carried the Maiden on a platform made out of the same golden-brown wood as the pyre. The Maiden´s body was wrapped in white cloth, her arms crossed over her chest and a feather of made of a silvery metal placed on her forehead.
Derik looked over the Sisters of the Hawk as he slowly paced forward, but the moment he noticed her, his gaze locked with the Canoness´. As he walked forward for almost a solid minute, the Inquisitor´s eyes never flinched away from the Canoness. As he reached the pyre, Derik walked up beside the Canoness and looked out over the Sisters of the Hawk as they place the Maiden on the pyre. Even now he could feel the Canoness staring at him.
The sisters carrying the Maiden joined their ranks and the silence fell over the hall again. For almost a solid minute, the hall was so quiet that one could hear the little steps of a mouse running across the stone floor.
The silence broke by the rattling of a chain. The Canoness took the book from her belt and skillfully opened it with one hand. She looked at the yellow pages. Their edges were torn and crumbling in some bits, with some cracks reaching for the center of the pages. But where the parchment remained the text itself was clear.
"By the blood of the Hawk," The Canoness began. "We are strong. By the Emperor´s blessing, we are chosen. By our faith, we are pure." She turned a page over. "By these virtues, we are the Sisters of the Hawk. We started this quest moons ago, mere weeks after the heretics revealed themselves." She looked up from the book and threw a quick glance at the Inquisitor. "Now we stand here; mourning the death of the sacred Maiden of Astryoa. She chose to end her own life, leaving only a cryptic prophecy yet to be transcribed. As it is written in the Lectitio Divinitatus, the one who has nothing still as their life to give. The Maiden chose to surrender hers, an act the Emperor will never look kindly on. Now, as we surrender her to the holy flames and give her to Emperor´s grace, we must pray. Pray that the Emperor looks kindly on the woman he blessed with purity. Only faith and fire can safeguard her soul."
"Fire purges." The sisters chanted.
"Fire cleanses." The Canoness replied and closed the book. She let it fall back to her side and walked over with to the pyre. Gently, she let the flames of the torch touch the pyre. Within less than a minute, flames spread across the pyre and engulfed the Maiden´s body. A thick black pillar started rising form crackling wood. A soft musky scent started filling the hall only to be mixed with the stench of charring meat and burning fat.
Turbines in the walls and roof started turning, channeling the air away and releasing the smoke. Soon the rotating machines started forming a loud hum.
Derik struggled not to cough, even with the turbines working to clean the air. His eyes started watering and he blinked a few times out of reflex.
The Canoness stood firm and unmoving. Holding the torch in one hand and grasping her sword with the other.
The sisters in the ranks where just as stoic as their canoness. None of them opened their eyes, none of them coughed or sneered at the scent that filled the hall. At least, none that either the Canoness or the Inquisitor could see.
When the pyre finally went out, the Canoness walked over to the blackened skeleton that remained. Its arms and legs had folded inwards, leaving the Maiden´s body looking like it was twisted in pain. The Canoness placed the torch next to the Maiden and turned back to the sisters.
"Now we will mourn." She said.
"And learn." Derik added.
"What have you learned, Inquisitor?" The Canoness asked.
"That my suspicion is probably correct."
"Can you tell me what your suspicion is now?"
Derik pulled his hand over the back of his head and slowly dragged it down, feeling the parts of his neck where stubble had taken hold. "I think it´s likely that the Maiden did not chose to kill herself because of the Imperial guard."
"Why did she do it then?" The Canoness´ voice hardened. "What caused her to end her own life in front of my sisters?"
The Inquisitor closed his hand and flexed his fingers. His eyes shifted from the left to the right, never stopping to focus.
"I cannot confirm it yet." Derik said.
"Again, with your words and games." The Canoness growled. "Just tell me."
"The Maiden may have been a psyker." Derik admitted.
The Canoness stared at him, looking baffled despite her face being covered. "What are you saying?"
"One of the sisters that found the Maiden experienced a powerful migraine. I suspect this may have been because of her being exposed to the Warp energies that would have been radiating from the Maiden. The Maiden herself could reportedly absorb the taint of Chaos."
"Are you saying that the Emperor's chosen would chose to end her life because of the gifts she was granted?"
Derik paused for a moment. He bit down on the inside of his cheek to the point of it breaking. "I think the gifts the Emperor granted the Maiden may have made her a target for the horrors of the Warp. Though I suspect that the Maiden may not have been aware of the nature of her gifts."
"You are saying that the Maiden was actually a mutant?"
"I am suspecting it. I cannot say for sure what she was at this point."
"And when will you?" The Canoness said as her voice snapped into a stiff tone.
"When a blood sample I collected from the Maiden is analyzed. If we can see her genes, we can determine what abilities she had."
"You took her blood?"
"I had to." Derik swallowed. "In order to be certain."
"And what if you are correct?"
"If I am correct, and assuming that the Maiden probably didn´t know she was a psyker, she probably thought she had a blessing from the Emperor as she could absorb the taint of Chaos. But as she got older, her psychic abilities would have become stronger. To the point where Warp predators would have started taking notice. Eventually she would have been hunted. Every moment of her life, screams and howls would have been following her."
"Then why did she kill herself now?" The Canoness asked. "Why not ten years ago, why not when the predators started hunting her?"
"Canoness," Derik said. "You know what the Warp is, you know how it works. When trapped in a fortress under siege, filled with the wrath and fury of your sisters, what do you think the Maiden would have heard, what you do you think she would have seen?"
The Canoness went silent. She folded her arms and stared down at the floor.
"Once your sisters have grieved, we can march with the Imperial guard and put an end to this war. Then you will join me in fighting of the black crusade."
"How do you even know it's coming?" The Canoness said. "The Despoiler has tried to break through the Cadian gate twelve times, and he has failed every single time."
Derik grunted and rubbed his eye. This was the exact same argument that Alfred had presented to him.
"I cannot say anything for certain." Derik admitted. "But the risk is far too great and the consequences, should the Despoiler succeed, far too grave to be ignored."
The Canoness turned away from the Inquisitor's gaze.
"If you hurry up and join the Imperial guard now, we can have this conflict at an end."
"Hurry?" The Canoness snorted. "Do you know how many of my warriors have died in the quest to save her? We are not just grieving for the Maiden, we are grieving for our fallen sisters."
"My apologies." Derik said, bowing. "But the fact of the matter still remains, if you do not act more sisters will fall."
"You want me to disrespect my dead sisters and the Maiden?" The Canoness took a few steps towards the Inquisitor. "To tell them to fight in their hour of grief?"
"I am not trying to offend you or your sisters." Derik said. "I am trying to give you a chance. A chance to fight alongside the Emperor´s angels."
"You mean the Adeptus Astartes?"
"Yes."
She stared at Derik for a few moments. "Last time you gave me an order, I accepted it. I did it without question. And now we stand here, the fortress taken, the heretics fallen, and the Maiden dead by her own hand. What are you giving me now? And order or an offer?"
"An offer." Derik said.
"Coward." The Canoness snapped.
Derik´s brows jumped to the middle of his forehead.
"Do you think words and promises will make me obey you?" Her voice was almost a growl at this point. "I obeyed you once, and now the Emperor has punished us for it."
"Canoness, I-"
"Get out!" She shouted. "Go back to your ship and send the guardsmen away with you!"
The Inquisitor stood still. He took a deep breath, letting his chest rise before sinking with a slow sigh. He blinked once and turned. He was about to open the door when he stopped himself. He looked over his shoulder and stared back at the Canoness.
The Canoness was about to say something when the Inquisitor simply braced out the door.
Outside and alone, Derik cursed to himself. "I must convince them."