The Silent Guardian
I met her six years ago when she was a baby. When Lord Vulkan returned, he immediately requested a bodyguard for his daughter. The first meeting between us took place in the medicae. After Lord Vulkan's meeting with the Emperor, he noticed something was wrong with the infant. She'd been having trouble breathing since leaving the medical center. She was in an air capsule, breathing normally. She was unused to the toxic atmosphere of Terra. This was meant to acclimate her. He looked down at her, his bright red eyes full of sorrow.
"This child is precious to me. My sons in the Salamanders, when they die, can pass on their gene seed to the next generation of warrior. They will die in sacrifice, but this child will not. If she dies, there will never be another. I have delayed the coronation for a week. In that time, I will be here when I can. But I cannot be here every hour of every day. When I am not here, you will be here. You will be her guardian, Tanau Aleya. I realize this may seem beneath you, but I am charging you with the most important duty I can think of. Protect her."
From that day forward, I was at her side. When Vulkan was crowned Regent, I was at her side. When she was well enough to go outside, I was with her when Roboute Guilliman departed back to the lines. And for the past six years I have been her guard.
I hated it at first. Vulkan was right. This was beneath me. I had fought Daemons, Chaos Space Marines, and so many Xenos. Protecting an infant who could barely breathe? Why was I here? But then she recovered. And then I noticed she was looking at me and smiling. It was like she was aware that I had been by her side and she was thankful. I placed my hand on the clear plastic and she reached out for me as well. Something changed that day.
"I will not leave you," I thought to myself. "I promise."
Over the years, as she grew, I made sure to teach her signing. It amazed me how eager she was to learn. She was afforded every luxury and she just wanted to learn something she would barely get enough use out of except for talking to me and my sisters. When I taught her enough to understand a few words, I asked her one thing. "Why?"
She was four when I asked this. She smiled at me. "I wanna learn because then you and I can have our own secret code. Then we can send secret messages while Papa is in meetings and we can't talk out loud. Won't that be fun?" She was so happy despite the universe's attempts to show her it was pathetic to remain optimistic. I had learned that a long time ago as a child. But she was inspiring. She wanted to talk to me on my level.
Once, she asked if she could speak to the Emperor. I remember Lord Vulkan laughing and patting her head. "I wanna meet Grandfather! Unca Rob and you got to speak to him!" She pouted as she protested this treatment.
"One day you might, my child. But not yet. You are too small."
"No, I'm nooooooooot!"
I turned her away. She really was too small to meet the Emperor of Mankind. Lord Vulkan needed to use his index finger pat her head.
One night, things changed dramatically between us. Her nursemaid, a Nocturnian named Ali'ayka, was tucking her in bed. She asked to see me to say good night. She held out her arms for a few moments before I realized she was asking for a hug. I could not recall the last time anyone had hugged me. It was surprising. I don't think I gave her a good hug. Then she said three words. "Good night, Mama."
I do not remember my mother or father. Sometimes I think I was gene-grown in a vat. But hearing those words? It annoyed me, but made me happy at the same time. I wondered what Valerian would say if he heard that.
I need to remember my place. I am not N'Bella's mother. I am her guardian. I am her bodyguard. I will fight for her. I will die for her, but I am not her mother. I am a friend at most and I am fine with that. I will also make sure Valerian never learns of this. If he does, I will have to kill him to protect my secret.
Author's note: I am a big fan of Chris Wraight's Watcher's of the Throne books. Not so much a fan of the Erasmus Cawl books, not that they're bad, but for me, the best Inquisitor books will always be Eisenhorn and Ravenor. I've wanted to make a story like this for a while so it was honestly nice to get into the head of my favorite character from those books. I added that bit about Valerian mainly because I always got the feeling that there was a thing between Aleya and Valerian that was in permanent limbo due to the fact that Valerian is emotionally stunted due to conditioning and Aleya has been hardened due to living in the grimmest of grimdark universes. Might be seeing stuff that isn't there, but I felt there was. Overall, a couple of fluff pieces for all.