Panting for breath, Horus leaned against the hall wall just outside of Principal Malcador's office, sweat streaking her face and back. What she had seen...that should be impossible. It should ALL be impossible. But she knew what she had to do, and do soon.
Gathering herself, Horus straightened her skirt and blouse, then stepped out, doing her best to project confidence and authority. Head up, shoulder's back, eyes forward, a confident smile on her lips. Not a frown. Never a frown. She wanted people to talk to her, to trust her.
To worship and obey.
No! Horus tamped those thoughts down. She could not, WOULD NOT, be like her mother in that way. People were more than pawns.
More importantly, Horus and her sisters were not pawns. Not for her mother, or anyone else.
Horus made it back to the dorms without having a complete meltdown. She staggered into her room, slumping onto the bed. She let herself weep the bitter tears that she had been holding in for the past hour.
Magic was real. Very real. Worse, it seemed Horus had an aptitude for magic. She had not had her abilities sealed away, as Magnus just had. Instead, she had simply remained ignorant of what she was capable of. Until her mother deemed the time right to teach her.
Lies. Lies upon lies.
Groaning, Horus levered herself back to her feet and staggered to the bathtub. She took a long, hot shower, scrubbing away the pain from her confrontation with Malcador and Celestine. They had showed her what would happen if she let her abilities run wild. She would burn out and die, or worse, make herself a vessel for demons and spirits, a meat puppet that would obey their every whim.
Damn you, mother. Ignorance is not a shield! It is a disaster!
It took some time for Horus to dress herself again. She donned not her school uniform, but her most formal dress from her time at the Imperial Palace. She did her hair up as best she could alone, as well as her make up. Her mother often claimed not to care about such things, and indeed rarely bothered with cosmetics herself. But she was quick to criticize when Horus didn't look her best. So Horus prepared.
At last, Horus sat herself infront of her consol. She closed her eyes for a moment, took a composing breath, then requested a link to the Empress.
To her shock, this time it wasn't some flunky who answered, but her mother. "Horus. So. Malcador told you."
Her mother's response threw Horus off for half a moment, but then she metally nodded to herself. Of course her mother knew. She always did.
"Yes," Horus said, and opened her mouth to continue, but her mother ran right over her.
"I was going to wait until you graduated, but this does let me accelerate my plans," the Empress said, leaning back in her chair.
"I see." Horus forced her lips not to form a thin line of displeasure. "Why did you not tell me this before?"
"Because magic is of the past, and you are of the future. It need not concern you. It shall be Magnus' domain," the Empress said with a dismissive flick of her fingers.
"If magic is to be the domain of my sister, why has she been cut off from it?" Horus asked. Asked. Not demanded. Humility. Mother would respond to humility.
"Because she is, at this time, a reckless fool. You and Malcador must train her to be more cautious. Magic cannot return to the world. It was the doom of the Aeldari, and it would be our doom as well. Sorcery must be extinguished, and it's practitioners put down like the witches they are," the Empress stated firmly.
Something clicked in Horus's mind. "That is why you have ever dealt harshly with the eldar, is it not? Because they will not give up their sorcery."
"Yes. Soon, the time to extinguish the elder race will come. Those who we do not put to the sword shall be the chattel of humanity." The Empress showed some emotion, a look of disgust on her face. "A waste. They could be useful. A better material than humanity. But they are too arrogant. They will not heed reason."
Something cold ran in Horus's gut. Lies. More lies. "I thought humanity was the superior race. That we were destined to rule the world, and claim the stars."
"I thought you wiser than that, daughter. Humanity is no better than any of the races. Merely the one that I chose to lead. Thus, it is the race I modeled you on."
"I...I could have been an eldar? Or….or an ork?!" Horus demanded.
"In some ways it would have been easier to take control of the orks," the Empress sighed. "But ultimately they are too prone to violence, and not enough to thought. No, it was between humanity, the eldar, and the tau. The other three races were completely unsuitable."
It was foolish, but all Horus could think was; ork, and...what else? "Three?"
"Oh, yes, I suppose you don't know of the necrons. Another time, it is not important at the moment," the Empress said dismissively. "I have good news."
"Oh?" Horus had meant to question her mother. But once more, she found herself on the back foot, overawed, out of her depth. Why? Why was it always like this?
She is older than civilization. She remembers the Fall of the Eldar. Of course you are as a small child before her. Idiot girl.
"I am...glad to hear it. What news?" Horus managed.
"I have at last found one of your sisters that is not in some way lacking," the Empress said with a nod.
"Oh?" That was good news. Horus could use someone sensible, someone to help her-
"The Princepts of Ultramar, what do you know of her?" the Empress asked.
Horus' eyes widened in shock. "Roubuta Guilliman? Her? She is- she is my sister?"
"Yes, I should have known someone so young could not achieve such greatness without being designed for it. She is the Administrator. I am sending her to the academy. Soon, my heirs will be together, and the plan will come to fruition. A new golden age for humanity. Soon."
With that, the Empress cut the comm connection.
Horus stared at the black screen, her own reflection looking back at her. Absently, she reached up to touch her nose. Too big. Not perfect. What had she accomplished? In her own right; nothing. She had done nothing. She had sat in a palace and done paperwork.
But Robouta Guilliman? She had put down a rebellion, united five hundred separate islands, even if only two hundred were populated, and commanded the largest fleet in the entire world.
I am the Heir. But only because I was found first.
Gasping for breath, Horus held her head in her hands, feeling a sense of panic she had not felt since she had been cornered in Luna by the Empress. It was crumbling around her, utterly. If Guilliman took her place, who was she? What was she?
She activated the comm consol again. Two names. Kittenus, or Ezekyle?
What did she need? What did she want? Worship and adoration, or someone who could challenge and support her
Horus activated her consol.
"I need you. Come to my rooms."