Kalina had very little reaction when Uldren said the name. She either did not know it, or was doing an incredible job acting as if she didn't. Uldren was clearly expecting some kind of a reaction when he said it, and when Kalina only looked at him, the very faintest hint of irritation and uncertainty crossed his features.

Min didn't know the name of course, but she was internally pleased to see that smugness in the Prince's eyes dissolve somewhat.

After that, they were dismissed, Petra directing them back toward the Luminous. She was as stoic and silent on the way back to the ship as she had been before, ignoring the clot of Awoken who had clustered along the hallway, staring at Kalina and whispering again behind their hands. Any that actually got in the way, one of her silent compatriots swiftly and firmly moved them out of it again without a single break in their stride.

As soon as they were aboard the ship, however, Petra let out a blast of breath and said a few words in her native tongue that Lev, Binky, and Poet didn't bother to translate.

"My deepest apologies for him," Petra said to Kalina, when she'd reverted back to more acceptable speech.

"You did try and warn us," Kalina said with half a shrug. "I suppose it helps that I have no idea who 'Imogen Rife' is…or was. He said it like it was supposed to shock me."

"That is what he was trying to do," Petra said, and gave the Hunter a measuring look. "I am happy to tell you, if you would like to know. However, it would be entirely at your discretion."

"She wasn't some kind of asshole or criminal among the Awoken, was she?" Kalina asked, and when Min loudly snorted, Kalina looked at her. "What?"

"As if you could ever be," Min said, and Kalina actually colored a little before covering it with a laugh.

"For all you know she was a genocidal maniac with fabulous taste in clothes," Kalina teased.

"Definitely not you then," Gen said dryly. "Your taste in clothes is atrocious."

"Like you'd know, One Coat Wonder."

Petra watched this exchange with barely a twitched brow. When it became clear that Kalina did want to know, she gestured at them to sit down and then took a chair herself.

Up until then, Min wasn't sure whether or not she liked Petra. Then she started to speak, and Min was decided that she actually liked her a lot.

"I can say nothing about Imogen's taste in clothing," she said. "I promised her many years ago that I would make no further comment in that regard. I can tell you, however, that she was not a genocidal maniac."

Kalina grinned at Gen and Minerva, the latter of whom gave her a wink.

"How familiar are you, Kalina, with the military hierarchy of the Reef?"

"Pretend I know nothing," Kalina said. "Because I don't."

"Fair enough. To sum up quickly, the Queen is of course the supreme commander and final power. Paladins command the Reef's military forces, second only to the Queen, and answer to her alone. Of these, there are only ever seven. Four are in charge of the Armada, comprised of the space fleet, the Corsairs, and the Vestian Guard."

On the word 'corsairs' she gestured to herself. Cayde and the Queen had both called Petra her 'Wrath', but Min took the gesture to mean that before she became the 'Wrath' she had been a Corsair.

"Two," she continued. "Are in charge of the Royal Army- soldiers, military installations, and the like. The seventh Paladin is head of the Royal Awoken Guard. It is they who protect the Queen from all threat to her- public, private, overt, clandestine, even personal. In fact, the Paladin at the head of the Royal Guard is the sole figure, beyond Mara Sov herself, whom Uldren Sov must answer to. It is this Paladin's job to investigate any potential threat to Mara's wellbeing, including any that may come from her brother, and he is obliged to obey any command this Paladin gives as if it comes from Sov herself - so long as it is not an abuse of the Queen's own direct word, of course."

Gen gave a soft sigh of understanding, but did not interrupt. Min didn't have to be a warlock herself to understand as well; Uldren's acerbic focus on Kalina was suddenly coming into clarifying light.

"Imogen Rife was this seventh Paladin," Petra continued on, watching Kalina's eyes. "Above Uldren, second only to the very Queen of the Reef. She was extremely dedicated to the Awoken and to the Queen, and though they shared the same agenda in protecting Mara, Imogen and Uldren often found themselves at odds as they had two very different ideas of what such duty demanded. Imogen did not trust Uldren and did not keep her feelings secret, and Uldren resented the hell out of her."

"Wow," Kalina said, looking gut-checked. "And how…I mean, what happened? He didn't take things into his own hands, did he?"

"Did he murder her, is that what you're asking?" Petra shook her head. "No. She was murdered, but it was not Uldren's doing."

"She was murdered?" Gen asked, concern in his voice.

"It was during the Reef Wars. Awoken from the Reef still speak of the Battle of Bamberga's Wrath in hushed tones, and the Paladins of the Fleet use Rife's tactics in instruction. Very cleverly, Rife tricked the House of Wolves Baroness, Drevis, into directly flying her ketch into an asteroid so that she and her Servitor could be captured. That went without a hitch, but on the way back to deliver her prisoners, she and her fleet were attacked by Pirsis, a noble from the House of Wolves, in an attempt to rescue Drevis. Rife's fleet was outnumbered, cornered, and sieged. It went on…a very long time. Given the superior numbers of the Wolves' fleet it is a testament to Rife's skills that she was able to hold out for as long as she did."

"What happened?" Kalina asked. She sounded like she was watching one of her PT vids instead of, essentially, learning information about herself.

"Hallam Fen, Rife's protégé, amassed a group of Techeuns and others to create an illusion, fooling the Wolf fleet and sending them into disarray. In cooperation with the forces of two other Paladins, they flanked the confused fleet and obliterated them. In the battle, however, Persis got aboard Rife's flagship to break Drevis and her servitor her out of confinement. They were broken free, but were confronted by Rife almost immediately. She destroyed the servitor and nearly killed Drevis before Pirsis managed to slay her. The two Wolves got off of the flagship, only to be immediately recaptured by Hallam. Both Drevis and Pirsis remain still in the Prison of Elders. Hallam is now, himself, a Paladin."

Kalina's brows were knit as she visibly seemed to chew over this. "And you're sure that Imogen was…me? I mean, that I was her?"

Petra leaned forward a little. "I knew Imogen when she was a Corsair, before I was. I was there at her ceremony when she was confirmed as a Paladin. We were not particularly close but I definitely counted her as one of my friends, and I helped to…to bear her remains in honor, after she was killed. I am positive."

Searching Kalina's face she then asked, quite evenly, "Do you doubt me?"

"I just can't remember anything about it," Kalina said. "I thought that maybe I'd get a hint of familiarity maybe, a glimmer of memory. Even if just kind of vague and distant but…there's nothing at all. This man, Hallam? You said he was my protégé. And he's still alive?"

"Yes. I am actually somewhat relieved he was not in the audience chamber when we arrived. He took it extremely hard when Imogen died. She was his mentor, his teacher, and he admired her a great deal. He is not a very vocal man but it is clear that he blamed himself for not being fast enough to stop what happened. I am unsure how he would take to seeing you again, a Guardian and with no memory of your former self. Now, at least, he will be warned before he runs into you – through court gossip if nothing else."

"The Prince recognized you too," Gen told Kalina. "I think that's pretty telling. Don't worry about it, Kal. Min told me who I was and I didn't get any hint of memory of it either."

Kalina still didn't seem entirely convinced, but she nodded. "Well, it doesn't matter I suppose, does it? I guess there are far worse past lives to have. Sounds at least like the way it ended was something to be proud of. Doesn't matter. It's still not really me, is it? You don't…happen to know what Uldren was talking about when he asked about my name, do you?"

Here Petra shook his head. "No. I don't recall anyone of the name Kalina in my history with Imogen or the Reef. I would think nothing of it; one of Uldren's petty little needles that he loves to drive into people. Imogen was a hero and honored of the Queen. He could not insult her as he liked in life and cannot speak ill of her in death. 'Needling' you is the closest outlet he can have for his bitter jealousies toward her now, knowing you have no memory, no power in the Reef, and therefore no defense. Fortunately, it doesn't seem as if the Queen will tolerate even that- at least not too far, given how quickly she stopped him both times. Don't imagine though, that she considers you to actually be Imogen. She does not. Not even for an instant. She will treat you solely as what you are - an outsider Guardian, no more and no less."

"I wouldn't expect anything else," Kalina told her.

Petra nodded, then looked at Minerva. "Do you believe that the Vanguard will allow you to go to the Black Garden?"

"To be honest, I don't even know what the Black Garden is," Minerva said. "Cayde seems to think that going to see the Queen will have opened up possibilities for an alliance between the Tower and the Reef, and unless I was much mistaken, the Queen indicated that as well. For that alone, I think they will, sure."

"You were not mistaken," Petra said, then leaned forward with visible concern. They had not known each other long, but Min didn't think that showing visible concern was usual for her, and it awakened a sense of disquiet in her gut. "Truly? You know nothing of the Garden?"

"Not a thing," she said.

"Neither do I, at least that I can recall," Gen said. Petra stared at him, then looked over at Kalina again, who shrugged.

"I've never heard the name either. I'm guessing it's too much to hope for that it's a friendly little garden filled with roses and sunflowers?"


"The Black Garden?" Zavala sounded almost scandalized, arms folded and brooding brows drawn down far over his nose. "She cannot be serious!"

Behind him, Cayde had flung up his hands. "Whatever happened to, 'hey, nice to meet you. Want some tea and a treaty?'"

The six of them stood in the Hall again, but for once Eris Morn was absent. She had so often been around when Min's fireteam spoke to the three Vanguard that she'd almost started to suspect they'd nominated Eris as an unofficial spooky fourth.

"What is the Garden?" Kalina asked. "I mean, it can't be worse than the ascendent realm, can it?"

The way the Vanguard exchanged looks did little to quiet Min's stomach, and from the look on Kalina's face she felt the same.

"Can it?" Kalina repeated seriously.

"The ascendent realm at least follows rules of physics, space, and time- even if those physics, space, and time differ from our understanding of them here," Ikora told her. "It runs on its own logic, perhaps, but logic just the same. And we at least have some solid information on the realm and what can be expected there. The Black Garden is something of a myth, with very little beyond whispered story and dark speculation to go on. If those whispers can be believed, it exists outside of space and time completely and follows no logic. We do not even know for a certainty that it is a real place."

"I didn't get the impression from our brief time with the Queen that she'd send us off to the Garden unless she was pretty certain it was a real place," Gen said. Min nodded her agreement.

"There isn't a treaty with the Tower now anyway," she said. "I don't think she'd go through the bother of having strangers on her Reef for the first time in - well, I certainly don't know how long – just to play some kind of elaborate prank."

"Yes," Zavala said with a slow nod. "The task may be as difficult as taking down Crota, but it cannot be impossible. That is out of keeping with everything we know of Mara Sov."

"So we just need to research again," Minerva said. "I can go down to the archives and-"

"Min, I think you misunderstand," Ikora said. "When I say there is very little beyond whispered story and dark speculation, I was being generous with the amount of information to be had. There is nothing in the Archives on the Black Garden save what I have already told you. There is nothing further down there to find. When I say it is little more than myth, even that may have been exaggeration."

"Well, there's got to be something on it, somewhere," Kalina said, now sounding irritated.

"You could always just fly back to the Reef, ring Mara's doorbell and ask for directions," Cayde said. Both Ikora and Zavala gave him a look, and he shrugged. "What?"

The two other Vanguard then met each other's eyes, before Zavala spoke again. "There is only one lead that we can offer, and it is tenuous at best."

"'Tenuous' is as well being generous," Ikora added. "It is as thin as a single strand of spider silk, but it is all we can offer."

"We'll take anything we can get."

"Many years ago, in the time of the Iron Lords and after a devastating attack on the City by the Fallen, the Vanguard was first established to directly counter that threat. My predecessor and teacher, the first Warlock Vanguard, became very quickly disenchanted with the title and the role."

"Smart man," Cayde said, and she of course ignored him.

"He did not believe the Fallen were the true threat, claiming that instead it was the Darkness and the Vex."

"The Vex?" Minerva asked. That name, she had heard, though not much beyond that.

"They're sentient machines, highly sophisticated. They have never been seen on Earth, and I do not believe one has been sighted elsewhere in many decades," Zavala said.

"Yes," Ikora said. "My teacher quickly became obsessed with the Vex and the Darkness, almost to the point of madness. He began to divert Guardians and resources away from protecting the City to chase theories and rumors, endangering countless lives and leading to the permanent death of more than one Lightborn. He considered the Speaker and the Vanguard to be a sort of dictatorship. He refused to see reason, though I and others tried more than I can say, and so the Consensus exiled him."

"He immediately went to the Reef and to Mara Sov to continue his work," Zavala said. "He may have involved and consulted with others as well, outside the Reef. Our last information has him heading to Mercury, though even that is several years out of date."

"We have heard nothing of him since," Ikora said. "However, if anyone had any further information on the Black Garden outside of the Reef, it would be him."

"As I said, this thread is tenuous," Zevala said. "But it is what we have. Go to Mercury, Minerva. You and your fireteam. Our only hope to learn more of the Black Garden and how to retrieve this 'heart' for the Queen depends on finding Osiris."