Chapter four here we go, as I've said before thank you all for following and favoriting this story it really helps me to get the motivation to write knowing there are people out there who will read it, comments are always appreciated as well, I love knowing what you people are thinking as you read my story
Last time I checked I didn't own 40k, let me check again... yep, still don't
Beginnings
Over the next two weeks the ranks of my followers expanded as I infected new people with the Genestealers kiss, some I were able to get to on my own, others I had Saradiels help with. Some were kind wives or husbands, some were servants sent by merchants, some were teenagers helping their family, and as my little group of followers grew I started thinking about ways to get into the city, because I couldn't do much while I was outside the city, sure I could get an occasional water carrier and I was getting more as my group grew and more opportunities arose, but I didn't really know what was going on inside the city so I would need to find a way in.
I was hunting through the riverside undergrowth one day as I pondered this, I had actually grown quite fond of hunting during my time here, it helped clear my mind and gave me a way to forget my worries and doubt. As I stalked I heard the distinctive sounds of one of those furless rodents fishing on the banks, a Grel, I stalked up behind the oblivious rodent as quiet as I could then when I had gotten within a safe distance I dashed forward and caught the Grel in my hands. I proceeded to break the creatures neck, giving it a swift and hopefully painless death before I went back into the undergrowth and sat down to eat it. As I ate I pondered on my current problem and how I might solve it, forcing my way into the city was out of the question, this problem would require stealth to solve.
That was when my mind came upon an idea that I felt had the potential to work, Saradiels family were merchants, those caravans I saw going to and from the city went and traded with the other towns in Lugan's territory as well as towns even further afield. As I looked through Saradiels mind again I saw that she however wasn't the one who led any of their families caravans, she was the families youngest daughter so her family mostly tried to give her an unworried and happy life, a quite admirable goal, it was a tad annoying for my plans though. The ones who led the caravans were her siblings, her two older brothers, I'd have to infect them in order to make my plan work. With my next set of actions laid out I sent a message to Saradiel through telepathy and went to watch the entrance to the city.
Saradiel was excited as she got up from her bed in her families house, the great one, Velz, had just sent her a message through his divine powers, and it was a mission for her to carry out. The great one needed her to bring her brothers to him so that they could be enlightened as she had been. Over the last couple weeks Velz had been bringing enlightenment to the others who went out to collect water for their families and employers from the rivers as she did, and occasionally she would help bring one of them to him, every time she did that she was thanked by the great one. Saradiel quickly changed from her nightclothes into her daily attire which consisted of relatively plain clothing with a short sleeve shirt on her upper body that had some embroidery on the ends of the sleeves and around the neck, she wore a skirt that went down a bit past the knee and was also quite plain but had a nice looking pattern of embroidery that wound it way up from the bottom of the skirt in a corkscrew pattern that was made to look like a winding river, and she wore sandals on her feet, overall it was rather plain but showed she was wealthier than your average citizen of Lugan. She also had blond hair that she let grow down to her shoulders and greenish brown eyes.
As she brushed her hair she thought of the past couple weeks, about how her life had changed so suddenly, she was going to get water for her family with the servants one day, she wasn't expected to do much around the house, most of what she could do was done better by the servants and the only reason she was allowed to help the other servants collect the water is because she had wanted to see outside of the city more often. Then there was a blank spot where she couldn't remember anything and next thing she knew she woke up and Velz was unconscious a few feet away, she had hidden Velz then went back and lied to her parents that she had just gotten a bit curious and gone for a walk around, after that she snuck out of the house to get back to Velz, they had admonished her for both things, but what did it matter what they might say? She had found a much higher calling, more important than the family business, more powerful than the river gods her family still secretly worshipped, and more meaningful than the "Emperor" the outsiders try to force on them.
When she was finished getting herself cleaned up and ready for the day she left her room in her family's two floored house, it was made out of tan sandstone, but it also had carpets all over the floor making walking quite comfortable, on the walls were various memorabilia that her family had bought from passing merchants over the years, she saw a tusk of a Calka those black plated beasts that roamed the deserts, she saw an exotic bow from the people who dwelled in the far north of Riln, and one of those rifles from the outsiders that shoots those strange red beams that was scavenged from a battlefield. As she was going down the stairs she saw the symbol of her family, the Despon family on the wall next to her, it was a wheel in the center with four bags of gold, one in each corner, her family had risen as merchants so it made sense to her that their heraldry would show it. When she got downstairs she found her brothers in the dining room eating breakfast while going over various papers and ledgers, their parent were influential enough to work in the palace as advisors so they mostly left the day to day stuff in the hands of her brothers who worked very hard to make sure the business ran smoothly and the caravans ran on time. She then sat down at the table and began eating from the variety of trays spread on it, there were multiple varieties of fruits, a couple sweets here and there, and some things made from Grel, a common animal to use in a lot of dishes due to how ubiquitous it was across Riln. As she finished up eating she then started up a conversation with her brothers sitting across the table still engrossed in their ledgers,
"How's business been?" A extremely generic and bland way to start a conversation but almost always effective with her brothers because as soon as the words left her mouth the younger of the two brothers and the middle child between her and the eldest lifted his head showing his blue eyes and dark brown hair, his name was Hadro, and he said,
"Mostly good, things have slowed down a bit lately so we might need to find something new to stock in order to keep people interested but we aren't going broke anytime soon." Nodding in agreement with her brother Saradiel then said,
"Hey guys I have an idea, what if we went on a picnic on the banks of Deltha?" Deltha was the river to the right of the city if one was looking at the city from the outside and she knew that is where Velz was usually nearest to. This time it was the eldest child of the three, Jelk, with his eyes also blue but instead had blond hair like hers responded by saying,
"Are you just using us to get another excuse to go outside the city after Mom and Dad scolded you?"
"Maybe." She shot back with a smirk on her face, the two brothers looked around at the papers for a moment and passed a few words then Jelk said,
"Eh, sure, we're mostly done here anyways, just let us finish up with this for a couple minutes then we'll get going, sure beats just sitting around." Smiling as she got up from the table Saradiel went to go get a couple servants to help carry the food they would have at this most wonderful of picnics. Thanks to her most of the servants serving her family who went outside the walls had been enlightened as she had so she made sure to choose those who had been gifted by the great one to come with them, they were two women and one man.
Soon enough Saradiel, Hadro, and Jelk along with the servants were getting in a carriage outside their house, the servants were in regular garb for the poor of the town which was quite similar what Saradiel and her brothers wore just of lower quality and more unkempt, the man sat in the front whipped the reins and the creatures pulling the carriage called Heltos, they looked like an armadillo and horse from earth were mixed into a horse shaped creature with the features of an armadillo, of course to Saradiel they looked completely normal. As they rode through the city Saradiel looked around, houses made of tan sandstone all around, people bustling, merchants trying to sell their wares and up in the distance she could see the palace, she wondered what her parents were doing right now, she also thought with bitterness at who currently occupied it, not the proper ruler, just a weak willed barbarian from the north who gives ear to the suggestions of the outsiders and allows them to do whatever they please. But as she thought some more she realized something, their last leader hadn't been the right leader either, even though her eyes hadn't been opened yet at that point it doesn't change the fact that the past monarch was also false, and then she began to think that maybe, maybe if the great one had come sooner their great city wouldn't have fallen.
After that contemplation however she sat and talked with her siblings for the rest of the ride until they arrived at a nice open spot on the banks of Deltha. The servants got off the carriage and began setting up the picnic, they would spend some time laying about here, snacking, talking, maybe going for a swim, or that would be how things would go normally, but for now she would sit and wait, until the great one came to open her siblings eyes and show them the true path.
Saradiel had done it, as I sat on a dune outside the city I saw the city gates open and on the back of a carriage pulled by those strange beasts called Heltos I was just able to make out the shape of Saradiel in the back of the carriage, I knew looking though the telepathic link of the Broodmind that three of the other five people in the carriage were infected so that left the two other people in the carriage to be Saradiels brothers. I shadowed them as they drove their carriage a good distance from the city then set up a little picnic site. Once they were all settled down and eating the perfect opportunity had come to ambush them, and though my stomach continued to churn at what I was doing to these people I sent an order out to Saradiel and the servants,
"Now." A second after receiving the message they all sprung into action, there was a short scuffle between the six but soon enough Saradiel and the others had the brothers pinned to the ground, they look confused and scared and the clearly older brother asked his sister a question,
"What are you doing!? Why are you doing this!?" Saradiel then responded with a cold look on her face,
"I'm sorry my brothers but your eyes must be opened, what I am doing right now is something you will thank me for later." I then emerged from the trees, the two were terrified of me it was clearly written on their faces but the younger of the two still had the courage to shout out at me,
"What did you do to Saradiel you bastard! Let her go of whatever spell you put her under!" Those words felt like a knife being plunged into my heart but I continued towards them while talking into their minds,
"I'm sorry, I can't do that, but rest assured that I have no intent to harm your sister." They looked surprised at the fact I could talk for a second and after the shock they still looked thoroughly unconvinced. At this point I was standing right over them, I then crouched down and said, "But I do need both of you if my plans are going to work." I then stabbed my tongue into the elder brothers back and he fell unconscious, the younger one started yelling for help until one of the servants clapped their hands around his mouth and I stabbed my twinge into his back infecting him as well. Now that they were both lying unconscious I turned to Saradiel and the servants and said,
"I praise you all for your help here, now take these two back to their home, if anyone asks questions about their unconscious state just tell them they had to much to drink, I will contact Saradiel when I need you all next." They all looked quite pleased at the praise and were soon on their way back to Lugan, my plans were coming along nicely and soon I'd be in the city.