All was near quiet as Magnus made his way through the Imperial Palace, searching for one of his siblings. He had finally gotten some down time, and he had a myriad of questions for this sibling in particular.
He finally came to the Elysian Garden, the Emperor's grand gift to the youngest of his children, and marveled at the vast array of plants growing and thriving. This was where he normally found his little sister as the garden was her favorite place to study and play with her wolves. The garden spanned roughly twenty acres and housed plants that were once extinct and from different worlds, including the two trees given to the Imperial Princess seven years ago. Ripe fruits, berries and vegetables were carefully being picked by servants as he made his was to the Inner Sanctum of the garden. The Sanctum was more of a large gazebo made of white marble, and under it's shade sat Magnus's little sister at a tea table, reading one of the tome's he'd given her, and sipping at a cup of coffee as her wolves slept around her and her Custodes guard stood off to the side. Her wolves were fully grown now and came up to his waist in size, and they were always with his younger sister.
The wolves perked up, alerting their master by their sudden movement, and Alesia noticed her brother then.
"Big brother!" She put her book down before launching herself out of her seat and tackling Magnus in a mighty hug. While she was eight years old now, she was as tall as a teenager with long, flowing, wavy black hair that went past her shoulders, golden eyes always betraying her emotions, and sun kissed skin many women in the Imperium try to emulate and fail.
"It's good to see you too, little sister," he laughed and returned the hug. "You've gotten big!"
"That kinda happens when you're a modified human." She let him go and stepped back to look him in the eye. After her first birthday, their father revealed he had altered Alesia's physiology to be similar to her Primarch siblings, hence her fast growth and inhuman strength. The silent treatment she gave the Emperor lasted over a month and ended with a prank that left him with neon pink hair for another month (Magnus may or may not have had a hand in how long the dye lasted). "So, what brings you back here? I'm guessing you want to talk about something or play video games again?"
"Actually, I was wondering if we could do something about Kor Phaeron."
"…That's Lorgar's adoptive parent right? The abusive jack wagon that constantly kisses Father's ass every chance he gets while verbally attacks my brother at every opportunity?"
"The very same."
"What did he…You know what? I don't need an additional reason to slap him. He needs to face the music."
"My thoughts exactly, little sister."
Lorgar hated that he felt helpless when Kor Phaeron constantly put him down. He knew he could easily end his adoptive father, but he never could follow through with it. He never could bring himself to kill his the man that raised him.
Currently, the older man was subtly berating him again for some minor mistake he'd unknowingly made, without anyone around to hear or whiteness the humiliation.
"Pardon me, but why are you speaking to your Primarch in such a manner?"
Or at least he usually made sure no one was around. The Imperial Princess, her Custodian guard, and Magnus the Red had snuck up on them during the tirade and his sister looked furious. Her aura conveyed her anger enough to make their brother and the guard to step back away from her and for Kor Phaeron to tremble as he turned to address one of the people that had no qualms in putting the man in his rightful place beneath her feet. Lorgar, while he loved all of his siblings, worried his youngest sister would one day cross the line and make his adoptive father snap and turn his ire toward her.
"Well? I'm waiting for an answer, Word Bearer." Alesia let her lack of patience become apparent in her tone. "Who are you to think you can just speak to a son of the Emperor of Mankind in such a manner?"
"P-Princess! I-I-" Phaeron stuttered before being interrupted.
"Take care in how you speak to Her Highness," the Custodian said firmly, reminding the man just how powerless in this moment.
"Your Highness," the man began again, "I was only acting as a father in correcting the man I consider my son."
"By indirectly belittling him over the smallest infraction?" She clearly was not pleased by his answer and her eyes glowed gold in her boiling fury. "I know the kind of man you are, Kor Phaeron. You tear down others to build yourself up, but you are never satisfied. You hurt the child you adopted, attempt to make him as miserable of a man as yourself, and it angers you that he has a higher purpose than yourself. You, Kor Phaeron, are pathetic and are unworthy to serve my brother and this Imperium."
Phaeron sputtered, face red in embarrassment and anger, "What would you know? You are nothing more than—" He clutched his throat as though he were choking.
"The only reason you still live is because my brother cares for you," the Imperial Princess exuded an aura similar to a Primarch's, but much more intense. For a moment, Lorgar saw his sister as a true extension of their father's will. "Were you any other man, you would not live to see another sunrise."
"Alesia!" Magnus called out to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Sister, please stop!" Lorgar pleaded with his little sister.
Her eyes dimmed and Phaeron gasped in air and fell to his knees.
"Have I made my point, worm?" She continued to address the man as she knelt down to look him directly in the eye. "You—"
"Watch out!" The Custodian pushed Alesia aside just as Phaeron lunged forward and met the Guardian Blade. The offending man looked shock as he looked down to see the spear plunged into his chest as the princess's guard lifted him into the air. "How dare you try to attack the Princess! You will die for this act of treason!"
Magnus quickly pulled Alesia out of harms way and Lorgar hurried over to her.
"Are you hurt, sister?" He asked, checking her over quickly.
"I'm alright, big brother. Ki—"
The Custodian had beheaded the Word Bearer before she could command him to stop. The doors to Lorgar's personal office bursted open and five more Custodes hurried in, no doubt hearing their battle brother's enraged war cry.
"What has happened?" Inquired on of the Custodes and the rest fanned out around the room.
"Kor Phaeron of the Word Bearers committed treason by attempting to harm her Imperial Highness," the Princess's guard reported with no hint of his earlier anger.
"Understood, brother."
Everything had happened so fast, Lorgar could barely process it all. Mostly, he was shocked that his adoptive father had attempted to harm his sister and had been swiftly executed as a result. The man, who had beaten him and belittled him for decades, who had raised him, was now dead.
"Gar?" He felt a tug on his robe's sleeve and he noticed his sister's worried and sorrowful gaze. As much as he knew Alesia hated Kor Phaeron, he was well aware that she would never deliberately harm one of his Word Bearers. No, she always respected him and his position as Primarch of the Seventeenth Legion. If anything, she got along with his Legionnaires and never tried to command them beyond seeking answers or to request assistance. "For what it's worth, big brother, I am sorry it turned out like this."
"Sister…I…I need to be alone for now…"
"Okay, big brother." Without another word, she let go of his sleeve and left with their brother.
Alesia quickly made her way back to her quarters, locked the doors behind her, leaned against said doors and slid down to the floor. Her cyclops brother teleported in and knelt next to her.
"That was an absolute shit show," she said, not looking her brother in the eye.
"I don't think any of us could see that coming," Magnus said, clearly also not pleased by the earlier events. "I never thought Kor Phaeron would ever move against the daughter of his so-called god and heir apparent to the Imperium."
"I only wanted to take him down a peg or ten, not get him killed!" She sighed and shook her head. "Damn it all! The last thing Lorgar needs is someone taking that decision out of his hands! He should have been the one to decide what to do with that twat muffin, not a pissed off Custodes."
"Kithes only acted out his orders to protect you," Magnus reminded her. "The Custodes are the most loyal guardians of the Emperor, and by extension you since you are the Imperial Princess, and their top priority is protecting you two from all threats. In fact, it's their reason for living."
"Not helping."
"I'm only laying out the facts, Alesia. What happened was not your fault at all. Just give Lorgar some time and space; he'll come around eventually." With that, Magnus teleported away, leaving the Princess to her thoughts.
She eventually got up, made her way to her bed, plopped down on her luxurious bed face first and sighed as numerous scenarios ran through her mind over the earlier incident. What could she have done differently? Could she have just pranked the idiot from afar? No, he'd have gone off on Lorgar even more for it. Maybe challenge him to a game of Duel Monsters and banish him to the Space Maid Realm? She groaned at how ridiculous that even sounded. Would this lead to a different Horus Heresy? Did she screw over humanity even worse?
The doors leading into her personal chambers opened and she sat up just as her wolves pounced on her to lick her face.
"I figured you'd need your companions," Magnus strode over to her bedside with a tray of snacks and placed it on her nightstand. "Oh, and Angron is talking with Lorgar right now, so you don't need to worry your little head over leaving our dear brother to his thoughts. I swear, you two get lost in your thoughts more often than Lion takes a nap."
Later in the night, Magnus could not concentrate on his work in the slightest. He had wanted to help his brother, but he just turned a bad situation into a disaster. Lorgar stayed off Discordia despite the rest of their siblings trying to check up on him once word of the incident spread.
"Well, this is a rare sight," a voice startled him out of his thoughts and he spun around to find Malcador slowly walk up to him. "I normally can never sneak up on you, yet I've managed to enter your study without you noticing. What troubles you, Magnus?"
"Just…Just everything that happened today…" Magnus sighed; he knew the Sigilite had good intentions. "I feel I just took power away from Lorgar, and I dragged Alesia into it."
"You know as well as I that none could have for seen Kor Phaeron attempt to harm your sister. If anything, this may have been a blessing in disguise so to speak. Lorgar's prime abuser is out of the equation for good now and he can begin to heal in time."
"Tell that to them."
"Give it time, Magnus. Lorgar knows you and Alesia never intended for this to happen and the Custodian was only following his duty."