Present
— Abelard's point of view –
Abelard was in the frontline, the Rogue Trader just behind his heels. In the narrow corridors of the prison, the various members of the retinue kind of just bumped into each other at every turn, still unused to fighting together.
They'd been greeted at the entrance of the prison by a very anxious pilot. Ra-q something. She'd told them about what transpired in the prison : the Warden going mad, and the young Evayne Winterscale trying to come to the rescue of his old friend, in the hope of fixing the situation. However, the young man had not reappeared from his excursion, and it has been a few days. Maybe, had they come here first after their translation to realspace, they could have prevented this from happening…but it seemed they were a little too late for that.
" So, Abelard." That was Elena's voice, whispering to his back. " How is this Evayne related to Calligos Winterscale exactly ?"
" He's his youngest son. He has six of them, I think, and a dozen other bastards around the Koronus Expanse", replied Abelard steadily.
" Have you met him before ?"
" I have seen him partaking in some negotiations his father used to have with Theodora. You should know, Rogue Trader, that Calligos is a terrible rival, prone to excesses and fits of fury. His youngest, though…is made of a different kind of fabric. Patient, kind, all things his father looks down upon. He definitely is invested in managing his father's protectorate, but he's still just a pup. I am only half-surprised to see he's rushed in here so foolhardy, without even bringing up proper back-ups." Abelard's voice ran thick with disapproval, as he glanced at the Rogue Trader intently. There was no way this was ever going to happen to Elena, not on his watch at least. Certainly she wouldn't run off under his nose on a strange planet with only two guards and a pilot ! That was scandalous to even think about !
" Isn't it strange ? If I had my youngest heir disappear while investigating a mutiny, I would come here all guns blazing. I keep wondering why the Rykad system seems to be just…left to its own", she mused.
Abelard had to agree. They knew by now that the communication system of the capital had been tampered with, such as the one in Eurac-V ; all Navigators were dead, except Cassia ; and a full-on rebellion led by heretical cultists had apparently been triggered on two planets at the same time. Sure, warp travel could take time…but surely a neighboring system would have sent someone to clean this mess up by now, and he doubted Calligos would not have dared rush to his destination if he knew his own son had been captured by Chaos-worshippers. He'd probably have seen this as entertainment after all.
" Getting to Footfall will provide us with answers", Abelard said with certainty, though inside he wondered : how did the von Valancius's protectorate fare ?
They inspected the guards barracks, and came across evidence of social experiments led here by Warden Casteglia. Idira and Pasqal spent some time going through the documents, judging it all nonsensical. Still, no one in sight, except a few pirates Elena had let go in exchange for some trade facilities, to Abelard's dismay. But then, that was the kind of thing Rogue Trader did and working for Theodora had taught him to turn a blind eye on many things. In his experience, one should not put their nose too much into Rogue Trader's business. There was a good reason they were granted the Holy Warrant, and it was better not to ask what it was.
As they neared the exit of the cells, towards the main recreational ground, Idira suddenly grew still. Sighing, Abelard stopped in order to listen to whatever Tlass had to say. He'd worked long enough with her to trust her…voices…and was unimpressed by now by her abilities. The same could not be told about Sister Argenta, who seemed ready to shoot at Idira every time she delivered them one of her strange warnings. He looked sternly at the Sister.
" Oh, this is bad !" yelped Idira, sweating.
Abelard didn't react. Things were always bad with Idira. Bravery was not her strong suit after all, and Theodora did not pick the girl for her courage but for her sense of survival. " They twist people's minds in it. Twist them until they break, and then they put something else in it. Something evil, wicked. I can hear the voices…and they sound so bad down there. Oh, Rogue Trader - I think they're doing another ritual there. Same thing we saw in Rykad Capital !"
" If that is so", noted Cassia, " then then this young man's life is in grave danger !"
" If only his sole risk was losing his life '', commented van Calox sternly. Ain't you the life of the party, thought Abelard grimly.
" The Navigator's right. We must do something to save this innocent while we can !" prompted Argenta, holding her bolster with gleaming anticipation.
" How many of them are performing this…ritual as we speak ?" asked Elena calmly, gesturing at the Sister to stand down.
The Rogue Trader's composure seemed to calm Idira, as she swept the sweat off her brow in a gesture of her hand, looking more composed by the second.
" Don't know. But, judging from the empty cells we crossed, I'd say quite a lot."
Abelard turned back to the path they had come from, trying to align the numbers in his head. Maybe he should have paid more attention to that detail on his way here.
" Approximate estimation of living prisoners before the riot would be 354", said Pasqal through his vox. Of course the Tech-Priest would have run the numbers for them. The Magos hummed for himself. " However, considering Warden Casteglia's experiments, lack of evidence of food consumed in numerous cells, and possible implementation of heretic behavior and sacrifices before our arrival, numbers of survivors should be no more than 70. Recommendation : gathering more information on variables to eliminate uncertainties in data."
Abelard looked skeptically at the new retinue. He was pretty sure of their abilities in combat, of course, but he was also pretty sure that facing dozens and dozens of armed opponents with guns while stuck in a prison corridor cell was one of the worst possible tactics possible. In the military book of the Imperial Guard, it was listed under the entry "sheep to the slaughter."
" Yes, I was thinking something along these lines myself", said Elena to Pasqal. "Idira, how impending this ritual seemed to be ?"
" I'm not sure. I feel it relies on an element…not yet ready. But it's gonna be bad when it's over !"
" Don't worry about it. It won't come to that. Just give me a few minutes."
" Rogue Trader, you're not suggesting we wait !" said Argenta, scandalized.
" No, I'm not suggesting it, Sister, I'm ordering you to", replied Elena patiently. " Idira", she said, turning to her. " Stand guard over there. Pasqal, keep poking around the cogitators. The others - get a breath and prepare yourselves. "
Abelard nodded with approval. Elena's prudence was a credit to her years in the Imperial Guard. He found it reassuring that she would not cast their lives away on an impulse. Going in blind into an ambush was bound to end up badly. Argenta's eyes flashed with disappointment, but the Sister took place at the turn of the corridor to keep watch nonetheless.
" Seneschal ," whispered the Rogue Trader, " you keep watch over me. I'll be away for a moment. "
Abelard followed Elena as she walked to a dark, empty corner of the room and sat down, leaning heavily against the wall. She closed her eyes and took a few, slow inhales, her face growing more absent and blank, until her body grew eerily limp. The Seneschal leant back on the opposite wall, watching over the seemingly asleep Rogue Trader.
Theodora had never done that to him. It was unnatural. Was he ever going to grow accustomed to this, he wondered ? It proved unnerving to watch over a body seemingly devoid of mind, especially when this was supposed to be your leader and superior.
Cassia brushed by his side, towering over Elena's absent shape. The Navigator didn't look repulsed by the Rogue Trader, but rather curious. Cassia muttered something to herself, though he didn't manage to hear what she was saying.
" What is she doing ?" wondered Argenta, trying to hide the skepticism in her voice, crossing her arms.
" Scrying the battlefield in her mind", answered Heinrix matter-of-factly, rearranging his doublet and examining his sword's critically. " Useful, when you have time for it", he added.
The Interrogator's answer seemed to unbalance the Sister. Abelard shrugged, uncomfortable. It didn't feel right to talk about Elena while she was like this. Was the Rogue Trader listening to them as she was…doing whatever she was doing ?
Pascal hummed approvingly : " Elimination of variables is a necessity for leadership units."
Abelard cleared his throat, so as to eliminate the traces of unease in his voice, and snapped sternly : " As they said in the Imperial Guard, you should catch a rest whenever you can."
Heinrix nodded, though there was a hint of irony as his eyes lingered over them for a second, and went to sit in a corner of a cell, his head rested on the wall. Argenta, still uneasy, kept observing the dark tunnels, muttering prayers to herself.
Abelard crossed his arms, keeping watch over Elena, as she'd asked ; and as was his duty. To his surprise, Cassia stayed there, with him. It was difficult to ignore the Navigator's presence. Her height, her appearance was magnetic. She was like a point of gravity in the settings, both out-of-place and other-wordly, yet seamlessly moving around, as if she owned everything she touched.
" You know", said Abelard, " I'll never get used to fighting alongside such a young woman."
Surely a Navigator's place wasn't on the battlefield, especially not such a delicate one. He knew first-hand that Cassia was more than competent, but still…that, too, was unnatural. How he'd dream about leading a fidel escort of guardsmen once more. Would be easier than having to wrap his head around this incoherent and ill-fitted retinue.
" You should not worry about me, Seneschal ", replied Cassia with a slight smile. " I can hold my own. Furthermore, statistically speaking, older warriors are more prone to sudden and violent death than young ones."
Abelard blinked, baffled, as Cassia put her delicate talon-hand over her mouth. " Oh. That came out wrong."
The expression on the Navigator's face was enough to make the Seneschal chuckled. " Lady Cassia, I assure you, my hair may be gray, but my hand is still sure", he replied, amused by the look on her face.
Cassia seemed intrigued by his laugh, surprised, maybe, that he'd take her slip in such a good-natured way.
" That is for certain", she replied politely, grateful for the way Abelard didn't mock her.
She tilted her head to keep an eye over Elena. He wondered what it was that seemed to draw the Navigator to the Rogue Trader. He'd noticed from the start how Cassia behaved differently, less formally, when Elena was around. Of course, the relationship between a Navigator and a Rogue Trader was a sacred one, and, considering the lack of experience of both women at their ranks, at least it was reassuring to think that they were not at each other's throats. They just…needed a little bit of time to settle in their new duties, he thought.
Anyway, no matter what, Elena Martyr was the Rogue Trader now. It didn't matter if she was a psyker or even worse, a…he didn't like thinking about it or being reminded of it, but well, a lower-deck rat. It didn't matter if she didn't have the charisma of Theodora, nor her leadership abilities. What mattered was that she was alive. She could be a drooling mutant infant with no more than two brain cells connecting, he would still carry her on his back if he had to to protect the dynasty. Nothing was more important than her in his eyes. Of course, he'd preferred for her to be…more trained, maybe, in managing a ship. More harsh, in her dealings with the crew. More…well…normal. But he would shove his preferences right up his ass before letting any harm come to the von Valancius heir.
Then there were the others. He had to take care of Lady Cassia, of course, so she was second on his list of people to protect with his life. And he'd grown used to Tlass with time ; furthermore, she was the only one left of the original Theodora's retinue, and that was a bond in between them. The Sister, of course, but she didn't need protection at all. If anything, she'd probably be the one to protect him. So, that left the Chief Enginseer at third place (what was his name again ? Newman ?), though Tech-priests were tough sons of bitches that could take quite a few hardships before ever having to call for help. Finally, he'd have to keep an eye on van Calox, if only to make sure to please the Lord Inquisitor by bringing him back his spy in one piece. He would be glad once the Inquisition agent was out of the ship. Abelard himself had never been really informed of Theodora's dealings with the Lord Inquisitor - that was Kunrad's prerogative. But he had never been really happy with it either.
It was getting colder in here, he noted. Probably an air conduit misconducting somewhere.
Kunrad Voigtvir. Oh, how he longed to find the rat and separate his head from his body. Or maybe that was still too clean, too quick. Surely a traitor like that, who had sent so many good men, honorable crew members, to their deaths, who had killed Theodora herself, would deserve much worse than that. But no matter how Abelard reflected upon it, there was no scenario wherein he'd find Voigtvir and let him live more than the few seconds it would take for him to draw his sword.
As Abelard was happily contemplating how he could dismember his former ally, Elena's hands started twitching again and, as if nothing had happened and no time had passed, she was back on her feet once more.
She seemed a bit surprised at finding herself under Cassia's scrutiny, and barely even acknowledged Abelard's watchful guard. The fact that both women were approximately the same height, with their unusual pale skins, and towering above everyone else in the retinue made Abelard think of them as sort of strange sisters.
" Lady Cassia", said Elena politely. " I see you've been keeping company to my Seneschal."
Abelard frowned. He didn't need anyone to keep him company.
" You know why", replied Cassia mysteriously.
Abelard was now completely dumb-founded. " Well, I don't," he said, cutting into the conversation.
" Lady Cassia deems your colors steadfast enough to be worth her time, which is an honor bestowed only to you amongst all members of my retinue ," Elena translated without missing a beat, acting as if she was stating the obvious.
His…colors ? What in the Throne were they even talking about ?
" Anyway, that's enough banter for now. We have approximately thirty minutes before Winterscale passes away. Abelard ?" asked Elena amiably, pointedly looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
That was his cue. He straightened and glared at the rest of the retinue. Obviously, because none of them were blind, all had noticed the return of Elena but hopefully their sense of etiquette had prevented them from just barging into the conversation uninvited.
" Rest time is over. The Rogue Trader wishes to address you." There was no need in being overly formal after all.
Pasqal, Argenta, Heinrix and Idira closed in to listen to Elena, her pale hair and skin contrasting against the pitch black of the cells.
" The ritual is conducted in a mostly open ground area. Lots of covers. Unfortunately, there will be two watchtowers, one on our four, one on our twelve, each one containing five to six men armed with medium-ranged weapons ; autopistols, mostly, but one guard on the second watchtower is a trained sniper that we should eliminate quickly. We'll be going through a tunnel, so that means we have to get out quick and position ourselves right, unless we want this to turn into a slaughterhouse for ourselves. Warden Casteglia is in the center of it all, surrounded by three heavy armored guards, and thirty ancient prisoners with primitive weapons - they're no threat if you don't let them corner you. The Warden is heavily armed, trained for close combat. His right hand man - the one with a red scar on his cheek - has a modified shotgun that you should be wary of if you get close to Castiglia. Evayne Winterscale is still alive, though barely - his safety is second top priority. However, getting to him won't prove easy, and ensuring his safety even less so ; he's diminished, unable to fend for himself, and exposed. Going to his help is sure to put you in a precarious position if the shooters in the watchtowers aren't being disposed of at the same time.
Finally, there's a catch. Took me a bit of time to get the trick, but there are three mirrors in the open ground."
As she was talking, her tone even and matter-of-factly, Elena was drawing them the map of the battlefield on the wall, with some chalk she'd picked up on the way. Abelard's jaw slightly dropped as he noticed she was even drawing a grid upon it. The map she was painting for them was as accurate and precise as something you'd get out of a cogitator.
She pinpointed three locations with a "M."
" That's mirror one, mirror two, mirror three", she mused. As she was focusing on her layout plans, Abelard realized that he could not quite look away from her as she looked more alive, fiery even ; he had known that the Rogue Trader had been in the Imperial Guard for years, and didn't doubt her abilities at combat, but that was the first time he'd actually seen her etch a plan and command her way through. Maybe she'd prove to be not that bad at being a Rogue Trader after all…if she could put those feats past the battlefields and into the web of intrigues of economy, commerce, smuggling and nobles' conspiracies, of course...
" If the Warden is hurt, he will use the warp to get away to one of the mirrors and I have the intuition that it might regenerate him. So, the first top priority is shooting them down quickly."
" Impressive", commented Pasqal. His visor flashed with interest as he considered the grid. " How many iterations of the scenario did you compute ? "
" Third's one the charm", replied Elena, putting a stray lock of hair behind her ear absent-mindedly.
Pasqal nodded, humming to himself. " Augments could enhance data-running abilities to an interesting level", he said.
" Wait", said Idira from the back, scratching her head. " What happened in the first two iterations you had, then ?"
" Oh, we die. I'd rather keep the details to myself. There are those who have gone mad with this sort of knowledge. "
" Color me surprised. Glad I cleared that out. I don't even know why I asked that."
Argenta was frowning, looking hesitantly in between the deployment grid and Elena. Heinrix, silent, kept his eyes on the Rogue Trader, appraising her with newfound interest.
" Deployment orders are as follow : we don't bother to make an introduction and rush our way through ; speed and surprise is the key here. Argenta, you open the dance with a few smoke grenades thrown to the watchtowers.
Abelard, van Calox, you rush to the frontline. van Calox, you neutralize the shotgun-wearer. Abelard, you get the Warden off the Winterscale's scion. Cassia, you follow me to the second watchtower and you dispose of the sniper. Argenta, you take care of the mirrors. Pasqal, Idira, you eliminate the enemies on the first watchtower. I take it everything is clear ?"
" Crystal-clear, Lord Captain", said Abelard dutifully, a hint of anticipation in his voice. Finally something that looked like a good old military briefing !
" Perfectly clear", concurred Heinrix, his hand already upon the hilt of his sword, as Elena started packing her rifle. " I am curious. Are the grids matching our capacities at movement rate ?"
Abelard looked back at the plan, puzzled. He had not even bothered to ask himself what the grid meant.
" Of course," replied Pasqal even before Elena could answer. The Magos demonstrated with one of his mechadendrite, scratching the cases of the grid as he spoke. " Considering your average speed and agility on an average of six seconds, one could venture your movement rate. Yours, for example, Interrogator, could crudely be represented by ten of these grids put together at the maximum of your capacities, which would put you there for instance."
" Exactly what he said, though I counted eleven grids myself ", confirmed Elena dismissively, as she finished checking her weapons.
The fact that the Tech-Priest had been quicker than him at deciphering the workings of Elena's drawings seemed to impress the Interrogator, for once, and Abelard had to admit he felt a pang of appreciation at Pasqal for pulling the rug from under van Calox's increasing questioning.
" How perceptive", murmured Heinrix, glancing in between them.
" Let's move out."
Listening to Elena's orders, Abelard didn't think twice and, on her signal, charged into battle head on. The Rogue Trader's description had been oddly accurate, and it proved a huge advantage on the battlefield. Somewhere on his left, Argenta had managed a perfect shot of smoke grenade, blinding the first watchtower, and the Sister kept dashing for another shot at the second watchtower.
Abelard focused his attention on Warden Casteglia, who was quite recognizable. Though he thought that lack of proper introduction was a bit underwhelming, he did feel a pang of satisfaction at swinging his sword to his face spontaneously. The cultist barely parried the blow at the last minute, taken by surprise. On his right, he felt a rush of cold and electricity as three of the men were slashed down by Heinrix's force sword.. One of them was indeed holding a shotgun, which he barely had any chance to use as van Calox cut his hand off as an opening move.
Evayne Winterscale was sprawled out on a vivisection table. The young man seemed to be still alive, unfortunately for him, and even conscious. His blue, baby eyes were contrived to remain wide open with some sort of strange, devious device inserted in his forehead and onto his eyelids, and red tears had ran down his bruised cheeks. Even in this poor state, his pupils were trying to follow the battle unfolding next to him. The corpses of his two bodyguards were laid at his feet, their entrails ripped out of their bellies, their eyes scooped out.
At first, everything went according to plan. Charging in with an exact plan of deployment had given them a huge advantage. However, their enemies started getting a grip back on themselves.
Abelard found himself fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Interrogator. Surrounded by a horde of prisoners turned completely heretical, they slashed their way through mercilessly, trying to hold the position and protect Winterscale from any collateral damage.
Somewhere in front of them, Cassia and Elena had managed to climb their way to the second watchtower and Abelard glanced at the strange spectacle of a few watchmen walking to their deaths by jumping out of the tower, seemingly pulled by a point of gravity that was nonexistent but irresistible. The vision sent a chill up his spine. He tried to focus on Elena's shape, who was aligning a sniper shot to one of the mirrors, which instantly broke down. The other two had already been damaged by Argenta, who had dodged into cover in the middle of the battlefield, trying to get a shot at the Warden. Though Abelard couldn't quite see them, he heard the sound of crackling, lightning bolts somewhere on his back, and the smell of burnt flesh informed him that Idira and Pasqal were doing all right.
" Abelard, on the ground, now ! " That was Elena's voice crackling in his vox. Though he was still a bit unused to it - he followed her order and plunged forward. It was just in time, as suddenly he found out that the Warden had somehow teleported in his back and tried to stab him.
Abelard rolled, dodging another blow, but found himself in a precarious situation as the horde of prisoners closed into him, preventing him from getting back up. Heinrix swore under his breath and a slash of his force sword sent the first ones coming at Abelard flying, but, without the Seneschal watching his back, the man was left to fend for three people and that was going to get tricky very fast, as two prisoners grabbed him by the collar to unbalance him.
Abelard did his best to protect his head as multiple prisoners tried to slash whatever piece of him they could get. Just as Heinrix gave another slash, Abelard took the opportunity to get back on his feet, hissing. He heard Elena's voice warning van Calox of something, just in time for him to avoid another incoming blow. Idira was probably doing the same thing on her side of the battlefield. Abelard had to say that this timely advice was indeed precious.
Evayne Winterscale had been left unsupervised for now, and one prisoner had managed to slip past them and stabbed him in the guts with a knife. The Warden - wasn't here anymore. Abelard had neither space nor time to try to spot where he'd been.
Suddenly, a war hymn - loud and clear, feminine - erupted behind him and Sister Argenta was there, fuming with righteous fury, her short white hair tainted with blood from her enemies. She held her bolter tight as a first bullet caught the prisoner looming over Winterscale. The second one pierced through one of their assailant's skulls, then the next. And as her voice grew loud enough to cover even the sound of the bolter firing, praising the God-Emperor, she put down dozens of cultists in a few seconds. One bullet, one dead man.
Abelard was finally able to catch a breath. He'd been wounded, though it was nothing serious. He'd seen worse. He searched the battlefield for Elena, cursing himself for losing sight of her for a few seconds. The Rogue Trader and Cassia had been ambushed by the Warden. Cassia was taking cover as she could, her right arm abnormally limp. Elena had switched her sniper for a shotgun and, as the Warden charged at her, waved one hand imperiously - and Casteglia's body flung to the side, falling on the ground, as she blew his brains out with shotgun scatter.
" Pasqal !" she hissed on the vox. " Fix the Winterscale's scion - now !"
The Magos hurried to Evayne's side as Argenta and Heinrix took care of whoever was still left standing amongst the heretics. He analyzed the body coldly for a second, and then deployed a medicare kit in front of him, his mechadendrites taking hold of various surgical tools.
" Recommandation : emergency surgical operation ", he stated. " Further examinations will be required to determine if the scion had been infected by the chaos torturous device." In a swift movement, one of his mechadendrite ripped out the strange device upon Evayne's head, which tore his eyelids off. The young man tried to howl in pain through the pool of blood he was vomiting and passed out.
Abelard stared at the body. There was no way Pasqal was going to fix that butchery. He turned his back on the horrible contemplation and found that Elena was carrying Cassia towards him. The Rogue Trader looked mostly unscathed, but the young Navigator was looking sick, apparently unable to use her right arm.
" Seneschal", she barked. Abelard stood immediately to attention. This kind of tone registered directly to his primal brain. He felt better already. " Help her." Elena laid down the Navigator on the ground, to Cassia's protests, as Abelard knelt by her side. The wound didn't seem so grave and most importantly, no vital organ had been pierced. Abelard tinkered a splint on the spot, and injected the Navigator with various morphines and serums to help her see this through until they got to a proper medbay.
The others all had nothing but light wounds.
Elena went to stand by Evayne's side, watching closely Pasqal's operations, apparently completely unfazed by people being opened up in pieces in front of her. Idira went to examine the mirror's shards, picking them up and putting them to the light, under the wary scrutiny of Argenta. Heinrix was doing pretty much the same with the strange looking device Pasqal had ripped off Evayne, and then went to examine the corpses of the bodyguards.
Abelard stood by Elena's side, as did Cassia.
After a while, Pasqal's mechadendrites finally withdrew from Evayne's body. His wounds had been sanitized, sewed up with accuracy and care, and Pasqal had thoughtfully put a blindfold over his eyes, as the young man would probably need implants from now on.
" The young one is still alive", he said. " Adrenaline injection will bring him out of unconsciousness, but he will suffer and remain in a state of near-delirium and high fragility until better treatment is provided to him."
" Do it. I want to speak to him", said Elena.
Nodding, Pasqal took a syringe and injected its content into Evayne's chest. With a rasp, the young man started clenching at the table in panic, and tried to put away his fold.
" What…" his voice was weak, rasped.
" Evayne Winterscale, I am Rogue Trader Elena von Valancius. Do you hear me ?"
" …Don't know anyone by this name…" Evayne was thrashing around now, unable to calm down and seemingly not hearing them.
" Lady Cassia, talk to him", ordered Elena, crossing her arm and glaring at the Navigator.
" Why me ?" replied Cassia, taken aback.
" You have a way with words. People are mesmerized by you. Bring him to attention. I don't want to waste my time here."
" Of course, Lord Captain."
Cassia approached the thrashing man, seemed to think for a second, and bent down towards his ear. What she told the man, Abelard had no idea, but soon enough Evayne seemed to relax.
" Praise be to the God-Emperor", said Cassia, " Winterscale's mind integrity is still intact."
From Evayne, they learnt nothing new : the Warden had begun his strange experiments months ago, but signs of aggravating behaviors were more recent. Evayne had been in the Rykad capital when news of the mutiny in the prison reached him. He'd set course to try to save his childhood friend, but in exchange was rewarded with imprisonment, as Casteglia forced him to witness various sacrifices, in the name of Aurora and the Final Dawn. Until finally he decided that it was time for him to participate in this ritual, as the prey. Evayne thanked them profusely for their timely assistance, and asked for their help to get back to the Rykad capital, where his ship was awaiting him.
Heinrix quietly asked to speak to Elena privately, and Abelard kept watch as Elena seemed displeased by whatever the Interrogator was telling her. They ushered a few more words, Heinrix shaking his head disapprovingly, and Elena made her way back.
" Evayne Winterscale, I'll be pleased to escort you back to safety on your ship and to offer you medical attention."
" Elena von Valancius, I daresay, you are a true hero. I will not forget it." The young man hardly managed to sit down, moaning, and bowed his head respectfully.
" Lord Winterscale, allow me to help you", said Argenta gently, taking pity on him. Evayne started protesting, but the Sister ignored him as she put her arm under his shoulder to support him.
They made their way back to the ship. At some point, Abelard thought he heard Evayne asked Argenta :
" Sister, if I may, in my agony I have heard someone talk to me...but I do not recognize her voice in yourself or that of Her Ladyship."
" That would be Cassia, our Navigator."
" It was the most beautiful voice I've ever heard," added the man dreamily.