That poor fellow of a tech-priest was beyond grievously wounded. The lord-captain pleaded to be allowed to save him, but the man refused. He mustered the last of his energy to tell us where we would find his surviving brethren, exhorting us to help them save the holy relic, and requested a private word with Magos Pasqal. What confession our Magos received troubled him, I think, before the wounded priest expired in prayer under the Magos' merciful hand. A most saintly death; Magos Pasqal lost no time in declaring him a Martyr of the faith and removed his neural implants, so his consciousness could be ascended to a servo-skull. It is, I have been said, a great honour for a tech-priest, although one I wouldn't care very much for myself.

Careful inspection of the dead cultists, unfortunately, found no hint as to the presence of their leader amongst the sanctum bodies. I took this as that bad-mannered Inquisitor man being wrong in his assumptions, and was perhaps a bit quick in boasting of it.

We found most of the surviving electro-priests in a hidden room nearby. They had been plotting to destroy the Cenobium as a last resort, to preserve their holy relic from defilement, but from their position couldn't do much more than think about it. They could, however, tell us the head council — so to speak — of the heretics had found their way to the reactor proper and would probably still be there, conspiring to their evil goals. The Inquisitor looked like a cat who has figured how to open the cream jar. As a faithful servant of the Emperor, I could but rejoice at the lord-captain's decision to hunt these down. I may wish for some much-needed explanations about her past, but I know a good resolve when I see one.

It was, I must say, swiftly done. The reactor was situated right below the sanctum; in it we found a handful renegade priests, a gaggle of cultists, and their leader, that Aurora whose name they all died shouting. All perished under our collective vengeful hand. Thus does righteousness triumph of the forces of Chaos: numerous as they are, we are stronger still and the God-Emperor guides our strikes.

Once we were done searching the hall (it was too big to be called a room, truly) — despite Magos Pasqal's protestations of secrecy — Her Ladyship stood for a few minutes by the precipitous chasm of whirling plasma that was the reactor itself. I'm not a man of artistic sensibilities, but I do admit the sight was awe-inspiring and the colours quite nice, in a blinding sort of way. Before she left, I thought that maybe she dropped something in there, although my eyes could very well have been playing me tricks.

Once aboard the ship, I ordered Vox Master Vigdis to signal our victory to the Governor. I took great pleasure in composing that message: that the Hallowed Electrodynamic Cenobium was safe, that the uprising would be all but crushed following their leader's ignominious death, and that they had acted indeed in collusion with the Ruinous Powers.

Ere I left the bridge to get some well-deserved rest, however, the Lord-captain called me, asking for a word in her office. I clicked my heels and followed her. On our way to the lift, Master van Calox stopped Her Ladyship for, it appeared, a similar purpose of having a word in private. She stared at him from head to toe with the kind of cold appraisal that sends junior officers in a liquefying panic; the man didn't flinch.

'Is someone about to die?' she asked him.

'No, but…'

'Then I shall send for you later, at my earliest convenience.'

Ha, that was a man unused to hearing the word no! He was gobsmacked, and we proceeded to Her Ladyship's office before he had recovered enough to protest such treatment.

Lady Theodora's portrait was, of course, still hanging in the antechamber to the lord-captain's private apartments. I had to stop and look at it — how perfectly the artist had caught her dashing spirit, underneath those pearls and furs that befitted her station! The clever, calculating gaze from her good eye and that steady red gleam from the bejewelled augment that replaced the other! So absorbed was I that I didn't notice right away Lord-captain Katov had stopped, and was watching me with an expression akin to pity.

'You did love her, didn't you?'

'Lord-captain!' I protested. 'Such feelings… it would have been most improper of me! I… I won't deny her passing greatly impacted me, and that I had the greatest respect, the greatest reverence, the, the highest regard for Her Ladyship. But love, no, that would have been beyond inappropriate!'

The lord-captain smiled; it was the first time I had seen her depart from her severe attitude, and I dare say it strangely softened her face — although it made the scar on her cheek more noticeable. Lady Theodora had been radiant always.

'Come, seneschal, and sit in my office. Will you drink tea, or something stronger?'

'Tea would be exceedingly fine, Lord-captain. I'm not afraid to say I am quite parched after such a fight!'

Her Ladyship rang for tea. While we waited for it, making small talk, I couldn't but notice that she looked tired — but so was I, truly, as our last sleep had been nearly thirty-six hours before on a hard floor, discounting well-deserved naps on the shuttle. A tray arrived, laden with Lady Theodora's finest Terra porcelain set, and the lord-captain filled our cups. She gulped down her own, disregarding both its fine taste and its heat, and poured herself another before settling behind the desk. Silence… Her Ladyship's apartments were ever calm.

'Seneschal Werserian, I owe you an apology.'

I choked on my drink. The lord-captain could never owe me an apology! She was the only master aboard after the Emperor! But she cut my protestations short, so I shut up.

'I should have made sure you, as well as the superior officers, were aware of my past. That unpleasantness on Rykad Minoris then wouldn't have been so unpleasant.' She drank a bit of tea, taking time to savour it this time. 'To my defence, I believed Lady Theodora would have briefed you on her potential heirs. You would be in your every right, from what little you know, to regret I was the only one of those to survive the Warp incursion.'

'I do believe, Lord-captain, that the Master of Whispers chose that very moment for the attack in order to fully wipe out House von Valancius, from Her Ladyship to every potential heir. It is fortunate that you survived, otherwise he might have claimed the lord-captaincy for himself. He was, after all, a distant cousin of Lady Theodora.'

'We agree on that, then. It is also my belief that when he escaped the Emperor's Mercy, he sent a message to Governor Medineh — and who knows else — telling him I was once branded a coward, in order to destabilise the dynasty.'

There, that terrible word had been pronounced. I dared not say a thing and took another sip of tea. Those cups had always appeared terribly fragile to me.

'What I am about to tell you, Abelard — I would thank you to relay it to Vox Master Vigdis, Sister Argenta, the High Factotum, and Idira Tlass. And whomever you see fit. Some of it is a matter of public record, but I daresay what is most interesting has been classified. I swear on the Throne I shall speak here nothing but the truth, although you will have no way to verify it.'

Only then did I notice Her Ladyship's hands were trembling a little, as if she were under immense internal pressure, although when I looked up to her face she appeared serene as ever. The plain uniform she had gotten herself fitted for was a Commissar's in shape, although not in colour, and it bore neither medal nor ribbon. Those would have been taken from her. The Aquila alone adorned her breast.

'Your word, Your Ladyship, shall be enough for me.'

'Good,' she sighed, and she told me all.

Truly, what a day.