The Children of Cain: Anya von Yastobaal.
When she was little, Anya asked her mom, Areelu von Yastobaal, the story of Anya's birth, Mom told her a very Exciting and Romantic story of how she met with Dad, Lord Liberator Ciaphas Cain, and their many exploits during the Torredon Liberation Expedition. And how by the end of it, Mom had confessed her feelings for Dad despite knowing their lives would take them to different paths, so in order to never forget each other they decided to create a living symbol of their love, and that's how Anya came to be.
But what Mom didn't know is that during the telling of her story, Anya had also heard "another story" that came from Areelu's very own heart. Which was similar to the first story, only less romantic and filled with bad words towards Auntie Krystabel and Auntie Akivasha for always getting in her way and interrupting during inconvenient times. Also the part when Mom and Dad decided to "make" Anya had excluded the large amounts of Alcoholic Drinks involved that caused Mom to wake up in bed with Dad and Aunties Krystabel and Akavisha.
For you see, Anya had a special power, she could hear the "Hearts" of others whenever she was near to them. Of course that wasn't the only special power she had, for Anya had been born as a Psyker - just like Big Sis Lucy -, but her "Heart Reading" was in fact, not a Psyker Power and the only one of her abilities that she kept secret. (Mostly because she "heard" which Space Marine Legion Uncle Suture had truly come from, and if anyone were to find out he would have to kill them no matter what. That assured she kept quiet about it).
In later years, she would attribute her special power to her Abhumanity, for she too had been born with horns on her head. And while Big Sis Lucy's were similar to that of a feline; Anya were shaped as small cones, which she often hid behind ornaments and hats.
Still, it was a very difficult thing to keep secret because not only Lucy had Psyker Powers and Mom wielded Warp Sorcery, Anya had let slip things she shouldn't have known about. Thankfully as far as anyone knew, she was more of an Empath than a Mind Reader.
Now, while the power to hear the thoughts and intentions of others was not an unheard of Psyker Power, Anya's abilities seemed capable of piercing any sort of natural and artificial mental defenses or wards - even those who had their Mind Cleansed, could not prevent or impede her Heart Reading abilities - nor people could detect Anya using Psyker Powers whenever she was hearing anyone's Heart.
Anya was sure that having such an ability would be seen as solely advantageous; a great advantage for any in-person interaction, especially for someone that could inherit the Title of Rogue Trader - not that she wanted it anyways-, yet Anya hadn't seen it that way. As her powers grew, so did the range of her Heart Reading, and continuous exposure to people was mentally taxing, even more so when the words of their mouth didn't match those of their hearts.
So for most of her childhood, she became a bit of a recluse, rarely interacting with anyone besides Mom, Lucy and Uncle Suture. That is until one day she met him.
With Areelu's alliance with the Protectorate being a close-guarded secret, in her role as a Rogue Trader, she visited many Imperial Worlds for the purposes of Trade. Areelu would trade all sorts of equipment and contraband that she managed to "get her hands on" from the Protectorate, in exchange for goods that couldn't be found in the worlds of Cain's Dominion. Which in some words included Slaves; be Human, Abhuman and Mutant alike.
As much as it was scummy to contribute to such a horrible Trade, the fact of the matter was that, unless the forces of the Protectorate came to these worlds to Liberate them, buying slaves only to grant them freedom in the Protectorate was the only thing Areelu could do for them, at least without incurring the scrutiny of Imperial Agents.
It was among these batches of liberated slaves that Anya found him.
He was big, much bigger than Anya, but he was young - maybe the same age as her - and the reason for this disparity was because he was an Ogryn.
And he was sad.
Although many of the liberated slaves were usually happy for their newly gained freedom, others remained morose -either believing the promise of freedom to be fake, or because they had left behind people they had cared about on their planet - but this Ogryn was not only sad, but was crying his heart out. And while most would've been reluctant to approach any Ogryn - regardless of their mood - Anya had nothing to fear, for she could hear his heart and could see that he was not the violent-sort.
Anya spoke with the Ogryn and much to her delight, she discovered that the voices of his heart and mouth were one and the same. There was no guile or deception in his heart, nor there was doubt when she offered her help to him.
And so she did.
Anya listened to the Ogryn; she listened to both his words and emotions, doing her best to cheer him up. The Ogryn had been sad, because others told him he was stupid his whole life, that being a slave was the only thing he was good at, and he come to believe it was true; so when he was freed to be no longer a slave, he was afraid that they would rid of him for being useless.
Anya did her best to calm down the Ogryn and spoke to him, telling him that it was not true. He wasn't stupid and he was not useless. And if he didn't believe her words, then she would do her damndest to prove those who mock him wrong, and she would help find something he was good at besides being a slave.
And from that moment onward Anya spent time with the Ogryn, teaching him all sorts of things. She taught him how to play with balls and toys, then she taught her favorite songs and rhythm games, then she taught him how to color and draw, and finally she taught him how to count and read. And throughout all that Anya had gained something she had been lacking her whole life: a friend.
During this time, Anya had asked the Ogryn his name, but the Ogryn didn't have one, having been called Ogryn his entire life. So Anya came up with a name for him; she called him Bondo, because there was nothing more important than the bonds of family and friends.
It had been many years since then, and ever since wherever Anya went, Bondo followed as well. And while many often referred to Bondo as Anya's servant, she always refuted them. For Bondo was not a servant; never again a servant. Bondo was her friend.
Together they were embarking on their latest venture. They were on their way to Adumbria to meet Lord Cain, Anya's father for the first time. At least face to face.
Anya had talked with her father before, thanks to the Ansibles, and he had been nice to talk to. But she was nervous to meet him, because it would be the first time she would get to "Hear his Heart". Anya was afraid that underneath his nice yet serious demeanor, there would be a cold and dark heart, he was the leader of a dominion filled with all manner of Chaos Cults, and Xenos. Not to mention, he had several other children as well. What if he didn't like Anya at all? And he was only pretending for the sake of keeping Areelu under her service?
"Is Miss Anya ok?" asked Bondo next to her, most likely sensing her anxiety. After many years he had grown quite large, and with him standing by her side he appeared larger since Anya was somewhat on the shorter side.
"I am fine, Bondo." She gave him a smile. Despite insisting they were friends, after having to learn some "etiquette" so he could accompany Anya during social events, Bondo had gotten stuck calling her Miss Anya, even when it wasn't necessary.
Anya would often forget that he was still an Ogryn, and they were supposed to be "dumber" than regular people. And yet, Anya would argue that Bondo was most often than not, much "brighter" than many Imperial Nobles she had the misfortune of meeting.
"Are you sure?" Bondo asked, not having fully bought her earlier words, showing once more how observant he could be.
"I am a bit nervous." She admitted, "Meeting with Lord Cain is quite a Big Deal." And that was quite the understatement. Depending on where you stood, Cain was equally loved as he was reviled. He was both a Hero and a Villain. A saint and a Demon. "I heard lots of stories about him, and I am anxious to know which ones are true or not."
"I guess…" Bondo said, sounding unsure.
"But with Mom, Sis, Uncle and you by my side, I'm sure it'll be fine." Anya said, finding it funny that she had to reassure Bondo after him trying to do the same for her.
"I'll keep Miss Anya safe." He declared enthusiastically, both with mouth and Heart, making Anya feel relieved.
Good, old, reliable Bondo.
"Come, let's watch some Holoshows, we still have some time before we arrive at Adumbria."
With that, Anya went to enjoy herself before having to think anymore for what was to come, and Bondo stood right next to her, like he always did.
Everything will be just fine.