Chapter 269: Who Is the Villain?
From where Marius Gage stood, peering across the hall, he could see the queen speaking with a Death Guard beneath an arched colonnade.
To the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines' 1st Chapter, it was nothing more than a scene of cordial diplomacy: a warrior of the XIV Legion attempting to converse civilly with the monarch of Absyrtus.
And yet… the queen looked wrong. She looked afraid—terrified, in fact—so much so that Gage half-expected her to scream at any moment.
The sight puzzled him. For even when the Ultramarine fleet had hung over her world like a sword, the queen had retained her rare composure and reason.
Even when she had stood before their gene-father, Lord Guilliman himself, she had shown only mild astonishment.
But now? Why was she so afraid?
Suspicion prickled at him. Marius Gage raised his eyes once more, studying Hades with sharp scrutiny, needing to assure himself the Death Guard was not attempting to sabotage the fragile peace their two Legions had built here.
But Hades was smiling. Smiling warmly, even, and speaking in a tone so disarmingly gentle it could have belonged to a common man.
Gage frowned, deeply unsettled. The exchange continued; unwilling to intrude, he waited beside Lord Mortarion. The Primarch seemed wholly uninterested in whatever words were being traded—only prowling the hall with bored, predatory eyes.
Fragments of their dialogue drifted into Marius Gage's ears.
Queen Cirkesce drew a sharp breath, clutching her scepter with both hands just to keep herself from collapsing outright.
Her body shook despite her effort, sweat clinging to her palms, smearing the polished haft.
It was shameful, but she knew she had already displayed a courage far beyond mortal limits.
Even after gazing upon the unspeakable horror before her, she had not broken. She held to courage, to reason, to courtesy.
And her god had not abandoned her. Even in the darkness of night, He had revealed to her the star of wisdom.
He had given her words—words honed like blades, sharp enough to pierce the monster's guise.
She bit her lip without betraying it, forcing herself to meet the thing's human-shaped eyes. She readied herself to speak.
The instant she stirred, the being smiled—baring its teeth.
Terror shot through her. She nearly fell to her knees.
"There will be no war. Change will come as a tide beneath the surface. You must not interfere directly."
"There will be no war."
Her voice trembled but did not break. She forced each word into the air, though the presence before her grew louder, its droning hum like writhing black lines scrawled across the world in two dimensions.
No—stop. Not the warp-sight. If I stay in it, I will go mad. I will go mad.
She dragged her mind back to the safety of her mortal eyes, lifting her head in defiance, determined to say what must be said—that their cruelty would avail them nothing.
And then she saw it.
The killing-light hidden in the creature's single eye, watching her with amusement.
No human gaze had ever held such predatory weight.
She broke at once, head ducking, hiding her face deep in her hood.
"Yes… both sides desire peace. It is inevitable."
The voice in her mind warped, distorted—like a muffled whisper leaking out from a coffin buried deep underground.
"And yet I fear… that you and your people do not truly submit to the Imperium."
Her mouth opened soundlessly. Her vision swam, blurring at the edges. A warmth brushed her lips, feather-light, familiar—then terror broke loose.
She screamed.
Her cry tore through the hall, echoing against the stone vaults. Rage filled her gaze as she met the figure opposite.
"You may doubt our loyalty! But we have done everything! We disbanded our armies, we changed our faith! What more do you demand of us, invaders?"
"Would you destroy our civilization? We had already agreed to peace! Why must you still question us?"
Hades arched a brow, the false warmth draining from his smile. He regarded the queen's display in silence.
Chapter Master Marius Gage rushed forward, pulling the trembling monarch aside, shielding her with his armored bulk. It was both an act of protection and a precaution—lest the Death Guard lose his temper at her outburst.
"Calm yourself, Lady Cirkesce," Gage urged firmly, his voice carrying practiced authority. "My cousin means no harm. He is only… exercising caution."
The Ultramarine turned back to Hades with an apologetic smile.
"She is only shaken. Such things are common."
Hades lifted one gloved hand in a dismissive gesture, silently granting Gage the space to comfort her.
And the queen broke.
Tears welled in her ancient eyes as she began to sob softly, muttering of their efforts, of her people's fear, of how the Death Guard's harsh manner had frightened them.
Gage floundered, doing his best to soothe her, but Cirkesce's voice still cracked with anguish.
"Is this the Imperium?!" she cried. "We thought your Legions were just and reasonable! The treaty ceremony is less than a week away—why would you treat Absyrtus so?"
Gage's vision dimmed suddenly.
A short, sharp scream split the chamber.
The queen collapsed at his feet, clinging to his leg, her eyes blank, her hand pressed hard against her mouth. She used him like a pillar, hiding behind him, shaking violently.
Her finger rose, trembling, pointing toward Hades.
The Ultramarine turned his head slowly.
The Death Guard was still smiling—smiling politely, even bowing his head as though embarrassed.
"My apologies," Hades said evenly. "I may indeed have startled the queen. I am… not well-practiced in diplomacy."
He offered the woman another smile.
This time, Cirkesce said nothing. She only stared, stricken silent.
Relief touched Gage. At least the tension had not broken fully—both sides had yielded ground. The incident had not spiraled into open hostility.
But still… that darkness. That momentary blackness he had felt—he was not alone. The queen's scream had followed it.
Before he could dwell further, a faint, broken whisper rose from behind him.
"He… he is a monster."
And it was clear, from the silence that followed, that Gage was not the only one who heard it.
Hades flashed a bright smile, his gaze fixed squarely on the queen.
"I am a Blank. That much is true. My kind… does unsettle witches. If my nature has caused Your Grace distress, then I must apologize."
"No, my cousin—you need not abase yourself so."
Gage interjected quickly, striving to smooth the air. Peace with Absyrtus mattered, yes, but so too did harmony between the Legions.
Still, the Ultramarine blinked. For an instant, Hades seemed to flicker—his outline dimming, swallowed by shadow, before snapping back to its normal form. When Marius Gage looked harder, nothing seemed amiss.
And yet… the queen pressed tighter against him, clinging as though he were a bulwark against the storm.
Cirkesce gasped raggedly. No, no, no… The warmth she had clung to was gone. Worse—so much worse.
For the briefest heartbeat, she had felt the ground vanish beneath her. She was falling. Plummeting straight into a depthless abyss.
She had disturbed the Nameless Thing. And now it punished her.
Her soul staggered under the weightless plunge, her ears filled with shrieking wind. Sense unraveled—she stumbled blindly through the black night of her spirit, breathless, lost.
Clutching tighter to the armored leg at her side, she made that figure her last tether, the final straw to keep her from breaking entirely.
Marius Gage's voice reached her, calm and steady. Orders. Assurances. Perhaps they were preparing to leave. Perhaps the monster would retreat.
Her senses crawled back, inch by inch.
And then—stench. Acrid, choking, like spoiled breath dripping from a beast's maw.
Her eyes fluttered open.
A tendril of yellowish vapor hung before her face, curling down to brush her nose.
She followed it upward.
And there—glaring down from beneath a hood's shadow—were bloodshot eyes, bulging wide, burning with an unholy light.
The Lord of Death had stooped low. His gaze pinned her, glimmering with a hunger that wanted her gone.
"—AAAAAAAAAAH!"
The queen's shriek tore through the chamber, piercing stone and steel alike.
Gage spun around, abandoning his attempt at conversation with Hades.
Mortarion loomed behind him. At some point, unseen, the Primarch had drifted close—his scythe's haft tilted just so, as though he had been about to prod the collapsed monarch with it.
For one staggering instant, Marius Gage's thoughts scattered. He could not remember where he was, nor what he was meant to be doing.
"…My lord?"
Mortarion blinked slowly, voice flat, untroubled.
"I wondered if the lady required assistance. It seems… I startled her."
Then, without pause, the Primarch turned, his words cutting short the moment.
"No more need be said. We have seen enough. My thanks for your guidance, Marius Gage. Guilliman has a worthy soldier in you."
The Lord of Death strode away, his retinue of Death Guard clanking in grim silence at his heels.
Marius Gage remained frozen, blinking hard. He looked down at the queen, now slumped half-conscious against him, pale and trembling.
Yes. He would see her to the medicae.
The Death Guard—silent, bloodstained, unflinching—were not men a fragile monarch should have been forced to face. Not alone.
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