991.M30.
Mobayi region, Terra. Lemuel Gaumon hurried into his estate.
Upon entering the Himalayas, his communicator had been disrupted, losing all contact with the outside world.
His guides told him the interference was caused by the Imperial Palace's arcane arrays.
Lemuel did not retreat. He followed every rumor, seeking the sages who supposedly dwelled there but all he found were two caves.
The sages who once lived there had long since been driven out by the Palace's builders.
Only after leaving the Himalayas did Lemuel regain contact. He learned that eleven months earlier, the Sanga lord had brought people to treat his wife, Marika.
He rushed home in desperation.
Not even stopping to put down his pack, he hurried up the marble stairs.
The private nurse hurried after him. "Mr. Gaumon! Lady Marika has been taken away!"
Lemuel spun around, enraged. "Where is she? I paid you so much to care for her!"
Startled, the nurse stepped back. "It was the Sanga lord, and nobles from Terra, my lord, who took your wife."
He pushed past her, striding outside. Whoever had taken his beloved Marika, he would bring her back.
As he reached the villa's gate, he saw the Sanga lord in his fine robes, staff in hand, approaching.
Lemuel strode towards him. "My lord, Marika... what of her?"
"Lemuel." The Sanga lord smiled, noticing the faint scars on Lemuel's dark skin, etched by the wind and frost of the Himalayas during his long trek.
His eyes grew softer. Lemuel's love for his daughter Marika was renowned throughout the Nordafrik Conclaves.
Lemuel was taken aback. The Sanga lord had never addressed him so intimately, even during the seven years of his marriage to Marika.
The Sanga lord put a companionable arm around Lemuel. "Lemuel, do not worry. Lord Drake brought the Shadows of Order. They have taken Marika with them."
"I am certain she is being healed."
'The Shadows of Order?'
Lemuel was stunned. 'General Drake had actually answered the Sanga lord's plea.'
"My lord, please take me to see Lord Drake."
"Lemuel, there's no need for such formality between us." The Sanga lord smiled.
"I am Marika's father. You are her husband. You may call me 'father' from now on."
"Yes, Lemuel! We are brothers now."
Lemuel saw the Sanga heir, who had never been so close to him, also approaching with a smile, putting an arm around him from the other side.
He stared at the honey-colored aura radiating from both of them, and his blood ran cold.
'Have they offered Marika to Lord Barton for some vile purpose?' He was about to demand an answer when he remembered he had lost most of his fortune.
Even at his wealthiest, he was no match for the Sanga lord, let alone General Drake.
His thoughts racing, Lemuel plastered a smile on his face. "Father, since that is the case, please take me to see Marika."
"I am sure you understand my longing for her."
"She is not on Terra," a commanding voice said.
Lemuel turned to see a tall, imposing figure approaching.
"Lord Drake." The Sanga lord bowed. He noticed that the General seemed even more robust and commanding than he had a year ago, his every movement radiating strength.
The "Pugilist," Drake, strode forward. Before leaving, the black-robed Shadows of Order had given him a flask of pure white potion, streaked with traces of blood.
It was a reward from Lord Nareth, and he had received a new gift.
Keon remained on Terra, but learning that Lemuel Gaumon had returned, he had not come himself, instructing Drake to deliver the message.
"The Shadows of Order has taken Marika."
Lemuel, startled to see the famous General Drake, was even more confused to see a pure white aura of sincerity as he spoke.
He fixed his gaze on General Drake. "Is Marika alive?"
"She is not dead," Barton said. He hadn't seen her himself either; she had left on Aevos Jovan's auto-surgical table.
"The Shadows of Order is treating her. You may yet see her again."
'He's telling the truth!' Lemuel stared at General Drake. The white aura didn't waver.
He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling ashamed for having doubted the General.
His mind went blank for a few seconds. He gritted his teeth.
"Is there anything I can do?" He didn't want to just wait.
"You should seek the 15th Legion."
"As you know, conventional medicine is useless against Marika's cancer."
"In the realm of the mystic, besides the Shadows of Order, there are the Thousand Sons."
Lemuel's eyes lit up, then he frowned again.
He was just a merchant. How could he get close to the Emperor's Angels, the Thousand Sons?
The only thing he had was wealth, but that meant nothing to an Astartes.
One idea after another flashed through his mind. Finally, a single word stuck: Remembrancer.
...
The first day of 992.M30, Nordafrik Conclavesn hive.
A clerk from the Corps Logisticae now Departmento Munitorum idly swiped through his datapad.
"Lemuel Gaumon."
"Your preference: the 15th Legion."
"What talent do you possess that would allow you to accompany the great Thousand Sons?"
Lemuel handed over a bound dossier. "I have prepared meticulously, sir. I am confident I can keep pace with the Thousand Sons."
The clerk took the dossier, hefted it, and his expression softened as he felt its weight.
He looked up at the man before him, noticing the lightning bolts, spirals, and other patterns embroidered on his tunic.
"Where did you get those patterns?"
"I designed them, sir. They come from scrolls in my collection," Lemuel said, watching the clerk's aura shift to a pale blue of interest.
He had liquidated everything, including his ancestral holdings in the Nordafrik Conclavesn hive. He had nothing left but this one chance.
He was surprised that the Sanga lord had actually supported his desperate gamble, providing considerable help that had allowed him to get an interview, ahead of tens of thousands of other applicants.
"Hmm, you do seem a good fit for the Thousand Sons."
Lemuel saw the clerk note something on his datapad.
"Wait for word."
Days turned into an eternity. His initial certainty gave way to doubt, and finally, despair.
After nearly forty-five days of torment, he finally received an electronic letter.
[Lemuel Gaumon: The Departmento Munitorum's Office of Remembrancer Qualification is pleased to inform you that your application has been approved. You are authorized to proceed to the 15th Legion to record the immortal deeds of the Thousand Sons during the Great Crusade.]
[Please report to the Cairo Spaceport on the date specified in the attached schedule. Present your electronic identity credentials and electronic key to the screening officer upon arrival.]
[Again, congratulations, and we wish you a pleasant journey. We wish you success in bringing back the record of the Great Crusade for the Master of Mankind and the Regent.]
Lemuel pumped his fist. He looked towards the void.
"Marika! I will find a way among the Thousand Sons. Wait for me!"
At the same moment Lemuel Gaumon, through his arduous efforts, secured his place as a remembrancer with the Thousand Sons, the luxurious shuttle of Remembrancer Petronella Vivar, also from Nordafrik Conclaves, descended onto the flight deck of the Shadow's Sovereignty.
Petronella carried the blood of House Carpinus of Cairo, one of the most powerful families in Terra.
Her lineage far outranked the Sanga lord; she could freely choose any Legion she wished.
Her choice was Nareth and the Shadows of Order.
Her shuttle, modified from an Astartes pattern, was far more comfortable and luxurious than standard models, spacious enough to hold her personal belongings.
Her olive-skinned arms rested upon a maple desk. Her father had told her it was an heirloom, a gift from the Emperor himself to her great-great-grandmother, in honor of the grand oath at Urar.
Before she had departed from the Cairo spaceport, her father had given her the desk.
Countless Rogue Traders had vied to help her, so her shuttle had needed only three transfers to reach its destination.
Petronella's red lips parted, inhaling elegantly.
Though her family could secure her a position with any Legion, that was all.
Her noble birth did not guarantee she would get everything she wanted, including her goal in becoming a remembrancer, foregoing her role as House Carpinus's representative at court: to write Lord Nareth's biography.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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