The Lox Royal Palace on Olympia.
Perturabo strode through the archway, his mind flashing back to the first day he had been brought here to meet his adoptive father, Damekos.
At the center of the hall stood a bier, carved from stone according to Olympian tradition.
The coffin above the bier was made of fine crystal, smelted and worked into a material like glass panels.
Within it lay the body of Damekos, former tyrant of Lox and governor of Olympia, at rest.
Perturabo's boots made the floor creak as he placed a hand upon the coffin lid.
Damekos's body was waxen and shriveled, bearing no mechanical augmentations.
Perturabo drew a deep breath and gently closed his eyes. "Father."
"You never called him that while he was alive. Why call him that now?"
Perturabo looked toward the source of the aged voice. Calliphone sat upon the Lox throne between the twin god-kings.
His pupils narrowed. His clever, lively sister had become an ugly old woman.
"Sister."
"Now I am your sister, and he is your father?" The corner of Calliphone's mouth curled upward.
"Only rebellion can remind you that we are your family?"
Perturabo snorted. "Did you think I did not know? He had been plotting against me behind the scenes all along."
"The state Olympia is in today was caused by him."
"He never believed in the Imperium's dream, and I never believed he would be completely loyal."
Calliphone spoke. "You knew what he was doing, but you did not stop him."
"He was not a threat," Perturabo said.
"It was merely the posture he adopted. He could never give up being a strongman. He wanted to rule."
"This is your fault." Calliphone looked beyond the palace at the black smoke rising into the sky.
"You tacitly allowed him to