"Hello, Magnus."
The sufferer stared blankly at the speaker, his voice trembling. "Ru—Russ?!"
"Yes, it's me. Been well? To be honest, seeing you like this makes me truly happy."
Vulkan sighed, raised a hand to stop Leman Russ from trying to push his way to the very front of the crowd, then restrained him with both arms. "Be quiet for a while, Russ. You can mock him later, or the two of you can mock each other. I know what you did on Prospero."
Russ curled his lip, then spoke quietly from within Vulkan's iron arms. "You think I wanted to do that? I had no choice, Vulkan. I was born a butcher's blade. I resisted, but that spear would always come back."
The Lord of the Fire Drakes did not answer his brother again. He merely stayed at the rear of the group and kept silent. But the sufferer stood rooted to the spot as if struck by lightning, his voice almost a shriek. "Vulkan?!"
"Are—you all right?" he asked, trembling. "Is this some new torment, or have I finally gone completely mad? Did Father send you to take me back for judgment?"
"Neither, Magnus."
Robert Guilliman stepped forward. "He is fine, but that has nothing to do with you."
"Please, speak to him a little more politely, all right, Robert?"
The Khan, his eyes closed, asked softly. The sufferer looked over in disbelief. Only now did he realize the Khan had arrived. Surprise flashed across his face and vanished, replaced by a dense panic and an inability to face him.
"You, you know, Jaghatai?"
"I know everything you did, Magnus."
The Chogorian answered softly, "But I am neither judge nor executioner. There is only one person here who can judge your crimes and pass sentence."
At that, the