The glaring sunlight passed through the vast crystal dome, filtered into a soft golden radiance that spilled over the meticulously tended royal gardens.
This was the most closely guarded sanctuary at the heart of the palace. Every blade of grass and every tree was tended by the Imperium's finest master gardeners, with exquisite artistry and solemn grandeur.
The Emperor and Lorgar Aurelian, the supreme ruler of the Imperium of Man and his genetic son, walked side by side along a winding flagstone path.
Lorgar followed silently half a step behind the Emperor, his mind racing as he assessed his situation and every possible direction their conversation might take.
His keen gaze seemed to be admiring the exotic flowers and plants around them, but in truth, it captured every detail of the shadows and colonnades like the most precise scanner.
He could clearly sense several obscure yet powerful presences lurking behind seemingly deserted pillars and among the trees.
They were the Emperor's personal guards, silent and unseen, yet poised like blades ready to strike.
The two finally stopped in a clearing at the center of the gardens. A huge, austere stone table stood there, laden with rare fruits from across the galaxy, their surfaces gleaming with a lustrous sheen.
The Emperor stopped before the stone table, turned, and looked calmly at Lorgar.
Merely being held beneath that gaze made Lorgar feel an invisible pressure envelop his entire body, as vast as a sea of stars.
The immense psychic energy within him, enough to make mortals tremble and xenos cower, seemed to become a guttering candle in the wind, insignificant and utterly defenseless. This was an absolute disparity in the very order of their existence.
"Lorgar," the Emperor began, his voice steady, yet carrying a force that struck straight to the heart.