(Extra holiday updates start tomorrow. Thanks to Shushan Kuangke e for the tip.)
Deep within the Imperial Palace on Holy Terra, its grandeur surpassed the palaces of any mortal empire. Rather than a building, it was a three-dimensional labyrinth fashioned from stone, metal, oaths, and power.
Towering vaults vanished above the artificial daylight, and the long corridors seemed endless, lined with silent reliefs and sealed, enormous doors of unknown purpose.
The air carried a constant, purified chill, along with the heavy silence found only in places steeped in absolute power and history.
Lorgar, Angron, and Curze walked through this silent labyrinth.
Their footsteps echoed through the empty corridors, breaking some established order, yet seeming utterly insignificant.
They had no clear destination. They were merely wandering aimlessly.
"Do we have a plan, Lorgar?"
Angron broke the silence between them with his customary, undisguised bluntness.
Curze said nothing. Like a living shadow, he glided soundlessly along Lorgar's other side.
Most of his pale face lay hidden in shadow. Only the occasional passing light illuminated his tightly pressed, bloodless lips and those black eyes that seemed to absorb all light.
He seemed to be listening, or perhaps merely enjoying the vast silence that so perfectly suited his nature.
Between them, Lorgar carried himself with relative ease.
His hands hung loosely at his sides. At Angron's question, he tilted his head slightly, as though considering it, or simply putting his thoughts in order.
"Hmm, nothing in particular," he said slowly, his voice clear and steady in the corridor. "I was just thinking that perhaps we could visit Brother Turing."
"Brother Turing?" Angron scoffed, the sound rather harsh in the empty hallway. "That poor bastard's still tucked away in the deepest part of the Imperial Palace Black Cells. I hear he's soaking in a vat