"That was what happened. By the time I found Vulkan, he was nothing more than a charred husk without a trace of life. I had not meant to conceal it; the circumstances simply had not been suitable."
Deep within the secret base, Guilliman sat upon a steel throne built for his size, while Lion sat across from him. His brother glared at him with an unpleasant expression, venting his anger through heavy snorts.
"That is no excuse. Even if he was dead, you should have told me." Lion remained dissatisfied.
He had already harbored deep suspicions toward Guilliman and had expected this less-than-honest brother to be concealing certain things.
He simply had not expected Guilliman to be hiding news of another brother's death.
"Didn't you conceal Curze's whereabouts as well? Wise and mighty Lion, if Konrad had not jumped from that damned drop pod onto Macragge, were you planning to hide it forever?"
Guilliman refused to yield, seizing on the matter of Curze.
"That is different."
"How is it different?"
After trading barbs for a while, the two chose to fall silent in mutual understanding. There was no point in continuing the argument.
If both sides had made mistakes, then it was as though neither had made one.
"By the way, how did you find this place? Do you have an intelligence network on my world as well?" Guilliman was extremely wary, having noticed the question of why Lion had appeared here.
By all rights, he should not have noticed this base.
The Lion merely tapped his temple with one finger and said proudly, "Instinct. My instincts told me there was a secret here." Then he countered, "And you? How did you arrive at precisely the right moment and force me to halt with a single shot?"
Roboute drew in