The defender's butte turned out to have a rather extensive cave system, which had been found as they were building up the fortifications on each side of the defile they were camped in. Corvus had suggested that they move their camp "indoors", leaving some scraps outside. They had settled into the cave system, with the meeting room as a chamber in the conjoining "hallway" between the two arms forming the defile.
Azkellon crossed to the cave area where the Raven Guard were staying. Both the Blood Angels and the Raven Guard were on rest periods, and this gave him the opportunity he had been waiting for: a chance to speak with Pryskella about how to be the perfect bodyguard to someone as headstrong as a son of the Emperor. He took his responsibility for the safety of Lord Sanguinius very seriously, but he wasn't blind. It was clear that Lord Sanguinius chaffed at Azkellon's tactics, and he wanted to make it better.
"Hello, cousin," Branne Nev said, appearing suddenly to Azkellon's left. "Looking for someone?"
"The Lady Pryskella if she's available," Azkellon said.
"Just Pryskella," Branne corrected quickly, glancing around as if he thought she'd get the drop on him. "Didn't Lord Sanguinius tell you that?"
"It may have been mentioned," Azkellon said slowly, also looking around.
"Agapito! Have you seen Pryskella?" Branne asked, spotting his brother.
"In the Nest," Agapito called back. It turned out that the cave the Raven Guard had chosen had two chambers, and Pryskella had claimed the smaller of the two.
"Thanks!" Branne said, leading Azkellon past the rest of the Raven Guard.
"Why call it the Nest?" Azkellon asked, he had always heard the Custodians referred to as lions, in comparison to the Space Marines being wolves.
"She's a Custodian, the Emperor's symbol is the aquila, they make nests," Branne said with a shrug. "She doesn't seem to mind."
Azkellon wasn't sure what exactly he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what he found. Pryskella has digging around in a large bag, purple, gold, and silver yarn were set off to one side. She became aware of their presence, and turned towards them holding four bundles of black yarn in various shades.
"Captain Branne, Captain Azkellon," she said happily, holding out the yarn. "Which one looks more like the Iron Hands shade of black?"
Branne looked at them carefully, even comparing them to his own armor for a moment, before shaking his head sadly.
"I'm sorry, Pryskella," he said finally. "I can't tell you, my creativity doesn't include colors."
"Azkellon?" she prompted. The Blood Angel was still assessing the yarn. He also looked at Branne's armor, then away from both yarn and Raven Guard. Then he selected the third one from him.
"This one, though I think it's not a perfect match," he said, turning it trying to get different lighting to make sure of his choice. "What is this for?"
"I'm going to make sleeves for Lord Manus," she said. "What are you doing here?"
"I... came to see you," Azkellon answered hesitantly. "However, if you're busy..."
"No, no," she said. "Sit, we can chat and I can get started. They won't take long."
"Alright," he said, finding no chairs he sat on the floor. She arranged her yarn, then sat as well. "What about the purple and gold? Those are Emperor's Children colors."
"They are," Pryskella acknowledged. "Gabriel Santar has been by, concerned about Lord Manus. Apparently one of his preferred ways of sorting out his emotions is by creation."
"I've heard that there are forges on many Iron Hands ships," Azkellon mused. "Lord Manus apparently likes to move his flag on a whim. But there isn't a forge down here."
"Indeed," Pryskella said. "As much as Lord Vulkan would love to make one."
"I think the whole Salamanders group would," Azkellon said, relaxing a bit. "I heard them complaining as I passed by their area."
"Ha! Try living next to them," Pryskella said. "Yarn crafts are easier to transport, so I can teach it to him. I figured something in Lord Fulgrim's colors might help give him inspiration. What did you want to see me for?"
"I wanted to ask you about being a bodyguard for someone as... headstrong as a son of the Emperor," Azkellon said.
"Ah," Pryskella said, nodding sagely. "I probably wasn't what you were expecting then."
"Not exactly," Azkellon said hesitantly. The Primarchs were all very firm that the Space Marines were to show respect to the Custodians in any situation.
"You haven't offended me," Pryskella said. "The Companions are the ones who are most often near the Emperor. As part of the Solar Watch, my sphere is a bit wider. It's just not feasible for us to all be near the Emperor, or even really focused on just his person when there's ten thousand of us. Despite the Captain-General's best efforts to at least rotate out who is among the Companions. It can be years between rotations."
"I see," Azkellon said. "I feel like it consumes me sometimes."
"Protecting Lord Sanguinius?" Prykella asked.
"Yes," Azkellon answered. "And I know it upsets him, but it is my duty. What am I if I'm not performing my duty?"
"You can't protect him from everything," Pryskella said. Azkellon snorted at this, he knew it was true. "Not just when he's with the Emperor, but because Lord Sanguinius has to still experience the universe and the situations he finds himself in."
"But he's so young!" Azkellon objected.
Pryskella fixed him with a firm look. "Do you know what one of the strangest things a Custodian has to do?"
"What?" Azkellon asked, confused about where this was going.
"Sometimes we have to remind people that the Emperor is not infallible," she said, answering her own question instead of his.
"I don't follow," Azkellon said, turning towards Branne, only to find him gone.
"I'm certain that the Emperor created the Lord Primarchs just as he meant to," Pryskella said. "However, the mistake in my eyes is that he made them as children. It's too easy to fall into forgetting that they are capable of many things."
"I...see," Azkellon said, clearly not understanding but trying to save face.
Pryskella chuckled gently. "If you think trying to keep on top of one of them is hard? Try nine of them. They're here, there, fighting each other, trying to not fight each other, arguing. They're little---"
****************************
"--Rugrats," Joysepha hissed under her breath, looking around the stand of trees near the World Eaters spot.
"Excuse me?" Kharn asked as he approached her.
"Nothing," Joysepha said quickly. It was a term she had heard the Emperor use a few times regarding the Primarchs, and Valdor still used it when he was frustrated with them. "I'm just trying to confirm that everyone is ready to move camp, and I can't find your genesire."
"Ah," Kharn said, then an idea struck him. "Lord Angron?"
"DO NOT CALL ME LORD!!!!!!!!!!!" Angron's screech caused Kharn and Joysepha to look up into the tree they were standing under.
"What are you doing up in a tree?" Kharn asked.
"Trying to get a different perspective," Angron said. "Could you step to the left, then a half step back?"
"Alright," Kharn said, sounding confused.
"Hold your arms out," Angron said. "Palms up please." Kharn did as asked, and then there was a crashing rustle of leaves followed by the metallic clang of Angron's armor smacking into Kharn's.
"Does that go for me as well?" Joysepha asked.
"I don't like anyone calling me that," Angron growled.
"Very well," she said. "Do you know where Lord Aurelian is?"
"TRUST FALL!!!!" Lorgar's voice came from the tree, followed by a louder crash.
"Throne!" Joysepha called, diving. She caught Lorgar and turned their fall into a smooth roll bringing her back to her feet.
"That was cool!" Lorgar said. Joysepha considered dropping him, but opted to set him on the ground.
"We should get going, Lord Aurelian," she said. "We're supposed to be moving out soon."
"I know," Lorgar said. "Narek and Argel Tal are capable of handling the prep. We didn't even unpack all that much."
"All set!" Lucius called to Fulgrim. "Anything else that needs special attention?"
"No," Fulgrim said. "As long as the brewing stand can't spill. I don't want to risk the possibility of not getting the same berries."
"I guess that makes sense," Lucius said. He wasn't quite sure what was going on with the brewing stand and the initiate from the Alpha Legion. He had heard something about dzira, but hadn't paid much attention.
"Though it might be nice if there are different berries at the new base site," Fulgrim continued, ignoring Lucius' confusion. "It could make a complimentary blend in the flavor."
"Is everyone ready?" Perturabo voxed.
"Ready," Fulgrim said. "Emperor's Children, to the front!"
****************************
"Alpha Legion, head out," Alpharius and Omegon called together.
It had been determined that the Emperor's Children would take the lead, and the Death Guard were in the rear. There wasn't a specific order for the rest of the Legions, they just fell in. Herzog was impressed with the unity of the Primarchs' voices. He wouldn't have known there were two just by listening.
"We've had a lot of practice," Omegon said, as if reading Herzog's mind.
"I see," he said.
The Night Lords let the Alpha Legion in front of them. It seemed that Konrad wanted to keep some separation between his Legion and Joysepha specifically. This didn't make sense to either Alpharius or Omegon as she didn't have any issues with them. Omegon looked at Alpharius, and they shrugged in unison.
After a while, Alpharius opened their private coded channel. "How do you think it's going?"
"Being revealed?" Omegon asked. "I don't know. We've really only revealed ourselves properly to eighteen people."
"True," Alpharius said. "It's not a lot of people, but it's a step in the right direction. You also denied being me to Fulgrim."
"Not a full reveal though," Omegon said. Suddenly a thought came to him. "Wait, what about Lion and Leman?"
"What about them?" Alpharius asked. "OOOOHHH! They might be able to tell you're a Primarch by scent. Freki and Geri as well. We smell the same, so it's not been a problem before."
"Yes," Omegon said. "I completely forgot about them. But they aren't supposed to be fully attacking us."
"Hopefully we can stay away from them," Alpharius said. "Focus on the Raven Guard or one of the other Legions."
"That's a good idea," Omegon said. "Stay with the pairings we had for the void battles. Not sure if the others will choose to stay with that."
"It makes sense," Alpharius said. "And we know that Ferrus probably wants to beat up Fulgrim."
"Ha! Rogal's probably raging internally about how to get Ferrus to not go charging off without support."
****************************
"Hello, Pryskella," Ferrus said, hearing the sound of the Custodian's footsteps.
"Is now a good time?" she asked, holding her bag of supplies.
"As good a time as any," Ferrus said. "What are we going to make?"
"I see Santar talked to you," she said. "It'll just be something simple."
"How simple?" he asked, then hesitated. He had the same fine motor skills as the others, but was always nervous about trying new things that involved dexterity.
"I was thinking squares," she said calmly. "Lord Fulgrim likes to cook from the rumors that run around the Tower."
"He does," Ferrus giggled a little. "But what do crochet squares have to do with that?"
"Potholders and washcloths," Pryskella said. "Let's start."
"What colors do you have?" he asked. "Is purple in there?"
"Of course," she said. "I also brought the sleeves you requested."
"Oh! Thanks!" Ferrus said. "Hopefully this comes out alright, and we can see about... facing Fulgrim."
"We don't have to do that right away," she said gently. "He's had time to think about this as well. There's a possibility that he has something for you as well."
"That's not really Fulgrim's way," Ferrus said doubtfully.
Pryskella demonstrated how to start a square. After getting Ferrus started she carefully restarted her project, instead of a square she made a circle. They worked in near silence for a bit. Other than Ferrus growling a bit as his project started to curl.
"Don't be so angry with the yarn, Lord Manus," Pryskella said gently. "Focus on keeping the stitches the same size, it helps with the curling."
"I'll try," Ferrus grumbled.
"May I ask you something, Lord Manus?" Pryskella said after awhile.
"Yes?" he asked, though he had a suspicion of what it would be.
"When you requested I make the sleeves, you said it was to possibly go out of the camp and see Lord Fulgrim," she started. "Why not gloves? It wouldn't have taken me a little bit longer."
Ferrus sighed, it was exactly what he had thought. He lowered his project, looking at his hands, holding his left hand up a bit. "I... Gloves are a problem for me."
"Because of the necrodermis?" she asked.
Ferrus nodded. "It feels like I'm always wearing gloves, something over my hands. Ones I can never take off."
"I see," Pryskella said. Valdor was sore about the accident for years, so it wasn't something that was discussed often among the Custodians.
"What are you making?" Ferrus asked, turning the subject away from his hands. It wasn't something he liked to talk about either.
"It's a surprise," Pryskella said, with a wry gleam in her eye.
****************************
"Warsmith! I have it!" one of the Iron Warriors called out. "A way of communicating with the Legion!"
"Excellent!" Dantioch said. "What is it?"
"A carrier wave," the Iron Warrior said. "On one of the defense's open channels."
"We won't be able to get instructions," one of the others objected.
"But it's better than nothing," the first one said.
"Agreed," Dantioch said firmly. "We can report, and continue with the standing orders we were given before heading out."
"Right," the other Iron Warriors said in unison.
****************************
"They found it," Alexus Pollux reported to Iron Father Wayland.
"Took them long enough," Wayland chuckled. "I'll tell Lord Manus."
"Can we eavesdrop?" Pollux asked.
"Of course," Wayland called back, already heading out.
****************************
"Listen up, initiates!" Alpharius called. "Perturabo finally got a report from our little spies."
"Oh?" Chathyn said questioningly.
"Yes," Omegon said. "It's not a lot, but it's something."
"Is it far?" Qayle asked.
"Not really," Alpharius replied. "Though Rogal's made it as much like home as he possibly can."
"Earthworks," Omegon clarified when the initiates looked at their Primarchs in confusion.
"I didn't think the Imperial Palace didn't have much in the way of earthworks," Dynat mused.
"Not obvious ones," Alpharius said. "But there's several layers of defenses, and it would be easy to add earthworks with some warning."
"I see," Dynat said. Omegon noted that for once it actually seemed sincere. He found that it was a rare thing.
"There it is," Alpharius said. "Right where Rogal said it would be. Omegon, you should probably check on Fulgrim when we've sorted camp out."
"Agreed," Omegon said. "He's been doing alright, but this makes things feel more immediate. I'm sure Lucius and Tarvitz will appreciate it as well, even if they don't know that I'm a Primarch."
"About that," Alpharius said hesitantly. "I won't be mad if you reveal yourself to Fulgrim."
"I don't think this is the right time for that," Omegon said. "Let's get him and Ferrus patched up before we drop more bombs. Besides, with the current narrative, he won't believe me."
The forest ended, and everyone could see Rogal's Butte. It looked imposing from this angle, standing over the last of the trees. It turned out that the original camp wasn't actually all that far, but wasn't suitable to be an actual siege.
"Do we know how far up they are, lords?" Herzog asked.
"They aren't really up," Omegon answered. "At least not from what the Warsmith knows. He and his group are kept under close watch, so there's a possibility that Sanguinius and Corvus are up higher."
"Why Lord Corax?" Martreus asked.
"He has his flight pack," Alpharius said. "He loves flying almost as much as Sanguinius does."
****************************
"They're here," Corvus reported.
"Good," Vulkan said. "Maybe Rogal can chill for a bit."
"Not a chance," Corvus replied. "Now the pressure's on."
"What about...?" the Lion asked.
"Ferrus?" Roboute filled in.
"Yes," the Lion said. "Do we know what happened with Pryskella?"
"Things went well," Pryskella said, causing the Primarchs to look at them. Corvus shot a look at the Lion, who shrugged when he caught it. He had sensed her, but hadn't decided to announce it.
"I'll be alright," Ferrus said. "At least for now. I don't know about what will happen when we actually face each other."
"Then we should plan," Rogal said. "Having something to focus on will help."
"Maybe," Ferrus said doubtfully. "We don't think alike, and sometimes I can be a bit closer to Angron than you."
“Even Angron can be directed,” Rogal said simply. “Shall we?”
“Agreed,” Roboute said.
****************************
“Frederick?” Fulgrim asked, spotting the Alpha Legion initiate. “Is that you?”
“It is,” Omegon said. “Did everything make it here?”
“Yes,” Fulgrim chuckled. “It all made it here, and I was able to find some more berries on the way.”
“I did as well,” Omegon said, opening some pouches on his belt. “Also got a few other berries that the auspex says are safe.”
“Oooh,” Fulgrim said, looking at the blue berries mixed with the purple ones from earlier. “Let me try one.”
“Here,” Omegon said, tossing one to his brother.
“Tasty,” Fulgrim said, then tossed one of the purple ones in his mouth as well. “Oh, that’s a good mix. This is a great idea.”
“We should get started then,” Omegon said. “I don’t think Angron will want to wait too long before starting a fight with the other side.”
“What do you think of Rogal’s Butte?” Fulgrim asked as he led the way through the Emperor’s Children camp. Omegon found it a bit chaotic, the Alpha Legion kept their camp regimented, if it weren't for the colors, it could almost be mistaken for an Ultramarine camp. The Emperor’s Children in contrast, had tents scattered everywhere. There was almost no sense of organization, just putting things where it felt right.
“It fits with what we were taught about him,” Omegon said, turning his attention to answering Fulgrim’s question. “Solid, defensible, easy to fortify…”
“Stony,” Fulgrim added, causing Omegon to giggle.
“There’s some grass, and I think that’s a tree up there,” he said, pointing to what could graciously be called a tree. "Though I’m surprised that they don’t have any patrols in here. They knew we were in the forest.”
“And there’s the Lion’s love of trees to consider,” Fulgrim mused. “But I believe that Rogal pulled them back, making sure everyone’s together before the siege.”
“That makes sense,” Omegon said. “At least it lets us work on this without being caught by anyone from the other side.”
“And they can’t find it before we’re ready,” Fulgrim said. “Rogal will want all of them bottled up in there. Leman’s probably driving him mad. Sanguinius too, come to think of it.”
“Do you think we can get in?” Omegon asked. “Before the war games are over?”
“I don’t know,” Fulgrim said, giving the butte a long look. “It depends on how united each side can stay. Both sides have at least one with a short fuse. Lorgar seems to be getting a better grasp of Angron’s mind, which is helpful. Ferrus though…”
“Reigning him is usually your job,” Omegon said quietly. “But you’re also the one he’s angry with. That makes him less predictable, and harder for Rogal to control.”
“Yes,” Fulgrim said. “We very rarely fight like this, and he’s never been this angry at me for this long before.”
“It’ll be alright, Fulgrim,” Omegon said sincerely. It disturbed him a bit to see Fulgrim so out of sorts. “Maybe the siege will be a good thing.”
“How so?” Fulgrim asked, looking at him askance.
“It’ll get the anger out of Ferrus’ system,” Omegon said. “You guys fight, and then you can both talk it out.”
“Perhaps on that second part,” Fulgrim said. “I know that the first part will happen. Unless Vulkan sits on him to keep him from getting to me.”
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