The Last Wall by David Annandale

Author:David Annandale
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2015-12-28T12:40:16+00:00

Thirteen

Terra – the Imperial Palace

Juskina Tull had a view of the Fields of Winged Victory from her quarters. The armourglass window stretched across the entire width of the reception chamber. The room was the largest of her suite, occupying half of the top floor of the Pharos Tower. The size was not an indulgence. Nor was its collection of tapestries that draped the opposite wall. This display, drawn from holdings of works from across the Imperium, changed daily. A necessary ritual. The furniture underwent a similar change. There was always a large dining table, and seats for dozens. It was the individual identities of the items that altered.

Sometimes Tull took an active part in the selections of the day. Sometimes she left it to the serfs. What was important was the display. Any guest would see the riches of Imperial trade, and the vast reach of the Chartist fleet. Repeat guests witnessed ever greater wealth through perpetual variety. The more important the visitors, the more often they came, and the more they would be dizzied by the unending parade.

The symbolic, Tull understood, was not weaker than the real. The symbolic shaped the real. In the right hands, it was a weapon. Some of the other High Lords grasped the principle. Mesring certainly did. But his view was blinkered. He couldn’t see beyond the icons. He could only understand symbols that derived their potency through connection to the God-Emperor.

Then there was Lansung. A hopeless case. He could see the symbolic value in military action. He couldn’t imagine the reverse.

‘Gazing upon your good work?’ the Lord High Admiral asked.

Tull turned away from the window. She nodded at Georg Steinert, her majordomo. He withdrew.

‘I was,’ she said to Lansung.

‘Proud of yourself, aren’t you.’

‘Proud of us all. This is a great moment.’

He snorted. ‘Well, you can enjoy it without me.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I won’t have any part of the deployment.’

‘The Autocephalax Eternal…’

‘It will remain on station.’

‘You realise what that will look like.’ She was pleased that she answered without pause, as if his decision made no difference. Perhaps it didn’t.

‘Yes.’ The exhaustion in that single syllable was immense. At some point, Lansung appeared to have crossed the line between humiliation and apathy.

‘You’re a coward,’ Tull said, making sure Lansung understood what was heading his way.

‘I’m not here to posture,’ he said.

‘I know you’re not. I’m telling you simple truths. If you back out of the Proletarian Crusade, I’ll destroy you.’

‘Threats now.’

‘Just the truth. Like I said.’

Lansung shrugged. ‘Threats,’ he repeated. ‘Empty ones.’

‘Is that a dare?’ she asked.

He shook his head. ‘Just the truth, since that’s what we’re speaking. You won’t destroy me. The orks will take care of that when they arrive. I’ll outlive your fleet of fools, though. I notice that you’re not accompanying them.’

‘I’m not a military commander.’

‘No. You most certainly are not.’

She smiled. ‘I sense there is a point you’re making, Admiral.’

He gave her a hard, tired stare. ‘I’ve already made it.’ He turned to go.

‘You know I will destroy you,’ she said.

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