本章概述：

????????????伊莎萊被做了記號。

????????????In which Isarae is marked.

?

正文：

空氣中彌漫著緊張的氣氛。

在亞歷莎完成為了準(zhǔn)備和她的姐妹們見面的儀式步驟時，我能感覺到它在亞歷莎的全身嗡嗡作響。她跪在書房的地板上，嘴唇在輕聲祈禱中移動著，我花了點(diǎn)時間環(huán)顧我們的小居所。

出乎我的意料，我感到了一絲遺憾。

也許這僅僅只是我對自身的情緒的新一輪調(diào)整，但我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己對我們將離開這個小家而感到后悔，因為在我的心中，它是屬于我們的。

我的，和亞歷莎的。

這里已經(jīng)是我們的家了。在這里我們學(xué)會了互相信任，度過了許多個交談、爭吵，或單純存在于這里的日日夜夜。我悲傷地回望我們的臥室，輕聲嘆息。我不禁回想起亞歷莎溫暖而安全地躺在我的臂彎間，在我以擁抱阻隔她的夢魘時蜷在我身邊的每一個夜晚。

甚至在那個時候，我就已經(jīng)愛上了她。事實(shí)上，我愛上亞歷莎已經(jīng)有一段時間了。起初，她只不過是我度過最后的時日用于寵幸的消遣，就像收養(yǎng)一只流浪狗一樣，但她很快就變得遠(yuǎn)不止于此。

如果說她的靈魂的滋味與我一開始的興起毫無關(guān)系，那將是一個糟糕的謊言，而的確，也許她一開始就讓我上癮，作為我在這一生中沉迷的無數(shù)的惡習(xí)之一。

但現(xiàn)在，她遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不僅是這樣。

“伊莎萊？”

“嗯？”我轉(zhuǎn)身看向亞歷莎，她正在跪著的地方抬頭好奇地看著我?！霸趺戳?，吾愛？”

“我正要問你這個呢?！眮啔v莎回答道。

“沒什么，”我說?！拔抑皇窃诓榭次覀兊淖√帯蚁脒@是我們最后一次看到它了，對吧？”

亞歷莎皺起了眉頭?！拔矣X得是的，我還沒想過這一點(diǎn)?！?/p>

“我不覺得你的帝國的武裝力量會允許我們回到這里，”我說，指了指房間。“你覺得呢？”

“我也不這么認(rèn)為，”亞歷莎嘆息著起身，花了點(diǎn)時間環(huán)顧四周。“真是可惜……我在這里過得愈發(fā)舒適，這里幾乎開始感覺上像是家了。”

“我們會找到另一個的，”我向她保證，走進(jìn)了些并將我的額頭貼在她的額頭上?！安贿^我肯定會想念這個浴池的。”

亞歷莎柔和地輕笑起來，然后向前傾身，刮蹭著我們的嘴唇。

“我也一樣，”她贊同道?！暗視鼞涯钅菑埓??！?/p>

“你們帝國的要塞里沒有床嗎？”我抬起眼眸問道，得到了亞歷莎的一個白眼。

“它當(dāng)然有，”她回答?！暗h(yuǎn)沒有這么舒適，也明顯更不……寬敞?！?/p>

“這么說我們很幸運(yùn)了，”我摩挲著她光滑的臉頰，享受著她微微的顫抖，“我只需要很小的空間來照顧你，Cre’yth?！?/p>

“雖說聽上去還不錯，‘萊……”亞歷莎話音漸微，然后嘆了口氣?！罢埪犖业闹笓]吧，吾愛，”她抬起一只手，輕輕地?fù)嵩谖业哪橆a上?！八齻儠胍闼溃粌艋?、被焚燒，而我不想給她們?nèi)魏芜@么做的借口，因為一旦我們給了的話她們就會照單收下?！?/p>

“我知道，”我說?！拔蚁嘈拍?，亞歷莎。”

“沒有壓力嗎？”她帶著虛弱的微笑問道。

“完全沒有?！蔽腋┥硐蚯?，調(diào)皮地在她的鼻子上親了下?！艾F(xiàn)在，我們該怎么演這出戲？”

亞歷桑德拉的五官像鋼鐵一樣嚴(yán)肅了下來，我則發(fā)現(xiàn)自己不討厭她堅定的表情。它在某些方面十分迷人，也在一些方面令人回味。

“帝國是一柄直刺向前的利刃，”她聲明道，“而我們必須也是如此……不能有陰謀詭計，不能有耍花招的跡象，也不能有‘靈族伎倆’，也就是說我必須全權(quán)掌控這一切?！?/p>

“掌控我，你是說，”我說道，亞歷莎做了個鬼臉。

“確實(shí)，”她終于回答道。“掌控你。”

她臉上的表情告訴我她不喜歡這個前景。我知道，她即便在現(xiàn)在也在為那時——我于下面的廣場上與她的姐妹們激戰(zhàn)之時——要奪走我的生命的決定而備受煎熬。我也知道，她仍然不信任自己，但我很清楚，無論她缺乏何種信任和信心都無所謂。

我們面前只有一條道路可走，這意味著她必須要么接受我無論她有何種選項都相信她——甚至一部分也是由于她們——的事實(shí)，要么她就會把我們都打入煉獄。

‘沒有壓力’，的確如此。

“我已經(jīng)給了你我的全部，Cre’yth，”我最終說道，然后把手滑過她的手掌，將我們的手指纏繞在一起?！拔覍⑽业囊磺卸冀挥枘悖覀儗⒁赐?，要么共死，可無論如何……”

“我們都會在一起，”亞歷莎說，隨后靠了過來。

然后停下了。

自從亞歷莎失明起，她經(jīng)常讓我主導(dǎo)我們的戀情。好幾次撞到了鼻子以及錯估了距離讓她羞紅了臉，也逗樂了我。盡管她暫時有著視野，她判斷三維空間的能力也還是被她實(shí)際上遠(yuǎn)不止于此的感知力所阻礙了。

于是我回應(yīng)了她無聲的請求，與她的嘴唇相觸，她斜靠過來如以往一樣熱情地吻著。這個吻柔軟而持久，在舌頭碰上時我把她拉得更進(jìn)一步。她隨著放松下來在我的懷里顫抖著，我則盡全力承受她的雙肩上傳來的壓力，哪怕只有一小會兒。

隨著我們分開，她若有所思地用手指撫摸我的額頭，然后調(diào)皮地笑了笑。

“我想要你跪下，‘萊，”她突然說，隨即轉(zhuǎn)身開始搗鼓其中一包補(bǔ)給品。

“為什么？”我揚(yáng)起眉毛，看著她在翻找時隨意地將一些東西扔過肩膀。

“相信我！”她說話時帶著一絲沮喪，隨后又輕輕發(fā)出得意的聲音，從背包上站起來轉(zhuǎn)向我?！肮蛳戮褪橇耍萃?！”

我舉起雙手假裝投降，然后跪了下來，而亞歷莎將幾個帶塞的陶瓷瓶放在了附近的柜臺上，將它們打開并開始將其中的內(nèi)容物倒出來，并在其中一個柜臺上的小盤子里將之混合。這項工作花了些許時間，她在轉(zhuǎn)向我時用手指蘸著盤子里的混合物，臉上帶著莊重的神情。

“科摩羅的伊莎萊呵，”亞歷莎吟誦道，“汝為異形，以汝褻瀆的生理，汝即是罪?！?/p>

我揚(yáng)起了一邊的眉毛，但保持著沉默，與此同時她彎曲手指，從盤子里舀起了一點(diǎn)又黑又黏的物質(zhì)，向我伸出她的手。

“然神皇豈非全能？祂的靈魂之至圣光輝，又即是星炬之光，豈不能遠(yuǎn)達(dá)任一立于人類領(lǐng)地內(nèi)之個體？”亞歷莎的語氣中高漲的熱情在我的心底激起了某樣事物，我本能地低下了頭?！叭隇楫愋危欢谏窕手庵腥旰螄L不能助力于至圣！”

“帝皇庇佑?！蔽也恢獮槭裁锤杏X必須要說出來，但還是說了出口。

“抬起頭來，惡毒之女呵，仔細(xì)看著祂的光輝！”亞歷莎下令道，我惟命是從，抬起頭來，她放下手，開始仔細(xì)地把那黏稠的混合物涂抹在我的臉上。

她著甲的手指帶著死記硬背般的儀式性的高效拂過我的額頭和雙眼周圍，以及我的臉頰下方。

“作為我的部隊內(nèi)最后一名代理上級修女，我現(xiàn)在宣布：汝已于帝國律法之下，依據(jù)國教之權(quán)威，獲得了許可！”

我的嘴角浮現(xiàn)起一抹微笑。亞歷莎可能比我之前想的還要寬容一些。獲得許可是她之前就提到過的，照我的推斷這是一個非人存在能與人類一同以公民的形式活動的唯一方法。同樣的，這在我看來是一種罕見的現(xiàn)象，雖說我不知道帝國會不會承認(rèn)亞歷莎的行為是合法的，但我們也確實(shí)可以利用能夠取得的每一個籌碼。

亞歷莎用一張白布擦去了手指上的混合物，與此同時面帶微笑。那是種極度溫柔的表情，即便她的眼神并沒有完全聚焦在我的身上。

“這看起來不錯，”亞歷莎說?！拔沂侵改莻€記號?！?/p>

我轉(zhuǎn)向了墻上的一面光滑的裝飾鏡，從中看回來的那張臉幾乎無法辨認(rèn)。

我的頭發(fā)用我平時使用的戰(zhàn)辮束在腦后，但亞歷莎和我對我的盔甲進(jìn)行了一些裝飾性的改動：在胸前壓印上帝國鷹徽，并用柔和的金色金屬染料為黑色的邊緣鍍金。它很容易碎裂，但一旦我們能進(jìn)入真正的護(hù)甲維護(hù)設(shè)施——亞歷莎向我保證隱修院里就有，它就能被正確地施加上去。

我能否利用這些設(shè)施則是另一個問題，相比亞歷莎我對此遠(yuǎn)沒有那么樂觀。亞歷莎堅信她能夠說服她的姐妹們，而雖說我對帝國信條和被叫作神皇的光輝存在的新生信仰十分強(qiáng)烈，但考慮到他的凡人仆從我還是不太確定。

狂熱有很多種屬性，而只有其中的一小部分是積極的。

不過那個記號……我還挺喜歡的。

在我的臉上蒼白的皮膚上，亞歷莎涂上了一只羽翼修長的帝國天鷹。兩個頭位于我的眉間，雙翼越過我的雙眼撲扇在面頰上，而兩只利爪則終止于我的嘴的兩邊。

這當(dāng)然是相當(dāng)驚人的。

“現(xiàn)在去哪里呢，吾愛？”我問道。

亞歷莎微笑起來。

“我們?nèi)ミ@一切開始的地方，我想，”她回答道，指了指窗戶?！皬V場是一片開闊地，如果我們站在能被輕松看見的地方，我的姐妹們會感覺更輕松些?！?/p>

“我們就等著她們來找我們嗎？”我對此揚(yáng)起一側(cè)的眉毛?！翱蓜e忘了，我的方舟世界表親無疑也在路上?！?/p>

“我知道，”亞歷莎說?！暗覀儽仨毜皿w地演這出戲，而當(dāng)我看向廣場時，我發(fā)自內(nèi)心地知道這條路是正確的?！彼谖业募绨蛏洗钌弦恢皇?，然后微笑著用一根手指向上摩挲著我的嘴唇，“神皇會指引我，‘萊，而我應(yīng)當(dāng)遵循祂給予我的道路?！?/p>

“帝皇庇佑，”我念誦道。放聲說出這句話有一種奇怪的寬慰感，而現(xiàn)在我能明白為什么人類經(jīng)常說這句話了。

“來吧，我的心，”亞歷莎與我手指相覆。

帶上了我們能輕松攜帶的補(bǔ)給品，我們牽著手走下了尖塔，我的抓握引導(dǎo)著她走下這片毀掉的棲息地上碎石密布的危險臺階。

我讓感官保持著警覺，把它們調(diào)整到適配最輕微的動作的輕響。我并不確定自己能在其中一個表親降臨前看見或者聽見他。他們其中的一些神殿戰(zhàn)士是高超的刺客，不亞于可怖的曼德拉，但我的大部分方舟世界親族都偏向于古老的戰(zhàn)斗方式，那時我們會高舉巫師之刃穿過戰(zhàn)場，口中吶喊著戰(zhàn)吼。

那是更好的時代，我想。在靈族之隕前，在巨蛇降臨前。

不過……我不會用我和亞歷莎在一起的時光換取在那黃金時代度過的任何時間。

“亞歷莎？”隨著我們到達(dá)了敞開的門廳和尖塔的出口時，我握緊了她的手，她則轉(zhuǎn)頭詫異地看著我。

“你感覺到什么了嗎，‘萊？”亞歷莎停了下來，她的手指緊緊地擰在了我的手指上?！坝惺裁床粚诺膯?？”

“沒什么不對勁的，Cre’yth，我只是……”

我突發(fā)奇想地松開了亞歷莎的手，把她抱在懷里，把她拉進(jìn)了一個持久的深吻，她也帶著熱切的情感作出了回應(yīng)。她的嘴以那種熟悉的可愛風(fēng)格在我的嘴邊移動，我們的舌頭在親密的舞蹈中相糾纏。我的一部分盼望著她此時沒有穿著她的盔甲。對于我們或許會在亞歷莎的姐妹們手中走向死亡我并不抱幻想，而我想要在那一刻來臨前再一次感受她的柔軟。

但我不能貪心。

我已經(jīng)在過去的幾十個晝夜中被給予了太多，遠(yuǎn)多于我有權(quán)觸及的，更別說有權(quán)擁有的了?？墒牵疫€是希望神皇不會吝惜我們可能的最后一吻所耽誤的時間。

亞歷莎滿臉通紅、氣喘吁吁地離開了我，但她正微笑著。

“我們會沒事的，伊莎萊，”亞歷莎說，就好像她準(zhǔn)確地知道我腦中所想似的。“我保證過……還記得嗎？”

“帝皇庇佑。”

我們異口同聲地說出這句話，我點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭，然后把雙唇貼上她的額頭，接過她的手，又一次點(diǎn)頭。

“那就一起走向我們的命運(yùn)吧，”我說。

我引領(lǐng)著亞歷莎走到外面，直到我們到達(dá)了廣場的中心，在此我的相當(dāng)一部分的人生被以最奇異的方式所決定了。就在這里我見到了自己會無可救藥地愛上的女人。就在這里我遇見了我的救贖的星星之火。就在這里，為了亞歷莎的笑容，我放下了劍刃并接受死亡的陰影和狂笑的神明的饑渴。

就在這里，亞歷莎面對了她的信仰危機(jī)，要么保護(hù)我要么保護(hù)她的姐妹們。

就在這里，她以某種方式兼顧了兩者。

因此，這趟奇異之旅的下一步應(yīng)當(dāng)在這里被決定，這也是再合適不過的了。

“滿懷恩典的神皇呵，”亞歷莎開口道，“請在這審判之時眷顧禰的女兒，愿照耀著扭曲的亞空間的光輝也能照耀我。”

在亞歷莎說出最后一個字的那一刻，她把手伸進(jìn)盔甲的領(lǐng)口，在護(hù)頸下滑動手指，重新激活了信標(biāo)轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)器。

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原文：

There was a tension in the air.

I could feel it thrumming through Alessa’s entire body as she went through the ritual steps of preparing herself to meet with her sisters. Her lips moved in quiet prayer as she knelt on the floor of the den, and I took a moment to look around our small set of quarters.

To my surprise, I felt a touch of regret.

Perhaps it was simply my new attunement to my own emotions, but I found myself regretful that we would be leaving this little home of ours because, in my mind, it was ours.

Mine and Alessa’s.

This had been our home. It was where we had learned to trust one another, where we had spent so many days and nights talking, sparring, and simply?being. I glanced dolefully back at our bedroom and sighed quietly. I could not help but recall all the nights spent with Alessa lying warm and safe in my arms, curled against me as I held her nightmares at bay with my embrace.

I had loved her even then, I realised. I had loved Alessa for some time, actually. At first, she was no more than an amusement for me to pass the remaining few days of my life doting on, not unlike taking in a stray, but she had so quickly become far more than that.

It would be a poor lie to say the flavor of her soul had had nothing to do with my initial interest, and yes, perhaps she had first begun as an addiction, one of the many,?many?vices I’d indulged over my life.

But now she was so much more.

“Isarae?”

“Hm?” I turned to regard Alessa who was looking up at me curiously from where she knelt. “What’s wrong, my love?”

“I was about to ask you that,” Alessa replied.

“It is nothing,” I said. “I was simply looking over our quarters… I suppose it is the last we will see of them, yes?”

Alessa frowned. “I suppose so, I hadn’t thought of that.”

“I do not think your Imperial soldiery will permit us to return here,” I said, gesturing around the room. “Do you?”

“No, I don’t.” Alessa sighed and stood, taking a moment to look around for herself. “A shame… I was growing comfortable here, and it was almost starting to feel like home.”

“We will find another home,” I assured her, stepping closer and pressing my forehead to hers. “But I will certainly miss the bath.”

Alessa chuckled softly before leaning in a little and brushing her lips over mine.

“As will I,” she agreed. “But I will miss the bed more.”

“Your Imperial fortress does not have beds?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, earning a roll of the eyes from Alessa.

“It does,” she replied. “But they are far less comfortable and significantly less… roomy.”

“Then we are fortunate,” I traced my fingers along her bare cheeks, and relished her little shiver, “that I need very little room to tend to you,?Cre’yth.”

“As lovely as that sounds, ‘Rae…” Alessa trailed off and sighed. “Please follow my lead in this, my love,” she raised a hand and pressed it to my cheek gently. “They will want you dead, purged and burned, and I do not wish to give them any excuse to do so because if we do they will?take?it.”

“I know,” I said. “I trust you, Alessa.”

“No pressure then?” She asked with a wan little smile.

“None at all.” I leaned in and playfully pecked a kiss onto her nose. “Now, how shall we play this?”

Alessandra’s features hardened to something like steel, and I found I did not dislike the look of determination she wore. There was something quite charming about it, and something evocative, too.

“The Imperium is a straight-thrust blade,” she declared, “and we must be the same… there can be no machinations, no hint of subterfuge, and no ‘Eldar trickery’, which means I must have full control over this.”

“Over me, you mean,” I said, and Alessa grimaced.

“Yes,” she replied finally. “Over you.”

The look on her face told me she did not relish the prospect. I know that, even now, she tormented herself over her decision to take my life when I fought with her sisters on the plaza below. I know, too, that she still did not trust herself, but it was clear to me that whatever trust and confidence she lacked, it would not matter.

We had only one path open to us, which meant that she had to either accept that I trusted her regardless of her choices and even, in part, because of them, or she would damn us both to purgation.

‘No pressure’ indeed.

“I have given you my all,?Cre’yth,” I said finally before sliding my palms over hers and twining our fingers together. “I yield my everything to your hands, we shall stand together, or die together, but in all things…”

“We will be together,” Alessa said, then leaned in.

And paused.

Since the loss of her sight, Alessa more often than not let me take the lead in our affections. A few too many bumped noses and misjudged distances had left her red-faced and me amused, if slightly bruised. Despite her tentative vision, her ability to judge three dimensions was hampered by her effectively being able to perceive far more than that.

So I answered her silent request, meeting her lips with mine, and she leaned in to kiss me as warmly as ever she did. It was soft and insistent, and I held her close to me as our tongues met. She shivered in my arms as she relaxed, and I did my best to take the strain of what was to come from her shoulders if only for a few moments.

As we parted, she traced her fingers across my brow with a thoughtful expression, then smiled mischievously.

“I’m going to need you to kneel, ‘Rae,” she said suddenly before turning away to start rooting through one of the packs of supplies.

“Why?” I raised an eyebrow as she tossed a few things haphazardly over her shoulder in her search.?

“Trust me!” She said with a hint of frustration before making a small noise of triumph, rising from over the pack, and turning back to me. “Just kneel, please!”

I held up my hands in mock surrender and got down on my knees as Alessa set a few stoppered ceramic bottles on the counter nearby, uncorked them, and began upending and mixing their contents in a small plate from one of the counters. It was the work of a few moments, and when she turned to me, she did so with a look of solemnity on her face as she dipped her finger into the mixture on the plate.

“Isarae of Commorragh,” Alessa intoned, “thou art xeno and by thy unholy biology thou art sin.”

I raised an eyebrow but remained silent as she curled her fingers and scooped something black and viscous from the plate and extended her hand towards me.

“Yet is the Emperor who is God not mighty? Does the light most divine which shines from His soul and is the Astronomicon not reach all who stand within the demesne of Mankind?” Alessa was speaking with a powerful fervor that stoked something in my heart, and on instinct, I bowed my head. “Thou art xeno, but in the light of the God-Emperor thou cans’t be of service most holy!”

“The Emperor protects.” I don’t know why I felt compelled to say it, but the words came anyway.

“Raise thy head, O’ daughter of wickedness, and look well upon His light!” Alessa commanded and I obeyed, raising my head as she lowered her hand, and began to carefully daub the viscous mixture across my face.

Her armoured fingers traced my brow and around my eyes, and under my cheeks with a rote and ritual efficiency.

“As the last of my command and acting Sister Superior, I declare thee now to be Sanctioned under Imperial law by Ecclesiarchal authority!”

A smile found its way across my lips. Alessa was perhaps a little more conniving than I had given her credit for. Sanctioning was something she had mentioned prior, and from what I gathered it was the only way for a non-human to operate in a civil manner alongside humans. Likewise, it struck me as a rare phenomenon, and while I had no idea whether or not the Imperials would recognise Alessa’s act as legitimate, it was also true that we could use every edge we could get.

Alessa wiped her fingers clean of the mix on a white cloth, and as she did she smiled. It was a soft, featherlight expression, even if her eyes weren’t fully fixed on me.

“It looks good,” Alessa said. “The mark, I mean.”

I turn to one of the smooth, decorative mirrors on the wall, and the face that looks back is borderline unrecognizable.

My hair was tied back in my usual war braid, but Alessa and I had performed some cosmetic alterations to my armor; embossing the Imperial Eagle over my chest and gilding the black edges with a shade of soft gold metallic dye. It would chip easily, but it could be properly applied once we had access to real armour facilities, which she assured me the Priory possessed.

Whether or not I would be able to avail myself of those facilities was another matter, and one about which I was considerably less sanguine than Alessa was. Alessa was absolute in her certainty that she would be able to sway her sisters, and while my fledgling faith in the words of the Imperial Creed and in the luminous being called the God-Emperor was strong, I was not quite as certain regarding his mortal servants.

Zeal had many attributes and only a handful of them were positive.

The mark though… I liked the mark.

Across the pale skin of my face, Alessa had daubed a long-feathered Imperial Aquila. The twin heads rested on my brow, and the wings crossed my eyes and fanned over my cheeks, while the two claws terminated at either side of my mouth.

It was certainly striking.

“Where to now, my love?” I asked.

Alessa smiled.

“We go to where this began, I think,” she replied, gesturing towards the window. “The plaza is open ground, and my sisters will feel more comfortable if we step into a place where they can see us easily.”

“Do we simply wait for them to find us?” I raised an eyebrow at that. “Do not forget, my Craftworld cousins are doubtless on their way.”

“I am aware,” Alessa said. “But we must play this correctly, and when I look upon the plaza I know in my heart it is the correct path.” She laid a hand on my shoulder, then reached up and trailed a single finger across my lips as she smiled. “The God-Emperor guides me, ‘Rae, and I shall follow the path He has given me.”

“The Emperor protects,” I intoned. There was something strangely comforting in saying the phrase aloud, and now I could understand why the humans said it so often.

“Come, my heart.” Alessa laced her fingers in mine.

Taking what supplies we could easily carry, we descended the spire hand-in-hand, with my grip guiding her down the treacherous and rubble-strewn steps of the ruined habitat.?

I kept my senses alert and tuned for the slightest whisper of suspicious movement. I was not certain I would see or hear one of my cousins before they were upon us. Some of their Shrine warriors were masterful assassins, no less than the terrible Mandrake, but most of my Craftworld kin preferred the old ways of battle, when we would surge across the field with witchblades held aloft and cries of battle on our lips.

Those were better times, I supposed. Before the Fall, and before the Serpent.

And yet… I would not trade my time with Alessa for any amount of time in that Golden Age.

“Alessa?” I tightened my grip on her hand as we reached the open foyer and exit of the spire, and she turned her head to regard me quizzically.

“Did you sense something, ‘Rae?” Alessa paused, and her fingers screwed fast around mine. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,?Cre’yth,?I just…”

On a whim, I released Alessa’s hand, took her in my arms, and pulled her into a long, deep kiss, which she returned with eager affection. Her mouth moved across mine in that lovely, familiar manner, and our tongues tangled in their intimate dance. A part of me wished she was not wearing her armour for this. I had no illusions that we both might be walking into death at the hands of Alessa’s sisters, and I wanted to feel her softness once more before that came.

But I could not be greedy.

I had already been given so much more in the last few dozen cycles than I had any right to have touched, much less held. Still, I hoped the God-Emperor would not begrudge me delaying us for one potentially final kiss.

Alessa drew away from me breathless and flushed, but smiling.

“We will be alright, Isarae,” Alessa said, as if she knew precisely the thoughts that were in my head. “I promise… remember?”

“The Emperor protects.”

We spoke the words in unison, and I nodded, then pressed my lips to her forehead, took her hand, and nodded.

“Let us go to our fate, then,” I said.

I guided Alessa outside until we reached the center of the plaza where so much of my life had been decided in the strangest manner. It was here that I had seen the woman I would fall hopelessly in love with. It was here that I would encounter the first embers of my salvation. It was here that I would lay my blade upon the ground and accept the shadow of death and the hunger of the laughing gods for the sake of Alessa’s smile.

It was here that Alessa had faced her crisis of faith, to protect me or to protect her sisters. It was here that she had chosen, in a way, to do both.

So it is fitting that it should be?here?that the next step in this strange journey would be decided.

“God-Emperor full of grace,” Alessa began, “watch over thy daughter in this time of trial, and may the light which illuminates the torment of the Warp also illuminate me.”

As the final words left her lips, Alessa reached past the collar of her armour, slipped her fingers beneath the gorget, and reactivated the signum transponder.