They had been walking in darkness for the last few hundred meters. The tunnel was treacherous under foot and the going was slow. Ankle breaking piles of rubble and hidden potholes waited for every step. Simone heard people stumble more then once. Her new armor wasn't making things easy for her either. The armor was larger and much more ornate then her more utilitarian armor. And the suit was shining gold. Paint a big target on my chest, she thought wryly. But wasn't that exactly what she was playing at here? Maybe it was a good thing to have.
She had been thinking about him since they left. Not the Emperor or his grace like she should have been meditating on, but Gaius. She half hoped he would no longer be interested in her now that he had… had her. But she knew this was foolish wishful thinking. Now, every time she tried to focus her mind on the Golden Throne his face filled her memory. She concentrated on the back of Malachi's armor and tried to put Gaius out of her mind.
Katherine gave Rhoda a quick hand motion and the Palatine nodded in response. The Canoness slowed her walking pace so she drifted back from the forward echelon and into the center of the column as it marched. Before and after the column, the tunnel stretched out into blackness. The darkness was oppressive, like it had weight that pressed down upon them. Near the center of the marching order she came upon the Inquisitional Retinue. Katherine raised her eyebrow in wry amusement as she saw Simone in the gold armor of a Palatine. She was clearly uncomfortable.
"Inquisitor?" She said very quietly, though her voice carried alarmingly through the tunnel, echoing against the walls.
Simone looked up from her contemplation of Malachi's back. "Mother Superior?" As she spoke Malachi widen the distance between them to allow at least the semblance of a private conversation.
"I'm sorry we didn't have time to properly train you," Katherine apologized. "For the armor...you're moving rather stiffly. When the bolts start flying, you'll thank me."
"I don't doubt it." She gave the armor a long-suffering look. "Its just a bit more then I'm use to." Then she laughed dryly, "Just another reason I would have made a horrible Sororita I suppose."
"We all have our places in the Emperor's plan," The Canoness nodded. "Your service to him as an Inquisitor has been invaluable...and desperately needed now. We need to talk about what is going to happen."
Simone nodded watching were she put her feet. "Yes, I suppose we should." She looked up again, "I won't lie to you Katherine, I am not looking forward to this. Gaius... well, you are no stranger to his power."
"Yes...though things have changed considerably since I faced him on Kali V," She frowned. "Together, we will stand against him...but you must be ready. And to that end, I have brought something for you."
"Please tell me it's not more armor..."
Katherine snorted, "I was thinking a shield, decorated with a nice Lion Rampant..." She pantomimed at the air with her hands like a lion .
"Emperor save me..." Simone muttered and considered poking Malachi in the back when she saw his head duck as he tried not to laugh. Then she shrugged, "Maybe we should have requisitioned one of the tanks and called it good." She shook her head, "I apologize. I shouldn't be frivolous." The thin woman rolled her shoulders trying to settle the armor. "What have you brought me, Katherine?"
"A weapon," She procured from a small pack at her hip a small bundle wrapped in red velvet. It was no more than a foot long. "This belongs to Inquisitor Blavatski. She's a Puritan...a non-psychic...so she cannot use it. But you can."
Simone eyed the velvet. At first, she felt her stomach clench at the mention of her new found powers. But then she sighed. There was no use denying them and continuing to fight them was foolish. They were counting on her power to bring Gaius to heel. She waited while Katherine unwrapped the bundle.
