Voices echoed through the halls, harmonious, usually comforting but now they sounded wrong, hollow, speared off untrained tongues. Hearing them only heightened his anxiety. He felt his stomach churning as bile rose in his throat. The Primarch was taking too long. How long had he been here? Reaching up, he rubbed his neck. It didn't help. In fact, it made his throat feel tighter. He groaned as he quickly looked around.

  Emrys Durand puked in a vase outside of Primarch Aldren's office. His stomach, which hadn't been that full to begin with, was now empty. Even so, his body continued to try to expel every ounce of acid from his stomach. His eyes were squeezed shut. He should have pushed his glasses up on his head but hadn't thought about it in time. They would need to be cleaned.

  Truthfully, he didn't need the glasses anymore. This awakening of whatever he was had fixed his vision. It didn't fix his anxiety though. In fact, he felt like it made it worse. He stood back up, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his new golden colored robe. Emrys hated this. He wanted to be out there trying to find Solenne. It had been almost twelve hours since she had healed him. He needed to apologize or to tell her to run from the Veil, from Caelora. A fate in the Wilds was better than what he was going to have to do to her.

  The voices reached a crescendo. He covered his ears. It was all so wrong. How had he never noticed it before? He'd been listening to the chants and songs of the Auerate his entire life. Hell he used to find new ones for the Archons to include in sermons but now it all felt wrong. Emrys opened his mouth, started to sing along with the voices, and immediately stopped as he felt the reverb of the secondary "voice" that came with speaking Seraphic. He wasn't sure what was worse, feeling it in his mouth or hearing it in his head. It was like there was someone else in there.

  The door opened. Emrys straightened up. He watched Primarch Aldren walk out. The leader of the Candescent Order looked older somehow, less intimidating, than Emrys remembered. Had he always been like that and he just never noticed?

  "Hello Emrys. Come inside. We have a lot to speak about." Aldren nodded towards Emrys.

  The two walked into his office side by side. Emrys hadn't really been in Aldren's office before. He'd glanced inside from time to time but never stepped fully in like this. Looking around, he was surprised by how simple it was. The walls were a soft white with golden filigree in intricate patterns along them. There were windows along one wall with dark blue curtains that hung to the floor. On pedestals between each window was a bust of a former Primarch. They looked much colder than their painting in the hallway.

  Aldren's desk was large and made of some sort of dark wood. It felt almost out of place with how light the room was, even with the curtains. Two chairs sat in front of it. Aldren walked around to sit in the chair behind the desk. He looked like a king on a throne. Emrys sat in one of the chairs. He sat up straight and looked ahead. That nauseous feeling was coming back. He glanced around. There was a vase across the room with flowers in it. Surely that would hold whatever little bile he had left to offer if he did throw up again.

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  Silence permeated the already stuffy office. Emrys was listening to the sound of his own breathing, his heartbeat, and he realized in that moment he hated the silence. At one point in his life, silence had been his ever present companion. Then he was chosen, sent to Solenne, and silence was never at his side again. There was always noise in teh shops from Solenne, customers, Gwen running around. Thinking of Gwen made him wince. He hoped Aldren didn't notice. Even the inn was full of noise and life. This office was just as lifeless has his flat had felt.

  The Primarch cleared his throat. Both men shifted in their seats. "I've been informed you don't recall much of what happened due to the fever." It was a statement. "I need you to tell me what you do remember."

  "You will not tell him about me."

  Emrys' head twitched slightly. He did not like that one bit. So much for him thinking the voice had just been a delusion leftover from the fever after he'd awoken. It was what roused him back to the land of the living and told him that Aldren was looking for him. Now he was being told not to speak about it. Alright. Emrys would keep it to himself.

  "I remember getting back to my flat. I was sick with Bloom, I think." He still hadn't had that fully confirmed but there was nothing else it could have been. "I somewhat remember Solenne touching me and telling me things were going to be okay."

  Aldren was watching him. He could see the anticipation on the man's face. There was something else there too that Emrys couldn't place. It was as if he truly needed confirmation of what Solenne was. Why? Emrys knew why Gwen – could he still call that thing Gwen anymore? – needed Solenne but what was Aldren after?

  Oh.

  "She..." Emrys could lie. He knew he could. Aldren would have to believe him if he told the lie. He was the Seraphim of Caelora now. Neither the Primarch nor the Archons could challenge what he said. Then again, lying would taint his Light. He had never lied, not directly, not in a way that would weigh on his soul. Lying about what Solenne was would be the heaviest thing he'd ever shouldered. He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and spoke on the exhale.

  "She is Marked. She healed my Bloom using unsanctioned seraphic magic."

  The older man sat back with a genuine look of surprise. Did he think Emrys wouldn't tell him the truth? Was this some sort of test? Bile rose in this throat. Emrys swallowed hard. He put a hand on his knee to keep his leg from bouncing.

  "You do know what this means, Emrys?" Aldren asked almost cautiously.

  Emrys could only nod. What else was he supposed to do? He glanced at the vase. Throwing up was still an option. He returned his attention to Aldren.

  "What happens now?" He didn't really want to know. Whatever was going to happen, he would be powerless to stop it.

  Aldren sat back in his chair. He folded his hands in his lap. His eyes met Emrys'. The two stared at one another as the silence started to creep slowly back in. This felt like another test, another bid for power, something that Emrys was not used to. He hated it.

  "A Pale assassin will be dispatched. She will be brought here and sacrificed for the Lustration to purify the land and this time we pray that Bloom will be eradicated entirely."

  Emrys hated that more. He couldn't stop himself as he shot up out of his chair. Aldren was on his feet next, hand reaching for his hip where his scabbard set. Emrys ran over to the vase, ripped the flowers out, and emptied what was left in his stomach into the ceramic pot.