I asked the same thing myself, once we were back aboard the Andronius! [ That response seems to restore a measure of Lucius' good moodβor perhaps they simple are turning toward a punchline Lucius enjoys. Either way, a grin splits across his face again, sharp and feral.
Still, the next words from his mouth aren't quite so exciting, so he settles back against the pillows beneath his body with a click of his tongue. The tips of his claws tap against stony skin, and his overlong tongue licks across his teeth. ]
It's as I said, Eridanus: Eidolon's damage was already done. He merely completed his task... falteringly, rather than making it the decisive triumph it ought to have been. The loyalist resistance still lay broken by the end of it, and that was enough for the Warmaster to call his forces back to their ships β where we all watched as whatever stragglers still stubbornly clung to life were rewarded for their valor by his fleet's world-ending munitions.
[ If Lucius were to speak of regrets, that he couldn't see the light leave Saul's eyes for himself is the only one. But that isn't the topic at hand, and instead, Lucius' lips light with a smile. This is it: the true point of this little anecdote. ]
And when Fulgrim's loyal sons came to stand in front of their primarch once more β well, you already know which one was praised for his cleverness and credited for cutting that conflict short, don't you?
[ Eridanus doesn't really need to answer, because of course the answer is him. He chuckles, the sound low and rich, as he recalls not Fulgrim's praise, but the envy of his brothers who had coveted it in his stead. ]
The next time I saw Lord Commander Eidolon, [ Lucius goes on, without pause, ] he had been tasked with escorting me to Bile's apothecarion. Imagine how he seethed, Eridanus! He had been upstaged by a twice-damned traitor β a pernicious stain on the III Legion's honor he would have left to die with the rest, had the decision been his to make. Of course, [ and his tone suddenly shift sly, ] he hadn't seemed so put out by our bargain when he thought the accolades would be his instead.
[ Lucius' arms pull around Eridanus' waist, drawing him upward. His head leans forward, eyes glittering. ]
That was the moment we both knew, soon, I would rise above him in the eyes of our gene-father.
no subject
Still, the next words from his mouth aren't quite so exciting, so he settles back against the pillows beneath his body with a click of his tongue. The tips of his claws tap against stony skin, and his overlong tongue licks across his teeth. ]
It's as I said, Eridanus: Eidolon's damage was already done. He merely completed his task... falteringly, rather than making it the decisive triumph it ought to have been. The loyalist resistance still lay broken by the end of it, and that was enough for the Warmaster to call his forces back to their ships β where we all watched as whatever stragglers still stubbornly clung to life were rewarded for their valor by his fleet's world-ending munitions.
[ If Lucius were to speak of regrets, that he couldn't see the light leave Saul's eyes for himself is the only one. But that isn't the topic at hand, and instead, Lucius' lips light with a smile. This is it: the true point of this little anecdote. ]
And when Fulgrim's loyal sons came to stand in front of their primarch once more β well, you already know which one was praised for his cleverness and credited for cutting that conflict short, don't you?
[ Eridanus doesn't really need to answer, because of course the answer is him. He chuckles, the sound low and rich, as he recalls not Fulgrim's praise, but the envy of his brothers who had coveted it in his stead. ]
The next time I saw Lord Commander Eidolon, [ Lucius goes on, without pause, ] he had been tasked with escorting me to Bile's apothecarion. Imagine how he seethed, Eridanus! He had been upstaged by a twice-damned traitor β a pernicious stain on the III Legion's honor he would have left to die with the rest, had the decision been his to make. Of course, [ and his tone suddenly shift sly, ] he hadn't seemed so put out by our bargain when he thought the accolades would be his instead.
[ Lucius' arms pull around Eridanus' waist, drawing him upward. His head leans forward, eyes glittering. ]
That was the moment we both knew, soon, I would rise above him in the eyes of our gene-father.