Everqueen Reclamation - 64

Son, Brother, Primarch

Horus Lupercal wasn’t sure what to make of this business about finding his brothers.

When his father had initially explained his plans to find his siblings, to bring them home with Horus going along with him, he had been struck with a mixture of hesitation and excitement.

The only brother he had met before was Magnus, and Horus couldn't say he had been particularly impressed. Magnus was haughty and arrogant, and seemed to think of Horus as beneath him, which rankled.

Horus could not say he was sorry that they had only met once.

When they had set out on this expedition to gather his brothers, Horus had hoped fervently that his other siblings wouldn't be like Magnus.

And, he admitted somewhat grudgingly, the only one he had met so far was very much not like Magnus at all.

But Horus couldn't say that was good.

Leman was a wild thing, almost more animal than human. He growled and scowled and bit. He had bitten Horus! The Sixteenth Primarch frowned annoyedly at the memory, rubbing at his arm. It had healed quickly, but still.

Only Father could get Leman to behave like a civilized human being. And Father seemed more amused by Leman’s behaviour than anything, letting him run around like a wild dog, with a pair of Custodes following him around as his keepers.

It almost made Horus miss Magnus.

Almost. 

Leman might be savage and wild and annoying, but at least he couldn't make himself taller than Horus with a thought.

“I am trusting you to make a good impression on the Exodites below and connect with your brother, Horus,” The Emperor’s voice snapped Horus back to reality, where he was being dressed by the servants while the Emperor stood nearby.

“Of course, father,” Horus said obediently, trying not to come across as insulted that the Emperor thought he needed to be reminded of such. He had made a good impression on Cadaith and his warriors, hadn’t he? They had parted on good terms, at least, with Horus thanking the odd Eldar aristocrat for saving his life, and Cadaith praising Horus for his martial prowess.

“The Exodites of Laurelorn are a different breed than the Eldar of Iyanden that you have met before,” The Emperor continued. Horus fought the urge to fidget as the servants draped him in his formal dress uniform. It was modelled after his father’s, but with the black parts being white and the stylized eye that was the symbol of the Luna Falcons on his collar. “Their customs and culture are different, so be careful. Your experience with the Iyanden warhost should be useful to some extent, but the Exodites will not be the same.”

If Horus was being honest, he didn’t like the uniform very much. It was too tight and overly formal for his tastes.

But he didn’t dare to voice such thoughts to the Emperor after his father had had the uniform made for him.

“That said, you will not have to talk to them much,” The Emperor said. “You do not know Eltharin, and few of them know any human languages. Simply nod and smile, and stay with me. Try to connect with your new brother, show him the glory and promise of what we are doing, that his departure from this world is not a tragedy,  but an honour.”

“I will, father,” Horus promised as the servants stepped back, having finished their job.

Arion…Horus hoped the third of his brothers would be more tolerable than the last two.

“Excellent,” The Emperor gave him a warm but fleeting smile. “Come now, it is time.” 

They teleported down to the planet together, and for the first time, Horus Lupercal set foot on a fully living world.

He was immediately spellbound.

The sights before him were…breathtaking. There was no other word for it.

He had seen his father’s gardens, the carefully cultivated forests being restored on Terra.

But it couldn’t compare to the endless expanse of green in front of him. There was just so much. Rivers twisted through the forests, sparkling like liquid silver as they reflected the light of Laurelorn’s two moons.

And the sky! The sky was completely clear, without a hint of pollution in sight. There were a few clouds drifting by wistfully, but nothing that could obscure the fantastic vision of the two enormous moons glimmering in the sky.

Horus had had a taste of this, when he had conquered Luna, but he had not paid much attention to the sights. His focus had been on bringing the planetoid to compliance, not appreciating the fruits of his father and Isha’s terraforming.

But now…now he understood his father’s fixation on restoring Terra to its former glory, which he invested so much time and effort in; cleansing the atmosphere and recreating the flora and fauna that had been lost. Horus had not fully appreciated it before, but as he regarded Laurelon, he was struck by a deep regret that he had neglected to visit the wildlife sanctuaries that Isha had built for his father.

This was amazing.

They stood in a city, but it was not like any city that Horus had ever seen before, with roads made of branches, and houses growing out of trees. Lanterns in the shape of a crescent moon illuminated the city in silver light, simply hovering, made to float by some unseen force rather than being hung or fixed to anything.

The balcony they stood on was decorated with the same kind of lamp. It was covered by some kind of fur carpet, but Horus could tell that just like everything else, it had been grown out of the tree, not carved. 

But strangest of all were the people.

There were far more Eldar than Horus had ever seen, not enclosed in the alien, almost crystalline armour of the Iyandeni host, but wearing clothes that wouldn't have been out of place on humans. And they were just…milling about below. They were laughing and smiling, buying food from stalls, drinking and arguing, families everywhere.

Horus could not mistake them for human, not with the supernatural beauty, the pointed ears and the inhuman grace…but in that moment, he was struck by the fact that the crowds below seemed very human indeed.

“Welcome!” 

The Emperor and Horus turned to see Lady Isha coming out onto the balcony from inside the tree.

And for a moment, Horus was truly taken aback by the sight of her.

To him, Lady Isha was a melancholy, distant figure. She kept to herself, and rarely spoke to anyone who was not his father or the scientists in the Biotechnical Division. The way she had brushed him off when he had first tried to approach her had rankled at the time, but as Horus learned more about her, he had come to understand why she was so aloof.

It made sense, given what he knew of her life. Lady Isha had seen her people die, their empire burn, and she was nearly as old as his own father. And unlike the Emperor, she had not the power to single-handedly reunite and restore her people to their heights.

Of course she was sad.

But now, on a planet of her own people, surrounded by the Aeldari, Lady Isha practically glowed.

Her hair, which she usually let flow freely or simply tied back in a loose ponytail, had instead been done up and braided around her head like a crown. And her clothes were nothing like what Horus had seen her wear before, neither her usual garb of simple robes with a white lab coat on top nor the dress she wore for formal Imperial functions.

Instead, she wore a short blue dress that left her shoulders exposed, trimmed with green and silver threads woven to look like vines and flowers, decorated here and there with small white-gold gems.

But most of all, she was smiling broadly, exposing white teeth, and her green eyes sparkled with joy.

Lady Isha looked…happy, perhaps for the first time since Horus had met her.

“Your Majesty,” Isha curtsied to the Emperor, and then directed her smile at Horus, who, for the first time in a very long time, found himself flustered and at a loss for words. “Primarch Horus.”

“Lady Isha,” The Emperor nodded briskly. “Have the celebrations begun?”

“Almost, we were just waiting for you,” Isha replied, gesturing for them to follow her inside.

The inside of the tree-palace was as strange and fascinating as the outside, with high halls of wood that again gave the distinct impression of having been grown, not carved.

Though Horus did note that it looked as if it had all been a bit hastily rearranged recently, because while there were carvings and paintings on the walls, they all seemed to stop halfway, leaving the upper half of the walls oddly bare, for all that they looked as smooth and polished as everything else.

Given that the Eldar on average seemed taller than the average human, but not by that much, Horus wondered if the halls had been redone just now to accommodate him, his father and Lady Isha.

The carvings on the walls were in a strange script Horus had never seen and could not read - Eltharin, he assumed - but there were also drawings: warriors fighting monsters and gods reshaping the world.

Father had told Horus that the Eldar were a superstitious people, who still believed in their gods and spirits. Horus couldn't help but think it was rather silly, but Father also had been firm that the Imperial Truth was for humans only.

If the aliens wanted to believe in fairy tales, that was their choice, Horus supposed.

Another thing that puzzled Horus as they made their way through the structure was the lack of…modern amenities. Oh, everything was crafted to the highest standards, the envy of Terra's greatest artisans, but…there were no automated doors, no security cameras, or indeed any kind of security system that he could detect.

There wasn't even an elevator, only a long spiraling staircase down which Lady Isha led them. Descending it was no trial for a Primarch, of course, but it was still strange.

The royal palace of Laurelorn seemed like a supernaturally perfected version of a structure from the mid-late second millennium of Terra, rather than the creation of a race whose technology had once rivalled mankind at its peak.

Had the Eldar truly fallen so far from their glory days? 

Or perhaps they relied more strongly on their witchcraft, as a race of psykers. There was a sense of…something in the air. Something Horus couldn't identify, a strange atmosphere that was familiar but not quite.

Perhaps the Exodites had layered wards and enchantments around their palace rather than technology?

Still, it was a striking difference compared to the sophisticated technology the Iyandeni had demonstrated, especially the psychomatons.

A shiver went down Horus's spine at the memories of those relentless war machines, and the cool, methodical way in which they had carved through the hordes of Orks.

But there was nothing like that here on Laurelorn, which was all warm wood rather than cold crystal.

Father had been right, the people of Laurelorn were very different from the Iyandeni.

Finally, they arrived at the bottom of a staircase, where there were three people awaiting them.

One was an Eldar woman with pale skin and dark hair, and clouded, sightless eyes with a wooden circlet around her head, wearing a flowing green dress. Next to her was a taller woman with hair the colour of freshly fallen snow and yellow eyes, clad in ornate armour, with the bearing that reminded Horus of veteran Thunder Warriors, watching them carefully.

And finally, there was him.

He was nearly as tall as Horus, with tanned skin and wavy dark hair, his eyes a hazel brown. He wore a simple tunic with Eldar runes, and watched the Emperor and Horus uncertainly.

His brother, Arion.

The blind woman bowed at the waist, followed by her companion and then Arion. “Your Serenity, Your Majesty, Primarch Horus.”

Horus was briefly confused as he wondered who they were calling ‘Your Serenity’ before he realized the address must be directed at Lady Isha. It was a little insulting that she was addressed before father, but Horus told himself to ignore it. These weren't humans after all.

“Meril,” Lady Isha said, smiling warmly. “Time to begin then?” 

“Yes, we-”

But Horus ignored the discussion between the two women to approach his brother, whose eyebrows knitted together uncertainly at the sight of him.

“Arion!” Horus greeted warmly, clasping his brother's shoulder. “It's good to finally meet you. I am Horus.”

Some of Arion's hesitation melted away and he smiled back, if a little awkwardly. “Hello, Horus. It is good to meet you.”

Unlike the previous meetings with his brothers, this one was going to go well.

Horus would make sure of it.