'You will kneel, Sister!' The voice of the Canoness hammered about the chamber like a cannon shot, and by sheer force it pushed Miriya to her knees once more. Galatea's expression hardened. 'My Sisters are the most precious resource of my order, and I will not squander them to appease your displeasure, my lord priest.’

'Then what will you do, Sister Galatea?' He demanded.

Finally, the Canoness looked away. 'I will give you your sacrifice.’ She gestured to her aide, a veteran Sororitas. 'Sister Reiko. Summon Sister Iona.’

A gasp of surprise slipped from Portia's lips and Miriya shot her a look to silence her, but in truth, the Sister Superior was just as shocked to hear their errant squadmate's name spoken. From the dim shade of a sub-chancel, the woman called Reiko returned with Iona following behind. Her pale face looked down at the floor, her hair lank and unkempt. She seemed like a faint ghost of her former self, a faded copy worn thin through age and neglect.

In the aftermath of Vaun's escape, it was Isabel who had found lona alone in the cargo decks of th Mercutio. Her eyes were faraway and vacant, and th cool, intense will she had always shown in the Emperor's service was gone. Iona's physical injuries were slight, but her mental state... That was a raw, gaping wound, ragged and bleeding where the psyker had pillaged her mind to exercise his powers. It was not until much later that Miriya had understood what the witch had been doing when he casually despoiled Iona's psyche. Vaun had used her to test the gallows, and left her alive as a warning.

None of them had expected to see lona again. Her bouts of uncontrolled weeping and self-mutilation marked her as irreparably broken. Yet here she stood, still clad in her wargear. iVhat is this?' LaHayn asked. Tell him.’ said Galatea.

lona looked up and blinked. 'I... I am far from absolution. Lost to any exculpation. I offer myself to repentance.’

'No...' Miriya was surprised by the denial that fell from her mouth. At her side, Portia's hand flew to her lips. Only Cassandra dared to whisper the terrible truth that all of them suddenly realised. 'She is invoking the Oath of the Penitent...' lona shrugged off her red robe and let it drop to the stone floor in a heap. Behind her, Sister Reiko silently gathered it up, never once looking upon the other woman as she trembled.

'Before the Emperor I have sinned.’ Iona's voice found a brittle strength and swelled to fill the

chapel. 'Beyond forgiveness. Beyond forbearance.’ She blinked back tears. 'Beyond mercy.’

Miriya looked to the Canoness, a pleading expression on her face. Galatea gave her a tiny nod and the Celestians came to their feet, moving to surround lona. All of them knew the pattern of the ritual by heart.