‘Just words. Just words designed to confuse a grieving father!’

‘Sen Uru, stand down your troops. Stand them down until we can show you the evidence we have. Your grief and anger are real, but I swear to the God-Emperor Himself, I am not your true target.’ Chetta licked her lips. ‘I will come to you. I will come to you and place my safety in your hands, to show you this evidence myself.’

‘We will all come,’ Morandia said firmly. Jalamar started in apparent surprise, but didn’t raise his voice to argue. Ngiri nodded in agreement.

‘Very well. You wish me to humour you? I will humour you.’ A little of the raw emotion in Sen Uru’s voice vanished, although it was replaced by venom. ‘I trust you as much as I trust a naked blade in the hand of an assassin, Chetta. I will order my troops to stand down when I receive word that your transport has left the Brobantis palace. Should you deviate from your route, or I come to believe that you are trying to stall me, I shall rescind that order immediately.’

‘We shall leave as soon as is possible,’ Chetta said. She levered herself up off the obsidian throne, swearing silently at its creators as she did so. ‘Be ready for us.’

Descent Into Chaos

Descent Into Chaos

Ngiri’s gun-cutter rose smoothly off the landing pad, its powerful engines causing the body of the craft to vibrate as it climbed into the midnight sky under Jekri’s careful ministrations. Chetta watched from the flight deck as Brobantis Palace receded beneath her. She never got tired of the sight of it, ever since she’d first arrived here as a youth to meet her husband-to-be. She’d heard that some people experienced a sense of lessening when they saw their home getting smaller and smaller beneath them, but she never did. Probably because a Navigator palace could never really be described as ‘small’, whatever the context.

‘You are certain this is the best course of action?’ Ngiri asked from beside her. The inquisitor hadn’t removed her power armour, on the basis that the welcome they were expecting from Dukarr was no more certain than the welcome she’d been prepared for when she first set foot in Brobantis Palace with Kennevario Xudine.

‘I am,’ Chetta said, and was almost surprised to find that she was telling the truth. ‘We need Sen Uru to cooperate with us, or at the very least not to muddy the waters. We are not, by and large, a reckless people. Placing my safety in his hands should be a powerful indication of my sincerity, when we would normally deal with such matters at distance, or through intermediaries.’

Ngiri nodded. ‘And you prefer my craft to one drawn from your own household?’