‘Both seem pleasant enough,’ said Felix, less angry now. ‘But neither of those things are worth much if they cannot be protected. Your entire realm is under threat. Mortarion’s hordes are not the only danger.’

Guilliman nodded. He was distracted. The running lights of voidships close by the Macragge’s Honour filled his eyes with stars. ‘What about the rest of the Eastern Tetra? Will you be able to bring it under our control?’

‘May I speak honestly?’

‘When have I ever asked that you do otherwise?’

‘It is a shambles,’ Felix said, and in remembering his tour of the worlds he was responsible for ruling, he tasted the primarch’s burden. ‘Nearly every planet is in disarray. Mortarion’s armies have not done much direct harm to the east, but the Sotharan League was hit hard by the tyranids, and there has been raiding by orks, and recently by the necrons. Human pirates are also a problem. But the hive fleets are the worst. There were a dozen inhabited worlds stripped to bedrock at least. I do not know how many unknown planets suffered the same fate. If the xenos were not rapacious enough, years of corruption have hollowed the old League out. I have not been to a single planet where the defences, or any other asset for that matter, military or other­wise, match the records. Tithes have been falsified. A significant proportion of sector finances have been embezzled. Much has been stolen, sometimes openly. They have no fear of Imperial authority there, but they will. I have begun an inquisition. Agents of the Ordo Hereticus and the Adeptus Arbites assist me. There will be executions. A great many.’

Guilliman’s face was unreadable, prompting Felix to apologise.

‘I am sorry, my lord, I do not have time to be gentle. Examples have to be made.’

The primarch shook his head. ‘No, no, you do right, the League was the worst of all political systems,’ said Guilliman. ‘Enough centralised power to embolden the elite, not enough to keep them in check. Untrammelled flow of coin amplifies greed. It allows acquisitiveness while enabling the shirking of responsibility, and so the weak suffer. It must be corrected with maximum prejudice. Again my errors confront me. I say once more that Ultramar should never have been divided.’

‘Things will change,’ said Felix. ‘The Sotharan League is no more. The populace will find direct rule by Ultramar a more just solution.’ He paused. ‘I have wondered what the Scythes of the Emperor were thinking, letting it get so bad.’

‘They had their own wars to fight,’ said Guilliman, ‘and they paid dearly to fulfil their duties. It was not their place to interfere with civilian governance. That too will change.’