‘It is,’ agreed Guilliman. ‘Ultramar is important for all sorts of reasons. But we must take politics into account, and politics do not speak the same language as logic. There are those who use my desire to save Ultramar as a weapon against me, naming it a sign of favouritism for my own people. Terra seethes with discontent still. The agents of the enemy are everywhere. The greed of humanity is not restricted to the dead league of Sotha, but is found wherever mankind goes. Avarice clouds men’s vision, it makes them blind to anything but the short term and their own gain.

‘The Council Exterra does what it can to refute these claims, but its members are not the High Lords, and even its existence is another fact used to prove my desire to become Emperor. The politicians in the Imperial Palace call them lapdogs. There has been rebellion on Terra while we fight for survival,’ he said, referring to a plot of several deposed and new High Lords to usurp him. Guilliman glanced at his gene-son. ‘I have limited time to save the Imperium from the external threats of Chaos and xenos before the whole rotten structure implodes. I must be triumphant here. The heart must be torn from Mortarion’s efforts. The crossing of the Attilan Gap to Imperium Nihilus cannot be delayed any longer. Abaddon pushes hard at the Nachmund Gauntlet and around the remains of the Cadian Gate. Marneus Calgar must return to Vigilus soon. I have been here too long. No doubt this is part of the Warmaster’s plan. He strikes at what I hold dear to distract me, and I am ashamed to say it has worked.’

‘Do you believe Mortarion is working with the Warmaster?’

Guilliman let out a bark of mirthless laughter. ‘He does no bidding but his own. This is not the Heresy. There is no central command, only the whim of madness. No, Mortarion only wishes to humble me. He will care nothing for Abaddon, but his actions play into other plans. He is unaware that by following his supposedly indomitable will he is merely the puppet of others, like all the followers of Chaos. He has been manipulated into this. I need a quick solution. I need to know what is happening on Iax before we attack, and I need to know now. I am in some peril. I cannot go in blindly.’

‘Is that why you are going to speak with the inquisitor’s slave?’

Guilliman’s mouth set. ‘We come to the crux of our disagreement. You disapprove. That is why I knew you would come.’

‘Why did you not tell me?’