Contents
Chapter 45: The Apostate
Overview
Calvert enters the cell to taunt Hadrian and Valka, revealing his past with the Chantry’s Choir. He assaults Hadrian and nonlethally extracts genetic samples from both, citing Brethren’s order to keep them intact. Observed by Kharn Sagara via drone, the pair survive the humiliation as Valka tends Hadrian and steels their resolve.
Summary
Time blurs in the ever-lit, freezing cell as Hadrian and Valka struggle through their imprisonment. Hadrian’s sleep is tormented, but Brethren does not return. On a day beyond counting, Calvert arrives, cloaked over his metal frame and new taloned legs, a single blue-eyed drone hovering as watcher.
Calvert taunts them, hinting at his ability to override motor cortices and at past atrocities. He reveals he worked in the Emperor’s High College and researched for the Chantry’s Choir, though he was not a cathar. He claims the Master obeys Brethren’s command to keep the prisoners intact, then produces a padded box of ampules.
Hadrian seizes a moment to strike, landing an uppercut, but Calvert easily overpowers him. Pinning Hadrian with taloned foot and extending arm, Calvert collects a blood sample from Hadrian’s wounded cheek, threatening grotesque uses of their bodies and identities. He turns on Valka next, despite her defiance.
Calvert knocks Hadrian unconscious with a kick. When Hadrian wakes to pounding pain, Valka is nursing him and shows two blood-bright pinpricks on her neck, proof that Calvert harvested her genes as well. She has found bandages and treated Hadrian’s wrist where Calvert’s talons cut him.
As Hadrian reels from the assault, he fears what the renegade Choir researcher might create from their blood—slaves bound by genomic commands. Valka, steadier, reassures him that Brethren’s order shields them from worse for now. She comforts the concussed Hadrian, shares water, and they brace themselves against the cold and their helplessness.
Who Appears
- Hadrian MarloweNarrator-prisoner; attacks Calvert, is overpowered, blood-sampled, knocked unconscious; wakes concussed and wrestles with dread of genetic exploitation.
- Valka OnderraImprisoned scientist; defies Calvert, also blood-sampled; tends Hadrian’s injuries, provides calm reassurance, and maintains resolve.
- CalvertExalted chimera and former Choir researcher; taunts, assaults, and collects genetic samples under orders to keep prisoners intact.
- Kharn SagaraMaster of Vorgossos; observes via blue-eyed drone and restrains Calvert’s excesses by honoring Brethren’s directive.
- BrethrenBio-mechanical daimon; absent but its directive to keep Hadrian and Valka intact governs Calvert’s actions.