Rejoice.
God walks among us.
- Lorgar Aurelian, before his fall
Three years had passed since that day.
I still could not remember what had happened that day.
I married Adriana.
In barely three years, she and I had five children.
First came twins: a son and a daughter.
The second time, triplets: two sons and a daughter.
Two of my sons were personally taken away by a Custodian Shield-Captain.
"I hereby conscript these children into the Custodian Guard."
I wanted to object, but my wife was so delighted that I could not stop it.
A year after they took the children away, the Shield-Captain himself told me that my children possessed exceptional aptitude and would certainly become Custodian Guards.
That put my mind at ease.
And even now, my wife was pregnant.
"Bearing and raising children is a duty bestowed upon us by His Majesty the Emperor."
That was what my wife had said at our secret wedding.
The God-Emperor had commanded her to bear and raise my children.
My children would serve His Majesty the Emperor for generation after generation.
Let no other bloodline be mixed with that of my children.
May His Majesty the Emperor bless the children yet to be born.
When they were barely a week old, my children could speak, though it was close to babbling.
They could walk at three months, and after a year had passed, they had grown to resemble three-year-olds.
Mother and my in-laws adored and loved the children dearly.
"Haa..."
Good food every day, a good workplace.
And a family I loved. My heart was at peace.
Though I had been more or less forced to offer two sons to His Majesty the Emperor, my family was overjoyed by it.
And I was granted the special privilege of checking on how my children were doing, so there was no real problem.
...
"Everything is good, but what is this nagging unease?"
I had no way of learning any news from outside.
All I knew was what the Primarch, who occasionally came to visit me, had told me: that he had found one of his brothers.
It was probably Lion El'Jonson, the Primarch whose whereabouts I had known.
After drinking a glass of premium Old Poison—a common liquor drunk throughout the Imperium—I stroked my wife's swollen belly and fell asleep.
"Remarkable."
Radian's children possessed spiritual qualities surpassing those of any other candidates for the Custodian Guard.
Every year, millions of noble infants were offered up to become Custodian Guards, and of them, only two or three would become Custodians, worthy to join the God-Emperor's Ten Thousand.
This year, no fewer than ten new warriors were expected. It could only be a cause for joy.
To save those ten, 3.6 million newborns had been sacrificed, but from the Imperium's perspective, it was no great matter.
Yet with so many children, an enormous budget and tremendous technological capability were required.
The two children possessed such extraordinary talent that the Shield-Captain almost wanted to propose taking every male child from Radian's household except one.
"I shall submit the proposal to His Majesty the Emperor."
At present, all but the essential personnel of the Ten Thousand were being led by the Lord Commander and the Warmaster on crusades across the Imperium.
The attrition in manpower was severe, and as demand for Custodian Guards exploded throughout the Imperium, the children of nobles were being conscripted not only from Terra, but from all across Segmentum Solar.
Even so, the losses exceeded all replacements.
Only two children had been requisitioned so far, but those two would surely become perfect warriors.
The eyes of the Custodian Guard turned toward Radian's family.
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