"I'll take good care of it for you, Sir." Astanphaeus's hand trembled as he took the sword, his serpentine-snout mumbling apologies even though this same guard had taken this weapon from him many times.
"See that you do," Abaddon growled. He resented the fact the Emperor ordered his generals be disarmed each time they stepped foot into his palace, a security measure he had never demanded before his return. The pulse rifle, the grenades? Those Abaddon gave up willingly, but without his sword he felt naked.
"The scanner, Sir?" Astanphaeus gestured with his short serpentine arms to a machine which looked out of place in the otherwise ornate entrance to the Eternal Emperor's palace.
Abaddon stared in the viewing port while an infra-red scanner photographed his pupils and measured how long i
