Being pulled from the front lines had been the Emperor’s reward all those years ago. That and the various alchemies that keep me tottering on well past my prime. Gods, even the scars from that last horror have faded away! ‘No-one who’s grown up amidst scrolls and books can write of the world,’ Kellanved had told him once, ‘which is why I’m appointing you Imperial Historian, soldier.’ ‘Emperor, I cannot read or write.’ ‘An unsullied mind. Good. Toc the Elder will be teaching you over the next six months – he’s another soldier with a brain. Six months, mind. No more than that.’ ‘Emperor, it
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