2013 saw the release of Chris Wraight’s Horus Heresy audio drama The Sigillite, while 2016 sees its release in prose form as part of a week of Knights Errant short stories. Unlike the usual such stories this features not a Space Marine but a human – Captain Khalid Hassan of the Fourth Clandestine Orta, returned in shame from what he sees as the failure of his latest mission and brought before Malcador the Sigillite himself within the Imperial Palace on Terra. Unsettled by his opulent surroundings and the powerful presence of the Sigillite, Hassan gradually realises that he hasn’t been summoned for punishment, instead a different fate awaits him.
A nice mixture of gritty action scenes and peaceful conversation, mixing Hassan’s recollections of his mission in amongst his meeting with Malcador, this is a smart and well written story regardless of format. As usual Wraight manages to eke out every scrap of character, packing each scene with depth and interest, from the precision execution of Hassan’s mission to the real sense of wonder as he and Malcador pass through the Palace. Hassan is the classic straight-up career solider, bewildered by where he finds himself but determined to remain honest, while Malcador comes across as both terrifyingly powerful and hauntingly sad. There’s some of the most intriguing hints and foreshadowing yet, hidden away here within a gripping and fascinating story that fits nicely within the Knights Errant arc while standing as something enjoyably different.
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