At least, since his wife was the Emperor's daughter, he was effectively a half-son to the Emperor.
Rhodes smiled and hugged the Lion, wondering how the Lion would react if he knew Rhodes had taken the Warmaster's role he'd always coveted.
At that moment, the Lion's eyes narrowed again as he noticed the Goddess of Life, Isha, behind Rhodes—a member of the Eldar!
"Why is there a Xenos in the sacred Imperial Palace?" the Lion asked, staring at the Life Goddess.
Before he could finish, a golden beast dropped from above and flattened him, leaving him seeing stars.
"Did I not teach you basic manners? My guests in this palace are here by my invitation!" the Emperor chided.
The Life Goddess now played a special role—he was even hoping Rhodes might, like the Eldar God of War, make her part of humanity.
"Father! Didn't you always teach me to show no mercy to xenos, to wipe them out?" the Lion protested, climbing up, speechless.
That's the attitude you instilled in all the primarchs!
"This is the mighty Goddess of Life. She's helped humanity countless times over ten millennia, breaking Nurgle's plagues and protecting life across the galaxy.
Even your resurrection owes much to her help—so show some respect," the Emperor said.
"Brother! The Goddess has helped humanity a lot—she's now on our side, and we're allied with the Eldar. Your quick return to Terra was thanks to the Eldar webway," Guilliman added.
With the birth of Rhodes's divine child, a half-human, half-Eldar primarch, the alliance had grown even stronger.
As long as neither side betrays the other, this alliance could last forever!
"I see. Thank you, Lady Isha, for saving me—I was indeed rude," the Lion said.
"It's alright. I helped revive you not for the Emperor, but because Rhodes is my beloved, that's all," Isha said.
The Lion's eyes narrowed again—he usually narrowed them when he meant business.
She'd just said Rhodes was her beloved! But his brother had said Rhodes married the Emperor's daughter.
What a tangled mess! He'd just hugged Rhodes in greeting, but now his opinion dropped a notch.
This guy is involved with a xenos! Even if she's a goddess, she's still xenos!
But maybe it was understandable—Guilliman had said the alliance with the Eldar was real.
Maybe this new brother had no choice, a political marriage, perhaps.
From what he knew, the Life Goddess was over 60 million years old!
In seconds, the Lion's mind concocted a wild backstory. Primarchs' brains were fast, but that didn't always mean they were smart.. Dıscover more novels at 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝙣𝙚𝙩
"I'll leave you to it, then," Isha smiled, bowed, and left. Humans were proud, but the Eldar were no better. For both races to coexist, she'd have to keep working.
May her divine child truly become a bridge between the races, not a source of division.
Once she'd gone, the palace atmosphere relaxed.
"Lion, let me introduce the youngest primarch of the Imperium—our first naturally born primarch, with even stronger genes than you or me. This little guy," Guilliman said, pointing to Stark.
Despite being just over a year old, Stark's combat power was already on par with early Astartes—but being so young, he couldn't yet use his full strength.
The Emperor and Guilliman both saw great promise in him and anticipated the potent gene-seed he might provide.
As for another new primarch—the Eldar God of War Khaine—he was still in the incubation tank, and Guilliman didn't quite trust him yet.
The Lion looked at the boy—unnaturally strong for his age. So primarchs could have children now?
Perhaps he could one day become a father too—a long-held wish.
"Stark, come greet your uncle, Lion El'Johnson, the first primarch and big brother to all," Elena said, smiling.
"Nice to meet you, Uncle Lion. I am Stark, son of Rhodes," Stark said.
"Hello, child! The first naturally born primarch—I can already see your glorious future! When you're older, I'll teach you swordsmanship myself, raise you into a powerful primarch," Lion said, crouching to Stark's level.
"Thank you, Uncle Lion. It's my honor to learn swordsmanship from the first primarch," Stark replied.
"Haha, it's settled!" Lion patted Stark's head, satisfied.
Finally, he'd get to help raise a young primarch—even if he wasn't the boy's father, he'd cherish the chance.
"You clearly like children. If you find a partner, I could elevate her to your level—you might have a child of your own, a natural-born primarch," Rhodes said.
The quota for Cosmic Beasts was limited, but super-beast transformation was no problem.
Super-lifeforms could definitely have primarch offspring, as long as the primarchs chose human partners.
"This is indeed something to consider. Guilliman, Vulkan, Lion, Magnus—you should all have children for the Imperium. New primarchs are needed for humanity's future," the Emperor said.
Naturally born primarchs were superior to artificially made ones—just like the wonders of the Golden Age, with a race of primarchs ruling over mortals.
"Ahem! Father, let's deal with the Imperium's enemies before worrying about that!" Guilliman said.
"The sooner you have children, the better for the Imperium. Humans reach adulthood in just 20 years—even primarchs," the Emperor said.
Finding a wife wasn't hard—surely, there were plenty of beautiful women in humanity. If not, immortals would do.
Rhodes, having grown up human, understood being attracted to human or even non-human women—but the other primarchs, raised apart from humanity, found it unnatural.
But with Rhodes's help, compatibility was no longer an issue.
"I think we could arrange marriages with prominent Imperial families—rogue trader dynasties or high-ranking inquisitors. Those who achieve great merit could have their daughters marry primarchs—a huge incentive for mortals," Rhodes suggested.
At this, four pairs of eyes glared at Rhodes.
"Haha, that's a good idea. I'll consider it," the Emperor said.
"Now's not the time for this talk. Rhodes, shouldn't you prepare a Cosmic Beast for Lion?" Guilliman quickly changed the subject.
He didn't want an arranged marriage—he preferred to choose from among the five hundred worlds of Ultramar.
But for now, they had more important things to do. Lion had been revived now because the Imperium faced two tough battles—one requiring top warriors to face the Void Dragon sealed on Mars, and afterward, a massive war with the Necron Overlord to establish Imperial might.
Lion was a formidable force, and with a Cosmic Beast, he'd be even stronger.
"My strength is already great—I don't need to merge with a Cosmic Beast," the Lion replied.