DUNE-A False Haderach (OC X Shishakli) (OC x Alia)

Untitled Part 15

Chapter 8b

LADY JESSICA

The castle had a guest, an unexpected guest in the form of a Fremen leader, Duncan Idaho, who had met and brought for a meeting. Stilgar was his name, and the duke had decided to host this Fremen leader, an unexpected development that puzzled nearly everyone.

And so, she found herself in his solar, along with his two most trusted advisors in the form of Gurney Halleck and Thufir Hwatt. They had yet to identify the Harkonen spy in their midst, and she had heard that Thufir bore suspicions about herself, partly driven out of the distrust the order of Bene Gesserit faced all over the realm for their secrecy.

How wrong he was! How could she ever betray Leto? The mere thought of this betrayal wrung her heart in agony. Already, she was pained greatly by the eventuality that faced them, and though she prayed for Leto and his safety every day, she was not blind to the noose tightening around them.

Yet she knew that if there was anyone who could change the threads of fates that had been sewn for them all, it was Leto. After all, hadn't he maimed her own heart, the heart of a Bene Gesserit?

"My lord, welcoming a guest as such into our halls when we have a possible spy roaming our halls is not wise," Hwatt counseled. She could have blamed him for his incompetence in allowing this to happen, yet she knew that the man was loyal to her Duke.

"We are still trying to uncover the Harkonen plot, and it may not even be a Harkonen plot. Maybe it was someone else, maybe it was the Fremen," he reasoned out.

"No, this was not the Fremen. This was a Harkonen plot," Leto concluded as he looked towards Hwatt.

"And I do this because I trust in your abilities, Hwatt..."

"But my lord, I fail..."

"And you shall not fail me again, that belief allows me to take this step, and that Fremen could be a game changer," he spoke out as their eyes met.

"Whoever this Kazab is, he is very powerful and key to our survival and subsequent prosperity on this planet. We must learn all we can about him. The Fremen know more about him than he shared much more; Duncan suspects the same, and so do I. Having him in the meeting with Gunrey's smuggler would allow us to sift the lies from the truths and gain a better understanding of the man." Duke argued, and there was wisdom in his words.

"But still trusting a Fremen so quickly could be dangerous as well. If he knows so much about this Kazab, then what is to stop him from telling him about us and our functioning? That information could be quite valuable and allow this Kazab to attack us," Hwatt had a point one which, if Leto's frown was anything to go by, he had missed.

"It is a risk I am willing to take," he said as he leaned back.

"We came to this planet knowing the danger it presented," he spoke, her lips thinned as their eyes met.

She wished he had listened to her, abandoned this whole campaign, and left with Ehr and Paul to the outreaches of the galaxy. She wished it still.

Yet he could not abandon his house or his men. It was naivety. Cruel naivety in the face of existential danger. Yet one he would commit a thousand times, for he was Duke Leto Atreides, and the Atreides were loyal to their men.

"I have a feeling that this Kazab is at the center of everything, that he may prove to be the key to either our salvation or our eventual demise on Arrakis. And I am inclined to trust my gut on this," he said, his voice powerful and filled with confidence as Hwatt exchanged a glance with Halleck.