บท 20: Chapter 11-A Path Long Destroyed!
Chapter 11
LADY JESSICA
Jessica led their guest out of the castle, her steps small and measured as he walked behind her. Her mind raced as she thought of her suspicion, as her thoughts churned on how she may bring it up.
In the solar, he had used the Voice. And he had used it masterfully, focusing it only on her, his ability and control over the prowess rivalled that of a Reverend Mother, strengthening her conjecture that this person was none other than the child of Anirul Corrino, a Prince of the realm and heir to the Padishah Emperor.
The names were the same as well. She could still remember Anirul's last whisper as she had laid the little boy in that ship. With tearful eyes and a heavy heart, she apologized for her weakness as Jessica stood guard, and Anirul named the abomination as a last bit of resistance, going against the sisterhood's tradition.
'Inzal' she had whispered, and the little boy had not cried at his fate, nor he had used the Voice as he had previously. He could have tried, she had witnessed him dismantle several members of the sisterhood with her own eyes, yet he would do nothing to them as if recognising Anirul's agony and misery, as she went against everything the order had instilled in her over the years, and Jessica accompanied her in this act of resistance. Anirul would lay him down in the small ship, along with some supplies, before walking away.
'Forgive me for my weakness.' She would whisper to the child, with teary eyes.
And with that, she had sent it into the skies, the pod small enough to evade major security measures as the Queen had turned back towards her and spoken in a heartfelt tone.
'Thank you for this, Jessica.'
The Queen had offered her unsolicited aid in the future, a favor that she could cash in at any time. And she would use it, once she had decided to give Leto a son, she had sought Anirul's aid and had been welcomed at Kaitain, away from the probing eyes of the sisterhood and Leto's enemies.
"It has been quite some time since I last saw you, Lady Jessica," he broke the silence. Her heart leapt at those words, and her step faltered as she glanced back. Yet she did not respond she needed to see more, and perhaps realizing her thought process he continued.
"I do hope you recall me, even though you were but an apprentice at the time," and she stopped at those words, her suspicion now confirmed as she turned around to face him.
"It truly is you," she gasped, and he smiled as he nodded his head.
"It is," he answered. She glanced at the guards and ordered them to take a step back, which they did, leaving them alone.
"How?" she questioned, and he shrugged as he leaned back against the wall.
"Luck, I would say. After languishing in space for days, the pod crashed into this sandy planet. The landing broke the pod, exposing me to its sweltering heat, and just as I had thought all of it over, I was rescued by Fremen, and the rest, well, it's a long story," he said as he smiled at her.
And she could see Anirul's features in him, features of the Queen whom she had called a sister for reasons that went beyond their order, the sister who had died taking a knife meant for her.
"I see you gave birth to a son. The sisterhood wouldn't have been happy about that," he said, and she gulped as she was reminded that this young boy infront of her was not a simple boy. He was blessed with the memories of Reverend Mothers and knew of secrets that even she was not privy to
He knew of her orders and of their powers to determine a child's gender. He knew that she had gone against the sisterhood's orders in giving Leto a son, in denying the order their long sought Kwisatz.
"It's a courageous step to sacrifice everything one holds dear for those we love," he continued as he stared into her eyes.
"Yet you and I both know that you have doomed your Duke and his whole House," he uttered callously as if speaking of the weather and not of the extermination of thousands of lives, yet it was the truth, and she knew it too.
"Reckoning approaches House Atreides, and none will be spared," he warned her, and her fists balled up.
"The sisterhood will not abando..." she gathered her courage but was cut off as he cut in a cold tone.
"Do not delude yourself, Lady Jessica," he cut in as he stepped closer.
"You and I both know just how influential the sisterhood is. If they had wished for you to be spared they could have made it so in a hundred different ways," and doubt crept in her heart. No, it had always been there, it only became stronger with his words.
"They do not wish to save you. The truth is that they are the ones orchestrating it as punishment," he added, his tone softening at the end.
And she feared this as well yet was helpful. She had resigned herself to her fate, resigned herself to the loss of her dear Duke and perhaps her own life, for she saw no way out. No way except the convoluted path the Order claimed to have set for her, a path if his words were true had been sabotaged already.
Yet now there was hope. Hope in treachery. She had a path, a treacherous path that would have her forsake everything she held dear and sacrifice every principle that she had grown up with. Yet she would live, so would Leto and Paul, and so would the little girl growing in her womb.
"And what do you intend to do?" she questioned, probing his own intentions, for he would, of course, have a reason for doing all this, presenting himself to the Duke and herself, revealing a secret that only she could have worked out.
"I made my offer to the Duke. If House Atreides joins hands with me, I can offer you my aid against the onslaught heading your way. I can save your whole family," he finished as his eyes glanced down at her belly.
"Even those yet to be born into this world," he finished, making her bring her hands forward protectively on instinct even though she sensed no hostility from him, he knew of the girl growing in her womb as well. How? She thought momentarily before shifting her thoughts to more pertinent matters.
"What is to stop me from contacting the sisterhood about this? About you, maybe even the Emperor, how he would rejoice at the news of a son?" she threatened, and he scoffed.
"Do not make empty threats," he said laughing at her words.
"You and I both know that you cannot do that. The sisterhood would not lift a finger to help you and would deny my existence infront of the Emperor, and the Emperor is a man, and men can be lied to, specially by those whose very job is to sift the lies for the Empeoror," he added.
And the more she thought of his words, the more she found them to be true, the order would speak against this, call this claimant a liar, yet the Order was not the only institute that could confirm this.
"A Royal Physician could confirm it. We have one with Imperial conditioning here in our retinue. None would doubt his words. That could be credible enough," she continued, and his eyes narrowed.
"I wouldn't really trust this Imperial conditioning so unconditionally," he spoke cryptically, and she saw his lips turn up at the word play.
"There are ways that would break any man, and I truly mean that any man," he finished as he leaned forward and, after a whisper, passed her a small piece of paper.
"With that, my debt to you is paid. I hope that you are able to help the Duke make the right choice. Though as a parting gift, let me warn you my lady," he spoke as he began to walk away, leaving her standing there all alone, with a single piece of paper clutched in her fist, and a name buzzing in her head.
"The path that your sisterhood laid all those years ago," he spoke as he glanced back at her, and she stilled at his words, the choice of his words as she looked him in the eye, as he continued.
"I tore it all up, years ago," he warned, and she stilled as she realised just what meant.
He had uprooted the Missionaria Protectiva, the prophecy that had been laid down years ago to control this planet. Of course, it would remain in the populace and would be believed by many, but prophecies as such required a whole population's blind following, their absolute belief, and if there was even a semblance of doubt. The whole thing would fall apart, and it seems that it would, for she senses no lies from him.
"What do you wish for? What are you planning, Inzal?" she called him out, and he stopped once more, yet he didn't turn back as he spoke up.
"I seek freedom. Freedom for my people...."
"...freedom for humanity...for myself," he answered before he glanced back.
"I will take my rightful place, claw it back from the people who wish to rule us all from the shadows. Their time has come," he warned as a sound of footsteps interrupted them.
"Mother," and she glanced back and found Paul standing there behind her, eyes shifting between herself and Inzal before he spoke up.
"Father wishes to see you," he told her, and she nodded. Her heart raced, and she gave Inzal a final glance.
"I will be there," she told Paul, and as she turned her back to him and began to walk away but stopped as Inzal spoke once more.
"Tell me Paul Atreides," he called back, and she stilled as he called out her son.
"Have you seen me in your dreams?" he asked, and she stilled as he used the voice.
'How did he know? How the hell did he know of Paul's dreams?' her mind raced before she could say anything. Paul answered, and his words sent a chill down her spine.
"Yes. Yes, I have."
.
.
.
.
As she followed Paul to the solar, her mind continued to race towards his words until she decided to speak up.
"Paul," she called out to her son, who was deep in thought and jerked up at her words.
"Yes," he added as their pace slowed down.
"In your dreams?" she began hesitating before she continued.
"Where did you see him, this Kazab?" she asked, and he gulped down before he answered thoughtfully.
"It was all choppy, too erratic," he answered as he frowned.
"I didn't see his face," he elaborated, seeing her questioning gaze.
"No, but the eyes, I have seen his eyes," he added, and she noticed how he hesitated before he continued.
"I saw those eyes looking at us...."
"...looking down at us from the Emperor's throne!"
And she faltered at that.
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