[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
."I.I'd have to check our records, my Lord.""Then check the records.Find out where he came from." Rabban fashioned athick-lipped smile."And see if he has any family left alive."Gurney summoned to mind the insipid words of his sarcastic song: Rabban, Rabban, the blustering brute.But as he looked up into the broad, ugly face of the Baron's nephew, he realizedthat Glossu Rabban would have the last laugh after all.What is each man but a memory for those who follow?-DUKE LETO ATREIDESONE EVENING, Duke Leto and his concubine had been shouting at one another formore than an hour, and Thufir Hawat was troubled.He stood in the ducal wing,just down the hall from the closed door of Leto's bedroom.If either of thememerged, Hawat could slip down one of the side passageways that honeycombed theCastle.No one knew the back corridors and secret ways better than the Mentat.Something crashed in the bedroom.Kailea's voice rose over the Duke's deeper,equally furious tones.Hawat didn't hear everything they said.nor did heneed to.As Security Commander, he was responsible for the Duke's personalwell-being.He didn't want to intrude, but in the present atmosphere hisprimary concern was the potential for violence between Leto and his concubine.The Duke shouted, exasperated, "I don't intend to spend my life arguing with youabout what cannot be changed.""Then why don't you just have Victor and me killed? That would be your bestsolution.Or send us away to a place where you don't have to think about us --like you did to your mother."Hawat couldn't hear Leto's response, but he understood all too well why theyoung Duke had banished Lady Helena."You're no longer the man I fell in love with, Leto," Kailea continued."It'sJessica, isn't it? Has the witch seduced you yet?""Don't be ridiculous.In the year and a half she's been with us I've nevervisited her bed once -- though I have every right to do so."Several moments of silence ensued.The Mentat waited in a state of tension.Kailea finally said with a sarcastic sigh, "Same old refrain.Keeping Jessicahere is just politics.Refusing to marry me is just politics.Hiding yourinvolvement with Rhombur and the rebels on Ix is just politics.I'm sick ofyour politics.You're as much a schemer as any in the Imperium.""I'm not a schemer.It's my enemies who plot against me." "The words of a true paranoid.Now I understand why you haven't married me andmade Victor your rightful heir.It's a Harkonnen plot."Leto's reasonable tones slipped into open rage."I never promised you marriage,Kailea, but for your sake I never even took another concubine.""What does it matter, if I'm never to be your wife?" Choking laughterpunctuated the scorn in Kailea's words."Your 'faithfulness' is one more showyou put on to appear honorable -- just politics."Leto sucked in a sharp breath, as if the words had been a physical blow."Perhaps you're right," he agreed in a voice as icy as a Lankiveil winter."Whydid I bother?" The bedroom door slammed open, and Hawat melted into theshadows."I am neither your pet, nor a fool, Kailea -- I am the Duke."Leto strode down the hallway, muttering and cursing.Behind the partially opendoor, Kailea began sobbing.Soon she would call Chiara, and the plump old womanwould comfort her through the long night.Remaining out of sight, Hawat followed his Duke down one corridor and thenanother -- until Leto stepped boldly into Jessica's apartment without knocking.INSTANTLY ALERT FROM her Bene Gesserit training, Jessica summoned light from ablue glowglobe.The shadowy cocoon retreated around her.Duke Leto!Sitting up in the four-poster bed that had long ago belonged to Helena Atreides,she made no attempt to cover herself.She wore a pink nightgown of slick merh-silk, cut low.A faint scent of lavender hung in the air from a pheromoneemitter cleverly concealed at the ceiling joint.This night, as always, she hadprepared carefully.in the hope that he would come to her."My Lord?" She saw his troubled, angry expression as he stepped into the light."Is everything all right?"Leto's gray gaze darted around, and he breathed deeply, trying to control theadrenaline, the uncertainty, the determination that warred within him.Beads ofperspiration covered his brow.His black Atreides jacket hung askew, as if hehad tugged it hurriedly over his shoulders."I am here for all the wrong reasons," he said.Jessica slid out of bed and draped a green robe over her shoulders."Then Imust accept those reasons and be grateful for them.May I get you anything?How can I help you most?" Though she had waited so many months for him, shefelt little triumph -- only concern at seeing him so distressed.The tall, hawk-featured man removed his jacket and sat on the edge of the bed."I'm in no condition to present myself to a Lady."Moving close to him, she massaged his shoulders."You are the Duke, and this isyour Castle.You may present yourself in any manner you please." Jessicatouched his dark hair, and ran her fingers sensually along his temples. As if imagining a dream, he closed his eyes, then snapped them open again.Shedrew her finger down his cheek and placed it against his lips to silence anywords.Her green eyes danced."Your condition is perfectly acceptable to me,my Lord."When she loosened the clasps on his shirt, he sighed and allowed her to nudgehim toward the bed.Mentally and physically exhausted, torn by his own guilt,he lay face-down on the rich coverings that smelled of rose petals andcoriander.He seemed to sink into the soft, pliant sheets, and allowed himselfto drift away.Her delicate hands slid across his bare skin, and she worked her fingers intothe tight muscles of his back, as if she had done this for him a thousand timesbefore.To Jessica, it felt as if this moment in eternity had always been meantto be, that Leto was destined to be here, with her.At last, he rolled over to face her.When their eyes met, Jessica saw firethere again, except it did not smolder with anger this time.Nor did it fade.He took her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers in a long, passionate kiss."I'm glad you are here, my Duke," she said, remembering all the methods ofseduction the Sisterhood had taught her, but with the realization that shegenuinely cared about him, that she meant what she was saying."I shouldn't have waited so long, Jessica," he said.AS KAILEA WEPT, she felt more anger at her own failure than sorrow at feelingLeto slip through her fingers.He had disappointed her so much -- Chiara hadreminded her again and again of her own worth, her noble birthright, the futureshe deserved.Kailea despaired that these hopes were gone forever.House Vernius was not entirely dead, and its survival might very well depend onher.She was stronger than her brother, whose support of the rebels was littlemore than a pipe dream.Deep inside she felt a steely will: House Verniuswould only survive through her efforts, and ultimately through the bloodline ofher son Victor.She was determined to gain royal status for him.All of her love, all of herdreams, rested on the boy's fortunes.Finally, far into the lonely night, she fell into a fitful sleep.IN ENSUING WEEKS, Duke Leto sought Jessica more and more often, and he began toconsider her his concubine.Sometimes he came into her room without a word andmade love to her with feral intensity.Then, sated, he would hold her for hoursand talk.Using Bene Gesserit skills, Jessica had studied him for sixteen months,educating herself in the concerns of Caladan.She knew the daily difficultiesLeto Atreides faced in running an entire planet, managing the affairs of a GreatHouse, attending to Landsraad matters, keeping pace with the political anddiplomatic machinations in the Imperium.Jessica knew exactly what to say, precisely how to advise him without pushing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]