The Mistress of Caladan

Epilogue

It had felt almost comical when Leto received the news that he was to inherit Arrakis. A fool's errand if there ever was one, a transparent effort to finish what had started 15 years ago, to entrap him in a web that would kill the rest of his family. He could not refuse, of course, only march on ahead and do what he could to protect Jessica and Paul in the inexorable event of his death. How long would he have on Arrakis before the inevitable? How might he prolong his demise to give them time to find alternatives? These were the questions that kept him up at night for the months leading up to their move and every night since.

His first sight of the planet had been a mix of emotions. As they landed amongst sand and spice, he swallowed in the last of the cool air from the ship before they moved to disembark to huge crowds awaiting the new ruler of Arrakis. They marched out into a hot wind whipping at their faces and threatening to boil him alive in his armor. The rippling sand dunes glittered in the sun with melange, and he thought of Genna and Demetri, Astern and Karolina, lost somewhere in the sands long since gone. The familiar agony rose in his chest when the ship touched down on the planet that had taken them from him, the lack of closure, not even knowing where exactly their ship had been swallowed whole. He held his stoic composure, ignoring looks from Gurney and Jessica, both of whom knew what this planet represented to him in more ways than one.

When he first took the ornithopter ride and saw the vastness of the desert, when he saw the ship left to be eaten he had acted at once, imagining the screams of his wife and son when they saw the sandworm approach and knew they had been abandoned. He could not do that to anyone else, and Paul almost paid with his life for it.

Stupid, he told himself after, it was stupid to risk-- and yet they had all lived.

He knew the Harkonnens would not wait long to strike out, that they would target him and especially Paul, they would not want to leave any Atreides spared when the time came, and he had been right.

Now he found himself here, naked and sprawled in a chair at the end of this dining table, looking up at the bull's head, his father's blood glistening on the horns, as he listened to the sounds of the Baron slurping and chewing his food, paralyzed and unable to move or speak.

"You have a wonderful kitchen, cousin."

Paul. Jessica. He tried to say their names, but could not form the words. Then he remembered the other names this planet and this man had taken from him. Demetri. Genna.

Yueh had implanted the tooth just as he'd said and Leto listened behind him as the doctor was led in and learned the end result of making deals with a madman. The Suk crumpled to the floor, dead at the hands of the Baron after outliving his usefulness. Leto didn't even hold contempt for the doctor. In the same situation, might not he have done the same thing if it meant the chance to save Paul and Jessica? Demetri and Genna?

The chair was uncomfortable and cold under his naked skin, his arms and neck ached from the way they had carelessly draped him as if to give the appearance that he was simply a guest at the Baron's table, lounging in between courses of food.

His tongue felt for the poison tooth and he moved his jaw cautiously, finding that he could, at least, do that much. Yueh's revenge might work, but all he could do was wait, looking upward at the Baron's bloated figure leaning against the table, listening as the vicious creature taunted him:

"For hundreds of years we've traded blood for blood, but no more. Your son is dead. Your concubine is dead. Tonight the house Atreides falls and your bloodline ends forever."

In spite of himself, Leto felt a lone tear roll down his cheek. There was no proof. Yueh had said he would do what he could for Paul and Jessica, yet the doctor lay dead behind him, and all his plans thus far come to nothing save for the ones that worked to the Harkonnen's benefit. Were they really as gone as Genna and Demetri, or was there still a chance? He would never know for sure, but it made him more determined than ever to do what he could to take the Baron with him into the deep sleep of death.

Leto... he heard a faint, familiar voice as the thing at the end of the table looked down on him, a great swollen mass hovering over him to gloat. Leto... her voice again, sounding closer than before.

It's time... It sounded like she was right beside him now, whispering in his ear. He moved his eyes as if to see her but there was nothing except Piter, his cold stare fixed on Leto as he waited for new orders from his master. Maybe it was normal to hear the voices of the dead when your own demise was imminent. If so, the fact that it was Genna's voice and not Paul's or Jessica's gave him some measure of comfort.

He tried to mumble her name, to call out for her and for Demetri with his last breaths but his lips struggled to form the words until the Baron leaned in closer, activating his shield before he did. "What did you say?"

Now Leto. It's time to come home. Leto thought he saw a flash of her face over the Baron's shoulder as he gave the creature one final look of defiance, managing to eke out, at last, the words that had been the Atreides rallying cry for centuries.

"Here I am... Here I remain." 

He felt the reassuring softness of a small hand in his as he finally bit down on the tooth, blowing a cloud of acrid smoke into the Baron's face. A fresh tear slid down his cheek. Heaving gasps rang out from those present before they all slumped to the floor and Leto closed his eyes, succumbing at last, his mind hearing the familiar tune of Genna humming a lullaby as they lay in bed together with Demetri between them, the last time he had fully known peace.

Genna... his last thoughts before the end still gravitated back to her as his hand fell limp, I'm coming my love.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A happy early Christmas present to you all. I hope it tied together as well with the canon plot as I had hoped. I will start to publish my original fic chapters probably later today before I spend the rest of the long weekend with my sons. Thanks again for keeping up with me and all the feedback <3