ᵉⁿᵍˡⁱˢʰ Bloodsport [Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen]

03

Questions upon questions. But there were no answers.

And there would be more.

What happened in the days that followed shocked many. The fall of the House of Atreides.

An intrigue that had taken its time. Without trust, there can be no betrayal.

When the Emperor wants something, or chooses or demands someone, it is obeyed. It might not have been an order, but it was close. It was a wish that Duke Leto I, the head of House Atreides, would henceforth be in charge of the spice harvest. It was an honorable task that required great trust and esteem, for spice was irreplaceable. Without it, the guild could not fly. In fact, it was the most precious thing of all. More valuable than money.

Immeasurable wealth brought the Spice harvest, but for House Atreides it was more the trust that the Emperor placed in them by placing something so precious in their care.

When news of the massacre arrived in the early hours of the morning, the Emperor said nothing. It was a mystery to Irulan at the time why her father had not spoken, but Raitaila knew immediately why. For years she had lived with the knowledge that one day the Duke would die and her father would be partly responsible.

In addition, the inaction or lack of effort to do something made it difficult for Raitaila's sister, because she did not know their father that way. If only she knew, Raitaila thought, after Irulan had begun to worry and think seriously about the future. Be it the future of her house, the other houses and Arrakis itself. This assassination that the Harkonnen had carried out overnight, without warning or declaration of war, affected not only House Atreides, but all inhabitants of the universe, a matter that would give her little sister even more to think about.

However, it wouldn't be long before Irulan found out that the Harkonnens were behind this assassination together with her father, Raitaila knew that, if only for the reason that this wasn't the first time such a collaboration had occurred. And if not, there was still the supreme Witch.

¸,ø¤º°'°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°'°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°

After a rather restless night in which Raitaila barely slept, she opened her eyes the next morning and lay still for a few minutes before slowly sitting up and looking out the window.

Very few people would want to be here today.

"You've escaped death twice," Shaddam's approaching voice could be heard in the hallway where Irulan and Raitaila stood together, "it won't be the same a third time."

"What does he mean?" Irulan looked questioningly from her father to her sister, who was putting into practice her announcement at breakfast that she was leaving, "I thought you were going on a journey to explore the world and get to know life around Arrakis."

"Something I would have welcomed," their father replied, stopping a few steps away from his children, "but no, their destination is far less pleasant."

"Giedie Prime," an answer Irulan hadn't expected and opened her mouth in horror, as if she couldn't believe what her sister had just said, or as if she had simply misheard her, "Don't look like that. It's not as bad as you think."

"The Harkonnen are barbarians. What do you want...?" but Raitaila's little sister interrupted because something had popped into her mind, an old memory, and so, now perplexed, "Two... twice...? When you left us for a few years, you were with them too, weren't you?"

"Yes," the Emperor told his eldest daughter, which horrified Irulan all the more, not only because her older sister was already there, but because her father knew about it and had done nothing, "of course she was there, and it was just as natural that I already knew where she was going, even without her telling me. From the moment Lezeur sat down to dinner with your sister and me, I knew what was going on. That she would leave was bound to happen sooner or later."

For him, not for Raitaila. That evening, and the days that followed, there were more important things than the thought of leaving. And no matter how her father behaved at that moment, he had behaved like a father then.

//////////////////////////

At this point, I would love to hear from you, as we authors rely on feedback to learn and improve.