Promise //Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen// Dune

18 - FEYD-RAUTHA

Arrakis, 10187

The anticipation bubbled within him like a relentless tide, his heart pounding with a mixture of excitement and nervousness as he stood upon the grand altar, awaiting the arrival of Leonara. Last night had been incredible... he had felt the embrace of Leonara for the first time in so long. The memory of her warmth lingered like a sweet echo in his mind, igniting a fierce longing within him that now mingled with the anticipation of their wedding day.

It had been just two years since they had meet eachother. When she had pressed a knife to his throat and threatened to kill him. There was a strange beauty in that act. It was as if... their lives had been switched from that act. She had been the one holding the knife, and he had been the one under it. And from then on, he never really had again.

Everyone saw him as a killer, a psychotic murderer. But in her eyes, he was simply Feyd-Rautha. He didn't hold the burden of being Na-Baron, or a Harkonnen. 

Every fiber of his being thrummed with a feverish energy, his senses heightened as he imagined the moment when she would walk down the aisle towards him, her radiant beauty illuminating the room like a beacon of hope.

He pictured her in his mind's eye, her eyes alight with love and joy, her smile like the sun breaking through the clouds after a storm.

As he stood there, bathed in the warm glow of candlelight, he couldn't help but marvel at the sheer perfection of the moment. The grandeur of the hall, the delicate fragrance of the flowers that adorned the altar, the soft strains of music that filled the air – it was as if the entire universe had conspired to create a moment of unparalleled beauty just for them.

That day was the marking of a new tide, a milestone for the couple. It was the beginning of their children, of their grandchildren. Of laughter and smiles and beauty and endless moments to spend with his wife.

We will stand together against the Baron; we have already done so. Our future is set.

Those thoughts graced his face with a smile, a shock to the audience who had not seen the Na-Baron do anything other than scowl.

A guard approached him with a troubled expression, his words cutting through the air like a knife. 

"Na-Baron Feyd Rautha," he said, his voice tinged with apprehension. "We cannot find the bride anywhere."

Murmurs erupted among the hundreds of guests on the altar, their voices a cacophony of disbelief and confusion.

Feyd's smile faltered, the color draining from his face as the weight of the guard's words sank in. He glanced around the altar frantically, hoping to find Leonara hiding in a corner, jumping out to say Surprise!!

"What?" The word escaped his lips in a breathless whisper, a desperate plea for reassurance.

"The bride... she's gone," the guard repeated, his tone heavy with solemnity.

No. The one word that Feyd could make out. Two letters. It was consuming, overtaking his senses. Such a simple word. A word that provided no solace at all, despite the countless times it could be repeated.

Leonara had taught him to hate that word. Leonara had taught him to say "yes": to explore. To never deny something when it was offered or presented. Yet she was gone.

No.

He kept repeating that one word like a prayer, hoping that if he said it just enough times, it would come true.

It couldn't be true. Leonara wouldn't leave him, not now, not on their wedding day.

She had promised, sworn that she would stand by his side, that they would face whatever challenges came their way together.