lazarus. feyd rautha

chapter eight: one good day

KAITAIN, CORRINTH, 10,191

A week into their stay on Kaitain two letters are delivered to the Fenring manor, one addressed to Feyd-Rautha from Harko and the other to Anastacia from the Royal Palace in Corrinth. Her letter, signed by the Reverend Mother, is short and to the point: the engagement has been finalized.

She knew not to expect any sort of fanfare, arranged marriages were rarely celebrated unless it was a union between two Great Houses. She had never been a girl who dreamt of elegant weddings, veils or dresses. She knew from a very young age what her life would be like, what was destined for a Bene Gesserit lowborn. And yet, a very small, weak, insignificant part of her felt she'd been robbed of something.

The wedding would take place once they returned to Giedi Prime, which gave her just over a month to strengthen her hold on Feyd. In the passing days they'd settled into a comfortable rhythm, speaking briefly when passing each other in halls, snide comments at the dinner table and the routine of their sparring matches. They were settling.

Aside from the dining room Bethania would not be caught dead in a space with Feyd for longer than a few minutes. She scurries off with a disgusted look in the drawing room, the library, the music room and even the garden, whenever she stumbles upon Anastacia and Feyd  talking or being shown a feature of the house by Margot, who had been spending more time with them as of late. She noticed the glare the girl sent Anastacia's way as well, perhaps deeming her guilty by association. Blame me all you like, she thought. I'm tied to him now, his actions are my own. Another House Major would probably be met with more empathy, the understanding that the actions of one are not the actions of all, but where Harkonnens were concerned Feyd could slit the Count's throat and there would be no distinguishing it from her own hand. Another reason to build some puppeteering relationship with him, to protect the little honour she had, at the very least to keep her out of the hands of the law.

This was what occupied her thoughts as she panted for breath, perched on top of his stomach where she had him pinned to the floor, victory secured.

"That was too fast, you're either learning nothing or letting me win. I don't know which is worse," she huffed.

His hands, large and featherlight, ghosted over her thighs. "If you had my view you'd understand." He squeezed hard.

She scoffed before standing up, "accidentally" kicking his ribs as she stepped over him to the weaponry displayed on the other end of the room. He only relished in it.

"If we're done here I'll take my leave, my lord."

Feyd put on a sly smirk, still laid comfortably on the floor. "You don't want to play with me anymore?"

She scoffed. "I wouldn't want to break you before the wedding, a girl can only marry once, you know." It was the first time speaking directly about the situation.

"Unless I meet some untimely demise."

"How unfortunate that would be," she said with sarcasm and turned away from him, approaching the weapons rack.

He rose to his feet silently, without so much as a rustle of his clothes. She felt him edge towards her until he was just a foot or two behind her, turned and caught his hand where it was suspended in the air.

Mirth shone in half lidded blue eyes. He didn't bother pulling himself out of her hold, instead with his other hand brushed his fingers against the faint scar over her jugular vein, a scratch of white standing out against caramel skin. She shrunk away from him, muscles tense. Feyd was completely void of scars, blemishes and deformities, nothing in his world seemed to leave a mark on him. With a home planet like Giedi Prime, that was nothing short of a miracle.