32 - KHALA

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Giedi Prime, 10191

"I am honored to be here to represent my family, house harkonnen. I am here today to talk about the atrocities the Fremen have committed; what they have made me do."

Khala was paraded around planets, one by one, like a prized possession on display for the amusement of the masses.

From opulent banquet halls to crowded market squares, she was thrust into the spotlight, her every movement scrutinized, her every word scripted. Giving the same bland speech had become routine, yet it never failed to leave a mark on her heart. Behind the facade of her forced smiles lay a torrent of emotions—anger, sorrow, and a profound sense of betrayal. Her eyes, once bright with defiance, were now clouded with a haunting pain as she recited the carefully crafted lines, each syllable a dagger to her shattered spirit.

As she greeted every person with her dead name, the weight of her stolen identity pressed down upon her like a suffocating blanket. Leonara—once a name whispered with love and pride—had been stripped of its meaning, reduced to nothing more than a hollow echo of the woman she once was. Forced to relinquish her true identity, Khala felt herself slipping further into the abyss of despair with each passing day.

She clung onto Feyd's arm during these meets, forced to become nothing but arm candy by his side. He often touched her waist, his touch stony cold and devoid of affection, his eyes not even seeing her as he leaned to whisper romantic looking threats in her ears.

The reactions varied- from skepticism to adoration to the Harkonnens for capturing such a "beast," and taming it into domestication.

As the days turned into weeks, Khala found herself sinking deeper into the role forced upon her. Each public appearance, each scripted speech, chipped away at the remnants of her spirit, leaving behind only a hollow shell of the woman she once was.

She still felt a small kindling of fire in the pit of her stomach.

Feyd had not stopped holding the threat of her people above her head, dangling it like a carrot to a pig.

A miraculous thought had appeared in her broken mind. A question. Did he even know where Sietch Tabr was? Sure, he could know the name... but the sietch's name was infamous.

Khala's eyes had flickered to Feyd's, pondering. Did he truly know the location of my people? She had wondered, yearned for proof.

Feyd's gaze had met hers, his expression unreadable as Khala's mind had raced with the possibility of testing his knowledge.

"Feyd Rautha," she had begun, her voice steady despite the tumult of emotions raging within her, "I've always been curious about something."

His brow bridge had raised in mild interest, prompting her to continue.

"Since Sietch Tabr is so close to the east side, it's surprising you guys hadn't found it earlier."

Khala had held her breath, her heart pounding in her chest as she had awaited his response. For a fleeting moment, she had seen a flicker of uncertainty in Feyd's eyes, a subtle hesitation that had betrayed his facade of confidence.

To her surprise, however, he had nodded, his voice calm and assured.

"It was merely well hidden. We never searched the east."

A surge of disbelief had washed over Khala as she had processed his words. It couldn't be true. Sietch Tabr was nestled deep within the unforgiving sands of the deep desert, far from the reach of outsiders, in the south.

Feyd's confident affirmation had shattered her illusions, leaving her grappling with the unsettling realization that perhaps he didn't know as much as he claimed. As the weight of her discovery had settled upon her, Khala's mind had whirled with possibilities.

Promise //Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen// DuneWhere stories live. Discover now