Promise //Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen// Dune

39 - KHALA

The Baron was not pleased. He had promised his sponsors, his allies a showcase of his newest weapon, his secret weapon, Leonara Mohiam. But the girl just kept thwarting his plans, that fremen rat should've died without uttering a word. Because, now Leonara was volatile. She remembered everything, and it took a sleeping dose equivalent to that of three grown men to subdue her to sleep. Leonara had murdered twelve of his armed men, embarrased him in front of his allies.

Who were they to trust a single thing he said now? How was he to earn back their support?

The Baron let out a loud screech of anger, taking the hold of a servant girl nearest him by the neck, and throwing her onto the wall.

He panted, his eyes simmering with fury. He turned to the guard stationed at his door, not that he would do much if Leonara did decide to come and serve vengeance to him.

"Bring me Leonara."

...

Khala shivered in the shadowiest corner of her room, curled into a ball. She rocked back and forth, her eyes wide with fear as she tried to sort out her memories.

Memories, fragmented and twisted, clawed at the edges of her mind, threatening to consume her with their relentless onslaught.

She felt like a stranger in her own body, lost in a maze of half-remembered dreams and nightmares.

The sound of approaching footsteps snapped her back to reality, and she instinctively recoiled, her heart pounding in her chest. She braced herself for the inevitable confrontation, steeling herself for the wrath of the Baron or one of his lackeys.

But as the figure loomed over her, Khala's breath caught in her throat. It was Feyd Rautha, his presence filling the room with an aura of danger and command. She remembered him, faint echoes of their past swirling through her mind like shadows in the mist.

Feyd's eyes bore into hers, cold and unforgiving, a silent reminder of the man he had become. There was no trace of the tenderness they had once shared, no hint of the lover she had known before her memories were stolen from her.

Though there was a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He had witnessed her fight. He knew what she had just endured.

"Leonara?" He ventured, his voice slicing through the oppressive silence. Khala's heart skipped a beat as she looked into Feyd's eyes, a spark of recognition igniting within her. Memories surged back, fragments of their time together weaving themselves into the fabric of her consciousness.

"Feyd," she whispered, the name slipping from her lips like a blade unsheathed. She recalled their stolen moments of passion, the whispered promises exchanged under the cloak of darkness. Despite the haze of confusion clouding her mind, she recognized him, buried deep within the recesses of her soul. Feyd's expression softened, but only slightly, at the sound of his name on her lips, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his features. He reached out to her, his hand steady despite the turmoil within.

"You remember," he stated, his voice tinged with relief, yet edged with something darker.

He had been on edge these past few days, plagued by the fear of losing her forever. That night at the training arena, when he saw her vacant gaze, it haunted him. Now, staring into her eyes, which held more humanity, albeit tinged with pain, he felt a surge of something raw and primal.

He wanted to keep her safe, under his wing. He never wanted to let her out of his sight again.

"I thought... I thought I had lost you forever."

He was supposed to be cruel... but in the circumstances they were in, he couldn't help but fear and express himself.

Khala nodded, tears welling in her eyes as she leaned into his touch. She remembered their love, the bond that had once tethered them together. She recalled his chilling presence after her recapture, but also the glimpses of vulnerability he unwittingly revealed.