ASCENDANCY (Feyd-Rautha)

CHAPTER TEN

WARNING: this chapter contains graphic depictions of violence that some might find unsettling!

All young girls hold a fire in their soul. A desire for something, whether that be riches and jewelry, sweet motherhood, power, or honest love. Though as we grow, we will inevitably experience something that will turn our dreams sour. The mourning of the life we envisioned as children will make us grow older with a spitefulness etched in our bones.

I arrived at the obliterated sietch some time after the Harkonnen soldiers had, Feyd-Rautha among them. The people who had survived the bombing had been shot dead by the Harkonnens machinery. Though most of the sietch had been turned to dust, some parts were still habitable. I followed behind Feyd and his people into one of the caves of the sietch. 

The night had passed, and the sun was rising, lighting up the cave through holes in the walls. There were beautiful man-made patterns engraved in the stone. In a room further down the cave, there were hundreds of birds hidden in the crevices of the walls. I watched as a soldier engulfed the room in flames, making all the birds turn to ash and fall to the ground.

At the entrance of the cave stood the rest of the soldiers, encircling a Fremen girl who was sat on the ground with her wrists tied together. Her face was covered in blood, though it did not look to be her own.

"You killed nine of my men with one single blade." Feyd said, looming over her. He was playing with the girls crysknife in his hands.

"She refuses to talk." A soldier told him. He turned to me, a wicked grin on his face.

"Command her." He said to me. Disobeying him in front of all his men would be foolish. 

I struggled to hide how every step towards the young girl made my flesh scream in dread.

"Tell me; where are the other Fremen?" I spoke, using my Voice.

"They have gone south." She complied, her facial expressions dead.

"Why did you stay?" I asked, not using any form of manipulation.

"I am Fedaykin." She responded. Fedaykins are some of the most formidable fighters in the Landsraad. They are all Fremen who have pledged their lives to make right out of wrong.

"What else would you like me to ask her?" I spoke to Feyd.

"Nothing more, I already know everything I need to know. Only pleasure remains." He said, taking the flamethrower from a soldier. He was putting on an act, a show of dominance. 

The Fedaykin showed no fear as my husband pointed the weapon at her. She seemed ready to meet her gods. Intense heat shot at my face as her body caught in flames. It only took seconds for her to fully become dust.

"Send this message to the Baron; The north is liberated and secured, the rats have scurried south. We may harvest spice at will." Feyd spoke.

"Yes, na-Baron." A soldier behind him spoke with a bow of his head, before leaving the cave.

"Your dinner, my Lady." The housekeeper Zehish said as she placed a tray of food on the table in front of me. I was once again impressed by how well she hid the turmoil in her soul. 

I was sat in my room, feeling too sick from the sights of the day to be in the presence of others.

"I am not hungry. You may take it back to the kitchen." I spoke back to her. The smell of the young girl burning was stuck in my nose.

"What happened today?" She spoke, out of line for a housekeeper. I met her staggering blue eyes with a gaze of hurt and spite.

"They bombed your people." I said. She did not respond. Her demeanor seemed completely numb.