DUNE-A False Haderach (OC X Shishakli) (OC x Alia)

Part 45

Chapter 35

SHISHAKLI

There were times when things were simpler, when the whole purpose of their movement was to gain independence for the Fremen, and even during those initial times, Inzal always made a single statement.

"It is easier to win freedom, but what is more difficult is keeping it."

And only now, months after the great liberation, did she truly understand the sheer truth behind those words. The Imperium was a cesspool of politicking and plots, with each and every power vying for control.

And so, all the wait and the little political moves now began to make sense.

"So, this is it," she asked as she found herself once more in the very place where it had all begun. In sietch Tabr, where she had taken his sister a few days ago. The very place she had vowed to dedicate herself to him.

"Yeah. I believe it is," he replied as he turned towards her. He was dressed in Royal Garbs, specifically made by the Fremen engineers, modelled after the previous Royal Garbs and his own 'Ajniha' uniform.

It was a stillsuit fashioned from whiter materials, with the special ODM contraption attached to the sides and a long royal silken overcoat to cover it all. Inzal had always been beautiful, and now his beauty was at a breathtaking level.

"I still remember the day you first unlocked your powers in their entirety," she began as she began to walk around.

"How painful it had been to wake up alone with that note of yours. Everyone in the sietch had called it a suicide mission, with many believing that you would never return," she began as she stopped and looked him in the eye.

"Yet you still waited for me," he said with a smile, and she nodded.

"I did. Only because you promised me," she finished, and he nodded.

"That I did..." he walked upto her, halting only inches away from her face as he caressed her face in his hands.

"But that was not the only thing I promised you, did I," he said with a smile; his eyes seemed so much more blue up close.

"We began our journey in this very place. You believed in me when none did, helped me, and shared my pain and my secrets, my joys, and my losses. You were there for me through it all. And now, as I am set to take on the throne..." and her heart skipped a beat.

The truth was, she had never doubted Inzal and his promises, yet the situation had become complicated. Whispers had spread all around about how to secure his power, how he would have to marry for political reasons, and how the Atreides wished to match him with their yet-to-be-born daughter.

"I wish for you to join me on it as well," he said, offering her the insignia ring of the Queen of the Imperium.

"You owe me nothing," she said as involuntary tears began to bubble up in her eyes, and he wiped them away.

"You are wrong," he said softly, leaning closer until she could feel his breath on her face.

"I owe you everything," and with that their lips met, as they had never before and she lost herself to the goodness of this sensation as her hands scanned his body, much as his did hers.

0000

FEYD-RAUTHA HARKONEN

The world revolved around power. And power was never given, it was only ever taken. And the Harkonnens knew that better than anyone. And soon enough, he shall have all of it.

The attack on Atreides and their subsequent failures only highlighted the weakness of his family to him, of how disastrous it could be to rely on another House or army to carry out one's will.