"You said you'd be with me!"
"I am with you!"
"How can you when you spread the same lies as them!"
"I am them!"
I'd always known Paul and I were from different words. I just never thought that it would be the biggest obstacle in our relationship. I...
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"If you wanna fight with us, first thing, you must learn to be one with the desert." Stilgar hands me a backpack. "Here is a tent and enough food. I want you to cross that small erg and come back. Travel by night. You know how to use a paracompass?"
"Yes," I nod. "Anything else I should know?"
He scratches his chin, thinking, "Uh, besides the worms and the Harkonnens, beware of the trapdoor spiders. Centipedes are very nasty. Not the big ones. They are harmless. But the little ones, you have to worry about. Oh! Don't ever, ever listen to the jinn."
My brows lift and Femi echoes, "The jinn?"
"Jinn," Stilgar nods once, "Desert spirits. They whisper at night," he makes a sound as if imitating a Jinn whisper. Amusement sends shivers down my entire body and fold my lips into my mouth. The man was a character. "They can possess you, really. They are demons. Don't listen to them." He grunts walking away.
Femi chuckles to herself watching him, "That man is a character."
I drop my head, with a smile before looking back up at her. "Will you be okay?"
She meets my gaze nodding, "I'll be right behind you."
I glance to the two waiting off to the side for her; Rune and Nym— she called them then back to her, "I'd prefer you to be beside me." Or on top of me. The thought is there before I know it.
Femi gives me a grin that says she knew too.
"I'm sorry."
"Stop apologising," she reaches up and pushes hair from my face. "I'll see you in a couple days."
A couple days would feel like hell without her; it did the first time she went to Chapterhouse, though I knew she needed to learn, differently from me, she needed to learn about her family.
This was where our paths divided.
I watch her go to them before making my way towards the desert.
Later, the setting sun hangs low in the sky, silhouetting the planet's moons. The stretch of sand ripples as a strong breeze kicks up the top layer.
In the dying light, I zigzag across the sand, squinting as the orange sun slowly sinks behind a dune.
Just as the light disappears, something catches my attention and I turn to see a crouched figure watching from a nearby rise.
I stop and face the silhouette figure, hearing their laughter, echoing.
I pant, the strong twisting in my stomach telling me it is him, "Jamis."
