Chapter Text
Jessica had seen the test countless times now in her years of study at the Bene Gesserit school on the planet Wallach IX. Upon reaching the age of sixteen, each sister of the Bene Gesserit order was to be put to the gom jabbar, subjected to pain as a test of her humanity. A Bene Gesserit sister who could not control her impulses was not fit for the order, and naturally would meet her fate at the end of the gom jabbar, its tip dipped in a toxin that would kill instantly. As far as deaths went, the Reverend Mother had once told Jessica that it was a far kinder fate than a sister would have suffered elsewhere, installed in some great house as an advisor, wife, concubine, or Truthsayer, unable to master her impulses as a Bene Gesserit sister. But no matter how much Jessica tried to remind herself of this, her pulse still quickened every time a sister was put to the test.
She would not have admitted that to Theissan of course. Tonight, Theissan was to be tested, and would become a tried sister of the order. After her trial, she would be eligible to be commissioned as an advisor to a powerful house in the Imperium, which would position her to bear a child to some duke or baron as the order saw fit, furthering the Bene Gesserit’s selective breeding program that had spanned thousands of years. Jessica herself had yet to be sent off to a noble house, and at age twenty she was beginning to wonder why.
Jessica pushed this thought from her mind as she made her way down the green marble hallways of the Bene Gesserit school, the setting sun casting a warm glow through the rows of open windows. She fixed a soft smile upon her face as she knocked gently on Theissan’s door. When she heard her invitation, Jessica opened the door, and saw the young girl sitting at the end of her small bed. Theissan’s fire red hair was a shocking contrast to the black daily uniform of the Bene Gesserit students. She lifted her eyes to meet Jessica’s, but dared not react until Jessica had closed the door behind her.
“Tell me again,” Theissan said quietly.
“It’s over in a moment,” Jessica said, reassuring the sixteen-year-old girl once more, as she had done already three times. “You’ve trained your whole life for this. You will not easily forget your training.”
Theissan blinked unevenly, unsure, but trusting her older friend. Four years may have separated them in age, but Jessica had grown fond of Theissan over the years. Jessica had always kept her peers at a distance for fear that she might one day lose them, but with Theissan she had struggled to maintain that detachment. And as Theissan’s expression changed from disbelief to trust, fear began to grip Jessica’s heart.
I must not fear-- the mantra Jessica had been told her whole life. It came to her in that moment, as she feared she might lose Theissan tonight.
“Come,” Jessica said. “The Reverend Mothers, and the sisters, are waiting for you.”
Theissan did not rise immediately, but within a moment she stood next to Jessica. An understanding passed between them—neither would speak again until after Theissan’s test. Now was the time for Theissan to begin to gain control of her mind. A sister’s walk to her test was to be a silent one.
By the time they both reached the great hall of the school, the sun had set completely. The ceiling of the school had opened considerably once they reached this hall. It was meant to impress those who visited the order. As if the very power of a Bene Gesserit sister was not impressive enough, Jessica thought.
And the sight before them had always impressed Jessica more than any hall or mansion could. A circle of seated Reverend Mothers surrounded two central chairs, facing each other. Around the seated Mothers were standing sisters of the order. And already sat at one of the central chairs was the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam. The box had already been placed upon the arm of the chair.
Fear is the mind killer…
“Sit,” the Reverend Mother bid, and Theissan obeyed without the Reverend Mother having to use the Voice.
Jessica took her place in the circle. She had been watching this test for four years now, ever since she passed her own. She had never once seen a sister fall to the gob jabbar, but she knew that it did happen. There were sisters in the recent past who had failed. Still, as she watched the scene unfold before her, she hoped that tonight would not be the first time she did see a sister fail.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
Theissan sat in front of the Gaius, looking only at the box.
“Place your hand in the box,” the Reverend Mother said. She did not need to explain the test to Theissan. Every sister in training knew she was to do so quietly, and not withdraw her hand until the sister holding the box released her. Theissan’s hand shook as she reached forward, placing her hand inside the box. In an instant, the gom jabbar materialized in the Reverend Mother’s hand, poised just at Theissan’s neck.
I will face my fear.
Jessica felt her heart beat faster, but she willed it to slow. She caught Theissan’s gaze once before the pain began. Jessica knew it had begun, because of the sharp intake of breath.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
Some response was not unexpected. But every sister would soon master her impulse to pull away.
Theissan’s breath came faster. She let out a small whimper. This early in the test, it worried Jessica how quickly the pain was getting to her.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Theissan’s breath came quickly, sharply, and she whined.
“Silence!” the Reverend Mother said, still not using the Voice. If this was to be a test of Theissan’s will, no outside influence would be exerted.
Theissan’s free hand shot to her arm, a desperate attempt to master her desire to rip it from the damnable box that was causing so much pain.
“Enough! Please!” Theissan begged.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Jessica’s breath caught in her chest. No sister had ever reacted this way to a test she had seen. She knew then what she was to lose this night.
Theissan tore her hand from the box, and in an instant the gom jabbar was pressed into her skin. It was so subtle, so gentle, that if Jessica had not been watching carefully, she would have missed the action. But almost as quickly as the needle had pierced her skin did Theissan fall sideways to the green marble, dead before she met the floor.
Only I will remain.
Leto spun the Atreides signet ring on his finger. It had always seemed a heavy thing when he saw it on his father’s hand, but having been Duke of Caladan now for twenty years, he’d known its true weight for some time. Fourteen was a young age to learn such a lesson, but he’d had no choice in that.
And now before him lie a choice he had been delaying for years. He had spent twenty years expending all his efforts on improving the reputation of House Atreides among the houses of the Landsraad that he had failed to expend any of his efforts on producing an heir.
His father had long told him to delay marriage until it was politically advantageous. A duke may have an heir by a concubine or companion, but a wife secured with her financial alliances. Children were not an expected or necessary outcome of a noble marriage. But at thirty-four, Leto could no longer avoid the subject.
Sat at his council table, his councilmen taking up every seat, Leto listened to them carefully broach the subject.
“My lord,” Yuris Ulfran, his Master of Coin continued, “Caladan supplies important goods to the Imperium, but more than once House Atreides has lost out on advantageous agreements due to the uncertainty of House Atreides’ future.”
Leto raised an eyebrow. “Who would you have bear my heir, Ulfran?” He asked, if only out of exhaustion over the subject that had been brought up almost every year for the past twenty years.
“We thought…” Thufir Hawat started, knowing his council would carry more weight than anyone else at the table, “That choosing a concubine or even a wife from one of the Landsraad might seem like you are favoring one over another. And with the political climate being the way that it is, it’s a choice House Atreides cannot afford to make at this time.”
Leto interlaced his fingers, and looked down at his clasped hands. That could only mean…
“A sister of the Bene Gesserit might do well,” Thufir concluded. “Having the power of a Bene Gesserit sister would prove advantageous to your house, and grant you prestige among the other houses, not all of whom have a sister of the order in their ranks.”
Leto ran his thumbnail over the signet ring in thought. The Bene Gesserit were a secretive enclave, claiming they existed only to serve the Imperium, but there were always suspicions of their true motives. Could a Bene Gesserit truly be loyal to him and his house?
Leto looked up at the shoulder-mounted bull, his father’s blood permanently lacquered onto its horns. What would the Old Duke have done? And should he do the same?
Leto weighed his options. Thufir was right in his assessment that choosing from the Landsraad for a mother to his heir felt too final, too partial. And if Leto had wanted to leave his house with any kind of legacy, it was that they should be just and impartial. It would need to be a Bene Gesserit.
“Very well,” Leto said finally. “Arrange it.”
“My lord, don’t you wish to choose—“ Thufir started.
“I trust you will choose wisely for me,” Leto said, and without ceremony he left the hall.
Part of a Bene Gesserit’s training was devoted to control over her own body. Every function, from the rate her heartbeat, to conception of children, was an action she could influence. Part of the gom jabbar test was to ensure that a sister truly had control over her impulses under duress. Tonight Theissan failed. And in the privacy of her own quarters, Jessica failed too.
Tears fell silently, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the heaving breaths that threatened to turn into sobs. The Reverend Mother had always said she was too emotional, but emotion felt like the most human thing in the world. Still, Jessica knew that she must master her emotions this night. The Reverend Mother knew of her bond with Theissan, and she would likely have some counsel to give after tonight’s test.
If only she had been given a post earlier. Houses had come and gone from the school for years, choosing advisors, concubines and wives for their sons, and each time Jessica thought she might be commissioned as one of those roles, they chose someone else. Of course the Reverend Mother would come to chastise her tonight… if she couldn’t control her own emotions, how was she to expect to be chosen by one of the great houses? And how else would she leave this place that never felt like it belonged to her?
After a time, as Jessica sat numbly at her desk, she heard the handle to her door spin—the Reverend Mother never knocked. She turned to face the woman who had raised her and trained her, and fixed upon her face was her usual expression of disapproval.
Gaius sat in a lounge chair opposite the fireplace, and Jessica took up the seat next to her without being told.
“You almost lost control of your emotions tonight,” the Reverend Mother said.
“I am sorry, Reverend Mother, it won’t happen again,” she said, unsure of herself.
Gaius laughed quietly. “Of course it will, Jessica. And that’s what I’m hoping for.”
Jessica looked up from her clasped hands to the closest thing to a mother she had ever known.
“You are going to one of the noble houses,” Gaius said.
Jessica sat stunned, unsure what to say. After tonight, a placement was the last thing she had expected.
“I thought I would never…” Jessica said.
“My dear, you did not think we had forgotten you, had we?” Gaius asked, her tone more playful than Jessica had ever heard it. Still, it bore a sharp edge to it, one that Jessica didn’t trust.
“Why else would we have directed so many houses to choose other Bene Gesserit?”
Jessica searched the Reverend Mother’s face as best she could through the beaded veil. She knew that the Bene Gesserit pulled the strings of the Imperium like that of a puppet master, but Jessica has not considered that she was anything more than a Bene Gesserit who could not master her own impulses.
“Who am I to…” Jessica started. “What is my role?”
Gaius nodded once, pleased that Jessica was not allowing herself to dwell on the who so much as the what.
“You are to bear a daughter to the Duke Leto Atreides,” Gaius said, her voice heavy. “I cannot stress how important this placement is, Jessica. The Bene Gesserit have been selectively breeding between the houses for thousands of years, hoping to bring forth the Kwisatz Haderach. We believe we are very close now.”
“And you think I could bear the Kwisatz Hadarach?” Jessica asked.
“A daughter, Jessica,” Gaius said, her voice steely. “I said we are close.”
Many of the Bene Gesserit secrets were unknown even to Jessica. She had not yet gained the rank and power of a Reverend Mother, nor was she yet a Truthsayer. She was expected to serve the Bene Gesserit, and here she had finally been given her task. She knew she should be grateful to finally have a purpose, but there was still so much she wanted to know. The possibility that she could help bring forth the Kwisatz Haderach had her mind racing.
“The duke has sent an envoy to choose from the order,” Gaius said. “We will ensure that they make the right choice.”
Jessica nodded. Using the Voice on the nobility had to be done sparingly, and strategically. Any hint that they were being pushed about the Imperium like game pieces would draw suspicion. So the choice had to appear to be their own.
“I will do all I can to not let you down, Reverend Mother,” Jessica said.
“Ensure you do not, Jessica,” Gaius said, rising to leave. She turned, but stopped herself. She looked back at Jessica. “I know I’m hard on you, Jessica… but it’s only because you have so much power. It could not be wasted on the wrong house.”
The Reverend Mother left Jessica without another word. She considered everything that had happened tonight. Losing Theissan, nearly losing control of herself, being assigned to a house, and hearing that she might have a hand in bringing for the male mind that could harness ancestral memories and see through space and time. When it all became too much for her, Jessica laid on her bed, and meditated to will herself to sleep.
Gurney Halleck had been a servant of House Atreides for just a short time, but had already earned himself a place on the duke’s counsel. The duke, as far as he was able, had started to look at the gruff man as one of his friends. And as his friend, Leto asked of him what he would not ask any of his other councilmen who had been tasked with choosing a concubine for him.
“I know who Thufir would have me choose,” Leto said, tightening his grip upon his sword. He ran it through the air in concentric circles, practicing his swordplay.
“A humorless witch in ridiculous robes?” Gurney said, picking up his own weapon.
Leto chuckled. Gurney was nothing if not honest with his duke. Moreso than most would be, and with none of the delicacy the others affected.
“Aren’t they all like that though?” Leto asked, powering up his shield. He tested it a few times, tapping his thigh with the flat edge of his sword. The aura around him flashed blue once, twice, then red as it made contact.
“Haven’t much experience with the Bene Gesserit myself,” Gurney said. Having spent years enslaved to the Harkonnens, fighting in the pits, he wouldn’t have. He powered up his own shield.
The two of them circled the training space a few times. It wasn’t every lord or duke who would train in combat the way Leto Atreides did. But then, what else would be expected of the son of a man who fought bulls for fun. At least practice like this was less likely to get him killed. Still, Gurney respected his duke for it.
Without warning, Gurney finally lunged forward, his blade making contact with Leto’s.
“If I’m to spend the second half of my life with someone by my side, I have some hope that they’re not a zealot or an old crone.” Leto blocked another blow from Gurney.
“I doubt they’ll send us home with a Reverend Mother,” Gurney said, spinning his blade effortlessly in his hand. “But if it’s a beauty you want, sire, all you had do was ask.” Gurney smiled wryly, and came at his duke with a blow from above. The duke tumbled to miss it.
“Well if what they say about Bene Gesserit concubines is true, she won’t need to be a great beauty,” Leto said with a smile to match Gurney’s.
In addition to the power a Bene Gesserit sister wielded, most who became concubines were trained in seduction. It was said that if a Bene Gesserit chose to, she could make a man want no other woman the rest of his life.
“Aye, that is true my lord,” Gurney said.
They sparred a bit longer, and when Gurney dealt a blow that would have ended the duke’s life, the training was over. Gurney put out his arm for Leto to take, and he helped his duke to his feet.
The both of them panted as they stored their weapons along the wall. Leto powered down his shield.
“As far as choices for a concubine, I think you could do worse than a Bene Gesserit,” Gurney said, his tone taking on a sincere pale that Leto had heard only a few times since he had met Halleck.
“In a perfect world, I would be a pilot, no status or title… no concern for heirs or whom to take as a wife,” Leto said.
“Children are a blessing, my lord,” Gurney offered, hoping he would not offend the duke.
“Aye, they are,” Leto said. “But what a terrible burden to bring a child into. All this responsibility. It’s a violent world we live in.”
Gurney knew all too well what kind of world this was.
“For what it’s worth, sire,” Gurney said, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall beside the weapons. “There are many noblemen who make terrible fathers. You will not be one of them.”
Without any further discussion, Leto nodded, feeling finally like he wasn’t making this decision reluctantly.
“Thank you, Gurney,” Leto responded, and for a moment, Leto felt the pull of excitement behind his navel.
Chapter Text
Jessica didn’t love much about living on Wallach IX. A need within her had always told her it wasn’t enough, that there was something else she lacked. But there were small things she did love, like the morning dew that formed on the grass in the mornings, and the way her footsteps cut a green path through it. As she stared at the path she had made across the Bene Gesserit gardens, she wondered how much similar the climate of Caladan would be to Wallach IX. It rained on Wallach IX, but she knew it would pale in comparison to the rains of Caladan.
“Did you hear me, Jessica?” the Reverend Mother’s voice cut through Jessica’s daze.
“Yes, Reverend Mother,” Jessica said.
“Repeat, then, what I just told you,” she said.
“’Make him happy’ you said,” Jessica repeated. Silence hung between them. “Do you really think making him happy will matter when he doesn’t get what he’s paid for?”
“You may be educated in men’s physical desires, Jessica, but you are not yet wise to their weaknesses,” Gaius said. “Happiness will grant you a period of grace. Noblemen are often born a daughter before their sons come… They know not that we can bear them a son or daughter as we see fit. He is not just paying for a son, he is buying a companion. After some years, he may choose to take a wife from the Landsraad, who will give him the son he is brokering for.”
Jessica nodded, but a seed of guilt planted itself in her chest. She would have to stifle it before it took root in her.
“His buyers will be here today,” Gaius said. “They will make their requests, and I will show them a number of suitable candidates, none of which I actually intend to send to Caladan. I expect you to be ready to endear yourselves to these men, regardless of what the Reverend Mothers say or do. Do you understand?”
Jessica didn’t entirely, but she would try. She nodded. Subterfuge and intrigue as yet had been only a clinical study for Jessica. This would be one of her first tests in statecraft. And she wanted to make the Reverend Mother proud just once before she let her leave for good.
As Gurney Halleck sat in the lush gardens of the Bene Gesserit school grounds, it struck him then just how much his life had changed in the span of a year. Before pledging his loyalty to House Atreides, he was no more than a spectacle for Harkonnen entertainment. For nearly ten years he had fought in the pits. And now he was seated with noble-born Bene Gesserit, and members of Duke Leto Atreides’ council—of which he was now a member.
“Helaena’s command of languages of the Imperium is unparalleled for one her age,” one of the Reverend Mothers said, indicating one of the girls standing shoulder to shoulder behind them.
Gurney looked at the girl Helaena, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen. Behind the sheer veils they wore, he could see that much. He knew that all Bene Gesserit were tested at sixteen, but she looked much younger. A sour feeling swelled in Gurney’s chest. They’re just girls, he thought. Not women.
“Namida shows promise as a Truthsayer,” another chimed in. “A worthy addition to the House Atreides.”
The men considered the six young Bene Gesserit before them.
“Our duke certainly would appreciate a Bene Gesserit of that level of skill,” Thufir said, his sensibilities as master of assassins evident.
“All of our tested Bene Gesserit sisters are talented in their own rights,” the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam said.
“Talent is not only what our duke seeks in his concubine,” Gurney said gruffly.
Gurney could have sworn he saw eyebrows raise under the beaded veil.
“Sisters, please remove your veils,” the Reverend Mother said, and each girl complied. Six young faces revealed themselves, and Gurney’s jaw flexed, his scar tightening. “Each Bene Gesserit is tested at age sixteen, and many noble families wed their daughters much younger than sixteen.”
Gurney could hear no more. He rose, placing the small cup of coffee on the table beside him. “If you’ll excuse me, Reverend Mothers, I believe I’ll leave matters of statecraft to those whose pledge to House Atreides is much older than my own.” He left before Thufir or any of the others could chastise his impertinence.
Gurney trudged through the pillared walkway leading into the school. He had come to Wallach IX at Leto’s request, but he had not been prepared for this. It felt too familiar, bringing up memories of his sister’s fate. These girls may have noble blood, powers beyond measure, and an education to rival any that girls in the Imperium could ever expect to receive, but it still sat poorly with him.
As he rounded the corner, heading for the front entrance to the school, he collided with a smaller figure. In his haste to leave, he had ignored all his senses, but quickly they caught up with him, and his hands shot out to steady the woman before him. Dressed in a satin ochre gown, she cast a far different figure to that of the robed Reverend Mothers, and the simply dressed sisters that had been brought before Leto’s buyers. It took him a moment to gather himself, but soon he took his hands off the woman before him.
“I apologize, sister,” Gurney said, looking down at the slight woman with bronze hair and green eyes. He looked back to the string of young children behind her, standing half her size.
“Of course, sir,” the Bene Gesserit said. “We should let you pass. Girls, stand aside for our guest please.”
The children, who must have been about eight or nine, did exactly as the sister asked. But Gurney stood transfixed by this sister’s beauty. He had begun to feel self conscious for not continuing, but it was the sister who filled the silence.
“You must be a part of the Duke Leto’s retinue,” she said.
“Yes, my lady,” Gurney said, unsure how to address her.
The sister leaned to the side, looking around the corner, still able to make out the scene in the gardens.
“The Reverend Mothers are a stuffy bunch, are they not?” Jessica added, causing some of the children to giggle. Jessica looked back at them, warning them playfully with her eyes.
Something in Gurney softened. So far he had assessed the Bene Gesserit to be no more than witches and crones in the making. But before him stood proof that perhaps that might not be the case for all of the Bene Gesserit.
“A mite different than we are accustomed to on Caladan,” he said politely.
Jessica looked up at him, her sea green eyes moving from his eyes to his mouth, then back up to his eyes. She quickly looked down, as if catching herself doing something she shouldn’t, and looked back at the string of children behind her.
“Sir, I must get my students to their lesson, but if you would walk with us, I could show you the rest of the grounds while the rest of the duke’s buyers deliberate,” she offered.
“Yes, my lady, that would be welcome,” he said, suddenly forgetting any anger he had felt just moments ago. The unnamed Bene Gesserit sister smiled and nodded, leading the children and Gurney down a series of hallways, and up the grand staircase.
Once they reached a great room with many settee stools arranged in rows, her young pupils found their seats, as they no doubt had done hundreds of times before. An older sister of the Bene Gesserit, dressed similarly to her, nodded her acknowledgement.
Quietly Gurney was led away from the classroom. For almost an hour, the sister showed Gurney the different wings of the school, explaining the function of most rooms. A charged tension grew between them. He knew that in the gardens, men better suited to matters of statecraft were brokering for the right concubine that would serve House Atreides, but a feeling deep in him told him to leave no stone unturned here on Wallach IX.
“And this is the hall of portraits, with each head of the great houses represented in portraiture,” Jessica said, indicating the great room into which she had led him.
Gurney walked a portion of the room. He paused before Vladimir Harkonnen’s, and felt himself seethe.
“House Harkonnen has caused you great pain,” the sister stated. It wasn’t a question. He need not ask her how she knew. If his own expression wasn’t enough, he was sure she had her ways of knowing.
Gurney looked over at the young woman. “Yes,” he said gruffly.
“Is that why you are pledged to House Atreides?” she asked.
Gurney thought a moment. “No. Well, yes, but… my duke freed me from the Harkonnen fighting pits. I spent ten years as a slave. He gave everyone he freed the choice to leave of their own free will, but for those who had nowhere else to go he offered us a place on Caladan. As free men and women. I’m sure you know House Atreides doesn’t keep slaves like most of the other houses.”
Gurney walked a few paces more to stand before Leto’s portrait. The Bene Gesserit followed.
“It is said that he inspires love in those pledged to him,” she said, looking up at the man with raven hair and dark eyes.
Gurney nodded.
“A truly wise leader leads not with fear alone,” the lady said, “but also respect.”
“It makes him a target,” Gurney said.
The woman looked from Gurney’s scar to his broad frame. It was clear he was a fighter, and a good one.
“Who are you to the Duke Leto?” she asked.
“His warmaster,” he stated.
She hummed, looking back at the portrait. She couldn’t deny that he was handsome. She could have been sent to any number of ghastly men. But handsome men could still be shrewd.
“A son and heir will inspire confidence from the other houses. But he walks a fine line with his enlightened ideals. Press too fast, and it will only incite retaliation. The slow blade penetrates the shield,” she said.
Something caught in Gurney’s chest. He had advised his duke this very sentiment for as long as he had been with him. Of course, this Bene Gesserit may have pulled that from his mind, but he had no idea just how far her powers reached.
“Are you pledged to one of the houses, sister?” Gurney asked abruptly, looking about the other portraits before looking back at the Bene Gesserit.
The woman opened her mouth a moment, and swallowed her words. She looked up at the duke’s portrait, and looked back at Gurney.
“I am not, sir,” she said simply.
“Why?” he asked.
“Jessica,” a stern voice called from across the great hall of portraits.
The Bene Gesserit he now knew as Jessica turned to her Reverend Mother.
“Your students’ lesson will conclude shortly,” she bid, and without another word, Jessica left the hall. When she had gone, the Reverend Mother strode across the great hall to stand by Gurney.
She looked from his duke’s portrait back to him. “Your duke’s buyers are deliberating. You should be with them.”
“Why is Jessica not pledged to a house?” Gurney asked. Leave no stone unturned, he reminded himself, despite the unsettled feeling the witch before him inspired.
“There are younger, more suitable candidates to—“
“Out with it,” Gurney impressed.
“She is too emotional. She feels too deeply. And with one with power as great as hers, that is a dangerous thing.”
“Power?”
“Yes,” the Reverend Mother said frankly. “She is my most gifted student. She has the potential to train more Bene Gesserit with power to rival her own.”
“How much would power like that cost?” Gurney asked, sure now that he must pursue Jessica for his duke.
“It’s not a matter of price, Gurney Halleck,” Gaius said. “All Bene Gesserit sisters are pledged to houses for the same amount. It is our way of ensuring impartiality.”
“I know my duke…” Gurney said. “None of the children you brought before us will do.”
Gaius laughed, a cold sound. “Those sisters are far more suited to a life at court than Jessica, I assure you. They are obedient. Not prone to emotion.”
Gurney smiled down at his feet a moment. She sounded like she was made for Leto.
“I know my duke,” he repeated. “We want her.”
“We?” Gaius countered. “I see no other buyers here. You presume to decide for them?”
“I do, Reverend Mother,” he said. He was sure this Jessica was better suited to Leto than any of those girls would be.
“Let it be on your head, then,” the Reverend Mother said. “Jessica will serve as Duke Leto’s concubine.”
Jessica’s life, as far as she could remember, was lived fully on Wallach IX. She had not once left the planet. And now, seated in her quarters aboard the Atreides heighliner, Jessica looked at her trunks, open and full of her life’s possessions. Just three trunks, and that was it. Her twenty years on Wallach IX, folded and tucked into carved wooden boxes.
She wondered briefly if she had the wardrobe necessary for a wet planet like Caladan. But even if she didn’t, part of the agreement the great houses made to the Bene Gesserit was to outfit their sisters completely. Whether she became a wife, concubine, or served only as an advisor, Bene Gesserit were a revered and well-treated member of noble households.
And as of now, Jessica was in practice, a member of House Atreides. It felt foreign to her, to serve anyone other than the Bene Gesserit. But was she truly serving Leto Atreides? The undercurrent of guilt that threatened to rise inspired Jessica to rise from the foot of her bed, and leave her quarters. It would be easier to quiet her mind if she wasn’t alone with her thoughts.
The heighliner had a simple layout—one that Jessica had easily learned in the day she had been aboard the ship. With a gentle hand she had pressed a servant of House Atreides to learn where Gurney Halleck’s quarters were. And now, a mere day from arriving on Caladan, Jessica wished to speak with the warmaster once more before meeting her duke.
She pressed her hand to the call button on the door, and in a moment the man who had lobbied so hard for her stood before her, clad in his military dress pants, and a grey undershirt. Shock registered on his face a moment before he looked both ways down the corridor.
“My lady—“ he started.
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t seen coming here,” she said. She looked inside Gurney’s quarters—clean, but with signs that it had been lived in the past week.
“Can I help you with anything?” he asked, tempted to reach for his jacket, but somehow he thought that might offend her more than him standing before her without it.
“Yes, I thought I might… speak with you. In private.”
“Oh, I…” he began, and after some hesitation, stepped aside so she could enter. “Of course.”
She walked in, her brown satin dress whispering along the metal floor. Gurney moved his baliset from the chair near his desk, that Jessica might sit.
“You play,” Jessica noted with surprise.
“Yes,” Gurney said, setting the baliset on his bed. Without anywhere else for him to sit, Gurney was left with no choice but to sit at the foot of it.
“I should like to hear you play one day,” she said.
“I would be more than happy to, my lady,” he said.
How quickly he has taken to deference of me, Jessica thought. He must truly respect Duke Leto.
“That will have to wait for another time,” she said. She folded her hands in her lap, and looked out the window of the heighliner—stardust and distant moons she had never seen were passed in moments. “I had hoped that you might tell me more of the duke before my arrival.”
“I will answer any questions you have, as honestly as I can, though I have only known the duke for just under a year,” he said.
Jessica nodded. “I understand. And I don’t need any guidance in matters of ceremony. The Bene Gesserit have prepared me for my whole life in such matters. But I want to know about him as a man,” she said, pausing, “what kind of man is he? Is he quick to anger? Are there things I would do better to avoid saying?”
Gurney nodded. He noted then that though she was twenty, she still had much to learn of the world. She was nervous. It was unexpected of a Bene Gesserit sister, but that was why he had pressed so hard for Thufir Hawat to agree to take her over the others.
“He is fair. He is just. He is also shrewd, and he is only stern when need arises. But he has no family, and what family he did have before his father’s death was what you could expect from the great houses. Distant, but with a degree of fondness. He will not be unkind to you, my lady,” Gurney said, hoping to assuage any fear she might have.
Jessica nodded to herself, looking as if she felt some relief. She looked up at Gurney, and he himself couldn’t help but feel a warmth in his gut that men felt when a woman looked at him a certain way. But she was not his woman. He had forced himself not to look too hard at her, so as to avoid this feeling where possible. But this told him that she was the right choice for the duke.
“Thank you, Master Halleck,” she said.
“In time, I hope you will feel comfortable using my given name, my lady,” he said. “I know this is all unfamiliar to you, but I extend to you the same courtesy I give to my duke.”
Jessica’s mouth quirked up in a small smile. “You are a loyal subject. That is no small thing.”
She stood, and Gurney rose as well.
“Thank you for speaking with me,” she said. She walked to the door, and pressed the button to open it. “And thank you for your influence on the duke’s buyers. A life on Wallach IX has been all I’ve known, but it wasn’t… I’m glad it’s not all I would ever have.”
And without waiting for a response, Jessica left Gurney in his quarters, and returned to her own.
Plans within plans. The ease with which Jessica had already laid the foundation with a man she hadn’t even met yet shocked her. Once they landed on Caladan, Gurney would relate his experiences with Jessica to Leto. And to make a man like Leto Atreides happy, he had to believe that she wasn’t just some Bene Gesserit witch, sent there to further the desires of the Bene Gesserit order.
She hoped it would be enough. Because once she met the duke, the rest was up to her.
Notes:
Thank you all for the comments! I am glad to hear that there are some folks who want a slow burn romance between Leto and Jessica. I am never satisfied by one-shot stories myself, so I'm just here to write the stories I want to read myself.
Chapter Text
It was raining on Caladan. Leto had hoped it would hold off for the day that his Bene Gesserit arrived, but it was Caladan after all. The spring rains were good for the crops, which she would learn in time. He knew that Bene Gesserit were trained to live in all manner of unpleasant conditions, but all the same, it was different than Wallach IX.
Leto straightened his black jacket once before looking out one of the bay windows of his meeting hall. A transport ship had landed on the thopter pad within the compound of Castle Caladan, and he watched as the men he sent to the Bene Gesserit school exited, along with a robed and hooded figure who could only be his Bene Gesserit concubine. He didn’t even know her name yet, and he would be meeting her in moments. Leto squinted, trying to make out her features behind the metallic veil she wore on her face, but it was no use. The rain now came in sheets, and it cascaded down the glass window.
When his councilmen and the Bene Gesserit’s footsteps finally echoed through the corridor to the meeting hall, Leto turned away from the window.
“My lord duke,” Thufir Hawat said, striding forward and bowing slightly at the hip. “I hope we have not kept you waiting long this morning.”
“It’s alright, Thufir,” Leto said. “The rain never cooperates, does it?”
Thufir gave an awkward half-smile. An awkward silence filled the hall, and in a hurry to fill it, Gurney Halleck bowed as he addressed Leto.
“My lord, Sister Jessica of the Bene Gesserit,” he said, looking over to Jessica, whose skin had taken on a dewy quality after the rain had dried on it.
Jessica curtseyed quickly, and looked up at Leto through the mail that obscured part of her face. Leto searched her face, seeing the potential there behind the Bene Gesserit finery.
“My lord,” she said, looking up into Leto’s dark eyes. “I am pleased to serve you and House Atreides.”
Leto looked about his councilmen, tamping down the disappointment he felt that he had an audience as he made his first assessment of this Jessica. A muscle in his jaw fluttered.
“I am glad to have you here, Sister Jessica,” he said, hoping to navigate himself through the formality of their meeting, that he might end this spectacle. “You are welcome here at Castle Caladan, and it is my hope that you will make yourself at home. The castle is yours to explore, but a proper tour will be arranged in time. You must be tired from your travels, and,” Leto paused, looking out at the downpour as a low rumble of thunder sounded far across the sea, “the rain here can be particularly chilling. I’ve seen to it that your quarters are made up, and your handmaids are awaiting your arrival. Thufir…”
Thufir Hawat hid the surprise on his face—so quick an introduction. But he nodded, understanding that it was he whom Leto expected to guide Jessica to her quarters.
“Sister,” Thufir said gently, calling her attention. She looked over at the older man briefly, but looked back at her duke. Her green eyes stirred something in him, but it was over as soon as it had began.
“My lord,” she said simply before curtseying once more, and following Thufir out into the corridor.
Silence filled the meeting hall as Gurney and Leto stood alone with one another.
“Tell me of the visit with the Reverend Mothers,” Leto said, placing his hands in his pockets, and looking back out through the wide window with a careless air.
“You asked for a Bene Gesserit, and we got you one,” Gurney said wryly.
Leto looked over at his warmaster with a half-heartedly reproving glance. Gurney raised his eyebrows at his lord, and the two of them shared a short laugh.
“Thufir would have been content to bring you one of the children the Reverend Mothers put before us,” he said. “I however had other ideas.”
Leto nodded knowingly. “And this Jessica… what’s she like?”
“Different,” Gurney said, after considering the question. He stared forward out the window at the ocean, but he stifled a sardonic smile. That was all he would give Leto.
“I sent you all the way to Wallach IX, and you can’t even tell me what kind of Bene Gesserit I paid such a hefty tribute for?” Leto asked. Where matters of state were concerned, Gurney would have never refused his lord anything. But once you stripped away title and rank, they were only men. That’s one of the things that Leto appreciated about Gurney. That he was more than a sycophant.
“The Reverend Mothers seemed quite reluctant to part with her,” Gurney said, the glint in his eyes darkening a moment.
“I see…” Leto said, unsure what that could mean. “Anything amiss, you think?”
Gurney thought a moment. “The Reverend Mother implied that her power was not a concern, but perhaps there were more… obedient sisters.”
Leto stood in disbelief. He ran his hand over his beard, willing himself to grant Gurney Halleck more credit than he currently felt like giving.
Before Leto could form a response, Thufir Hawat came back through the entrance to the meeting hall.
“My lord,” Thufir said. “Your admirals will arrive in the next few moments. They’ve received word from the captain of the Windstar.”
Leto willed his shoulders back, pushing away whatever tension he had been holding onto since he had first seen the transport ship land. “Very well,” he said. “Pirates carry more weight than Bene Gesserit concubines, don’t they?” Leto said, more to Gurney than Thufir.
“Aye, sir,” Thufir said. And with that, Leto the man was set aside once more in favor of that of Leto the Duke.
“And here is the washroom, my lady,” one of her handmaids said, guiding Jessica about the greystone room. In the washroom, a copper tub sat boldly in front of a corner window, the sea expanding to the horizon beyond. Castle Caladan was an imposing fortress of a building, its straight angles at odds with the rocky shores it had been built into. This turret was the tallest of them, overlooking rocky shoals. Every window in the family quarters overlooked the sea and the perilous cliffs below.
She turned around and walked out into the greater part of her quarters. Her handmaids waited patiently for her. All of them had the fair complexion and dark hair that was so indicative of Caladanians, her duke included.
“Thank you, Lilat, Perek, Ceirhe,” Jessica said. “And the duke… are his quarters near?”
The older of the three, Ceirhe, spoke first. “The duke’s quarters are just through there, my lady.” Ceirhe gestured to a cast steel door.
It was customary for a duke to keep his own quarters, but Jessica would have to measure the dynamic between she and the duke before she would allow herself to be concerned about their distance.
“I would hate to be unprepared if the duke calls upon me, and I am not ready,” Jessica said, removing her hood. “If one of you would please help me freshen up…”
They complied with her wishes quickly, one of them drawing a bath, another helping remove her mail headcovering. The rain had made a mess of her hair, waves appearing where before it had been sleek and straight. She would not have had much concern for it otherwise, but making the right impression on the duke today was important.
For the next hour, Jessica bathed in the hot bath scented with Halovian tuberose oil, had her hair smoothed once more, and she dressed in a seafoam green satin dress that matched the color of her eyes. It showed the curves and planes of her body without being immodest, which she judged the most appropriate for Leto Atreides. He didn’t strike Jessica as the kind of man who needed that heavy of a hand, but she would find out soon enough.
When she felt ready, she looked to the entrance of her quarters.
“The duke said that I was free to explore the castle, and I think I might like to acquaint myself with it before nightfall,” Jessica said.
“We are happy to show you—“ Perek started, but Jessica held up a hand gently.
“That’s alright, I can manage on my own,” she said.
Perek nodded. “The duke takes his dinner just before sunset. A place will be made for you at each meal. The dining hall is—“
“Thank you, Perek,” Jessica said with a smile. They nodded in understanding. Jessica could feel their apprehension towards her. Perhaps they had heard all manner of tall tales about Bene Gesserit. It would take time for them to feel comfortable with her, and she hoped to start by not requiring them to cater to her every whim.
Outside of her rooms, Jessica made her way down each corridor slowly, sometimes merely peering into a room, and sometimes taking time to explore the next. There were small studies stashed away in corners, the greystone floors of them lined with rich crimson carpets, with walls of books lining each of them. A portrait hung in each of them, and Jessica wondered if the books that lined the walls of each study had been carefully curated by the person in each of the portraits.
At least an hour had passed, and Jessica hadn’t even seen every corner of this wing. Wanting to not linger too long in one spot, she made her way down a great staircase into the central part of the castle. From there, Jessica listened for activity coming from other parts of the castle. Further up the central part of the castle was the meeting hall, where the sounds of men speaking carried through the stone corridors.
Jessica turned the opposite way and walked a few moments longer until she reached a great open expanse of a room—a library. Most of the great houses had them. She smiled in appreciation of it. Having been raised in the Bene Gesserit school, Jessica had known only the finest library in all of the Imperium. Outsiders were strictly forbidden from accessing the Bene Gesserit library. There were even sections of the Bene Gesserit library that Jessica herself had not accessed, and would not until she ascended as a Reverend Mother.
Curiosity for the Atreides library got the better of her, and she began walking down the rows of shelves. They bore holograms, recorded manuscripts, scrolls and parchments. Thousands of years of history, housed here in Castle Caladan. A cursory glance at their titles showed a range of subjects, like the history of the Atreides family, to information about Caladan’s imports and exports.
“Is there anything I can help you find, my lady?” a voice called. Jessica turned to find a man dressed in tan robes, a grey beard down to his chest. The librarian.
“I’m not sure what I would look for,” Jessica said, looking around at the shelves she would need a ladder to access.
The man raised a finger in contemplation. “If I may…”
The man shuffled a few paces away, and reached an arthritic hand up to a shelf, pulling out a volume bound in crimson red leather. He handed it to Jessica.
“Flora and Fauna of Caladan,” Jessica read. “Thank you, sir.”
“My pleasure, Lady Jessica,” the man said. “I’m at your service. Although I am sure our modest collection pales in comparison to that of the Bene Gesserit library.”
Jessica smiled at the large room, then back at the man. “Less modest than some.”
He bowed in humble acknowledgment.
“May I have your name, sir?” she asked.
“Hendron,” he said. “I am called Hendron.”
“Thank you, Hendron,” she said. “I will return this as soon as I am finished.”
“Take your time, my lady,” he said. “The library is yours.”
Jessica didn’t know what to say in response. To say that any of what she had seen today was hers didn’t sound right. Would any of the other houses have afforded a concubine the same courtesies she’d been shown so far? Each house differed in their treatment of Bene Gesserit.
“I… won’t trespass on your time longer, Hendron,” Jessica said. “And since the rains have let up, I thought I might go to the shore.”
Hendron nodded his understanding, and retreated without a word, leaving Jessica alone.
Leto rubbed at his temple briefly before resting his fist on the great table before him. He had expected better news from Admiral Tyson.
“And how many were taken from the crew?” Leto asked.
“Seven, sire,” the admiral responded. “The rest marooned on Jakebill Island.”
Leto’s lips pressed together in a thin line. Piracy had been a problem in his grandfather’s tenure as duke, but when his father had assumed the title, he had doubled the size of his navy to protect the sprawling seas of Caladan. The planet was mostly open sea, with a scant few continents, and thousands of islands spread throughout. Caladan’s economy was comprised mostly of fishing exports. Any threat to those exports had to be addressed. And piracy was a threat that Leto could not afford to leave unchecked.
“And the Windstar? What of its cargo?” he asked, looking to Thufir.
Thufir was quiet a moment. “Gone, my lord.”
Leto pulled in a slow breath. “Yuris,” Leto started, looking at his master of coin. “How bad is the loss?”
“It’s early in the season, sire, so… not as bad as it could have been,” Yuris Ulfran responded, his freckled skin growing red.
“Very well,” he said. He turned to Gurney. “Increase the naval presence in the south sea, and question every shipping vessel as a matter of practice. Someone on board one of these ships must know something.”
“Yes, my lord,” he said gruffly from his seated position beside Leto.
“Is there anything else, Thufir?” Leto asked.
“No, sir,” he responded, sounding older than his age, if that was at all possible. He had served three generations of dukes. Leto briefly felt pity for the old man, having seen the success of his efforts to rid Caladan of piracy. But pity would not fix this problem, so he kept it to himself, like he did so many other feelings.
“Very well,” he said, rising from the table. The rest followed.
Leto left his council in the meeting hall, eager to put some distance between him and his responsibilities, if only for an hour. He had also gone the entire morning doing everything he could to not dwell on the fact that Jessica was in the Atreides family wing. He had failed many times.
He measured the speed at which he made his way up to his living quarters, hoping between the meeting hall and the door to Jessica’s rooms would be enough for him to clear his head. When he knocked at the door, it was one of Jessica’s handmaids who answered.
“Sir,” she said, bowing her head once.
“I thought I might check in on Lady Jessica as she settled in,” he said, looking about her quarters.
“She left some hours ago to tour the castle,” she said. “If you would like, my lord, I am sure we could find where she has gone.”
Leto felt a flash of concern, but tamped it down quickly. There was no danger for her here in Castle Caladan, but so soon after learning of the conflict in the south sea, Leto wanted to know for sure that she was safe. It would not do to endanger the Bene Gesserit that had been pledged to his house, and put under his care.
“I could do with a walk myself, so I think I’ll manage,” he said before walking the corridors to find her.
He had exhausted nearly half of the castle before he ended up in the library. It was Hendron who finally clued him in to Jessica’s whereabouts.
The shoreline near Castle Caladan was mostly iron shoal, save for a wide, black sand beach that buttressed a lagoon. The walk to the shoreline was lined with black rocks pulled from the nearby shoals. Leto had spent many summers in his childhood running over the black sand dunes lined with rich, green grasses, but now he kept to the stone path.
As he made it halfway down the stairs, he spotted her. Sat on a large, black rock, Jessica’s head was lowered over a book. He watched her for a moment, finally taking her in with no one to see him do it. She was engrossed in her reading, and after a moment, turned the page.
The wind caught her hair briefly, and she pulled it away from her neck absently. Seeing a Bene Gesserit in such a state of undress—that is, without their traditional veil—was fascinating. To the casual observer, she could have been just any other woman. But Leto knew better as a duke of one of the great houses of the Landsraad.
He walked the rest of the way slowly, hoping to prolong the time before he interrupted her. The sound of the waves managed to muffle his steps until he was only a few yards away.
She turned to him when she heard steps on the wet sand, closing her book. They held each other’s gaze for a heavy few seconds before she made to step off the rock.
“No, please stay seated,” Leto said, walking the rest of the way to her. He stood just before the rock, and looked up at her. “This was the last place I expected to find you, but I’m glad you’ve ventured out.”
“It’s beautiful,” Jessica said, again tucking her hair behind her ear as she fought the wind. “I have never seen any place like it before.” She looked out at the long stretch of black sand.
“It’s a little more pleasant in the summer,” Leto said. “The rains let up a bit by then.”
“I don’t mind it now,” she said. Leto pressed his lips together in what could have been a smile if he hadn’t suppressed it.
“I hear you saw some of the castle,” he said.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Jessica said. “The week aboard the heighliner had me feeling a bit restless.”
“I meant it when I said the house is yours to explore,” he said. Jessica noted the way he fidgeted with his signet ring, spinning it with the opposite hand.
“I walked for an hour and only scratched the surface,” she said. “It’s a lovely home.”
Leto nodded his thanks. “I would be happy to show you the rest, if you like.”
“I would very much like that, my lord,” she said.
“I hope…” he started, looking at his palm briefly before looking back up at her. “I think this might go much better for us if we use each other’s names.”
Jessica considered this a moment. She wrapped one arm around herself and shivered slightly. She looked from his face to his hands, and then back up to his face before nodding.
They shared yet another pregnant pause. Leto had weeks to prepare for her arrival, yet now his words failed him.
“You’re cold,” he said, seizing the first thing that came to his mind. “We should get you inside. It’s cold on the beach at this time of year.” Leto held his hand out, indicating he would help her down.
Jessica slowly reached out, and placed her hand in his. His hand was warm compared to hers, which only confirmed his desire to get her inside. She stepped down as gently as she could manage, and looked up at him.
“I knew it would be, in theory, but I think the next time I come out here, I’ll bring a shawl,” she said with a wry smile, hoping to ease the tension between them.
Leto let go of her hand and started to unbutton his jacket. Jessica thought about stopping him, but if she was to learn anything about him, and build trust between them, these first few hours would be pivotal.
Leto shrugged out of his jacket. “Here,” he said, holding it open for her. Jessica held his gaze, the way the Bene Gesserit had taught her, and slowly turned so he could place it over her shoulders. With the jacket settled, she made to turn towards him, but was stopped by his hand at the back of her neck, under her hair.
His hand warmed her skin, and her eyes closed involuntarily as he swept his hand forward, pulling her hair out from under the jacket. Her stomach pulled at the feeling of his skin on hers, something she hadn’t expected to feel.
After he arranged her hair neatly over the felt of the jacket, Jessica willed herself to open her eyes and look back at Leto. It had unsettled her, feeling that way, but she gave a half smile to put the feeling behind her.
“Thank you,” she said. At that, all contact between them was severed, and the two of them walked up the black flagstone steps towards the castle in silence.
Notes:
Our two lovers finally meet... but they have miles to go yet ;)
Thank you for the great comments! It's nice knowing that there are at least a few reading this story.
Chapter Text
Every dish on the table was one that Leto had picked out himself. There were platters of fish native to Caladan, cooked in the traditional way. Seasoned rice from the rice fields of Caladan. And amidst the dishes native to Caladan, Leto had ensured that there were dishes from Wallach IX. He’d gone to the kitchens himself and dictated to the cooks what to make. After he’d left, the kitchen staff had exchanged knowing looks, hiding smiles.
He waited now, just before sunset, watching the sky take on a stormy, violet hue. Behind the clouds, the sun was setting. Out across the waves, he knew that Gurney had begun instructing the Atreides naval vessels in new protocols. It couldn’t have been at a more inopportune time, too. If Jessica was to feel at home on Caladan, it didn’t bode well that her first days were to be cast in the pale of strife.
Her footsteps echoed on the greystone for a moment before she rounded the corner. Leto turned just as she found the three steps that led down into the dining hall. She was dressed in the same green gown from the beach, but she’d tamed her hair with a long braid down her back.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come to escort you myself,” Leto said, walking to stand before her. When he was an arm’s length away from her, they stood a moment in weighted silence.
“One of my maidservants saw me down here,” she said, looking Leto over for a fraction of a second. She wondered if he always wore his military uniform. He looked handsome in it, but she wondered if her arrival today had been an occasion.
“If I’m able, I will walk with you to dinner in the future,” he said.
Jessica nodded her appreciation. Leto turned and gestured towards the dining table. It was large enough to seat twenty, but only one portion had been made up for dinner. Two spots had been prepared, Leto’s at the head of the table, and Jessica’s right beside his. Leto pulled Jessica’s chair out, and pushed it in as she sat.
Leto sat. He picked up a carafe of red wine, and held it slightly aloft.
“Wine?” he asked. Jessica nodded, allowing Leto to fill the crystal glass in front of her, then his own.
Leto raised his glass, and Jessica did the same.
“To strange circumstances?” he offered, and Jessica gave a breathy laugh.
“To strange circumstances,” she mirrored, and the two of them drank.
“I suppose though, not so strange for you,” Leto said. “You’ve been preparing for this position your whole life.”
Jessica thought a moment. She didn’t think he was fishing for information about her education, her experience, but she still didn’t know him well enough to say for sure.
“If I’m being honest, once I was tested, and an appointment never came, I had begun to think that the Reverend Mother would never send me anywhere,” Jessica said, drinking deeper from her glass. “This wine is excellent. Was it made here on Caladan?”
Leto gave a half smile, not quite reaching his dark eyes. “Yes, it’s one of our top exports.” He set his glass down, and spun it slowly in thought. “Gurney Halleck told me that the Reverend Mother was reticent to place you here.”
Jessica pulled her bottom lip under her teeth a moment, staring at the burgundy depths of her glass. “He told you true.”
“What reason did the Reverend Mother have against placing you among any of the noble houses of the Landsraad?” he asked, and Jessica noted the thin line of interrogation. She assessed him a moment, seeing a hardness about him—most of the heads of noble houses had that look about them. Some more than others.
“I think she thought I was too emotional,” Jessica started. “Bene Gesserit are supposed to maintain control over their mind and body, and she thought emotional attachment clouded my judgment.”
“Attachment?” Leto asked, his eyes narrowing.
Jessica’s stomach hitched. She hadn’t intended to mention Theissan. “I… became close with one of the Bene Gesserit students. She was like a sister to me.” Jessica was quiet a moment. “She died not too long ago.”
Leto sat with that information a moment, leaning his elbow against the arm of the chair. “I’m sorry,” he concluded, and Jessica detected the tone of his voice softening.
Jessica nodded. They shared yet another moment of silence before Leto looked out at the spread before them.
“I… took the liberty of having dinner laid out for us, that we might be able to get to know one another in private,” Leto said. “So please help yourself to anything here.”
Jessica looked out at everything that had been prepared, and decided to reach first for the fish. Leto watched a moment as Jessica helped herself, and soon joined her in filling his plate.
“If I’m being honest, I prefer it this way,” he offered.
Jessica looked around the great room, noting the absence of the house staff that had been so present all day, then back at the table.
“I’m not used to being waited on,” Jessica said. “So if you prefer our dinners to be more intimate, I wouldn’t mind either.”
A small smile came to Leto’s lips. “Very well,” he said.
They ate in silence for some time before Leto spoke again.
“I thought tomorrow I might show you Castle Caladan,” he said.
“I have a few things that have piqued my interest from what I’ve seen, so that would be appreciated,” Jessica said.
Leto chewed and swallowed his food, allowing him a moment to think. “Like what?” he asked lightly, raising an eyebrow.
Jessica smiled down at her plate coyly. She raised her wine glass to her mouth.
“It shouldn’t take long,” Jessica said into the glass. “I think the answer to my question is probably rather straightforward.” She drank slowly, and set the glass down.
Leto swallowed almost imperceptibly. “After dinner, I can do my best to answer any questions you have about… whatever has piqued your interest.”
Leto refilled Jessica’s glass, but then Jessica noted that his own had barely been touched. He was a cautious man, not prone to excess it seemed. He valued a clear head. Was it a habit, or was it because he wanted to stay out of his cups on this first evening with Jessica? Either way, Jessica knew she would not touch her glass again the rest of the evening.
Leto spent the remainder of their meal telling Jessica about the basic history of Caladan, their exports, dealings with CHOAM, and the Landsraad—all of this Jessica knew well. But she listened and smiled, letting him guide the evening. When neither had touched their food for some time, Leto ran his hands down the arms of his chair.
“The suspense is killing me,” he said. “I must know what questions you had about the castle that wouldn’t keep until tomorrow.”
Jessica smiled and allowed Leto to pull her chair out for her the same as when she’d sat down.
“Do you know the way?” Leto asked.
Jessica stood, now face to face with Leto. The little wine she’d consumed had gone to her head, and for a brief moment she flushed under Leto’s gaze.
“It’s about the only part of the castle I do know the way to,” Jessia admitted demurely.
“That will change with time,” Leto said, and a kind smile briefly touched his eyes.
Jessica willed herself to move, and led the duke through the halls of his own castle. After some time it became clear that Jessica was heading for the Atreides living quarters. They reached the long hallway that Jessica had passed earlier, with small alcoves, a window apiece, the walls lined with books.
Leto looked at Jessica expectantly, his hands tucked in his pants pockets in a careless fashion. Suddenly, Jessica felt herself falter, her attempt at extending their contact for the evening feeling like too much for her to handle. Still, she had come too far to back out now.
“I wondered about these… studies? Is that what you’d call them?” she asked, walking down the hall from one to another. “They’re so small.”
Leto smiled, showing his teeth, which surprised Jessica. Her stomach did a small somersault.
“You have a good eye,” he said. “They weren’t always studies.”
Leto stepped into one, and Jessica followed him. The space was cramped, forcing Jessica and Leto’s arms to graze against each other.
“Before I was born—possibly hundreds of years before, in fact—these small spaces held suits of armor from hundreds of years of the Atreides fighting forces,” he said, looking up at the portrait above the window that looked out over a courtyard.
“And somewhere along the way, some of my ancestors removed the suits, and made their own shrines—shelves filled with books they read, their own portraits…” he said, with a hint of wry irony.
Jessica looked at some of the books on the shelves. They were clean—no signs of dust anywhere.
“What happened to the suits of armor?” Jessica asked, looking back at Leto.
Leto looked from Jessica’s eyes to her mouth. “Banished to the dungeons I’m afraid.”
“More’s the pity,” Jessica said.
“When I was young, I played among the Atreides relics in the dungeon,” Leto said. Jessica’s eyebrows raised. “What I lacked in friends, I made up for in privilege,” Leto explained.
Jessica knew a bit of that herself. As a Bene Gesserit, she’d been raised to serve, so her experience with privilege had been limited. But she knew about the desire for friendship and companionship.
“I’d like to see them,” Jessica said after some thought.
Leto hesitated. He hadn’t thought his tour would include a walk through the dungeons. It wasn’t exactly the kind of place he wanted to take Jessica, especially so early on at Castle Caladan. But if he was learning anything about this Bene Gesserit, it was that she was entirely not what he’d expected.
“We have a fair few Atreides relics on display throughout the castle,” Leto said. “We can start there.”
Jessica noted the tone of finality, softened a bit no doubt for her sake. She wondered then what it would be like to watch him lose his temper. To watch him lose himself to pleasure. She wanted to know just how far apart the sides of Leto Atreides had been polarized.
Jessica nodded her understanding, and stood staring at the gilded buttons on Leto’s jacket. Falcons, like the Atreides crest. She raised a tentative hand to one, and ran her thumb over it. Leto watched her, noting the flush that had come to her cheeks.
When Jessica could no longer avoid Leto’s gaze, she looked up at him. He had such a direct way of looking at her.
They stood that way for ages it seemed, each second feeling like hours. Whatever they had been doing there in that study, whatever ruse they were upholding, it was crumbling before them. Leto raised a hand slowly, reaching over Jessica’s shoulder to grab her braid. He pulled it slowly to her front, running it through his fingers. It was such a fine bronze color.
Jessica flattened her hand on Leto’s midsection, running her thumb along the felt of Leto’s jacket. Her breath was shallow. Leto shifted so that he stood a few inches from Jessica. He looked down at her, a head taller, and felt the temptation to lean down to kiss her.
“During dinner, I considered how this would go," Leto said, as if they were mid-conversation. "I wondered if it would be easy to throw all convention aside and take you to bed without knowing you at all."
Jessica's eyes widened briefly, stupefied over how blunt Duke Leto Atreides was being with her.
"I'm only here to serve," Jessica said. "But we can proceed in whatever way..." she said, floundering for something to say. Why was this so difficult? She'd been trained better.
Leto's hand found Jessica's hip. His hand felt warm through the silk fabric of her dress. "If I were to back you up to that bookcase, would you give yourself to me?" he asked. "Would it be that easy? Could I kneel before you and taste you? And would you want it?"
Jessica's breath escaped in a sharp burst. "I..." she started, not sure how to finish.
"All my life, I’ve been given every privilege, every advantage,” Leto said, suddenly softening. “Nothing was off limits to me.”
Leto laid Jessica’s braid down her back again, and rested his other hand on her collarbone. He ran his thumb along her neck gently.
“Your very presence here is because I willed it,” he said. “I paid tribute to the sisters of the Bene Gesserit, and here you are.”
Jessica’s eyes shut involuntarily as Leto pulled her to him. He lowered his head, his forehead almost resting against hers.
“And I know you have been trained to do your duty and bear me an heir,” Leto said. “But even knowing all that, I want to know that when I finally have you… it’s because you want it.”
Jessica’s breath came out ragged for several breaths. In this moment, she did want him. She’d never experienced this kind of wanting before. This was something the Bene Gesserit said wasn’t necessary—only control of one’s faculties.
Jessica swallowed, and Leto moved the hand on her collarbone to her jaw. He touched Jessica’s bottom lip lightly with his thumb, allowing himself to imagine what her mouth would feel like on his before he slowly removed all points of contact with Jessica. Once he had, he stepped a few inches away.
“Let me walk you to our rooms,” he said, and Jessica knew that whatever plan she’d had for seducing Leto Atreides was moot. Make him happy the Reverend Mother had said. He wanted to lead. And Jessica was slowly starting to realize that to make Leto Atreides happy, she would have to let him.
Notes:
Hi, I promise I didn't fall off the face of the earth! I had a slow couple of weeks, burnt out from work, and needed to recoup. I also finished the first Dune book, which I wanted to do so I could get a feel for book canon vs movie canon.
I saw all your amazing comments in the meantime, and knew I needed to get back to writing. I also wasn't sure how to approach this chapter. I have some plot points I know I want to hit, but I just thought this first night was a tough interaction to write.
I know it's a bit of a shorter update, but I think now things should flow better in my writing. I can't wait to start getting to all the juicy plot points, and I can't wait to hear your thoughts!
Chapter Text
Leto laid awake in his bed for some time, his heart beating faster than it should. Only a door separated him from the reason his blood felt hot in his veins. He sighed in frustration—at thirty-four, this kind of feeling should have been behind him. Jessica wasn’t some conquest, some fevered affair. Those trysts he’d had with a few women of noble houses could never lead to anything permanent. No children were born of those unions, and no marriage was ever arranged. But with Jessica, everything was different. She would be the mother of his children. It was certain. It was final.
Well… he had barely held her tonight, so it wasn’t certain yet. Of course it would happen in time, but when he whittled away the desire to court her as best he could, it was fear that kept him up. The fear that when it came to it, he wouldn’t be a good father.
His own had been stern, but caring in his own way. His people loved him. But the demands of being the ducal heir had been heavy. Though his father allowed him to train as a pilot, his dreams of pursuing the life of a pilot had been dashed the second his father had ignored his age and abilities, stepping into a ring with that damned bull. And one day Leto’s own son would have to wear the signet ring and lead House Atreides. Would he want to do it, or would he take to it with the same reluctance he had?
These thoughts and fears weren’t new to Leto, and he knew that indulging in them did no good. Jessica was here now, and sleep was the only way he would get any kind of reprieve from these cyclical thoughts.
Trying to will himself to sleep, Leto looked out through the balcony window out at the dark water, the moonlight peeking from behind the clouds. They had finally started to clear a bit. Laid on his side, Leto tucked one arm under his head, and watched the moonlight glitter across the blackened waves. Just as his eyes had grown heavy, the slightest movement drew his attention, waking him fully.
Jessica had just stepped out onto the balcony—or had she been there the whole time? She’d been standing, and her movement to sit had roused him from his near-sleep. The green, wool knit blanket she had around her had fallen over her shoulder, exposing her skin to the moonlight. Leto sat up, and for a few moments he thought about watching her as he had done at the beach, but decided against it. Tossing the covers back, Leto rose from bed, and walked the few feet to the door to their shared balcony.
Leto pressed his hand to the balcony door, his biological signature allowing it to open. Jessica’s had been programmed in to Castle Caladan even before she arrived, and hers now unlocked almost as many entrances in the castle as Leto’s did.
The hiss of the door pulled Jessica’s attention away from the stoop at the ledge of the balcony, where she had chosen to sit. Leto’s heart skipped a beat when Jessica’s eyes found him. She turned away from the stone wall, where her chest had been pressed against it not a moment before as she looked out over the waves.
Leto walked barefoot to the stoop, sitting in the empty space beside Jessica.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Leto asked. He rubbed at one of his arms, heating the skin beneath his partially unbuttoned linen shirt. It was cold out, even for him.
Jessica drew the Atreides-green blanket further up her shoulders, and shook her head.
“Something on your mind?” Leto asked. He leaned back against the stone wall, hoping to affect a carefree attitude, as if he hadn’t just been thinking about her.
Jessica swallowed, and looked Leto over, as if she was deciding something. For a moment Leto worried what she might say. That she might say she wanted to go back to Wallach IX, and this was all a mistake.
“Not mine,” she said finally. But it didn’t relieve him the way he thought it would. Now all he felt was confusion.
“What do you mean?” he asked, sitting up away from the stone wall, bracing his forearms against his knees.
“It’s not what’s on my mind that’s keeping me up,” she said, and Leto noted the way she fidgeted with the edge of the blanket with her fingers.
Leto scoffed a moment, and shook his head. He smiled down at his bare feet, then back up at Jessica.
“You can’t mean you read minds—“ he started.
“No, not like that,” Jessica interrupted. “Emotions.”
Her face was placid, but Leto thought there was something else there.
“Bene Gesserit can…” he started.
“Read emotions, yes,” Jessica said. “And I’m not… I’m not used to feeling someone’s emotions for longer than a few moments. You could say on Wallach IX, my exposure to unchecked emotion was deliberate, but not over extended periods of time.”
Leto considered what he knew of Bene Gesserit training, but hadn’t considered that Jessica might be struggling now. Raised around Bene Gesserit acolytes and Reverend Mothers, Jessica had spent most of her life in a controlled environment. Her training with people outside of the Bene Gesserit order had likely never lasted hours.
“Is it too much?” Leto asked out of concern for her.
“No,” Jessica said. “I will adapt. And…” A fleeting smile flashed across her face. “Your emotions were high.”
Leto smiled, remembering the way he’d worked himself into such a thought storm in bed.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Your arrival has just brought up a lot of old feelings.”
Jessica nodded, and she looked out over the water, the both of them settling into a comfortable silence. She scratched absently at her nose a moment with her blanketed hand, and Leto thought it was incredibly endearing—here she was, no Bene Gesserit finery, her hair undone and messy. He could get used to this side of her.
Jessica felt a fluttering of her own for a moment as a thought came to her mind. Before she had time to analyze where it had come from, Jessica decided to speak.
“I may have an idea that’s a bit unconventional,” Jessica started. “And of course if convention is what you prefer, we don’t have to…” she started. Her mouth gaped a moment before looking back out at the water, suddenly feeling silly for even considering what she had been about to say.
“I don’t think convention applies to us anymore, Jessica,” Leto said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Jessica turned her face to Leto, who dropped his hand back down to his thigh.
“I think it would quiet your mind if we didn’t keep separate quarters,” she said. When Leto said nothing, Jessica instantly regretted saying it. Guilt shot through her body—‘make him happy’ she heard in her mind. And he would see the Bene Gesserit manipulations and schemes behind her proposal, of course he would—
“You think that would quiet my mind?” Leto asked with a wide smile.
Jessica was thankful for the moonlight, as the blue light no doubt hid the blush that had spread over her face.
“It was a silly thought, I know, I just thought it might help if we were closer, and could grow accustomed to each other’s presence,” she said, standing suddenly. She smiled down at the stone floor, hoping to escape whatever damnable feeling had seeped into her mind. “I’ll let you get back to sleep, Leto.”
Leto watched in stunned silence as Jessica walked towards her own balcony door. Before she could reach her hand forward to open it, Leto jumped to his feet, and shot forward. His hands found her arms, gently stilling her.
“Wait, wait,” he said. “Please don’t go.” Leto turned Jessica around, and he suppressed a smile as he looked down at her. He didn’t think he’d have her in his bed so soon, and certainly not like this. The absurdity of it almost made him laugh, but he thought better of it. She was looking everywhere but his face.
“It sounded like a better idea in my head,” Jessica admitted with desperate humor. “It doesn’t have to be like that. Not yet, anyway.”
Leto thought a moment. “I think I understand what you mean,” he said. “I think I laid there in bed thinking about you in the other room for at least an hour.”
Jessica nodded.
“And I was keeping you up as a result,” he said, and Jessica sensed Leto’s deep capacity for empathy. Jessica pressed her lips together in a downward smile, then cheated her eyes back up to Leto finally in a look that said ‘yes’.
Leto drew in a deep breath, and then fought every urge to pull Jessica against him and kiss her. Having her in his bed would be its own kind of struggle, but at least he wouldn’t be lying awake wondering what she was doing.
“If it will help at all, I’m willing to try,” he said gently.
Leto stepped to the other side of the balcony, where the sensor to his bedroom door was, and beckoned Jessica over. He nodded to the sensor, and Jessica understood the meaning immediately. Her biological signature worked on his door. As his concubine, it was expected, but still it felt significant that Leto was bidding her to open the door.
Jessica pressed her palm against the sensor, and the door slid open. Jessica stepped in, and waited for Leto. He followed her, and closed the door behind them. When he turned, he looked at the bed he’d left, the linens of one side still pulled down. Leto walked around the bed, and pulled the blankets down for her on the other side. Jessica padded gently to the side of the bed where Leto stood.
Jessica dropped the wool blanket from around her shoulders, and laid it across the foot of the bed. She stood briefly before Leto in a gossamer nightdress, a boldness coming out in her as she allowed Leto to take in her figure through the sheer fabric.
“My mind is anything but quiet, Jessica,” Leto chuckled breathily.
Jessica sat in bed, her back to the hammered steel and green velvet headboard. She tucked her legs up beside her. Her eyes never left Leto as she pulled the covers over her lap.
“I can help with that,” she said. “You would need to trust me.”
Leto’s stomach hitched, and for a moment he felt a stir of worry. Trust her?
“Lie down, Leto,” Jessica whispered, and patted the space in front of her. Leto hesitated, but sensed no subterfuge. Curiosity won in the end, and Leto sat beside her before he lowered himself to lay before her.
“Put your head in my lap,” she said gently. Leto did as she told him, and her soft hands guided him to where she wanted him. In the end, he laid on his back, looking up at Jessica.
Jessica placed her hands on Leto’s shoulders, and immediately a warm feeling spread throughout his body. Jessica ran her hands gently over his neck, and she began running her fingers gently over his black, curly hair. He hadn’t been touched by a woman like this in ages, but quickly it became something different.
Jessica flattened the pads of her thumbs over Leto’s forehead, smoothing them over his skin. Jessica felt the tension leave Leto’s body almost immediately. One of the lesser-known abilities of the Bene Gesserit was the power of influence. It was used subtly, to the point that the person being influenced often had no idea that the Bene Gesserit beside them had done anything. To a person being influenced, everything they did was their own choice.
“Do people know you can do this?” Leto asked, meaning the Bene Gesserit.
“Very few,” Jessica said. She looked down at her duke as she pushed away the worry that had set into him tonight. She had plenty of time to explain to him what sharing this with him meant. But tonight, he just needed to sleep.
“Sleep Leto,” she said finally.
Leto gave one last shuddering breath before sleep took him.
Sweat cooled on Gurney Halleck’s skin as the wind cut through his armor. As the ornithopter took off, the wind stopped abruptly once the back closed. He walked the few paces he was afforded, to where the prisoner had been bound and gagged. The duke’s warning to all seafaring vessels regarding piracy had prepared the captain of the Tiberius, so when the stowaway masquerading as a deck hand had tried to put him to the blade, he was ready. Now the bastard would be brought before Thufir Hawat at Castle Caladan, where he would be questioned.
The man couldn’t have been any older than twenty-five. Gurney resisted the urge to start questioning him now. It was Thufir who was the spymaster, not him. But he’d gotten one good lick in, which had half been to subdue him, the other half for his duke. The man’s eye would be bruised by the time they arrived at Castle Caladan, but he figured that much could be forgiven.
Gurney looked away from the prisoner, who looked up at Gurney with disdain, and he walked up to the pilot.
“How long until we get to Castle Caladan?” Gurney half shouted to her.
“I’d say about forty minutes, sir,” she responded, looking back at Gurney. “Thirty five if I’m pressed to it.”
“Make it thirty five,” Gurney said, and the pilot nodded her understanding.
When Castle Caladan finally appeared on the horizon, Gurney felt a measure of relief. He hadn’t expected interference on their journey, but ten years of enslavement had taught him constant vigilance. It was one of the things that made him so good at what he did.
When the thopter landed, it was Gurney who took the prisoner by the back of his shirt and led him to the back entrance of the castle. Thufir had been waiting for him, along with five other men under Thufir’s direct command. Without a word, the seven men led the prisoner down hallways and stairways. Down, down, down they went through Castle Caladan, the natural light being slowly replaced with artificial light, until finally they reached the dungeons.
Largely used for storage, the dungeons hadn’t seen much use for years, but after Leto had led a covert raid on Geidi Prime to free all those enslaved people, it had seen more use than normal.
“Has the duke been notified?” Gurney asked Thufir, his grip on the prisoner iron-clad.
“Not yet,” Thufir said. “When he’s secured, I’ll let our duke know.”
They reached the last room in the belly of the dungeon, which could only be described as a box. It bore no windows, and three of its walls were stone. The last of the four being made up of only steel bars and a gate. With the prisoner deposited in the cell, his hands still bound, Gurney locked the steel gate with his own signature, pressing his hand to the sensor.
Without a word, Gurney and Thufir exchanged a knowing look. They nodded to each other, and Thufir left to find Leto.
Notes:
Hi, I'm back with another update! I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long.
This chapter really had me thinking about how much people know about the Bene Gesserit abilities. In the first book, I gathered that there wasn't a whole lot the Bene Gesserit shared about all their abilities, and they often hid their motives. They present themselves as advisors, translators, concubines, etc., but disclose very little about their abilities. I did some digging, and according to some online sources, it appears very few know about the Voice in the books, along with the ability to read emotion and influence people. If you think about it, that makes the most sense, as the Imperium wouldn't trust them half as well if they knew everything the Bene Gesserit could do.
So, going forward, there will be quite a few things that Leto learns about Jessica's abilities, and perhaps even some of his advisors, which I think could present us with some really interesting dynamics and interactions. I plan to explore that a little bit in chapter 6.
As always, I love hearing your thoughts! Cheers, and hopefully I'll have a new chapter for you soon.
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