Chapter Two:
"Remember, wench, not to talk any more than necessary."
Those words were all Mirylnn had heard all night. All week. Every week for months to be exact. It surprised her that these dinner parties were organized so far in advance, but such were the lives of these extravagant Harkonnens.
During those long months, her usual training had come to a complete halt…replaced with things that were quite foreign. The one thing in her training that had not been brought to an end was her Voice training. In fact, this was the thing that preoccupied her time: practicing heaping layer upon layer of mesmer into her voice. Usually, such rigid training was only given to a Bene Gesserit who was going to be extracting the truth from someone. But that was not her fate.
She was being trained to seduce a man…a Harkonnen…the na-Baron.
She had tried to be angry with her teachers for using her as such a pawn: a person to be used and discarded without a second thought. It filled her with bitterness. Her bitterness had been severely punished. Not with pain, though that would have been generous. The Bene Gesserit rarely used pain as a punishment, and that was what made them so dangerous.
They used words instead.
When they weren't telling her to shut her mouth, they had been drumming the Creed into her, beating her with it as they would with a stick.
"I am Bene Gesserit: I exist only to serve."
Now, standing in the formal reception chamber, she recited those words over and over, whether like a talisman or a curse she couldn't tell.
"I am Bene Gesserit: I exist only to serve."
She stood side by side with the Reverend Mother and another acolyte, Fariah. Coldness radiated from both women. Fariah and Mirylnn had been rivals ever since childhood, and when Mirylnn had been chosen for this mission, Fariah's jealousy had reached the boiling point. At first, Mirylnn didn't understand why Fariah hated her so. The other Bene Gesserit was much older and more talented. She was being specifically trained for a Great House.
Mirylnn had come by the knowledge quite by accident. It was evident the Reverend Mother had been intent on keeping their selective breeding project as secret. But as the truth donned on her, the reason for all the dirty glares she had been getting lately came to light.
She had been chosen to be a part of the breeding line for the Kwisatz Haderach!
She was curious as to why, but she didn't dare ask, for the Reverend Mother would know instantly that Mirylnn had discovered their mission to produce the male Bene Gesserit, so she kept quiet.
"I am Bene Gesserit: I exist only to serve."
She also understood the reason why the Reverend Mother had been so adamant on her keeping silent. Even the younger acolytes knew that they were rarely ever allowed to become attached to their breeding partners if they were that man's woman. Obviously, this situation did not call for an epic romance, but for a single night's passion before the na-Baron forgot her existence forever.
Good. She wanted him to forget her. Completely.
The Emperor's Truthsayer had arranged this meeting as a personal favor. The Baron wouldn't be able to refuse Imperial guests. Such was the power the Bene Gesserit held. They were the only ones who knew that the men, including the Emperor, were not the ones who held the power.
There was a noise at the door, and everyone stood for the entrance of the Baron and na-Baron. She thought herself prepared to entrance this Harkonnen beast.
What she was not prepared for were the crackling coal eyes that looked up jerkily and locked firmly with hers.
