The Taste of Melange
The young look at the elders and envy their power; the elders look at the young, regretful for the power they did not know they had. Which one of these fools will you be?
– THE ZENSUNNI MASTER
"What's in this dessert, Celia?" the student asked.
"You don't know?" asked her friend and assigned school buddy on her first day.
"What?"
"It is not cinnamon!" Celia continued.
"It can't be! Every time I take a bite of this cake it feels like the first time I taste it."
"And that…" said Celia complicitly, "is the first secret."
"That we are all students again on this planet of cows and dust?" she giggled.
"No! Listen up…". The student leaned closer to Celia's face, who was dying to tell her something.
"This food…" Celia continued, "is made with Spice scent."
"The dessert."
"Yes."
"It is the thing?"
"It is real. In the food. In your coffee. And this…" Celia whispered, smiling but with her eyes turning slightly orange in the Matre's sign of danger. "You will see. It is only the beginning".
And so on that first morning on Chapterhouse, after having landed in a shuttle at the tailend of a three thousand parsec journey, her Matres' dragon dress ruffled from being squeezed into transports and ships with hundred others without care for rank or experience by fully ordained Matres acting as guides, after days of boredom and claustrophobia and being treated like cattle, and by these new mysterious and beautiful dames dressed like nuns, she was there, enjoying a real meal, on the dusty planet they had been searching for so so long, the cradle of the old Imperium's secrets, the legendary powers of old that her Matres order had heard so much about – the commanding voice, the perfect control of body and mind, the swiftness of thought, the provocative knowledge – all was there laid at her feet.
And now, student Tairasu Beinovelija had just sampled the mythical spice, the sap of knowledge.
"And now?" she asked, unbelieving.
"Don't you feel anything?" replied her onboarding buddy. "No reaction? I see… well, not everybody is fit to become a Reverend Mother. But don't worry, the training will sort that out," she completed with another rueful smile.
Tairasu took another bite, a big large bite she chewed apprehensively. Something was not working? What was this drug supposed to be?
"What is it supposed to do?"
"Don't rush it!" shushed Celia.
"No, nothing."
"It is not meant to be then."
"Stop it!" replied Tairasu vehemently, and threw a piece of the cake at her new friend, who swiftly moved to avoid it, overcompensated, and due to her Matre's swift speed and lack of control ended up losing balance and falling on the floor. Tairasu laughed and so did the nearby acolytes.
"Hear her, speaking like an ordained Matre! Get up and get a grip!"
Celia came back up clearly deflated and embarrassed by the poor demonstration of her Matre-in-training skills.
"So, let this be clear," Tairasu continued, making eye contact with her, her own eyes flashing orange in alarm: "No tricks. No lies. This is not the Spice, is it?"
"No…"
"It is just… mmh… cinnamon and cane sugar?"
"It's just cake. Some mix of exotic flavors. You fell for it. Admit it. All the new ones fresh from the ship come down with big dreamy eyes like you," replied Celia, without losing her edge.
"You owe me now, my dear onboarding buddy."
"So?"
"You owe me the Spice. The real thing. I want to try it."
"You don't understand, do you? We are all in training! Even the Great Matres! What do you think this is, the Bene Gesserit buffet of knowledge? I tell you, you have come to the most boring planet in this Galaxy," whined Celia standing up from the table. "Nothing ever happens. Come."
"So what about the Secrets?"
"They remain so! It's more evasive than our acolyte training! It is us, Reverend Mothers in training, and them!"
"By them, you mean the Bene Gesserit shrews?"
"Those are just the trainers. It's the Honored Matres turned Reverend Mothers who run the show here! They are a closed caste!"
"You know much for a student."
"Stay here for a year and you will see!"
"A caste? How soon before we can go through the ordeal?"
"Nobody knows! It seems completely random. Or political. You need connections."
"Like Murbella!"
"Yes, but… well… "
"What?"
"Don't touch her. We all love Murbella, here."
As they were exiting the Schools' refectory Tairasu, barely standing on her feet after hours with no sleep in the ship that took her there, stopped in the middle of the courtyard to breath the sun. It was dry and dusty and it reminded her of her birth planet. She opened her eyes to see the group of nearby students part in two dividing lines, making room for a lady in a cobalt dress passing through. The lady looked fierce and motherly at the same time, her fluid feline movements had the elegance of a queen, royal but not ostentatious, with a sense of calm pride. Her perfect make-up highlighted the high cheekbones, the symmetrical, supple mouth and elfin ears adorned with sparkly soostone earrings. While transfixed by this godly apparition, Tairasu realized she was standing alone in the middle of the way while the Matre was approaching steadfastly. She not so much jumped but stumbled out of the way – get in the way of a Great Matre at your own peril! – fast enough to avoid entering the danger zone, but not fast enough to avoid getting noticed. The other students observed from the sides and cringed, or smiled wickedly. Poor her, they were surely thinking.
"Fresh from the ship, my dear?" asked the lady in cobalt with penetrating eyes that seemed to cut through hers. Tairasu stepped back, confused by the lack of white in her irises – blue-on-blue eyes! No golden orange from the laiz drug!
"Murbella?" Tairasu could only manage to whisper.
"Murbella? I?" and the lady burst into a laughter that was amused and belittling at the same time. This queen could shame you with an inflection in her voice. Then a candid, warm smile: "No my dear, I would not dare. I am Great Matre Angelika Dorian."
"Please forgive my ignorance, Great Matre," implored Tairasu kneeling down, her dragon robes rumped in a mess of fabric in front of this imperious goddess. "Get up my dear," she replied, "I don't mind at all. But my dear friend Murbella would not take that lightly," she winked. "Come, I visit the new recruits every now and then, you and your friends will keep me company for a few hours."
Was that true? "At your service, Great Matre."
"Angelika will suffice. And you are…?"
"Tairasu, third level Matre-in-Training, of the order of Hormu."
"A distinguished order. You and you six, over there, why don't you come with me. Care for some coffee? You must be exhausted."
"I already had some, Matre," dared Tairasu, stumbling behind the cobalt lady who had already accelerated toward the Sisterhood main cafeteria.
"From the Schools' kitchen? Rubbish. Let me introduce you to real spice coffee."
"The Spice, my lady?" gasped Celia who followed.
"What are we here for, then? We have to wean you off sooner than later from laiz. Though you will trade orange for blue."
"Is it true, Great Matre, that it tastes like cinnamon?"
"Its taste changes every time you try it. But it's not the taste you should think about. Let's go. I am so bored and want to chat idly for an afternoon."
Tairasu breathed deeply, following suit. "As you command."