VIII: Coup Party
The wait was agony.
I paced the length of my chambers for a shred of news. When none came after twenty minutes, I called for Aishti to teach another lesson. Anything to dispel my thoughts.
It helped to dissociate from my body. I used the motions of dance to numb my mind from thoughts of Feyd, Glossu Rabban, and what awaited by this ascension to power. What it held for me, too, could not matter. It did not matter.
I was the shell of a person. A monster amongst monsters in a destroyed life.
I'd lost myself in all the life I felt on Arrakis - that I'd forgotten what reality gave me.
There was no happy ending. No knight in armor that waited to love me with all his heart.
What could I give another that was not a broken mess of blood and disgusting truth?
Could I look another person in the eye and explain why I did not fight back as my body was used for pleasure, felt pleasure, too? That I'd let myself feel alive by an animal's touch. I'd lost myself in the haunted world of monsters and forgotten what humanity there was.
"Good. Very good, Lady. You move like sand." Aishti clapped. "One leg up. Let's see it. Up, up."
My body did as she commanded.
It lived to serve. It meant only to be used and useful by others.
Excited steps breeched the hall as Aishti had her hand flat against my lower abdomen- helping me hold my breath and feel it move through me - when we both dropped our bodies away.
Only it was Vishti who moved with a pace that was impressive.
"The thopter. It is here, my lady."
The pulse beat in my ears. It grew stronger, throbbing there. "He said he'd let me know."
"They say it is here. for you."
Vishti and I wrapped ourselves in shawls. The sun was low, nearing dusk, but they demanded my skin still be protected. Vishti wore a full-face veil while I wore my shayla.
The thopter held three soldiers. Three.
Numbness ascended my spine. I would not show my distrust of these men or the suspicions I had of this.
If Feyd said he'd send for me, he'd give me a message. I knew that in my gut.
Vishti preened my clothes as I took a seat. They sat directly behind me. "Another transport is here for the household things," they murmured. "I will ready your room when we land."
"Will everyone be there?" I asked.
"Lord and ladies are there already," Vishti relayed. "They are welcomed under Glossu, too."
Tension filled my throat as the thopter rose from the ground.
"But I am not."
"Na-baron want it safe first." They patted my shoulder. "Safe for the lady."
We flew in silence. My fury mounted more and more. I could not stop its assault. Nor could I hide my resentment at the soldiers around me.
If Feyd wanted me, he should have gotten me himself!
I breathed deep to no relief. My body seethed under the emotional assault of anger and rejection.
All Feyd's fault, I knew.
I'd not felt anger when I was in the dungeons. Those cells were full of the cruel and I did not resent one person for doing what they did to the people I regarded as mine. The emotion of anger was a remnant of the past.
Before him.
"We have the Lady Witch," a solider said into a mouthpiece.
"Arrival in twenty minutes," another reported.
"I'll be waiting." Feyd's voice rasped on the comms speaker. "See to it that I am not disappointed upon arrival."
It calmed my temper with a sudden flush.
The thopter neared a glowing city fifteen minutes later. I caught glimpses of the glassy light from my seat.
"We are here, lady. Look look. What a place. Carthag."
I did not look at the impressive walls of a castle of Harkonnen design or the spread of the city around it.
The landing field was open. A collection of lights floated through darkness at its side.
One light in particular paced back and forth. It only stopped when the thopter neared.
I moved to the edge of my seat. My body brimmed. I felt overflowing with whatever energy controlled me now. Anger, now replaced by some unspoken, unseen feeling.
The thopter landed. The descent jolted from the haste in which they wanted to get there.
Vibration of the beating wings had yet to stop when the back hatch fell to the ground in a loud thud.
Loud footsteps thundered through.
Feyd wore his armor suit still. It filled the space with his presence. The black cape was touched with the smudges of pale desert dust.
"Finally," he said.
The soldiers shifted.
They made good time. It was only fifteen minutes since they gave the 20-minute mark.
Feyd's impatience worried the men inside the cockpit.
It made the whole moment tenser than it needed to be. I had arrived. Safely. And not late.
"If na-Baron was so impatient, he should have brought me with him," I teased gently.
Dark eyes stared at me like I was a large dripping well in an empty desert. They roved over my open flesh, my cleavage, the fitted bodice in the flowy dress.
The deep hunger within him surfaced.
All at once I was aghast at the urgency inside himself. It bubbled through. He did not acknowledge the men, who were his own personal soldiers, but rather couldn't contain his need to usher me into the castle.
He tipped his head. "Follow, witch."
I kept up faster than usual. He, too, remained closer to my path. Had his arms swung at his sides, mine too, they would've brushed together.
The deep dark night blanketed me as I stepped out into open air. Wind blew around the sand, my skirts, my hair. It caressed, tickling the sensation all over.
"Were you impatient for my arrival, na-Baron?" My heart beat against my ribcage with a rage at the lack of inflection in my tone.
It knew was a lie.
"Promises are promises," he said.
The night aided the hiding of my quick breath.
Promise.
Like what I said earlier in Arrakeen.
We entered a lavish greeting hall through the front gates of the castle. It was reminiscent of the castle back in the Baron's planet. Cold and metal. It was ornate in decor, however. A display of wealth more than the other one.
Light was warm. It spilled over every inch. The cold metal did not seem like ice.
Mirrors lined in thick frames of brass hung from the walls. Lavish displays of artwork with varied textures and textiles were blended together well with the aesthetic of the modern metal walls. Sconces of floral brass fittings were their own work of art.
I strained my neck back to admire all the details above our heads when I was gripped below my breasts with fingers that wrapped around to my back and pulled up onto Feyd's body. A leg hooked around his waist instinctively to keep from dropping me the great height back to the floor.
"I am owed three bites of your mouth."
"Yes, na-Baron."
"And more," he said swiftly.
The grip on my body turned deep and greedy. He did not want to wait. His fingers hoped to pull the stitches off my body right then. I sensed his need.
Perhaps the thought of his own pain excited him more than I believed.
"Na-Baron," a voice interrupted.
Feyd growled. His eyes remained on me. "Not now."
He ran his teeth along the line of my jaw.
"Excuse me, na-Baron. The celebration," the voice said again. "The city will be here soon. The final preparations need to be done. Siege of Rabban's forces took longer than anticipated."
His grip on me did anything but lessen. It held me closer like I'd be ripped away.
The bulging metal of his codpiece dug against my dress into the center of my thighs as if it was his own erection demanding entrance.
"I ought to kill you where you stand," he barked.
Our success upon Arrakis dictated Feyd's success in overthrowing the Baron. Things were more important now that he officially took responsibility for the planet. Spice production was now his problem.
The party meant good relations with the city. Perhaps less attacks on harvesters.
Feyd was blinded by lust. The plot he'd made was pushed behind his wants.
Ugh. "I should go. Na-Baron needs to be seen with a woman worthy of a title. There is much to be done to make me that woman."
He looked at me in betrayal.
"The night is young," I murmured.
My reassurance did not ease his tensions much.
He did, however, let me drop to the floor. I held onto the hands that held me until I was safe on my own feet.
"Show the lady to her chambers," he declared.
A servant dressed in a black leather hood appeared. They bent down to the floor at my feet.
Feyd ascended the stairs toward his advisor. His boots stomped upon shiny orange metal. I caught the motion of his fingers too late to stop him. A blade slipped into his hand and stabbed into the advisor's arm.
"Consider this the only warning," Feyd said.
The man gripped his arm where the knife split his muscle. "Na-Baron-."
The blood soaked through the fibers of the robes. It darkened against the man's arm. Red rivers cut down to his hands.
The servant whisked me deeper into the castle toward the royal wing - as it was presumed Feyd would not be bothered to walk through any halls if he needed to fuck - and left the adviser to his own chances with the tense na-Baron.
Vishti just shoved a trunk into the closet when I was brought into the chambers, which were opulent. Every surface was full of brass fixtures. Brass and aquamarine blue. The curtains were rich. They fell to the floor with sharp vertical creases. The bed, too, was a beautiful blue with an ornate brass metal frame.
Built in display cabinets lined one wall. I was drawn to the details when I stopped short. Disturbing suggestive statues lined one shelf in decoration. Their little bodies posed in unnatural, disturbing ways. More so, the haunted fear on their tiny carved faces were like masks of the dead.
I grabbed them and hid them out of sight.
No. Not here. I would not be reminded of the demented horrors of the Harkonnen tastes.
It would be a celebration unmarked by terror. For once I would experience a party that was absent the harem, the battles to the death, and all the reminders of the fear that lives in and outside of the castle walls.
It was the start of a new reign. I was not going to allow it to become a failure on this planet.
Vishti laid out the dress I was meant to wear. Dress loosely qualified. It was a skirt that hanged very low on my hips with a top that cropped just below my breasts. Beaded chains wrapped around my ribcage, waist and hips in the lines of my very bones.
"I look like a sex slave." I scowled at my reflection.
It was so low.
Vishti worked strands of beads into the length of my hair.
"Aishti made this for you, my lady. It is what our ancient women wore on their first night. The lands prosper from the lady. The vitality she brings. She blesses the sands with her body's water as she dances."
So much of my skin showed. Although he didn't care if my body showed in many of my Harkonnen outfits, Feyd was sure to notice the difference. It was beaded and jeweled and so so sooooo low cut against my body. A wisp of my lower hair showed at times when it fell lower than it was meant to.
Silver cuffs then were pulled up to my biceps. Matching fabric hung down the back of my arms. It was knotted at the back of the cuffs.
I was a living embodiment of a sexual woman.
"Na-Baron is going to kill me for this."
"No, lady. It is a great honor." Vishti assured me. "A welcome to him. From that horrid Glossu. He like."
My stomach soured almost to the point of coming up my throat.
"One last thing."
Vishti slid a ring up my finger.
My eyes bulged. "Where did you get this? This isn't mine." It was Feyd's. "I cannot wear this."
They refused to let me take it off.
"You must," they repeated. "You must, my lady."
The ring Feyd left on my dresser was not meant to be worn. It was his thing. What if he thought I took it as my own?
"No. No way."
Especially not on a finger.
"The good luck," Vishti said. "It is na-Baron's, yes? It will bring the luck. You must wear it."
There was no chance I'd wear it on my finger. Those symbolized too much in his culture. Like a binding. He wore the Baron's sigil on his own fingers. Whomever wore rings were attached - by blood.
It was not my place.
"Grab me a chain. I'll wear it around my neck."
Sounds of many people began to fill the air. The castle became loud. Excitement. I felt it ride through my lungs from all the expelled breaths. I paced my chambers.
People from the outer city and inside the castle all entered the Great Hall. Its sounds were rampant throughout the corridors. The sounds were so clear, it could have been right outside my door.
One of Feyd's servants came looking for me. He relayed that na-Baron awaited my arrival before he'd start the celebration.
A warning he did not give for his other formal event in Arrakeen.
"It is time," Vishti relayed.
"I don't think I can do this." I'd finally started to let my emotions fill through my thoughts. It was ridiculous. I could not dance in front of a whole city, in front of Feyd and his people.
It was silly. I would look absurd. And if Feyd disliked it and interrupted.
I was bound to pay for it.
"You dance so well," they assured me. "It will be good to see my culture be showed by the na-Baron. It is our planet. The people will want to see it too."
Vishti and Aishti placed so much hope in me. They worked hard for me to learn the dance. I was given beautiful traditional clothing made by their own fingers to ensure it was done right.
How could I face them again if I let my fear win out? I faced down worse than a simple dance.
"For you, Vishti, I will do it."
Whatever. Let it go wrong. Perhaps it will be my last night to endure it all.
So what if Feyd failed on Arrakis? It might be a good thing.
I'd commit to dying then, before the Baron came to ruin Feyd's plaything. I'd ruin myself to deny them the pleasure.
Vishti adjusted the fabric of my skirt and sleeves as I walked toward the chamber door. "I will send Aishti to put the sword on you."
I stopped. "What sword?"
"The one you put on your head. You do remember that, yes?"
Fuckkk.
No!
"Aishti never said it'd be a sword! Just said to balance like something on my head. Not actually on my head." I snorted. "A real fuckin' sword. Is it sharp?"
"Oh, yes. Very sharp."
Fuck fuck fuck.
The dance was expressive with motion of the body as the flow of it. It was impossible to do it while balancing an actual weapon on my head.
I had not been practiced in the moves long enough to be confident I would not mess up. One misstep and I'd be stabbed?
"Time to go!" Vishti said.
The beaded belt that hung from my hips jingled as I walked. My body, full of tension and anger, as I berated myself for being moronic enough to concoct this plan.
This was a reason I should never be given power. I made the worst decisions.
How was a dance going to make Feyd more likeable as an overlord? Did I even want his mission to be successful on this planet? He killed the people born in the desert, people who had more right to live here than I did. Their planet did not need more monsters consuming their limited resources.
The monsters consumed everything in their path.
If he succeeded, more people like me would be slain.
My stomach twisted harder. A slick sense of nerves bubbles up to my tongue.
The large doors of the Great Hall were closed. I took it as my opportunity to turn away.
A sign!
Save myself from my own idiocy.
Though, a family of late arrivals surmounted the stairs behind my back. They wore expressions of surprise. Their eyes stared at the beaded outfit scarcely blinking as I stood awkwardly with the only expression I knew to wear: indifference.
One of the children smiled and excitedly clapped at me. They approached and touched the large beads hanged above my belly button.
"Jamil," her little voice breathed. "Pretty."
I bowed my head.
Her parents forced their smiles as they grabbed her little hand from my belly and shuffled inside.
I peeked inside the doors as they slipped through. The Great Hall was full. People packed the sides of the room. The floor sat before Feyd's dais was the only open space left. Every long table was filled. There were Harkonnen heads scattered through the dark-haired locals like many moons in a night sky.
The creak of the doors caught Feyd-Rautha's quick notice. I ducked behind before he caught sight before it was time.
Vishti told me to wait until I heard Aishti.
It was not long before I heard her voice carried through a very low hum of the crowd. The melody of music started. It was called al-jadid, as Aishti told me.
Her voice grew louder. "A gift for our new leader, the na-Baron! The luck of Shai'Hulud! May it bless the desert with plenty."
The doors of the Great Hall suddenly began to part. Aishti's voice was just on the other side of them. I slipped between the two massive doors to be the first thing exposed from their protection.
The low melody of music hit my ears stronger. Heat of the room wafted hard against my skin. I'd not be cold even in this thin, minimal outfit.
The Great Hall was full of onlookers. Their eyes enlarged as I strode through on tip toe, delicately moving in movements Aishti taught exactly. For the longest time, it was dead silent.
Feyd's face was blanked a moment. He momentarily rose then sat.
There was an unreadable look across his face. The soldiers that were posted along the wall moved their rounded heads to look at their master.
I bowed at the base of the dais. My forehead pressed to the floor.
Please, let this be. Let it work. Let it matter.
Familiar music swept the room. It was recognized by most. Their hum of their knowledge moved through the crowd. The rest fell silent.
Harkonnen's looked at one another. The nobility was intrigued. They moved to the edge of their seats to watch more closely.
The locals were different. They were moved to standing. Their bodies were a wall around the open floor, meant as a dance floor. In the Baron's castle, it was the dueling stage where gladiators or random slaves were forced to fight to the death as the nobles jeered and stabbed some with forks for their own amusement.
It was my stage now.
My body rose from the floor. I mirrored the faces I'd been taught as I began to dance. The dramatic motion of my face was a mask that changed through emotion: excitement, exhaustion, struggle, joy, confidence.
The motion of my hips was the exact way they were supposed to. The technique of her teaching worked.
My feet propelled me around the room. I jumped large distances, motions all graceful and dramatic to the music. The fabric tied to my arm cuffs fluttered with my hair behind me. I was that of a bird's wings, spread and regal.
The dance moved to me sections of the floor. I spun my hips fast. The beads bounced against my flesh as I did. When it caught the light, I glittered as a precious jewel.
I balanced on one foot as I spun on toe. I'd been overconfident by my ability before that I slowly began to lose control of my spinning.
My mind blurred, as did the room around me. I recovered a quick step -without barfing - before continuing.
At one point, I noticed Feyd rise. It caught at the corner of my eye as well as the men emerged close to the edge of the dancefloor.
It felt vaguely threatening to have them so near. I'd thought to believe that I did something wrong, but they all pulled swords from their sides. Both of their hands held the shiny curved blades as an offering.
Feyd now descended the steps of the dais. He looked to his guards, creating tension between them.
I refused to stop. The song was not done, so neither was I.
Aishti walked the outer reaches of my floor. Her head bowed at the men who held their blades in polite thanks.
She, however, marched to the na-Baron. Her head bowed. A single knee sank to the floor and her hands raised above her head.
Feyd pulled the blade from his side. Amusement curled his mouth. He placed it in Aishti's hands.
I'd worked enough sweat up from all the effort, but the thought of Feyd's faithful weapon being balanced atop my head, destined to cut me should I make a wrong move, started a new downpour of perspiration.
Aishti hoisted the blade above her head. The crowd answered. Their blades now returned to their sides.
I made sure to give a humble bow toward the na-Baron as she presented the gift to me. She placed it very delicately. The weight of the metal was not as heavy as I expected. It was cold like a piece of Feyd remained etched into the blade.
Aishti backed away as I rose. In practice she warned that concern over what sat atop my head would only make it fall. The trick was to move as I knew to. It would stay where it meant to because my attention would not be on it.
Easier said than done when it was not a sharp weapon!
Feyd did not return to the height of his seat. He stayed at the front of the room where his lonely dais sat. His body swayed as though he paced a cage, in wait of challenge.
A humble smirk toyed the edges of his face as I danced again.
The predatory way he lurked, in wait, did not frighten me. I moved with more fluidity now. My body knew the motions, it eased into the shaking. Nerves melted when I saw the looks of approval. Even in Feyd.
Then a noise ruptured the melody of the music. It dragged across the floor with its screech of resistance.
Where did he take that from?
Feyd pulled a chair into the circle of my stage and sat himself onto it.
He no longer wore the thick plated armor of battle. A fitted black suit instead held his body. It was far fancier than I'd seen him wear before.
He let his legs drift apart as he relaxed into the chair.
The sight of his shaft was apparent through the fabric of his trousers. It was swelled with his excitement, only contained by the taut waistband in which it was tucked into.
Although Aishti told me it was not meant to be alluring, I still felt all the more powerful and sexy.
I – for once – held an ounce above Feyd in that moment. He, sat at my feet, whilst I moved without his permission or need.
Sword balanced atop my head still, I moved my body closer. I made it more for his delight. He was powerless to harness his lust on the night of his celebration since the entire city was there to witness. I even sat on his knee to do the dance in a way he could feel. Feel my hips as they moved. The ripples as they cascaded down my exposed torso. My hands braced against his thighs before I rose away from him again.
The music neared ending. It was time for the final spin. All while a sharp blade threatened to cut me open if I faltered.
The rhythm quickened. I began to spin on one foot again. Faster and faster I spun, raising up on my toes.
The music grew stronger, faster.
I slowly raised my other leg. I'd only done it once with Aishti and she advised me against doing it. But I felt able. I would conquer this dance. Feyd would be praised as the new lord. We'd bear success in the paths he cut.
Partly, it was his reward for not dragging me away for wearing a dress that was barely considered a piece of clothing.
I pushed myself harder with my leg lifted up the ceiling.
If only I'd practiced it more than once. I felt my balance begin to tremble.
The end was so close. I could hold out for it.
Seconds passed by and I was less confident I could.
The music ended just as my leg began to fall forward. Feyd stepped into my fall. He caught me before I tumbled off my foot. My leg rested against his shoulder. The blade still intact atop my head.
His hands held my thigh. It kept my skirt from falling farther down.
Our eyes caught in an unspoken lock.
I heaved my breaths. My heart throttled the inside of my chest.
But it would be lie to deny Feyd had nothing to do with it. The way he devoured the sight of me as I danced for him. It did wicked things in my mind. We kept our eyes level. Even as I was celebrated with loud shouts.