Chapter 1

Reverend Mother,

You have put me through much pain and suffering, but even then I am grateful. You have given me the means and made me powerful enough to do as I will with the minds of men and my fellow women. Perhaps we will meet again, in a world that is not so war-torn and lost. But, unless that happens, you and I will be sworn enemies, never to meet again in a room amicably and without bloodshed.

-from the letters of the Bene Gesserit Lady Carina Fenring

Hooded figures stood in the shadows, draping, dark cloth adorning their bodies to obscure their appearance and assure secrecy.

"This is the girl?" The old woman peered into the bundle lying in the man's arms.

"Yes, this is my niece. Freshly born not but two hours ago."

"You give her up so early?" Another hooded figure whispered into her ear, "Yes, as my sister said, that is quite young."

The man sneered, "You promised an alliance in exchange for a girl. I have provided one for you, so take her and leave. But, keep your promise."

"No need to get testy, now. We will uphold our promise. You will be catered to in Bene Gesserit deals."

"Good." He shoved the bundle into the old woman's arms, "Take her and get out of my castle, her mother will be looking for her soon."

The woman glared at the man at that, but took the young child in hand anyways, "I will turn her into the finest Bene Gesserit. She will know the ways of powerful women."

He merely waved his hand, "I do not care what becomes of her. She is my niece, born out of wedlock, and to a lowborn no less. Keep her as a servant or student, it matters not to me."

With one last look at the man, the old woman and her circle of hooded figures turned, "We shall be on our way then."

When they began walking and were out of earshot, one of the hooded figures caught up, "Reverend Mother, are you sure you want to take this child? She is of mixed blood."

"There is no mixed blood in this one, girl. That idiot of a count cannot tell his left hand from his right. This one is born of the blood of two Great Houses, just like her cousin."

"Like the other Fenring? How is the family going to take to two missing children?"

"If they search or not, it does not matter. These children will not know of their heritage, and they will grow up as upstanding noble women of the Bene Gesserit. No one is to speak of this night."

The circle hushed.

"Yes, Reverend Mother."

"Your thoughts betray you. They are a bridge for your enemy. Do not be enslaved by your thoughts."

Lady Carina Fenring walked briskly across the sand, feeling it mold to her feet, as she made her way towards the Emperor's ship.

"Your thoughts betray you. Your thoughts betray you." She insisted upon the Bene Gesserit mantra under her breath, trying to calm her panic and not let her nerves and temper betray her.

"They are a bridge for your enemy. Do not be enslaved by your thoughts."

Anxiously wringing her hands, she dreaded the sight that would greet her.

She knew what was behind that door.

She could feel it.

But, she did not want to accept it.

All of the years she spent scheming. All of the years spent planning, gaining the knowledge and assets to enable the plan, and being so close.

So close.

She could taste it, her end-goal was so near to her future. And right before it was within her grasp, it slipped through her fingers, fell, and sifted straight into the sand which tortured her vision and plagued her senses. It flew away into the wind that whipped at her hair and grappled with her clothes.

She had spent years, years chasing that dream, that goal.

All for it to be undone by the split-second decision of her subordinate. Her slave.

For that is what she had reduced him to.

At one point, she may have questioned the morals of her methods, but she was too deep into this, too far into the strategy she had built from the ground up to care.

Of all the people she had thought would thwart her plans, she didn't think it would be the person she had recruited from the beginning. The one who had been the cornerstone in all of her work. The one who had sworn their loyalty to her more times than she could count on her fingers.

Of all the people, why did it have to be him?

She had a few other individuals on the side to complete the minute details of her plan, so it mattered not if they betrayed her. They could be replaced.

But, this one's lineage was too strong. His name held too much influence for him to be granted a mistake.

However, he had gone and done it anyway.

He had done the unthinkable, and ruined everything.

Feyd-Rautha, you are lucky you are all I have left.

Oh, how she wanted to strangle him, to make him bleed and realize just what it was he had done. He was a traitor, and traitors deserve to suffer.

Perhaps she had put too much effort into molding him into her perfect weapon to consider disposing of him, but his betrayal was making her feel extremely venomous and on the edge of murderous.

Forget the edge. She was plunging off of that cliff, and thinking of numerous ways to make him understand her pain.

She should have seen this coming.

She knew he was loyal, and strove to uphold his honor, no matter how twisted his sense of self and honor was.

Though, showing his loyalty to the emperor was not something she would have thought he would do. Not when he was a Harkonnen, and they had been known to remain loyal only to those within the family for as long as anyone could remember.

Sighing, Lady Carina attempted to reign in her raging emotions and maintain her rationality.

The metal door to where the duel transpired stood tall in front of her, looming ahead like a foreboding shadow.

One of sorrow and crushed dreams.

Very telling indeed.

Not wanting to delay the inevitable any more than she already had, she pushed open the doors and took in the sight that greeted her.

There, in the middle of the room lay Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, in a pool of his own blood.

To the naked eye, one would think he was dead. The blood was beginning to dry, dark on the sand beneath him. His face contorted in a pain-filled expression, his eyes wide-open and unmoving.

Holding her breath, she walked over to the mangled pile of flesh upon the floor.

Kneeling down in the center of the abandoned room, next to the bleeding body, the veiled lady spoke softly, "Na-Baron."

Only a soft breeze across the sand could be heard, a contrast with its serenity to what had transpired before.

When the body did not speak back, she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Na-Baron Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. Get up."

At the command of her voice, the body began to twitch. A few minutes went by and it struggled to stand, arms shaking and legs trembling.

"I know you live, Feyd-Rautha. You cannot fool me."

Slowly, the breath returned to his lungs, his breathing labored. Blood dripped from his mouth, and was caked to his abdomen and head.

He heaved a choking cough, "I would never dream of deceiving you, My Lady."

"And yet I had to bid you rise to greet me. You did not do so yourself."

Barely gaining back control of his limbs, the Harkonnen allowed his head to drop in her direction, "You have my sincere apologies, Great Lady."

Standing up to be on his level, she grabbed his chin and yanked it up, forcing eye-contact between the two of them.

"Why did you do this?"

He only gave her a bloodied smile.

"Why did you almost get killed in place of the Emperor?"

"My honor bound me to do so."

Pushing his face away, her voice seethed, "You should know that your honor binds you to me, Feyd-Rautha. You have sworn your loyalty to me ten-times over. Your body and mind, as well as your soul, belong to me. How dare you use it in the service of another."

"You haven't visited me in so long, My Gracious Lady. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever coming back, so I wanted to gain your attention."

"Attention?" She snapped, "You dare, dog?"

Seemingly undeterred by her ire, he collected himself a bit more, and wiped some of the blood off of his face, smiling, "Even a dog needs attention every once in a while. If left alone, they may get rowdy. Isn't that right, my master?"

Rage swept through her mind and took over like a hard desert wind, grating at her nerves and eating away at what little calm she could conjure.

Glaring at his pale face, she clenched her hands, "You seem to have your wits about you now." "You bid me to rise and be alive, My Lady. What else was I to do?"

Having enough of his backtalk and banter she thought she had grown accustomed to over the years, she ground her words out through clenched teeth, "Kneel and repent."

"Gladly." He sunk heavily onto his knees, a harsh sound in the otherwise quiet room.

"What do you will of me, master?"

She scoffed at his brazenness, "You should be asking how I will punish you. You have sinned against me greatly, and in a way you cannot atone for."

"What is it that I have done to offend you, My Lady?"

"'What have you done?'" She repeated his word back to him in disbelief, "You have gone and gotten yourself killed in the eyes of the empire, and in turn have killed off your bloodline. Your uncle the Baron and your brother are dead. Your Uncle refused to have any children of his own, leaving the Barrony to be left under your control should he die. And he did. You were the Baron for under an hour, and you had to go and get yourself killed. You cannot be seen by anyone in the empire anymore."

She watched as he licked the dried blood off of his lips, savoring the taste of it, "You are no longer useful to me. I should kill you right here;finish the job."

"You know I would find no greater pleasure than that, My Great Master."

"Yes, I've been made well aware, you masochistic dog-brained fool."

Reaching out, he grabbed the edges of her robe and brought the material up to his cheek, stroking it against the skin gently, "But, I believe I still have use to you yet."

And this is how he gets me, every time.

His tenderness in these moments was what always broke her down. That she could bring this on in such a brutal man as this made her drunk on the power he placed in her hands. Carina knew he was aware of what he was doing, but played into his ruses every time.

With a softness she did not think she could feel in this situation, she replied, "And what could you possibly be useful for?"

He went further and grabbed her hand, pressing his face against it and holding it there, "Now that I am dead, I can become wholly yours. We would never have to part again. We could be together, always."

She spoke as a reminder, for both herself and him.

"I did not enter into a contract with you for companionship, Feyd-Rautha."

He nuzzled her hand, "Oh, but I crave it, Master. I would give myself to you freely."

Bringing herself back to sense and reality, she retracted her hand, and she shook him off, "Go retrieve your pets if you would like bodily pleasures. I will not indulge you in such things."

"My pets?" He blinked, as his eyes cleared a bit, "Oh, yes. My pets. I should go get them. Do you think they survived?"

"Who knows? Your pets are probably an afterthought to everyone but you, you disgusting swine. I did not think you would enjoy them as much as you have when I gave them to you."

"I cherish them because you gave them to me, Master. Although, they do offer great entertainment."

"Yes, I'm aware of your peculiar fantasies and interests. I pity the ones who must endure the receiving end of it."

"Oh don't be that way, My Lady." Black teeth flashed her way, "You have always indulged me."

She pushed her face towards his, "Do not think you will get another ounce of mercy from me. You have betrayed me. You are a traitor."

Something flitted through his eyes. It could have been guilt, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come, "You have my apologies."

Sighing, she looked him up and down before turning away, "Rest assured I will bring you great suffering later. But for now, follow me. We must get going before someone sees you."

He again struggled to his feet and trudged after her, still attempting to gain back full use of his limbs.

"May I bring my pets with us?"

Her shoes clicked along the floor, a stark difference to the eerie, quiet stillness which hung over the decimated Emperor's ship, "You do not deserve such privileges. I gave them to you because I deemed you worthy of a reward, and you have broken that great faith I had in you. You deserve my gift no more."

"If we leave them here, they will die."

"Since when did you care about such things?" She sneered at him, "Those creatures will die, yes. Like the animals they are. You should be worshiping me for not exacting the same fate upon you."

"Master, you know I welcome all of your attention: violent or loving."

Oh, the brazenness of this man.

"I have never been loving towards you."

Coughing, he wheezed out a chuckle, "As you say."

Nearing a small alcove out of the way, a small ship came into view.

"Did you pilot yourself here, My Lady?" More blood oozed out of his wounds due to his movement.

"Of course I did. If I am to go unnoticed, I cannot arrive on a big, shiny vessel, now can I?"

He frowned and didn't say another word as they embarked upon the vehicle in question.

Sighing, she asked him a question, since she could see something swirling in his gaze.

"What's the problem?"

"Seeing you without an escort is displeasing."

That took her by surprise, "I go around by myself all the time."

Crossing his arms, he sunk into his seat with a pained grimace, "An esteemed lady who has amassed such a following such as yourself should not be unguarded. It is unsafe."

"Do you think I cannot take care of myself, My Lord Na-Baron?"

He shot her a sheepish smile, "I meant no disrespect, Master."

Merely shaking her head, she revved up the engine and pulled the ship up into the air, before speeding away in an attempt to not be seen.

Coming here had not been easy. So many Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers were gathered in such a small area, Carina was sure she would have been sensed by one of them.

After all those years of not seeing any of them, she kind of hoped one of them would.

But, fate dictated that could never be the case, not as long as she followed her vow to exact revenge upon them.

They had stolen her from both her birth-mother and home, and painfully trained her up from a young age to be an ideal Bene Gesserit Lady. One who possessed no fear of pain or misery, and one who sought the betterment of the organization over her sense of self or respect.

No amount of temporary loneliness could erase what they had done to her, what they had put her through in an attempt to construct the Lisan al Gaib.

Waving her hand, she willed those foolish thoughts of longing to abandon the roots in her head.

They could be there no more if she was to complete what she started.

Only when the safe-hold she had created after years of toil and secrecy came into view could her thoughts shift to something else.

Focusing on what had already happened and the rift in her plans Feyd's misstep had brought would do her nothing.

She would have to focus on all that she had built, and how she could use it to move ahead and make sure her ambitions could become reality.

When the ship finally touched the ground, she shifted it into the correct gear and quickly disembarked, not waiting to see if the Harkonnen was following.

"Lady Carina." A tall, proper looking handsome man made his way over to the Bene Gesserit Lady.

She leveled a look at him, "Owain."

Bowing his head towards her, he placed his hand on his chest, "I hope your journey went smoothly."

"As well as it could, given the circumstances." Scoffing, she stomped past him, "I've brought a present."

Said present made his presence known by calling after her, "Master! Where are you going?"

"Somewhere alone! And go make yourself useful somewhere else, I do not wish to look at you anymore."

Not checking to make sure he did what she asked, she kept walking towards her quarters, wishing to be alone to contemplate what she should do next.

Bursting through the entrance, she slammed the slab of wood behind her and seated herself on a cushioned chair by the already-lit fire in the hearth.

The crackling of the flames soon calmed her enough to lean back and try to relax.

However, once again, her wishes were ignored when she heard a soft knock upon the door of her abode.

"Lady Carina."

I was Owain again.

Knowing that what had transpired was not his fault, she breathed and recited a few calming mantras under her breath before she replied.

"You may come in."

He pushed the door open carefully, obviously expecting to see her still raging away inside the room.

When she just stared at him, he closed the door behind himself and stood facing her, his hands folded behind him in that polite, ever formal way of his.

Silence once again overtook the room, the movement of students outside or the occasional clanking of metal the only thing that could be heard.

"Did you need something, Owain?"

He spoke quietly, as he often did when he knew she was angry, "I wanted to make sure you were alright, Lady Carina."

When she just stared at him, he pushed again.

"What happened? Why is that man here?"

She knew exactly who he was talking about, she could see his opinions about him written all over his face.

Sighing, she acquiesced as she learned back further in her chair and crossed her arms, "Feyd may have created a rather…large problem."

His eyes darkened, "What did he do?"

Taking a second to maintain her decorum, she ground out her words through clenched teeth, "You know that meeting between the Atreides boy and the emperor I was telling you about?"

He nodded.

"They ended up dueling. Which would have been fine if the circumstances were regular, it would have not caused any problems. But, Feyd volunteered to be his champion and was defeated by Atreides. They think he is dead. The emperor has given the throne to that Atreides boy, and now Feyd can no longer show his face anywhere. If he had just stayed silent, he could have continued being the Baron. Given, it would have been under Atreides rule, but he could still have had access to Harkonnen funds and resources. Now, he is a destitute man with no connections and nothing of value to speak of."

Her words hung heavy in the air.

Owain's eyes darkened, "...then he is no longer useful to you now, is he?"

Raising her hand, she held it up in front of her, "I know your opinions on him, Owain. But, we will not have this conversation right now."

"Lady Carina, if he no longer has any resources or anything useful, then he is worthless. He is no better than a bloodthirsty, war hungry foot-soldier."

She slammed her hand down on the armrest of her chair, "I said we would not discuss this right now, Owain. Did you not hear my words?"

That vengeful look in his eye was replaced by one of slight panic, "Ah, I apologize, Lady Carina. I did not mean to cross you."

"You didn't mean to, but you did."

She was just so tired. She was tired of everyone doing what they think is best instead of listening to what she had to say. This was her plan. They were all gathered here to do her work.

Covering her face with her hands, she said weakly, "Just leave. And do not let anyone else in, I wish to be alone for the rest of the evening."

She could sense his hesitation, but after a few moments, he moved, "As you wish, Lady Carina. I shall see you tomorrow."

Then, she heard his steps out and the soft latching of the door.