#dune2021

Your eyes slowly wanderd over the many Graves and their Inscriptions, showing the names of those, who once ruled over Caladan.

You sighed softly, as your mind wandered back to the past day, where the Envoys of the emporer ceremonially transferred the Reign over Arrakis to the House of Atreides.

You knew perfectly well, that it could be a huge Advantage for the Atreides, now that they were going to have the control over the Spice Production, but you were also unsure of Duke Leto's decision to freely accept the emperor's offer.

To everyone around him, it was clearly a trap.

You pushed the thought aside, slowly continuing your walk along the Gravesides and occasionally reading a name or two, when you suddenly heard a strange noise. It sounded like gravel, tumbling down the cliffs.

The Cliffs...

Curiously, you stepped closer to the edge but you couldn't spot anything or...anyone.

"Hello?", you asked, "Is anyone here? "

No answer. You shook your head, momentarily closing your eyes. Your mind was playing tricks on you. After years and years of training with Gurney Halleck, you became too paranoid.

You proceeded to make your way back to thr palace, when you heard it again.

This time, you were sure, it wasn't your imagination.

"Hello? ", you quickly asked again.

No answer

What was going on?

You barely saw it from the corner of your eye, as you turned around. You knew you weren't paranoid. You knew you hadn't imagined things, when you saw the Harkonnen Warrior flying at you, his suspensors carrying him towards you at an immense speed.

You internally cursed yourself for leaving your weapons at the palace. Still, you got into fighting stance. Gurney had taught you enough to defeat one Harkonnen.

Or so you thought.

Your eyes closely followed the man as he stepped towards you, not an ounce of hesitation lay in his movements. You knew he was here to kill you.

When he drew his sword, trying to attack you, all you could do was dodge him and back off.

Without any weapons or your shield, you logically knew that your best choice was to run. The heavy dress you wore left no room for complicated hand to hand combat attacks.

So, you ran.

As quickly as you could, you made your way to the rows of Graves, trying to lose the Harkonnen.

But you quickly realized, that this plan would't work. The man was much faster then you and he was practically on your heel, almost slicing through you on multiple occasions.

He chased you back towards the cliffs. You tried to attack him from behind a few times, but his heavy armor protected him from every hit or kick you gave him.

When he had you cornered, the cliffs behind you and the Harkonnen in front of you, you knew that your chances of survival were slim. Not zero, but low nonetheless.

You briefly looked behind you, as your heel knocked over a few pebbles that tumbled down the cliff and into the waves.

There seemed to be no escape.

"Don't scream", The Harkonnen said calmly,"You'd only waste your breath."

You ignored him, finally ripping of your coat, throwing it into the waves, as you got into fighting stance again. If he were to kill you, you'd die fighting. That, you were sure of.

"You are to slow"

"Oh come on!"

You were laying on the floor, again. Small pants left your lips, while Paul was on sitting on top of you, a triumphant grin on his face. Gurney instructed the two of you to fight against each other for training today.

After a few Moments, Paul finally got up, offering you his hand.

But you only looked up at him:"This is a trick, isn't it?"

Paul smiled:"Who knows?"

"Great", you sighed softly and grabbed his Hand. He pulled you up with ease, but before you knew it, you were back on the ground with Paul on top of you, after he threw you over his shoulder like you were a sack of sand.

You groaned when your back hit the floor:" I really hate you sometimes"

"You don't ", Paul grinned, leaning towards you. He raised his hand, brushing away a stray piece if hair that was laying in your face. Your eyes closely followed his movements.

"I'm never gonna beat you", you whispered quietly, defeat in your voice.

Paul could only chuckle, before he leaned down to kiss your cheek.

"One day, you will", he said, brushing his thumb over you cheek lovingly.

"You always know what to say, don't you?", you smiled, putting his hand down on top of yours.

"You'll have to thank my mother and her Bene Gesserit training for that", Paul grinned.

He placed his lips on yours, kissing you tenderly, before you were interrupted apruptly.

"What the hell are you two doing?!?"

Gurney.

The two of you got up as fast as possible, when Gurney approached you, a smirk on his face,"Now get back to training, you hear me!?"

The two of you quickly nodded, standing in front of each other and getting into fighting stance.

"I'm gonna beat your ass", you grinned, almost wickedly.

Paul only smiled, lifting his dagger:"We will see"

It was strange, that your mind wandered back to this moment so many moons ago. You remembered it as clear as day. But you also remembered that you hadn't beat Paul on that day. Or any day afterwards. He always got the better of you.

Paul seemed to be all that was on your mind, when you saw the blade of the Harkonnen dash towards your throat. You thought about what Paul would think, If he saw your Corpse. Would he cry? Would he be upset with you for nit putting up a fight? Would he try to avenge you?

You would never get to know, because the Harkonnens blade never made it to your throat. It was stopped midair, as another blade collided with it.

And to your surprise, it was the blade of none other then Duke Leto Atreides himself.

"Run!", was all he said to you, as he forcefully pushed the Harkonnen away.

You quickly tried to do as your Duke ordered, but you had to back off again, as the Harkonnen threw a dagger to your feet, only missing by a few centimeters.

"She stays", he said angrily, as you backed off again. Leto quickly pulled you behind his body, concern clear on his face, "Are you alright?"

You didn't have time to answer as you saw the Harkonnen charge at the two of you, "Look out!!"

Just in time, Leto raised his weapon, blocking the deadly blow of the Harkonnen blade.

"Go!", Leto said again, "Paul is close. Find him!"

You hesitated for a brief moment. You didn't want to leave the Duke behind. You knew that his life was far more important than yours, so naturally you didn't want to leave him alone with the Harkonnen.

The Duke seemed to notice your concern,"Go!! That's an order!"

Without hesitation, you turned around an ran off. The Harkonnen didn't have time to throw a dagger at you this time, as Duke Leto attacked him, keeping him busy and away from you.

"Paul!?", you shouted, as you were in safe distance from the Duke and the Harkonnen. But Paul was nowhere to be seen. You had left the graveyard behind, almost crossing the edge of the woods now.

You spun around, when you heard a rustling behind you. For a brief second, you hoped that it was Paul who would emerge from the woods, but it wasn't.

It was another Harkonnen.

A small yelp left your lips, when his dagger sank into the skin of your shoulder, piercing the expensive silk of the dress, that Lady Jessica had gifted you only days ago.

You managed to push the Harkonnen off of you, putting a safe distance between the two of you. You were embarrassingly aware of the fact that you urgently needed some kind of weapon or you'd lose this fight, especially now that you were injured.

The Harkonnen slowly made his way over to you, Weapon in hand and ready to strike. You fiercely looked round, searching for something, anything, to defend yourself with.

But you found nothing. Once again, it seemed like you'd meet your end on this day.

But then again, another Deja Vu occured, ad the blade that dashed towards your neck, was blocked by another Atreides.

This time, it was Paul who saved your life. He managed to force the Harkonnen away, buying you a few moments.

He grabbed your hand and pulled you towards him. You couldn't suppress the wince of pain that left you lips, as you flexed your injured shoulder.

"We need to get you to Yueh", Paul whispered, pushing you behind him, as soon as the Harkonnen seemed ready to attack again.

"What about your father?", you asked, concern clear in your voice, "We can't leave him here."

But Paul had no time to answer. He raised his dagger to deflect the attack of the Harkonnen warrior, that was charging towards us. But he never made it to his destination, but instead dropped to the ground, a knife of the Atreides sticking out of his back.

It was said Duke that struck the Harkonnen down.

A shaky breath left your lips, as you finally registered that both of them were safe. Both Leto and Paul had saved your life today.

You wanted to thank the Duke for protecting you, stepping forward, but what none of you expected was how your knees suddenly gave in. Paul dashed forward, catching your body before it collided with the ground. You silently cursed yourself for not realizing it sooner.

The blade you had been stabbed with was poisoned.

"It's gonna be alright", Paul whispered. He grabbed your hand tightly. But you felt that he was shaking in fear for you life.

Leto reacted faster then Paul. He pushed past his son, hoisting your body up into his arms. He tried to be gentle, but he knew that gentleness wasn't important now. It was Time. The Duke knew you had minutes to life, if not less. And if he didn't bring you back to the palace fast enough, you would take your last breath before he even crossed the threshold of his own home.

"Go and get Yueh!", Leto ordered, wanting Paul to run ahead to get the doctor. But Pauls face told you, that he didn't want to leave your side. But you and him both knew that he had no choice. So, he quickly turned around, running towards the castle like a Harkonnen Army was chasing him.

Duke Leto trailed after him, albeit a bit slower as he had you in his arms.

Short breaths left your lips as you felt yourself start to hyperventilate. The poison was starting to affect your immune system and you felt that you didn't have long before you'd lose consciousness.

"Stay awake!", Leto practically ordered, but it felt nearly impossible.

"I- I'm sorry", was all that you could press out, before you went limp in his arms. You could only hope that it wasn't the last time you closed your eyes.

Voices were the first thing you heard. It were familiar voices. You wanted to reach out to them, open your eyes and say hello. Greet them, laugh with them and talk with them.

But your eyelids felt heavy. So incredibly heavy, you couldn't open them.

You chose to listen to the Voices instead, trying to make out what they were saying and who they belonged to. It felt like forever when you finally started to make out words. Only fragments at first, only then they started to piece together more coherently, forming sentences and finally a conversation.

It was Paul. And not only him. Duke Leto was also there.

The last voice was the most difficult to decipher. It sounded powerful. Meaningful. You knew that only one person could be behind that voice.

So you followed it. Followed the voice. Let it lead you out of the darkness. You followed her words, let them guide you.

I must not fear, The Voice spoke.

I must not fear, you repeated in your head.

Fear is the Mindkiller

Fear is the little death, that brings total obliteration.

You clung onto every word, letting them pull you up like a rope that led you out of an abyss.

I will face my fear.

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

You felt so close. So close to sweet relief. So close that you felt like you could reach out and touch the words with your hands.

And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see it's path.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.

You eyes shot open, as the vivid images of the real world invaded your brain. The words vanished in front of you and the voices suddenly became people. People that were sitting in front of you, when you suddenly jumped up from your bed.

Paul, Duke Leto and Lady Jessica were all looking at you in concern.

Pual was the fastest to react. He practically raced towards you, sitting down on the edge of the bed, while embracing you gently:"You're awake"

You quickly wrapped your arms around him:"You won't get rid of me so easily"

Paul smiled softly, pressing a small kiss to your cheek:"Don't ever scare me like that again"

"He's right", Leto now said, stepping forward.

You could only bow your head in obedience:"Thank you for saving my life, my Lord"

"You're family", he said, all seriousness leaving his face, only relief was left.

"How are you feeling?", Lady Jessica asked, motioning towards your shoulder.

"I feel alright", you said truthfully, "Thanks to Dr. Yueh, I presume."

Paul nodded:"He saved your life"

"I will have to thank him later", you said.

Jessicas gaze wandered towards you. Quickly, you bowed your head to the Bene Gesserit, thanking her for guiding your way back to the world of the living, before she got up, a hand on Leto's shoulder,signaling him to give Paul and you some space.

"We will leave you two alone", he said. Him and Jessica made their way to the door without another word.

As soon, as the door closed, Paul's lips were on yours. You sighed into the kiss, grabbing a handful of his hair, as your Hands wandered to his neck. You felt his hands on your waist, before the two of you finally parted, panting quietly.

Paul leaned his forehead against yours with a small sigh:"I thought, I'd lost you"

You moved your hand from his neck to his cheek, brushing your thumb over his skin gently:"I promise, I won't ever leave you again."

"They were Sardaukar in Harkonnen uniforms.",Paul whispered.

Your eyes widened in surprise:"Why would the emporer want me dead?"

"I don't know...But you're safe now. That's enough for me. ", Paul mumbled, pressing his lips to the corner of your mouth.

You could only smile at his words, "For now, that's enough"

In return, you pressed a kiss to his forehead, before Paul looked back up at you.

"I love you", he whispered.