Chapter Text
"I have to say, I was surprised when I received your uncle's letter, Feyd-Rautha. And I am surprised now to see his words weren't exaggerated. Is the Baron going to join us?" The Emperor is not as imposing in person as his ego-likeness may suggest. In fact, to Feyd, he looks even older and frailer than he had been anticipating. But it does not make him any less dangerous.
"You are looking at him, your Highness. Unfortunately, my uncle is not among us anymore. Forgive me, but the timing between his death and our meeting was just awkward enough to prevent the proper official communication of the news." The Emperor blinked, surprised. The Princess Irulan shifted uncomfortably behind him. "We shall talk about said matters later, if that would be understandable. The loss of a family member is a... private affair.
"My condolences." The man said, drily. Behind it, there was a hint of suspicion, that he ignored.
At the Princess's curious glare, he added, answering the question written on her face. "Poisoned. The culprit has already been identified and neutralized. Your highness knows House Harkonnen does not take offense well. The hand behind my uncle's murder will not be forgiven easily. But let's not waste the Emperor's precious time with internal intrigues. I believe His Highness had something of importance to say that goes beyond the original frugal innocence of this meeting, considering he brought so many of his court."
Feyd-Rautha's eyes shifted, interested. The man had brought both supporters of House Corrino and the old allies of House Atreides. Those, looked at him with anger. Neither would stand for House Harkonnen, even for fear of retaliation.
"Yes. You see, the Great Houses have questions to ask about the legitimacy of the rule over the fief of Arrakis, since, the last official order was that it was given to House Atreides." There was a hint of passive aggressiveness behind the words. The alpha found it funny. As if an Emperor would need to put himself in such a petty way to accuse him of disobedience.
He couldn't help but smile. "Of course. Uncle was so upset. You know how he used to be."
No one accompanied him.
The man's eyes were full of the words left unsaid, a warning. "Yet, after Duke Leto's unfortunate passing, I fail to understand what confusion is at play here."
"House Harkonnen has ruled Arrakis for thousands of years. It's only natural that, at the loss of a ruler, we stand up to fill the gap. The spice production is at a rate we haven't obtained in decades, after a lot of investment from our own treasury. It allows for cheaper transport for the whole empire. What would the issue be, exactly?" He grinned, throwing the bait.
"The issue is that the fief of Arrakis was owned by House Atreides!" A man shouted. "In his absence, a new representative should be..."
"Of course. And that would be me, would it not?" He interrupted with a grin. "At least, until one of my children became of age."
"I am sorry?" The man said.
He blinked, feigning confusion. "Did Lord Ginaz truly believe that House Harkonnen is behind an ecological project?" He chuckled. "Don't be silly. It's my wife's doing. He does not like being idle."
The Emperor gave him a complicated look. There was suspicion there and anger, the clear fear of arriving in a battlefield where one believed an easy victory. Paul's letter had offered him crumbs and missing pieces, suggestions, rather than truths. The Emperor had come blindsided. He could feel the weight of the stare of the truthsayer, even hidden under her veil.
Her voice was ancient and raspy when she spoke. "The Golden Lion Throne has not been informed of a marriage." She accused.
He opened a shy smile. "Well, forgive me, but with all the... complications we faced this year, we did not have the opportunity to have an official ceremony yet. It would be inappropriate, anyway, in the face of so much grief... Despite the breach of protocol, we thought it was the right thing to do. You were a close friend, my Lord Emperor, don't you think my father-in-law, the Duke Leto, wouldn't have felt better knowing that his son is safe with me, rather than lost in nonsensical political intrigues?"
"Paul Atreides lives?" The Princess Irulan asked suddenly, perhaps by accident.
He frowned. "What do you mean by 'lives'? Why should he not live?"
The Princess, predicatally, did not answer.
The Reverend Mother spoke instead, voice carried with something akin to disgust. "You took the boy as a concubine?"
He shook his head, offended. "Of course not! Paul's hand was promised to me at birth. He does not have the title yet, but he is to be my legal wife. How could I ever offend my omega in such a way?"
His audience grew silent. Paul would clap at his theatrics. Finally, a man whom he did not know, probably a member of some of the Minor Houses the Atreides was affiliated with, mumbled quietly, more to himself than to the rest of them. "Paul Atreides is no omega."
Hasimir Fenring, a man Feyd-Rautha recognized from his own come-of-age festivities, actually had a smile on his face, as if he was entertained by the situation. "Is there anything else our new Baron has neglected to tell the Golden Throne? With that many surprises, we have to wonder with which pretenses our Highness was invited to come to Arrakis in person."
At an equally timely fashion, Paul appeared in their field of view. He had chosen his robes days before, sometimes similar to what his mother used to wear, but with characteristic Giedi Prime details, the dress of a Baroness. Better, the fabric accentuates the newfound curve of his baby bump perfectly, highlighting the pregnancy to all present. He bowed deeply, but his expression was icy cold. "Your Highness."
Feyd-Rautha took his mate by the waist. Paul had insisted they should present as a united front (and who was he to complain?). It was audible how one of the Bene Gesserit witches had choked on her spit, but they ignored it. The Princess was looking at his pregnant belly with huge eyes. He wasn't sure if the emotion behind her expression was pity, shock, or disgust. He covered the bump with a protective hand regardless. The Emperor's eyebrows were almost touching each other. The courtiers seemed unsure of how to react at all.
"Look at that, a Harkonnen-Atriedes bastard." Said a man standing next to the Princess, in no more than a whisper, but loud enough that it could still be heard by all present.
Feyd-Rautha felt his teeth itching to rip that fool's throat open. Yet, Paul was, as always, able to retain his composure. "His Highness is wise to understand that in times of peril, we must keep to ourselves and close ranks instead of exposing ourselves to enemies." Yet, he kept his sharpness. "And, although it would be in your interest to remember the Landsraad has no place in what goes on in our marital bed, and that you, Lord Nebiro, are a guest in our household, the Baron, and I are mates, making us married under the old laws, even if there has not been an official ceremony yet." Feyd-Rautha nodded. Paul's mating mark was proudly visible for all that doubted the legitimacy of their union to see.
Count Fenring kept looking from one of them to the other, perhaps already wondering if they had walked into a trap. Finally, he chose to direct his words at Feyd. "Yet, the Emperor came personally to visit at House Harkonnen's invitation, when, on your own words, it's House Harkonnen that closes ranks to protect itself from enemies. Does your omega speak for you when he implies the Empire is an enemy?"
The Emperor appears to nod minutely in approval, glad to have any negative attention shift focus away from him. "How is your wife, Count Fenring?"
The man blinked, but Feyd-Rautha could see right through him. "You ignore my question. I don't understand what Lord Harkonnen is implying here."
The Emperor raised a hand, silencing the room. "Enough. This whole interaction has been unproductive, and I believe there have been a couple of misunderstandings at play here." He raised his eyes to stare at Feyd-Rautha. The same patronizing stare uncle would have when he assumed he would buy because of his cheap manipulation techniques. "Lord Harkonnen..." It was clear that the man was deliberately avoiding calling him by the title. "We are, of course, understanding that you are young and inexperienced in the ways of the relationship between the and the norms between the Landsraad and does not act out of malice to purposefully hide sensitive information. But this is also not the way to make things right. In a different situation, it might look like House Harkonnen is simply trying to cause a disturbance so the decisions of its leader will not be questioned."
The alpha interrupted him. "I understand, your Highness, and thank you for your advice. Yet, as I mentioned before, my wish was to discuss such matters in private due to the circumstances before coming forward to the Landsraad. Perhaps it was foolish of me not to consider that the Emperor could bring so many of his court. It does not matter, tough. House Harkonnen has nothing to hide."
The Emperor clearly did not like his answer. It was his daughter who came to his rescue, touching his arm slightly before coming forward. "Paul, you know your father has always been dear to mine, a son, even. Why didn't you contact House Corrino? Or even the Sisterhood? Your mother..."
"My mother wrote for help and was denied. I was informed she had shared that there was an attempt against my life, before the one against my father. The attack happened when the whole household was asleep, and many died. I am but am omega. The Baron was kind to allow my husband to come pick me up, otherwise, I doubt I would be standing before you now."
Princess Irulan's smile froze on her face. The silence that followed was so thick that Feyd felt like he could stab it with the knife on his boot. Paul squeezed his arm softly.
"There was no... No missive ever reached us." She forced out. It sounded like a lame excuse, and he was sure all present could tell.
"There must have been tampering with the communication." Feyd-Rautha offered her, not out of kindness, but to see if he gave enough rope, she would hang herself.
"Since no one came to investigate such a blatant attack against House Atreides, I supposed we were to fend for ourselves and deal with the situation internally, but I suppose I stand mistaken." Paul played the part of the wounded omega well. He looked so sad and pitiful, Feyd-Rautha wanted to rip apart every single person in the room and fuck him on top of their blood.
In a desperate move to regain some control of the situation, Hasimir Fenring moved forward. "If the means of communication were impaired, how could House Harkonnen act so fast to return to Arrakis? One does not easily plan an interplanetary travel that easily."
Paul sighed, tiredly. Feyd-Rautha hugged him closer. "We do understand how, in terms of Kanly, the Landsraad prefers to avoid getting in between feuds... The rumors have reached us, of course. But my father was supposed to give Feyd my hand just after he became of age. There had been a meeting previously arranged to discuss the details of our wedding, but... It's unfortunate how my father's passing came just before we could officially sign a peace treaty. We can only suppose the conspirators were betting on the Baron backing away from the agreement."
"You are implying that the attack against House Atreides was deliberate to frame House Harkonnen." Lord Ginaz said, slowly. There was a sensation that everyone was holding their breath.
Paul nodded, solemnly. "I am not implying. The actions taken against our families have the clear intention of not only keeping both our houses divided by kanly but also breeding conflict to waste resources and weaken us." Paul looked up to face him, eyes full of tears. "As my husband said, these matters are too serious to simply bring up to the public, and we wished to expose the situation to the emperor in person. Yet, he situation has taken a critical turn. The Baron was murdered. We must plead our case."
He let go of Feyd's arm and turned, making direct eye contact with the Emperor. Instinctively, the alpha's hand closed against the hilt of the knife on his back, waiting for a hint of danger.
"The attack against House Atreides was premeditated. We were isolated on a strange planet, alien to our people. Our Suk Doctor was blackmailed to give us drugs and make us easier targets. Both my mother and I were taken from bed, and most of our men had their throats slit while they slept. I cannot fathom an act of greater cowardice."
"And what of the Duke? What happened to Duke Leto?"
"My father was poisoned. And so was the Baron."
The crowd had been growing increasingly restless at every word out of his wife's mouth. Feyd-Rautha desperately wanted it to break out in a fight. It would be so easy. Kill those bastards. Get rid of the problem.
Lord Nebiro took a step forward. "But Lord Harkonnen said just now that he knows who killed the Baron."
Paul extended his hand. On top of it, lay the poisoned needle. Something pretty unassuming for how dangerous it was. He had wondered why his wife had kept it for so long, but it turned out to be useful eventually. By the confused expressions of the courtiers, it was obvious how few of them could recognize the item, but a couple still could. The look on Princess Irulan's face was priceless.
"This was used to kill the Baron." A shame. He suffered too little. "It was brought to our doorstep by Lady Margot Fenring. Unfortunately, the guards intercepted her before more harm could be done, rendering it impossible to interrogate her further for her motives. My husband and I, and I dare to say, the rest of the present, would find it enlightening to learn why."