Dune_ House Atreides - Brian Herbert [139]
Rhombur and Kailea came out uncertainly to stand beside Leto at the top of the ramp. Kailea’s emerald eyes were haunted, and she looked around the new world, as if the sky was far too vast overhead. Leto wanted to comfort her. Again, he held himself back, this time because of his mother’s presence.
Rhombur drew himself up and made a visible attempt to square his shoulders and straighten his tousled blond hair. He knew he was now all that remained of House Vernius, the face that all members of the Landsraad would see while his father the renegade Earl went into hiding. He knew the fight was just beginning. Leto put a strong hand on his friend’s shoulder and urged him toward the reception platform.
After a moment of stillness, Leto and Paulus moved toward each other at the same time. The Old Duke pressed his salt-and-pepper beard against the side of his son’s head; they pounded one another on the back, saying no words. They drew apart, and Paulus placed broad, callused hands on his son’s biceps, just looking at him.
Leto looked past his father to see his mother standing behind them, wearing a warm, but forced, smile of greeting. Her glance flicked toward Rhombur and Kailea and then back to him; Leto knew Lady Helena Atreides would receive the two exiles with all the ceremony due important visiting dignitaries. He did note, however, that she had chosen jewelry and colors resplendent with the markings of House Richese, rival to Ix, as if to twist a knife into the Vernius exiles. Duke Paulus didn’t seem to notice.
The Old Duke turned to give a vigorous greeting to Rhombur, who still wore a small bandage over his head injury. “Welcome, welcome, lad,” he said. “As I promised your father, you and your sister will remain here with us, protected by the might of House Atreides, until all this blows over.”
Kailea stared up at the scudding clouds as if she’d never seen open sky before. She shivered, looking lost. “What if it never blows over?”
Following her obligation, Helena came forward to take the Vernius daughter by the arm. “Come, child. We’ll help you settle in, just in case this has to be your home for a while.”
Rhombur gripped the Old Duke with an Imperial handshake. “Uh, I can’t express my appreciation enough, sir. Kailea and I both understand the risk you’ve taken to shelter us.”
Helena glanced over her shoulder at her husband, who ignored her.
Paulus gestured toward the Castle on the cliffs. “House Atreides values loyalty and honor far above politics.” He took a hard and insightful look at his exhausted son. Leto drew a deep breath, receiving the lesson like a sword thrust. “Loyalty and honor,” Paulus repeated. “That is the way it must always be.”
Only God can make living, sentient creatures.
—The Orange Catholic Bible
In Birthing Room One of the Wallach IX complex, a screaming newborn girl lay on a med-table. A daughter with the genetic line of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. The smell of blood and disinfectant hung in the air, wrapped in the rustle of crisp, sterilized clothing. Harsh glowglobes burned down, reflecting from the rough stone walls and polished-metal surfaces. Many daughters had been born here, many new Sisters.
With more excitement than the Bene Gesserit usually exhibited, Reverend Mothers in dark robes poked at the scrawny infant with instruments, talking about her in worried tones. One Sister used a hypo-needle to draw a blood sample, while another took a skin scraping with a shallow curette. No one spoke above a whisper. Odd skin tone, poor biochemistry, low weight . . .
Drenched in perspiration, Gaius Helen Mohiam lay nearby in discomfort, attempting to reassert control over the pummeled tissues of her body. Though her preservation hid her actual age, she looked too old to be having babies. This birth had been hard for her, harder than the previous eight children she had borne. By now she felt ancient and used up.
Two acolyte attendants hurried to her bed and wheeled her toward one side of the arched doorway. One