Dune_ House Atreides - Brian Herbert [274]
Shaddam stared from magistrate to magistrate. “Who among you, knowing the histories of your Houses, can make the same claim? Who has displayed the same loyalty, the same unblemished honor? Few of us, if the truth be told, can compare with noble House Atreides.” He let the silence hang, disturbed only by a sharp static discharge from the ominous Tleilaxu vivisection machine. “Ah, yes. And that is why we are here today, is it not, gentlemen? Truth and honor.”
Leto saw some of the magistrates nod in agreement, because they were expected to. But they looked perplexed. Imperial leaders never voluntarily addressed Landsraad courts. Why was Shaddam involving himself in such a relatively minor matter?
He read my message! Leto thought. And this is his response.
Still, he waited for the trap to appear. He didn’t understand what he had gotten himself into, but Shaddam couldn’t intend just to march in and rescue him. Of all the Great Houses in the Landsraad, the Corrinos were among the most devious.
“House Atreides has always taken the high road,” Shaddam continued, his regal voice growing more powerful. “Always! And young Leto here has been indoctrinated into this family code of ethics, forced into his royal station early because of the senseless death of his great father.”
Shaddam removed his arm from Leto’s shoulder and took a step forward, closer to the magistrates. “In my opinion, it would be impossible for this man, from this House, to intentionally fire upon Tleilaxu ships, as he has been accused of doing. Such an act would be abhorrent to everything House Atreides believes. Any evidence to the contrary must be false. My Truthsayers have confirmed this after speaking to Leto and his fellow witnesses.”
A lie, Leto thought. I spoke to no Truthsayers!
“But Royal Highness,” Magistrate Prad Vidal said, with a dark scowl that lowered his black eyebrows, “the guns on his frigate showed evidence of having been fired. Are you suggesting the Tleilaxu ships were damaged by a convenient accident? A mad coincidence?”
Shaddam shrugged. “As far as I am concerned, Duke Leto has explained this satisfactorily. I, myself, have taken a combat pod into orbit for skeet-drone practice. The remainder of the investigation is inconclusive. Perhaps an accident, yes, but not caused by the Atreides. It must have been a mechanical malfunction.”
“But on two Tleilaxu ships?” Vidal said, in an incredulous tone.
Leto looked around, speechless, watching the events play themselves out. Shaddam was about to begin his reign. If the Emperor himself threw his weight indisputably in support of Leto, would any of the representatives declare themselves enemies of the crown? The repercussions could be severe and long-lasting.
This is all politics, Landsraad power plays, favors exchanged, Leto thought, struggling to keep his expression calm. None of this has anything to do with the truth. Now that the Crown Prince had made his stance clear, any magistrate who voted to convict Leto would be openly defying the next Emperor. Even the enemies of House Atreides would be loath to risk that.
“Who can say?” Shaddam responded, with a toss of his head that labeled the question irrelevant. “Perhaps debris from the first accidental explosion hit the companion craft, damaging it less severely.” No one believed the explanation for a moment, but the Crown Prince had given them a way out, a paper platform on which to stand.
In low tones the magistrates conferred among themselves. Some of them agreed that Shaddam’s line of reasoning was plausible—they wanted to find some way to agree with the new Emperor—but Vidal was not one of them. Sweat ran down his brow.
Looking over his shoulder, Leto saw the Tleilaxu spokes-man shaking his head in silent disapproval. In the tall chair that had been rigged for him at the prosecution table, he looked like a displeased child.
The Crown Prince continued. “I am here, as is my right and duty as your Supreme Commander, to personally vouch for my eminent cousin, Duke