Chapter 48-The EMpress!

Chapter 48

LADY MARGOT FENRING

The meeting with the so-called Preacher had been mind-numbing; even now, as she thought about his face, his movements, and his powers, she felt her body shiver. There was an omniscience to him, a power similar in feel to the Emperor itself, for when he touched you or turned towards you, it felt as if he touched and saw your very soul.

That small meeting had taken a toll on her, and yet she had a duty, and so as soon as she returned to her room, she sent a message to the 'Pillars' about the success of her mission and now she found herself at the center of their virtual gathering once more, with the representative from the Guild right behind her.

"So, is he really the one we have been seeking?" came teh question from the Bene Tleilaxu, and she nodded her head, the thrill of that ominous power still lingering in her mind.

"He is," she acquiesced as she felt all their gazes land on her.

"I saw the man walk through Arrakis, Kazab's city, preaching against him and his rule with no care," she began telling them of the scenes she had witnessed, of the sheer prowess in those weak bones.

"Inzal's men walked by him, helpless, as if blind to him, confirming the rumor that the man has the ability to evade Inzal's all-seeing gaze. He moved through the desert as a blur; I could not even sense him coming close to me as he passed on his message." She finished, and she knew in her heart that this was it.

This was the salvation they had been hoping for, the savior they had been needing to combat Inzal Kazab Corrino's all-seeing powers.

"But how can we trust him, and moreover, how could we even transport a force large enough to Arrakis without the Emperor seeing it all," was the addition from the Bene Gesserit order as the whole gathering became quiet.

For this was the greater issue. Or the Grand issue, to move a force, one substantial enough to lead a grand attack on the Emperor, while avoiding his all-seeing eyes.

For that was how they worked. Inzal Kazab Corrino had another name, one given to him by allies and enemies alike. 'The All Seeing', for Inzal Kazab Corrino saw all, beyond the confines of space, he saw all the galaxy, all of the Imperium it was what allowed him to govern the empire as he had, while fighting a most deadly war against the Ixians and their allied forces.

"We could try and draw the Emperor out from Arrakis," came a suggestion.

"He has only ever left Arrakis twice. Initially to visit Selusa Secundus to cement the loyalty of the Saradukar, and then for Kaitain where Princess Irulan now rules to shift the Royal Court from Kaitain to Arrakis," came the answer.

"Goading him into leaving Arrakis would be nearly impossible," added the Guild Navigator, Eric from behind.

"The only ever instance of the Shields of Arrakis falling are from the time of the kanli more than a decade ago, when he faced Paul Atreides for the throne. Since then, the shields over Arrakis have not fallen, ever," added the Reverend Mother solemnly, for that was their last gamble.

The very thing that had turned the Emperor's wrath upon them, and after that, the sisterhood had been hunted down with prejudice, and now, as they all stood here, each and every one of their respective orders was on the blink of absolute decimation.

"Sacrifices will have to be made," the Bene Tleilaxu assassin added as she felt his silhouette begin to shift.

"Sacrifices that will require some of us to put down our lives so that the rest may carry on in this fight," and with that she heard the sound of footsteps as her heart began to thrum despite her Prana Bindu training as a shiver ran down her spine as if she was the very presence of death.

"Interesting," Eric, the fish-like navigator, added briskly as a figure stepped into the silhouette of the 'Pillar' from Bene Tleilaxu, a face so familiar, one that she had just witnessed today, right here on Arrakis as all the rumors about the leader of the Bene Tleilaxu began to make sense.

"You..." she gasped at the implication, and the man nodded.

"All this time," came the gasp from the Reverend Mother.

"A decade ago, when the Bene Tleilaxu came to Arrakis to assassinate the man we call our Emperor, they knew that their was a chance that they could fail in their mission, and so as they went to attack one of them stayed behind, taking advantage of the Emepror's momentary blindness as he vanished into the crowd, taking the face of another man, an inconspicuous man both very near and very far from the Emperor," the leader of the Bene Tleilaxu added as he stepped forward, approaching her.

"For years then he continued to serve as 'that man' doing the Padishah Emperor's bidding as he saw his kind getting slaughtered, while he could do little more than be a spectator to their slaughter," and with that, he came to a halt as he looked into her eyes.

"All these years, I have been waiting for this very moment so that I could exact my revenge against the all-seeing demon that is Inzal Kazab Corrino," he added.

"Yet loathed as I am to admit it, I cannot do it alone, for that is just how powerful he is," he added as his lips twisted.

"And so, I ask this of you if the opportunity is presented, could you guide us to this Preacher and his caves in Jacarutu?"

"I can."

"Then let us prepare," and with that, he looked up.

"It is time for us to make the final stand and bring to its end the tyranny of the 'All-Seer'"

0000

INZAL KAZAB CORRINO

The Preacher was a so-called menace, one that presumable avoided his gaze, as he gave his sermons to all those with ears, speaking against him calling him a pretender. It was an insult, one that no Fremen would let pass, and yet for years, the old decrepit man had continued to roam the streets of Arrakis, evading even the best of the Saradukar and the Ajniha.

That was the publicized truth. The reality itself was a whole other story. Something far more sinister, for there were only a few people in this entire world that could evade the gaze of Inzal Kazab Corrino.

From the training of Saradukar on Selusa Secundus to Irulan's lofty life on Kaitain to Alia's little secretive trysts with Duncan Idaho on Caladan and the most important of them all—The War front, Inzal saw all. It was somewhat jarring seeing it all, processing it, and making sense of it.

He had been doing this for more than a decade now, and though the years had allowed him to master the powers he wielded, all this took a great deal of tools on him. Something that was not seen by anyone except the one closest to him, his lady wife and the Empress—Shishakli Tabar Corrino, the Duchess of Arrakis.

And yet she could not be here, for this was the final dance. One that would end it all.

Count Hasmir Fenring was an interesting ally of his, the man had served his father loyally for years, supporting him since the time the man was but a fledgling prince. He was a failed product of the Bene Gesserit breeding program, much like him in a way, and that shared experience gave them a sense of comradeship that made the man one of his most loyal and able generals.

Inzal had freely exploited the man's experience, using him as the vanguard in his war against the 'Rebels', as he ruled over the Empire, tying up loose ends and consolidating his power. At the same time, the Count acted as his blade, decimating the enemy forces on the battlefield.

And all that had cost him little—a single life.

For all his faults, the man had loved his wife Lady Margot Fenring, who had refused to bend the knee and had joined up with the 'Rebels'. Fenring had asked for nothing but to spare the life of the woman he had once loved, something he was happy to grant.

And now the man was dead, and as Inzal carried his body deep into the dunes of Arrakis alongside the Naibs who had served under him, it was time for them to lay the man to rest.

"This is fine," he said as they put down the body and gathered all around him. All the Naibs who had served under the man, men from Arrakis. Well, not all of them, for he knew that one of them was not who they made themselves to be.

That one of them was a traitor.

"We are gathered here for the last rites of a comrade, a fighter, a general," he began as he turned away from them, took out a thumper, and placed it in the sand beside the wrapped-up body.

"A friend, a mentor," he continued as he began to back off, pulling his sight from the vestiges of the universe to the planet, focusing them around him as he waited.

"...A soldier, and a lea....."

BOOOOM!

And in that moment, as a massive explosion rocked the area, the shields over Arrakis fell for the first time in a decade, as a new front of the war was launched on the very desert where all this had begun, more than a decade ago.

As the 'All seer' lay injured in an attack precipitated by one of his own Naibs, it was needed for another to take his place on the throne to rule over the planet in these perilous times, and who was more suited for the task than his oldest and most trusted aide and companion, the Empress herself, the Duchess of Arrakis—Shishakli Tabr Corrino.

0000

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