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Such a dilemma! Anteac thought. Can I even report this to
"
my Sisters at the Chapter House?
"Everyone will know in time," Hwi said. "This is not the time. I tell you
because it helps impress upon you the gravity of the Lord Leto's trust."
"His trust in you?"
"In both of us."
This had sent a barely concealed, shuddering thrill through Anteac. The power
inherent in such trust!
"Do you know why Ix chose you as Ambassador?" Anteac asked.
"Yes. They intended me to beguile him."
"You appear to have succeeded. Does this mean that the lxians believe those
Tleilaxu stories about the Lord Leto's gross habits?"
"Even the Tleilaxu don't believe them."
"I take it that you confirm the falsehood of such stories?"
Hwi had spoken in an odd flatness which even Anteac's truthsense and abilities
as a Mentat found hard to decipher.
"You have talked to him and observed him. Answer that question for yourself."
Anteac put down a small surge of irritation. Despite her youth, this Hwi was
not an acolyte . . .
and would never make a good Bene Gesserit. Such a pity!
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"Have you reported this to your government on Ix?" Anteac asked.
"No."
.Why?"
"They will learn soon enough. Premature revelation could harm the Lord Leto."
She is truthful, Anteac reminded herself.
"Isn't your first loyalty to Ix?" Anteac asked.
"Truth is my first loyalty." She smiled then. "Ix contrived better than it
thought."
"Does Ix think of you as a threat to the God Emperor?"
"I think their primary concern is knowledge. I discussed this with Ampre
before leaving."
"The Director of Ix's Outfederation Affairs? That Ampre?"
"Yes. Ampre is convinced that the Lord Leto permits threats to his person only
up to certain limits."
"Ampre said that?"
"Ampre does not believe the future can be hidden from the Lord Leto. "
"But my mission to Ix has about it the suggestion that. . ." Anteac broke off
and shook her head, then: "Why does Ix provide the Lord with machines and
weapons?"
"Ampre believes that Ix has no choice. Overwhelming force destroys people who
pose too great a threat."
"And if Ix refused, that would pass the Lord Leto's limits. No middle point.
Have you thought about the consequences of wedding the Lord Leto?"
"You mean the doubts such an act will raise about his godhead?"
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"Some will believe the Tleilaxu stories."
Hwi only smiled.
Damnation! Anteac thought. How did we lose this girl?
"He is changing the design of his religion," Anteac accused. "That's it, of
course."
"Do not make the mistake of judging all others by yourselves," Hwi said. And,
as Anteac started to bridle, Hwi added: "But I did not come here to argue with
you about the Lord."
"No. Of course not."
"The Lord Leto has commanded me," Hwi said, "to tell you every detail in my
memory about the place where I was born and raised."
As she reflected on Hwi's words, Anteac stared down at the cryptic square of
black in her lap. Hwi had proceeded to recount the details which her Lord (and
now bridegroom!) had commanded, details which would have been boring at times
were it not for Anteac's Mentat abilities at data absorption.
Anteac shook her head as she considered what must be reported to her Sisters
at the Chapter House.
They already would be studying the import of her previous message. A machine
which could shield itself and contents from the penetrating prescience of even
the God Emperor? Was that possible? Or was this a different kind of test, a
test of Bene Gesserit candor with their Lord Leto? But now!
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If he did not already know the genesis of this enigmatic Hwi Noree . . .
This new development reinforced Anteac's Mentat summation of why she had been
chosen for the mission to Ix. The God Emperor did not trust this knowledge to
his Fish Speakers. He did not want
Fish Speakers suspecting a weakness in their Lord!
Or was that as obvious as it appeared? Wheels within wheels-that was the way
of the Lord Leto.
Again, Anteac shook her head. She bent then and resumed her account for the
Chapter House, leaving out the revelation that the God Emperor had chosen a
bride.
They would learn it soon enough. Meanwhile, Anteac herself would consider the
implications.
===
If you know all of your ancestors, you were a personal witness to the events
which created the myths and religions of our past. Recognizing this, you must
think of me as a myth-maker.
-The Stolen Journals
THE FIRST explosion came just as darkness enfolded the City of Onn. The blast
caught a few venturesome revelers outside the Ixian Embassy, passing on their
way to a party where (it was promised) Face Dancers would perform an ancient
drama about a king who slew his children. After the violent events of the
first four Festival Days, it had taken some courage for the revelers to emerge
from the relative safety of their quarters. Stories of death and injury to
innocent bystanders circulated all through the City-and here it was again-more
fuel for the cautious.
None of the victims and survivors would have appreciated Leto's observation
that innocent bystanders were in relatively short supply.
Leto's acute senses detected the explosion and located it. With an instant
fury which he was later to regret, he shouted for his Fish Speakers and
commanded them to "wipe out the Face Dancers,"
even the ones he had spared earlier.
On immediate reflection, the sensation of-fury itself fascinated Leto. It had
been so long since he had felt even mild anger. Frustration, irritation-these
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had been his limits. But now, at a threat to Hwi Noree, fury!
Reflection caused him to modify his initial command, but not before some Fish
Speakers had raced from the Royal Presence, their most violent desires
released by what they had seen in their Lord.
"God is furious!" some of them shouted.
The second blast caught some of the Fish Speakers emerging into the plaza,
limiting the spread of
Leto's modified command and igniting more violence. The third explosion,
located near the first one, sent Leto himself into action. He propelled his
cart like a berserk juggernaut out of his resting chamber into the Ixian lift
and surged to the surface.
Leto emerged at the edge of the plaza to find a scene of chaos lighted by
thousands of free-
floating glowglobes released by his Fish Speakers. The central stage of the
plaza had been shattered, leaving only the plasteel base intact beneath the
paved surface. Broken pieces of masonry lay all around, mixed with dead and
wounded.
In the direction of the Ixian Embassy, directly across the plaza from him,
there was a wild surging of combat.
"Where is my Duncan?" Leto bellowed.
A guard bashar came racing across the plaza to his side where she reported
through panting breaths: "We have taken him to the Citadel, Lord!"
"What is happening over there?" Leto demanded, pointing at the battle outside
the Ixian Embassy.
"The rebels and the Tleilaxu are attacking the Ixian Embassy, Lord. They have
explosives."
Even as she spoke, another blast erupted in front of the Embassy's shattered
facade. He saw bodies twisting in the air, arching outward and falling at the
perimeter of a bright flash which left an orange afterimage, studded with
black dots.
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