Marry him

I couldn't stop think my about what Hawat said. I could never see myself with a Harkonnen. I couldn't even see myself getting married right now, especially not to somebody I didn't know.

But then I remembered what he said about resolving the conflict between our Houses. I realized he was right, a marriage to connect us would force political conflict to resolve itself. I considered what would happen if the conflict continued... Would another Harkonnen be sent to assassinate the Duke? Would more people die? Would my family die?

"Did you catch that?"

Paul's voice interrupted my thoughts. I blinked and followed his gaze to the centre of the room to our lesson.

"No, sorry." I shook my head and quickly did a once-over of my notes.

"The Fremen have to walk without rhythm to mimic the natural movement of the winds." He gestured to the visuals in front of us demonstrating the walk.

"Oh..." I narrowed my eyes. "Why?"

He chuckled. "Wow, you really weren't paying attention, were you?"

I sighed and shook my head, embarrassed. "If at least one of us is paying attention then I can call it a day."

He rolled his eyes. "They have to walk like that because if they don't it'll attract the Sandworms. They're these huge, four-hundred metre long worms that will swallow anything that attracts them with vibrations."

"Four-hundred metres long?" I repeated and made a face. "That can't be true."

Paul nodded and grinned. "It almost sounds fake, I know. It's real, though. We have to know this stuff if we're going to be living on Arrakis."

His words brought me back to the reality in which we were set to leave Castle Caladan in two days. Paul's grin faded as the thought began to settle with him too.

"We're going to have lots of fun on Arrakis," I assured him with a sad smile. "I trust you'll learn enough to keep us both alive. Between the two of us you've always been the brains."

"Bold of you to assume I'll be giving you pointers." He mocked and shoved my shoulder with his. "If I'm the brains, what are you?"

I made a face as if the answer were obvious. "I'm the brawn, duh."

Paul threw his head back in laughter. "Please, I'm the brains and the bronze."

I raised a brow and mimicked him. "Really? Then what does the make me?"

"The beauty." He darkened his expression and he licked his lips in a dramatic and playful way.

I felt the heat reach my cheeks and I hit his arm, letting out a nervous laugh. I knew he was joking with me but for some reason I couldn't help but feel a small tickle in the centre of my chest.

He pretended to flip his curly hair over his shoulder. I let out an obnoxious giggle as my friend continued to make several different faces. Our playful laughs were enough to drown out the sound of our lesson playing in the background and for a moment, we were children again.

***

"Have you decided how you're going to spend your last day here?" My dad asked from across the room.

I was currently helping him pack the equipment in the training room. After residing in the same castle for a few decades, it was impressive how much everything could pile up. I sifted through an old bucket of out-dated shields which were much different from the ones we used now. These shields were a lot boxier, heavier, and hard to the touch.

I raised one of them to show my dad and crinkled my nose. "These have got to be older than I am." I placed it back in its bin, wiping my hands on my thighs. "And to answer your question, I'm not sure."

He was towering over the large collection of knives that lined the wall. He was careful to remove them, many of them having gone untouched for several years. He had this special touch with weapons that only a Warmaster could have.

"Well, try to spend some more time with Paul. God knows how much free time he'll have once we make the move." My dad let his eyes rest on my for a moment before he went back to work.

It was true. As heir to the House of Atreides it was inevitable that he'd be able to escape his responsibilities for any longer than as long as he has. It was selfish of me to want to have my friend all to my self, never having to leave his side. That's what things were like for us now and it's how they've been for as long as I could remember. I was never a sucker for change.

"Speaking of, go find him." My dad nodded towards the door, signalling for me to leave. "Spend time with him. Both of you need it. I've got it from here."

I took a look around the room which was far from being packed. "Are you sure? I don't mind helping you out."

"Go on, Ophelia." He encouraged me. "You can help me out if I'm still here by the end of the day."

I nodded in agreement, wanting to see my friend. Giving my dad a quick kiss on the cheek I exited the room and went to look for Paul.

I wasn't sure where I'd find him. It was possible his parents were making him study, but considering how busy everyone was with moving I highly doubted they'd remember to remind him.

I walked by the door of the study and peaked my head in. To my pleasant surprise, I found Paul on the carpet laying on his side as went through the many pages that were spread out around him.

I knocked lightly on the door, not wanting to scare him. He looked up from the ground and smiled at me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him. I joined him on the ground and sat crossed legged across from my friend.

"Do you remember when we used to play make believe as kids and leave ourselves notes pretending to be different people like the Emperor or the Bene Gesserit?" He smiled to himself and looked down at the note in his hand.

I felt the corners of my cheeks pull into a smile. "I do, yeah. I forgot we did that."

He laughed. "Yeah, so did I..." His eyes scanned the letter. "There's a bunch of old stuff like this. I think my mom kept everything of ours that she could find."

I grabbed a page from the pile and began reading out loud.

"'My Dearest love, Ophelia,'" I cleared my throat and continued, catching Paul's attention. "'You have made the finest company this afternoon and I wanted to formally invite you to live with me in my castle as my best friend.' Did you write this?" I burst out laughing and Paul did the same.

"I think I got my mom to help me write that." He admitted.

I shrugged. "I probably got her to read it out loud to me."

The two of us laughed harder, remembering our childhood. It was crazy to see all of these tokens and memories from our youth, almost serving as proof that it really happened, and that we truly did have a wonderful upbringing together.

"Wow," Paul sobered from his laugh. "I can't remember that last time I came up with anything remotely creative like that, I know that I always used to write you these fake love notes, though. It feels like another lifetime we used to role play and dress up."

I nodded, almost sadly. "I'm not sure when we stopped. It makes me miss when we had no responsibilities other than to have fun and not kill each other."

He smiled and shook his head. "We were wild children. I guess that's what happens when we have nothing but each other and our toys to release all of our energy." He took another look at the many bins of our arts and crafts. "I wish I could have known how good we had it back then."

I looked down at the carpet. "And now we have to leave it all behind."

We both went quiet. We stayed like that for a few moments, just relishing in our own thoughts. Reminiscing on the creative childhood we got to share together.

"Growing up in a castle without any other kids our age was really isolating," Paul met my eyes. "But you never made me feel lonely. Thank you for that."

My expression softened and I felt the same feeling of warmth enter my chest again. "Well, your friendship is all I know. I hope I don't lose that. I don't want to lose that."

He opened his arms to invite me in a hug. I rolled over on the floor and into his embrace, holding him tightly.

"If you ever need me, whenever, wherever, I'll be there." He dug his face into my shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

***

i watched dune again tonight with my roommates it was so good ahhhhh

if you find any typos just try to read through them. i usually write these super late like 2-3am so i'm always hella tired by the time i publish it. i'll make sure to go back and try and correct them at a later time!

i also just wanted to say a HUGEEE thank you to every single one of you. i appreciate any and every single interaction you guys give me, whether its a follow, comment, vote, or even just a read. my heart swells when i read your comments or see you've followed me. so from the bottom of my heart thank you guys 10000x

with love,
via <3