"Is it too much?" I asked Yuma as I checked myself over in the mirror.

She smiled from behind me. "You look lovely, Miss."

She was right, I looked pretty nice. She had dressed me in a loose baby blue satin dressed that pressed against my curves. I'd never worn something as nice as this, I didn't even realize I was capable of looking this good. I grinned at my reflection, feeling confident.

"Thank you for helping me out Yuma." I turned to thank her.

She nodded. I came here alone, but Yuma followed me. There wasn't really any reason for her not to, her purpose on Arrakis was to give me a friend so of course it made sense for her to follow me where I'd really need some company. She made things easier for me, too. She did the hard part of picket out my outfits for the different occasions . Tonight's special event; dinner with Feyd-Rautha.

I sat on the ottoman that faced my vanity while Yuma rummaged through the collection of jewellery I had yet to unpack. I watched her curiously, my gaze attracted to her bright blue eyes.

"Yuma?" I asked her. "Does it bother you to leave your home planet?"

She looked up to meet my eyes. "Of course. I miss the desert and I miss the sun. It's very dark and wet on this planet." She scrunched her nose in disgust. "I wish it was warmer here. But I'm glad I can accompany you here." Her expression softened and she picked up a bracelet from one of the travel bags. "I admire your courage, Miss Lia. It is an honour to be your friend."

She handed me the familiar black bracelet and slipped it onto my left wrist. I looked down at it and touched the grey rock but jumped in my seat as it lit up. I laughed to myself, forgetting it did that.

"You almost forgot your special bracelet." She told me. 

"Special bracelet?" I repeated and sent her a curious look.

We both looked down at my bracelet again to see it blink with light, indicating a response from the receiver. My heart picked up at the sight of the glowing rock, knowing Paul was on the other side.

She smiled. "From your special friend, of course."

I blushed, but if Yuma noticed she didn't mention it. I stood up and took another look in the mirror hoping I wasn't overdressed for a dinner with my future husband.

"Are you nervous?" She asked me as she peered over my shoulder.

I shook my head. "Of course not, this will just be the first time seeing Feyd-Rautha since I agreed to move here and marry him."

Yuma ignored my sarcasm. Instead she straightened out the bottom hem of my dress as a final touch before stepping back to admire her work.

"Your outfit is perfect." She gushed. 

I stared at my reflection again. It felt odd seeing myself like this, dressed up and well kept. Whenever we had a formal event to attend back on Caladan we were required to wear either a uniform or an outfit much more conservative than this.

"Thank you." I told her. "I love it."

Her smile was contagious. "I think he will too."

I managed to find my way to the dining room without too much struggle. Their palace felt like a giant black and white maze, but I was slowly getting familiar with the layout. I felt a small knot forming at the base of my stomach as I wondered what Feyd-Rautha would think when he saw me. 

The clicking of my heels against the tile floor must have caught his attention as he looked up at the sound only to do a double take at the sight of me. He straightened and stood up from his seat, having been slouching over in disinterest just moments before. 

I took a deep breath and raised my chin as I entered the dining room. It was hard to be confident in an unfamiliar place, but for some reason the way Feyd-Rautha was staring at me made it easy to feel poised.

It was an interesting sight, watching him straighten his dress shirt and swallow as I approached the seat next to him. His eyes quickly scanned me up and down and he clenched his jaw. To my surprise he pulled out the chair beside him and motioned for me to take a seat. I complied and settled myself as he pushed my chair back in.

I heard him clear his throat. "You look..." He trailed off and so did his wandering eyes as they traced the outline of my figure from where I sat.

I raised a brow, almost as if I were daring him to finish his sentence.

"... Incredible." He finished with a smug look.

I looked away. I wasn't sure what exactly it was, but something about his demeanour gave me a funny feeling in my chest I wasn't able to identify. His eyes almost made me feel... naked? As if he could see through the dress I wore.

Strangely enough though, his comment didn't feel demeaning. It almost felt like a compliment.

I eyed his outfit from the corner of my eye. I wasn't going to lie, he cleaned up just as nicely. Despite his black dress shirt it was impossible not to notice the definition in his arms as the sleeves flattered his muscles. He left a button or two undone at the top of his shirt which exposed his chest in the slightest. I found it to be an odd looking, never having seen it before, but for some reason he seemed to pull it off.

He met my eye as if to catch me peaking and I quickly looked away, the heat rushing to my face. What was there for me to be embarrassed about? Was it a crime to critique your future husband's outfit?

"So," I sighed and looked around the empty dinning room. It was quite a large room and I could only assume it was meant for large feasts, but the only two people who accompanied it tonight were him and I. "Where's everyone else tonight, Feyd-Rautha?"

"Feyd." He said. "Just call me Feyd. It's faster."

I nodded slowly. "Alright... Feyd." I tried out the name. "Where is everyone else?"

"The dining hall very rarely gets used at proper mealtimes." He shrugged. "The person who uses it the most would be my uncle, the Baron, but he eats at odd hours of the day."

"Well where is he right now."

Feyd shook his head. "Probably sleeping."

I looked over out the window. It was pretty dark out, I realized. It must have been a lot later in the evening that I had realized.

"Why did you want to eat so late?" I asked him.

"I'm a busy person." Was his response. "I had stuff to take care of today."

"Like what?" I asked him curiously.

The door to the room opened and two strange men came through carrying two platters. The men looked eerily alike and resembled the same man I'd met in the foyer during my last two visits. I wondered to myself if they all looked the same.

He took a sip from his glass. "Playing politics to see if my uncle could be swayed by your willingness to marry me. I'm hoping he sees it as a peace offering."

We fell silent again as we began to dig at our dinner. I hated the idea of me getting married off as a 'peace offering' because this was my whole life. I uprooted my entire life to marry someone I don't know in the hopes that they won't kill my family. 

"And?" I asked him.

"I think for the most part they're convinced." He answered as he cut his food. "His advisors certainly are, they don't see war as a very viable option at this moment. My uncle has his own bias, though." He shook his head at the thought. "The only thing that keeps him tied down is knowing that by marrying you, you can produce the next heir to House Harkonnen."

The thought of supposedly giving Feyd an heir made my cheeks flush. I hadn't even been here for 12 hours yet.

That was good though, right? It didn't sound like they were planning for war anytime soon which had to have meant I made some difference, even if minimal. 

I took another bite of my food awkwardly, not quite sure where to go from here. This wasn't meant to be hard, was it? I suppose that it wasn't meant to be easy either, though.

"Where do we go from here?" I decided to ask.

"I'm not sure... I guess we can get to know each other?" 

"Okay." I nodded. "So... did you want to tell me about yourself?"

He smiled. "Let me show you instead."

***

hello my loves! sorry that i always upload late lol, i usually end up writing these at like 2am before i go to bed so i always make a lot of typos too. 

so this is my last reminder that the book cover contest ends tomorrow!! thank you to everyone who has sent something in so far! they're all looking amazing. i can't wait for everyone to see them and vote! i'm going to close this book cover contest by my next chapter tomorrow, so if you can still message me to ask for the email to send your cover to until i post the chapter for tomorrow! (which will technically be around like 1am EST wednesday lol) u recommend that everyone participate! making a cover is easy-peasy! it will take you 5 minutes!

also weird question... would you guys want me to maybe add a smutty scene or two? like where i actually describe the intimate scenes to the fullest? i don't want to make anyone uncomfortable so please tell me if you're against this! and by adding smut scenes it means i'd need to change this story rating to mature. 

as always lmk loves! thoughts and comments!

with love,
via <3