ACT ONE ━━ CHAPTER SEVEN
Double Agent

LOVISA AND PAUL REMAINED SILENT ON THE TRIP BACK TO ARRAKEEN, the Warmaster's — whom Lovisa learned was named Gurney — and Duke's scolds enough to occupy the inside of the ornithopter. Their disciplinary comments were targeted towards Paul more so than Lovisa, although she could tell that Gurney would've preferred to put all of the blame on her for Paul's near-death encounter.

When they landed at Arrakeen and dismounted the ship, Leto quickly grabbed onto his son's shoulder, "Hey! You cannot take such risks."

Paul ducked his head, "Yes, sir."

"You have responsibilities."

"I...I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

Leto dismissed Paul, "Go." After Paul turned to return inside to his undoubtedly worried mother, Leto looked towards Lovisa. He beckoned her over, "Aminu, come." She silently replaced Paul's former position before the Duke. Leto rested a hand on her shoulder, "Thank you...for saving my son. I will never forget that you took such risks to save him from..." The words visibly pained Leto to say. "...from certain death."

Lovisa nodded, "Given your family's generosity, it was not even a question, sir. And Paul saved my life in return, so all debts are paid." Leto's eyebrows flinched in curiosity of her phrasing, but nonetheless, Lovisa dismissed herself with a slight bow of her head. She turned on her heel and kept her chin tucked as she maneuvered her way through the corridors to return to her bedroom, the only safe haven that she currently had access to.

She hurried inside and shut the door behind her, collapsing onto the floor out of exhaustion. Soon after, a knock rang from the other side of her door. While she would've preferred to be left alone for an hour or two, Lovisa quickly gathered herself and stood up, brushing off her stillsuit before opening the door.

Duncan stood on the other side, not hesitating before wrapping his arms around Lovisa in a strong embrace. Just as quickly, she reciprocated his hug and rested her cheek against his chest. Neither of them said anything as they stood in her doorway, risking being seen by others and having to explain how close they had gotten while living in the same sietch.

Duncan moved both of them further into Lovisa's room in order to close the door behind them, granting themselves privacy.

He released her but gently grabbed onto her arms, holding her at an arms' length to investigate her well-being, "Are you hurt?"

Lovisa half-heartedly waved him off, "No...I'm fine."

"You nearly died, Lovisa," Duncan spoke in the tone of an older brother. He attempted to brush some of the rogue sand from her hair, "You were foolish — what were you thinking? Running off the ship with a sandworm barreling right towards you —"

"Paul..." she mumbled. Duncan stilled. Lovisa looked up at him, "He...he was just sitting there, in front of the crawler." She shook her head, "I don't know what compelled me to, but...I couldn't leave him out there to die." Duncan paused, digesting the fact that Lovisa — essentially a Harkonnen — had risked her life to save Paul — the Na-Duke of Atreides. A knowing expression made its way onto Duncan's face in realization of Lovisa beginning to break free of the pro-Harkonnen agenda she was brainwashed to believe.

Lovisa didn't notice. Instead, she asked, curiosity washed over her face, "Do you believe he's the Lisan al-Gaib?" The question initially caught Duncan off guard. Of course, during his experience living with the Fremen — especially Stilgar, who heralded from the religious South — he had heard of the great Lisan al-Gaib. Likewise, Duncan would be dishonest if he didn't admit to hearing the rumblings around Arrakeen of the possibility of Paul's divine nature. At the same time, this was Paul, whom Duncan has known since he was just a boy.

"Truthfully..." Duncan eventually answered, trailing off, "...I don't know. But what I do know is that he would not be alive without you." Duncan placed his hands on either of Lovisa's shoulders and squeezed them reassuringly. He amusedly smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood, "Perhaps you should stick around, for his sake."

His words brought a dry laugh out of Lovisa, who shook her head, "I believe that's your job."

Duncan shrugged. "Ah, maybe so." Lovisa glanced towards her feet, still replaying being buried alive in her head. How she was so certain that she was about to die. How unsettlingly fine she felt now. She almost died, how was she so calm?

"I just returned from checking in on Paul..." Lovisa's attention shifted towards Duncan. She would never admit it, but the mention of Paul's name, specifically, piqued her interest. The corners of Duncan's mouth upturned into a smirk, "...and he couldn't stop rambling about the Fremen girl who saved his life." Lovisa quietly scoffed and shook her head in disbelief.

Suddenly, Duncan's face had gone serious. "Stick around, Lovisa. Get to know these people. They're not all as bad as you believe them to be."

Yeah, I've begun to notice, Lovisa thought to herself.

"And Paul..." Duncan stopped himself short, shaking his own head in bewilderment. "He will listen to you." He noticed her confused expression, but figured that she would decode his words in due time. Instead, he repeated himself, "He will listen to you, Lovisa. Steer him straight."

Lovisa opened her mouth to ask what he meant by that, but before she had the opportunity to begin her sentence, Duncan had already slipped through the door.

LOVISA'S EYES SHOT OPEN AT THE LOUD CRASHING SOUND OUTSIDE OF HER BEDROOM. Her heart rate immediately quickened, unsure of the noise's source. She instinctively grabbed her crysknife from her bedside table and hesitantly moved towards her bedroom door. Lovisa pressed her ear against it, but she couldn't hear anything through the thick stone.

Instead, she decided to slowly open the door and peer into the hallway. She scoped her surroundings, not seeing anything until something moved in the corner of her eye.

"Hawat. Security," Lovisa heard Leto say lowly. Lovisa stuck her head out a little further, getting a clearer view of the Duke, alone in the hallway. After receiving no response, he heightened his voice as he spoke into his com, "Security." Lovisa remained still, alert and tuning into her surroundings. Leto turned on his shield from his wrist, a blue light emitting around his body. He began walking to Lovisa's left, towards something out of her eyesight.

Cursing under her breath, she silently moved out of her doorway and behind a wall that gave her a view of Leto, who was approaching a limp body on the ground. Lovisa furrowed her eyebrows, trying to identify them, but Leto's frame blocked them from Lovisa's line of vision.

Suddenly, a dart flew and struck Leto in the back, causing his shield to pulsate red as it thinned, eventually allowing the dart to pierce skin. Lovisa slowly gasped as she watched Leto collapse onto his knees, and then onto his front. She looked around for the assailant, only to see...

Dr. Yueh? Lovisa's eyes fluctuated between widening in surprise and narrowing in confusion. When she noticed Dr. Yueh swiftly walk over and bend down next to Leto, Lovisa concealed herself back behind the wall.

"I'm sorry, my lord," Dr. Yueh said. "But I've made a bargain with the Baron."

Lovisa paled, is the Baron here? She worried, did he ask Dr. Yueh to kill the Duke since I failed to?

"Why?" Leto croaked.

"I had no choice." Lovisa wanted to intervene, but she physically couldn't. It felt like her feet were cemented into the floor. "The Harkonnens have my wife, Wanna. They take her apart like a doll. I will buy her freedom, and you are the price." He slid the House of Atreides signet ring from Leto's paralyzed finger, "For Paul, I will do what I can." Dr. Yueh opened his pouch of dental instruments, "And you will kill a man for me."

With a tool, Dr. Yueh showed a faux tooth to Leto, "I'm going to replace your peg tooth. If you bite down hard, this tooth will crush. Breathe out, and you will fill the air with poison. It will be your last breath, but if you choose your moment well...it will also be the Baron's." Lovisa watched Dr. Yueh replace Leto's tooth, wincing at each of the half-hearted grunts coming from his near paralyzed mouth.

She was sick to her stomach at her own complacency, but admittedly, she didn't know how to react. Dr. Yueh's actions were fulfilling part of Lovisa's mission, so why should she interfere? It was one less person's blood on her hands, even if she had decided that this person didn't deserve to die. After all of Duke Leto's niceties towards her and the Fremen, Lovisa concluded that Atreides was not in the wrong.

Harkonnen was.

As Dr. Yueh was saying his parting words, Lovisa garnered enough strength to straighten her posture and approach them. At first, Dr. Yueh looked at her in fear, preparing to flee, but instead, he watched as Lovisa fell to her knees beside Leto and took his hand.

She shook her head as tears welled in her eyes, going completely against her Fremen training, "I'm sorry..." Leto's eyes slightly widened in realization. The Fremen conserve all the water they can, including their tears. Lovisa figured Leto knew that from either his prior research about Arrakis or potentially in the brief Duncan gave him after living amongst the Fremen. Regardless of the source, the look on Leto's face told Lovisa that he had figured out that her Fremen identity was a guise.

"Paul..." Leto mumbled.

Lovisa nodded, "I'll find him."

"Protect him..." Leto commanded, his ability to talk becoming more difficult the longer the poisonous dart was leaching into his system. His grip barely tightened around Lovisa's hand, "...swear it..."

Before the rational side of her could intervene, Lovisa nodded, "I swear." She looked towards Dr. Yueh and the Atreides ring in his hand. She extended a hand towards him, "I'll take it to him." After casting a glance towards Leto, Dr. Yueh hesitantly placed the ring in her palm. Lovisa rolled the ring around in her hand until the Atreides crest was staring at her. Her breath caught in her throat.

This crest belonged to the family who brought her to Arrakis, and that same family would be the reason for her to stay.

LOVISA SWORE THAT SHE WOULD PROTECT PAUL, and she was a woman of her word. As part of that effort, she would need to keep up her Harkonnen spy ruse a little bit longer. She met up with her Harkonnen peers at their previously-agreed upon location, and after Lovisa confirmed that the Duke was as good as dead and his son was left, she was informed about the Baron's and Reverend Mother's meeting. The new plan was that they would abduct the Duke's wife and son, fly them to the middle of the desert, and leave them to die. Two were tasked with getting Jessica, and Lovisa and another were in charge of grabbing Paul.

After convincing her partner to keep watch outside the bedroom, Lovisa prepared herself to enter Paul's room. She exhaled a breath before slowly opening the door, peeking in with one eye. She surveyed the room and noticed that he was sound asleep in his bed, and that his shield was left unattended on a table on the opposite side of the room.

With a tight grip on the syringe filled with a paralytic, Lovisa slowly advanced inside the room. She fought to keep her breathing steady as she crept towards Paul's sleeping figure. She silently moved next to his bedside, crouching down in front of his face. Lovisa subtly glanced over her shoulder, and noticed that her Harkonnen partner was still manning the door. She returned her attention towards Paul, selfishly noting how close she was to him.

Outside of sparring, Lovisa had never been so close to a boy her age. And even though she was surrounded only by boys in the Ginaz School, she never once felt anything remotely romantic towards them. But, at the same time, none of them compared to Paul. Perhaps it was the appeal of the Duke's son — or rather, the future Duke — or because he showed her kindness,

or because he was handsome...

Lovisa blinked, snapping out of whatever had come over her. Focus, she thought to herself. She glanced down towards the syringe in her hand, pulling back the plunger so that it was ready to be injected. Lovisa scooted closer towards Paul, internally hoping that he wouldn't wake up. Carefully, Lovisa brushed Paul's hair back away from the side of his neck, instantly noticing how soft it felt. Her eyes flitted to his own, ensuring he didn't wake up. With a steady hand, Lovisa raised the syringe towards his now exposed neck, quickly sticking the needle into his skin and pressing down on the plunger before he could wake up.

After all of the serum had been injected, Lovisa fell back onto her heels and sighed out of relief. She looked back at her Harkonnen partner, who had coincidentally peered inside the room at the same time. She silently beckoned him to come in and carry Paul's body to the ornithopter.

He received the cue and walked inside the room, easily lugging Paul's unconscious body over his shoulder. Lovisa silently followed him out of the room and into the corridor, closing the door behind her.

Paranoid, she kept glancing around, anxious to see any incoming Atreides men charging their way. By the grace of the universe, they went undetected all the way from inside Arrakeen to the Harkonnen-operated ornithopter waiting outside.

After Lovisa boarded the ship, the pilot closed the ramp behind her and began their ascent towards the middle of the desert. Lovisa felt a knot in her stomach as she looked towards Jessica's and Paul's unconscious figures being bound to the seats, but she knew this was the only way that she could protect them from what was about to happen.

She would explain everything, soon enough.

WHEN JESSICA CAME TO AND LOCKED EYES WITH LOVISA, she wanted to die. If the other Harkonnens hadn't gagged her already, Jessica probably would have used the Voice to kill her herself. Lovisa watched as Jessica's eyes morphed between surprise to betrayal to anger within a matter of seconds. She and Lovisa barely interacted, but since Leto trusted Lovisa, Jessica decided to follow suit. Now, she realized that she, and the entirety of House Atreides, had been taken for fools.

Lovisa tried to avoid eye contact with Jessica, afraid that she would somehow manipulate her through her burning gaze alone. Instead, Lovisa sat silently as her peers talked amongst themselves, waiting for Paul to wake up so that she could carry out her plan.

Emphasis on her plan.

"We'll drop them in the desert. Let the worms have them," Lovisa's partner, the taller one, stated in the Harkonnen language.

"Why don't we just cut their throats?" The shorter, deaf one asked in the same manner.

"We could face a Truthsayer."

"We can say we didn't kill them." That suggestion piqued the taller one's interest. Lovisa glanced up towards him, noticing that he peered down at Jessica's body and licked his lips as if she were a meal. Lovisa hid her disgust, turning her head to read the navigation monitor past the pilot's shoulder. From her seat, she couldn't tell their exact location, but she could tell that they were flying deeper into the desert.

Lovisa rested her head back against the wall of the ornithopter, glancing towards Paul to see that he was now awake. Upon realizing that it was Lovisa who had betrayed them, his face transitioned between several different emotions similar to Jessica. Unlike his mother, his face ended up twisted in a somber expression. Lovisa had to look away, returning her focus to her shoelaces. Soon, she reminded herself.

"I've never had a highborn," the taller soldier spoke in Galach so that their hostages could understand, ignoring that Paul had regained consciousness. He looked towards his shorter confidant, "You?"

The shorter one chuckled, "Bene Gesserit ain't all highborn."

The taller one shrugged, "She's highborn enough for me." He nodded towards Lovisa, "Better than the prison planet." Lovisa's body tensed, but she didn't give him the reaction he seeked. From her peripheral vision, she noticed both Paul and Jessica glance towards her.

A grin came across the shorter one's face as he eyed Jessica, "Let's feed the kid to the worms. And give her a long goodbye."

"Don't you dare touch my mother," Paul spat out. Lovisa noticed Jessica subtly roll her eyes at her son's impulsiveness. From his seat beside Paul, the taller soldier hit him upside the head.

As he settled back in his seat, the shorter one sneered at Paul, "Don't talk." Lovisa glanced between the two men sitting in front of her, and then back to the pilot's screen. Only a couple more kilometers. Although she didn't necessarily want Paul to be hit again, she needed him to distract the taller soldier once more. Lovisa stared over towards Paul, hoping that he would somehow catch onto her thoughts. To her dismay, he was avoiding all eye contact with her, but Lovisa noticed him looking towards Jessica's hands. She looked down to see her using a form of sign language that Lovisa couldn't decipher.

"Remove her gag," Paul spoke again. Jessica exhaled heavily through her nose, disappointed in his futile attempt at the Voice. The taller soldier slowly stood up, and took his time to stand in front of Paul. Lovisa slowly moved to grasp her crysknife, preparing to make her move. She briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

The taller soldier punched Paul in the stomach, forcing him to bend over in pain, "Shut up."

Before he had the chance to move another centimeter, Lovisa sprung up and jumped onto the soldier's hunched shoulders, driving her knife directly into his neck. Blood sputtered out of the wound as Lovisa dismounted and pushed his body to the floor. She turned around and intercepted the shorter soldier before he could pounce, deflecting his own knife and sending it clattering to the ground. Lovisa kicked out his legs and jumped over his body as he fell to the floor, lifting his head from behind only to slit his throat.

Arms flung over Lovisa's shoulders, tackling her to the ground. She grunted as her knife was knocked from her grip and slid on the ground in front of her. The co-pilot wrapped his hands around her throat and she attempted to claw his fingers away. Lovisa stuck her hand in front of her, trying to grasp onto the knife that was barely out of her reach. It was in front of Paul's feet, who watched the scene, unsure of what to do. He could take the knife, cut himself and his mother free, and let this Harkonnen soldier take care of their betrayer before meeting their own deaths.

But he couldn't find it in himself to watch Lovisa die.

Paul kicked the knife towards Lovisa, who seamlessly grabbed it and stabbed the Harkonnen in the abdomen. Taken aback by the pain, he released his grip on Lovisa, allowing her to flip him onto his back and dig her knife into his neck, forcing him to go limp. Lovisa looked up to see the pilot charging at her, the last Harkonnen in the ornithopter.

She stood up and charged at him, tackling him into the cockpit. Lovisa gripped onto his neck and repeatedly slammed his head against the button to lower the ramp until his body laid lifeless. She scooted back to grab him by the ankles and pulled him towards the descending ramp. Lovisa, Paul, and Jessica watched the taller and shorter soldiers roll out of the ship and fall into the air, followed by the co-pilot, then the pilot whom Lovisa kicked down the ramp soon after.

Before she attended to Paul and Jessica, Lovisa ran to the pilot's chair to close the ramp and ensure the autopilot was working. She was also trying to buy herself more time before having to explain herself to Paul and Jessica — more specifically, Jessica, who could force her to do infinite things with the Voice.

Being brave, Lovisa turned around and faced the pair, realizing both of them were already staring at her. Lovisa walked towards Paul first, cutting his feet loose. She straightened up to eye level with him, noticing his impressed yet confused expression. Lovisa didn't address it, instead focusing on cutting his hands free.

After, she moved on to Jessica. Hesitantly, Lovisa removed her gag.

Immediately, Jessica commanded with the Voice, "Tell me who you are."

"I am Lovisa Koskinen," Lovisa answered without hesitation. It wasn't like she could act otherwise, anyway. "I am originally from House Ginaz, where I attended the Ginaz School until I was banished to the prison planet for pretending to be a man." Jessica's face slightly softened from her previously pinched expression.

"As part of my sentence, I was commanded by the Baron and Emperor, himself, to travel to Arrakis, posing as a Fremen..." Lovisa didn't want to continue, but was forced to. "...to gain intel on House Atreides. To..." Lovisa bowed her head in disgrace, "...to kill the Duke and his son —" Jessica gasped and moved to potentially order her to free her or worse, kill herself.

Lovisa, with tears forming in her eyes, looked directly into Jessica's own to show her genuity, "But I did not — I could not." Lovisa shook her head, "After the kindness the Duke showed me, and what your family and your House showed me, I could not in good conscience fulfill the mission." Lovisa swallowed the lump in her throat, "And I will not act against my own good judgment, no matter who commands it."

Once Jessica's eyebrows relaxed in understanding, Lovisa felt assured enough to cut the ropes surrounding her ankles and wrists. Jessica didn't speak, she only glanced off into the distance, deep in thought.

"You're from Ginaz?" Paul asked, seemingly only interested in her home planet.

Lovisa nodded solemnly, "I was...until I was banished." She regained her composure and straightened her chin, "I was training to become a Swordsmaster."

Paul's ears perked up, "Like Duncan Idaho."

Lovisa smiled softly, "Yes...I know Duncan very well. He is like a brother to me." When she felt a tear escape, Lovisa quickly drew her gaze down so she could discretely wipe it away. She faced the cockpit and sat in the pilot's seat, "We need to land. Once they realize we've taken over, they'll cripple the ship."

Worried about how soon Harkonnen would realize that their soldiers were compromised, Lovisa immediately began the ship's descent onto the sand a few more kilometers north. After landing, Jessica pulled the bag from underneath Paul's seat that she had noticed earlier, and handed it to him.

"It's a fremkit," he identified immediately. Harkonnen speech emitted from the coms inside of the ornithopter, grabbing everyone's attention. The operator was asking for an update from the ex-pilot, and after receiving no response, all of the lights inside the ship turned red and the engine and blades ceased movement.

"They crippled the ship," Lovisa informed the others, showing that her earlier instincts were correct. The trio dismounted from the ornithopter and onto the sand below.

Seeing smoke in the distance, Jessica looked in the direction of Arrakeen, and immediately began running up the dune to get a better look. Paul and Lovisa quickly followed. Jessica skidded to a stop at the top of the hill, her breaths becoming labored.

Smoke billowed from the scene and created streams that seemed to go on infinitely in the sky. Flames encompassed nearly all of the grounds. Lovisa noticed the Harkonnen ship in the air, looming over Arrakeen. She clenched her fists in anger.

Paul bowed his head, focusing on his feet in grief. Lovisa looked over at him, unsure of if she should try to comfort him — and if so, how she would even go about it. She figured that she would need to begin rebuilding their trust now, since the future wasn't guaranteed. Lovisa hesitantly stepped closer to Paul and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Paul picked up his head and looked towards her, his brows lowered in defeat. Surprisingly, Paul's shoulders loosened under Lovisa's grip, and he stumbled a couple steps towards her, their sides touching. Lovisa repositioned her hand to his opposite shoulder, resting her arm along his shoulder blades. Paul's body leaned onto Lovisa's, morphing their bodies into somewhat of a side hug.

"I'm sorry," Lovisa said lowly, craning her head to look up at Paul, who stood tall above her given their close proximity. He didn't verbally respond. Paul only inhaled sharply as he returned to watching the attack, and momentarily put his hand on Lovisa's back in thanks. A warmth spread around from Lovisa's back to her belly, creating a fluttering sensation. Her breath hitched in her throat, only returning to normal once he removed his hand. His touch was brief and barely there, but Lovisa still felt tingling in the outline of his hand on her skin.

Lovisa returned her gaze towards the scene, and the three of them watched as House Atreides went down in flames.

sorry for the 100 time skips 🫣 i try not to do them if i can help it but i struggled to fill in the gaps in this chapter...oh well

sooo...lovisa's real identity is outed 😬 but she's still alive! (and has a crush on paul that she doesn't even fully accept hehe