Chapter 23 Chapter Twenty-Three
The first petitioner at today's court meeting is a troubadour from Kadshan, a pilgrim whose wallet has been emptied by the Arakan.He stood on the water-green stone floor in the hall, and he didn't look like he was begging.
Jessica admired his bravery, and she sat with Alia on the top terrace, seven steps up.Here are two identical thrones for mother and daughter.Jessica noticed that Alia was sitting on her right—the masculine position.
As for the Cadxian troubadour, it was clear that Javid's men had let him pass precisely because of the personal qualities he was displaying now—his bravery.The troubadour was expected to entertain the courtiers in the hall as a tribute in lieu of the money he had lost in Araken.
The priest who interceded for the troubadour reported that all that remained of the Khad was the garments on his back and the balisin on his shoulders.
"He said he was given a black drink," said the representative, barely suppressing the smile on his lips. "The drink made his limbs weak, but his mind remained clear. He could only watch his wallet being taken away."
Jessica looked at the troubadour, and at the same time, the narrator was still talking tirelessly, and his words were full of hypocritical benevolence and morality.Immortal Kade is very tall, close to two meters.He has a pair of smart eyes, showing that he is an alert and has a sense of humor.His blond hair fell over his shoulders, his planetary style, and his masculinity was revealed by a broad chest and a good figure not concealed by the jihadist robes.His name was Tiger Morhandes, and he was a descendant of commercial engineers.He is proud of his ancestors as well as himself.
Alia gestured, interrupted the plea, and said without looking back, "To celebrate Lady Jessica's return to us, ask her to make the ruling first."
"Thanks, daughter," Jessica said, making it clear to everyone how old and young this place is.
daughter!It looks like this Tiger Merhands is part of their plan.Could he be an innocent fool?Jessica realized that the ruling was the first shot in her opponent's plan.Alia's attitude said it all.
"Are you good at playing that instrument?" Jessica asked, pointing to the balisic kuna that was slung over the troubadour's shoulder.
"As good as the great Gurney Halleck!" Tiger Merhands said loudly enough for everyone in the hall to hear.His answer set off a murmur among the courtiers.
"You want tolls in return," Jessica said. "Where will the money take you?"
"To Salusa Secundus, the court of Falakon," said Merhandes, "I have heard that he is seeking out troubadours, that he supports this art, and that he will create a great renaissance around him. .”
Jessica tried not to look at Alia.Of course, they already knew what Mohandes would say.She felt that she would be happy to play a supporting role in this play.Would they think she couldn't handle even such an attack?
"Can you use your playing for travel money?" Jessica asked. "I'm going to make you a Freeman-like offer. If I enjoy your music, I'll leave you to relieve my worries; If I hate your music, I'll drive you into the desert where you can raise money; if I'm sure your music really suits Falakon, who is said to be an enemy of House Atreides, I'll send you there There, and good luck to you. Will you agree to these three conditions, Tiger Merhands?"
He raised his head and let out a wild laugh.He unhooked Barrys from his shoulders and dropped them deftly in his hands, accepting the challenge.His golden hair flowed with his movements.
The people in the hall began to swarm towards the center, courtiers and guards yelling at them to back off.
Merhandes struck a note, sending the strings humming low.Then, in a mellow tenor voice, he began to sing.The lyrics were obviously improvised, but Jessica was so enthralled by his masterful playing that it took a moment to notice the words:
"Enough!" Alia snapped.She half stood up from the throne, "I want you..."
"Alia!" Jessica said, the volume was just enough to penetrate Alia's scolding and attract everyone's attention, but not enough to confront Alia head-on.The performance of the magic sound Dafa master.Anyone who hears this phrase is aware of the power it holds.
Alia sat back in her chair, and Jessica noticed the obvious frustration on her face.
I don't know if this is what she expected, Jessica thought, interesting!
"I make the first verdict," Jessica reminded her.
"Fine." Alia's voice was barely audible.
"I think this man is a very fitting gift for Falakon," Jessica said. "He has a tongue as sharp as a howling knife. Such a sharp tongue will keep our court healthy, but I still I hope he will supervise the Corino family."
There was laughter in the hall.
Aria breathed out slowly through her nose, suppressing her anger. "Do you know what he called me?"
"He didn't call you anything, daughter. He just reported what anyone could hear from the street. They called you Cudin..."
"A banshee that walks without legs," growled Alia.
"If you drive away the fact-tellers, the ones who stay will only say what you want to hear," Jessica said sweetly, "and leave you to wallow in your fantasies and rot in them. I can't think What could be more dangerous than this."
There was a hum from the crowd below the throne.
Jessica stared at Merhandes; he had remained silent, standing fearlessly.He seemed ready to accept whatever sentence came his way, not caring what the sentence itself was.Merhandes was the kind of man her duke would lean on in times of trouble: a confident, resolute man who could bear any outcome, even death, without easily betraying his destiny.But why did he choose to go this route?
"Why did you go out of your way to sing those words?" Jessica asked him.
He looked up and said clearly, "I've heard that the Atreides are very enlightened and respectable. I just want to do a test to see if I can stay by your side and serve you. That way, I have time too." Go and investigate who robbed me, and I will settle accounts with them in my own way."
"How dare he test us!" murmured Alia.
"Why not?" Jessica asked.
She smiled kindly at the troubadour below.His reason for coming to this hall was simply to find an opportunity for him to embark on a new journey, another journey in the universe.Jessica couldn't help but want to keep him as her entourage, but Alia's reaction suggested that the brave Merhandes would face doom.Then there was suspicion and anticipation--to keep a brave and handsome troubadour in her service, just as she kept Gurney Halleck.Better to let Merhandes go his own way, though it made her uncomfortable to send such a fine man to Farrakon.
"He can go to Farakon," Jessica said. "He got the fare. Let his tongue pierce the blood of the Corino family, and see if he can survive."
Alia glared at the floor viciously, then forced a belated smile.
"Lady Jessica's wisdom is supreme," she said, waving Merhandes away.
This is not what she wanted, Jessica thought.But Alia's attitude suggested that more difficult tests were yet to come.
Another petitioner was brought up.
Jessica watched her daughter's reaction, and a cloud of suspicion came to her mind.Here's where the lessons learned from the twins come in handy.Even though Alia has become an evil spirit, she is still a person with memories before she was born.She knew her mother as well as she knew herself.It was obviously impossible for Alia to misjudge her mother's reaction to the troubadour.Why is Alia still putting on such a play?To distract me?
There is no time to think deeply.The second petitioner is already standing under the throne, and his substitute stands beside him.
The petitioner this time was a Freeman, an old man whose face had been marked by desert exposure.He is not tall, but has a slender body, and the robes he usually wears over his still suit make him look dignified.The robes matched his long, thin face and aquiline nose, and his eyes were pure blue.He wasn't wearing a still suit, and he didn't seem quite used to it.The vast hall was like a dangerous field to him, constantly robbing him of precious water.Under his half-open hood, he wears the kafia symbol of Naib.
"I am Gandhi al-Fari," he said, setting one foot up the steps leading to the throne to distinguish himself from the mob below him, "I am one of the Moad's death squads , I came here for the desert."
Alia straightened up slightly, inadvertently revealing her inner self.Al Farley's name appeared on a joint petition asking Jessica to join the Council of State.
For the desert!Jessica thought.
Gandhi al-Fari had just spoken before his surrogate.With this official Freeman phrase, he made it clear that what he was saying was about the whole of the dunes, and he said it with an authority that only someone who had lived and died with Muad'di could have.
Jessica suspected that Gandhi al-Faley was trying to say something different from what Javed and the chief surrogate had thought he was praying for.Her guess was soon confirmed.
A church official rushed from the back of the hall, waving a black prayer cloth.
"Madame!" cried the officer, "don't listen to this man! He's faked—"
Jessica watched the priest running towards them, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Aria sign the ancient Atreides battle sign: "Action!"
Jessica couldn't tell to whom the gesture was being made, but she instinctively slammed to the left, fell to the ground with the throne, rolled over when it touched the ground, and threw the throne away.Standing up, she heard the screech of a ejection gun...followed by another shot.But she reacted to the first shot and felt something tug on her right sleeve.She rushed towards the petitioners and courtiers in the audience.But she found that Alia did not move.
After being submerged in the crowd, Jessica stopped.
She saw that Gandhi al-Fari had hid to the side of the high platform, but the proxy was still standing where he had been.
Like all ambushes, the whole process was over in an instant, but everyone in the hall did what they should do when the accident happened, only Alia and the representative just stayed there in a daze.
Jessica noticed a commotion in the middle of the hall.She pushed through the crowd to see four petitioners clutching the church official.A black prayer cloth lay beneath his feet, a catapult gun peeking out of its folds.
Al Farley hurried past Jessica to take a good look at the priest and the pistol.Then, the Freeman let out a roar, stretched out his fist from his waist, and thrust out with a palm.The fingers of his left hand were stretched straight out of anger.He hit the priest in the throat, and the priest fell with a hissing sound in his throat.Then the angry old Neb fixed his eyes on the high platform, and did not take a second look at his target.
"Dalal-il'an-nubuwwa!" cried Al-Fari, placing both palms on his forehead and dropping his hands, "Saraf doesn't want me to shut up! Even if I don't kill those who interfere with my speech people, other people will kill them."
He thought he was the target, Jessica realized.She glanced down at the sleeve, and ran her fingers through the smooth hole left by the shotgun.There is no doubt that it was poisoned.
The petitioners deserted the priest.He was convulsed on the ground, his throat bone was shattered, and he was on the verge of death.
Jessica waved to a pair of terrified courtiers standing to her left and said, "Let that man live, I have something to ask him. If he dies, neither will you!"
They looked in the direction of the high platform hesitantly, and she used the magic sound method on them, "Go!"
The duo hit the ground running.
Jessica quickly came to Al Farley and gave him a light poke. "You're a fool, Neb! They're after me, not you!"
Several people around them heard it.
Shocked, Al Farley glanced up to the stage.One throne was overturned, and Alia was still sitting on the other.Then there was a slight change in his face, but so subtle that the inexperienced couldn't detect it—he understood.
"The Expendables," Jessica said, reminding him of the promise he had made to her family, "we learned how to back-to-back through suffering."
"Trust me, ma'am." He understood her words immediately.
Jessica only heard a suffocating sound from behind, she turned around, and at the same time felt Al Farley immediately moved behind her, standing back to back with her.
A woman, dressed in the gaudy dress of a city-dwelling Freeman woman, stood up from the priest lying on the ground.The two courtiers did not know where they went.The woman didn't even look at Mrs. Jessica, but began to mourn in an ancient cry—calling to the stills of the dead to collect the water from the corpse and pour it into the tribe's cistern.The voice was quite different from her clothes, making everyone horrified.
Jessica understood immediately that the clothes of urban women were just a disguise.This frivolously dressed woman killed the priest so that he could be silenced forever.
Why did she do this?Jessica pondered.She could have waited for that person to slowly suffocate and die.But she chose to kill the net with a blow, which shows that she has great fear in her heart.
Alia moved forward and sat on the front half of the throne, staring at everything in front of her with piercing eyes.
A thin woman in the dress of an Aria guard strode past Jessica, bent over the body, then straightened, looking in the direction of the ledge. "he died."
"Move the body," Alia yelled.She motioned to the guards in the audience, "Hand up Mrs. Jessica's throne."
Still want to play dumb!Jessica wondered, did Alia think anyone would believe her trick?But no spy is so powerful that he can enter a place where no weapons are allowed with a shotgun.The only answer is that Javid's people are playing tricks.Alia's indifference to her own personal safety also shows that she is part of the conspiracy.
Old Neb turned to Jessica and said, "I'm sorry, ma'am. We desert people came to you for our last hope, and now we see that you need us too."
"I don't have a matricide daughter," Jessica said.
"The tribes will hear that," Al Farley assured.
"If you're so desperate for my help," Jessica asked, "why didn't you come to meet me at the meeting at Teb's Cave?"
"Stilgar won't allow it."
Ah, thought Jessica, Nab's rules!In Teb's Cave, Stilgar's word is law.
The fallen chair was righted.Arya motioned her mother back, saying, "You all must remember the death of the traitor priest. Anyone who threatens me will die." She glanced at Al Farley. "Thank you very much, Neb."
"Thanks for my mistake?" Al Farley muttered under his breath.He looked at Jessica, "You're right. My anger killed a subject."
Jessica whispered, "Remember those two courtiers and the woman in the floral dress, the death squad. I want to catch them and interrogate them."
"No problem," he said.
"If we make it out alive," Jessica said, "come on, let's get on with the show."
"Follow your order, ma'am."
They returned to the pulpit together, and Jessica went up the steps and sat next to Alia.Al Farley is also back as petitioner.
"Go on," Alia said.
"Wait, daughter," Jessica said.She held up her sleeve, poked her fingers through the hole, and showed it to everyone. "I was targeted. Even though I tried to dodge, the bullet still missed me. You should all notice that the shotgun is gone." She pointed down and said, "Who took it?"
no answer.
"Maybe we should track down the gun," Jessica said.
"Nonsense!" said Alia. "I'm—"
Jessica turned half-turned, looked at her daughter, and pointed down with her left hand. "Someone down there has that pistol. You're not afraid—"
"The gun's in the hands of one of my guards!" said Alia.
"Then ask the guard to bring the gun to me," said Jessica.
"She's taken it elsewhere."
"So fast," Jessica said.
"What did you say?" Alia asked.
Jessica smiled coldly. "I'm talking about two of you who have been tasked with rescuing the traitor priest. I warned them that if the priest dies, they must die too. Now I want them dead."
"I object!"
Jessica just shrugged.
"Our brave death squad is still waiting." Alia said, pointing at Al Farley, "Our dispute can wait for a while."
"It can wait forever," Jessica said in Chicobusa.There is another meaning in her words, she will never take back the order to execute those two people.
"We'll see!" said Alia.She turned to Al Farley. "Why are you here, Gandhi Al Farley?"
"I have come to see Muad'di's mother," Naib said, "survivors of the death squads, and those brothers who served her son have pooled their poor fortunes as money for my journey, so that I can deal with the greedy guards, To see the Atreides hiding behind the guards, out of touch with the reality of Arrakis."
Alia said, "As long as the Expendables ask for it, they can't—"
"He's here to see me," Jessica interrupted. "What's your most urgent request, Expendables?"
Arya said, "I'm here representing House Atreides! What the hell—"
"Be quiet, you evil spirit!" Jessica snapped, "You want to kill me, daughter! I want everyone here to know. There are so many people, you can't kill them all, seal them up mouth, silence them like the priest. Yes, Neb's blow may have killed the man - but he still has a chance to be brought back to life. We could have had a chance to interrogate him! Now you are at ease, he Silent. You can deny it as much as you want, but your behavior has exposed your cowardice."
Alia sat quietly, her face gray.
Jessica watched the change in her daughter's face, and saw that the movements of her hands were eerily familiar.It was a subconscious little action, but it was exactly the same as the habitual action of a certain enemy of the Atreides family.The fingers tap rhythmically—twice with the little finger, three with the index finger, then twice with the ring finger, once again with the little finger, twice with the ring finger...and start all over again.
old baron!
Jessica's gaze caught Alia's attention, and she looked down at her hands before stopping the tapping.Then, she looked up at her mother again, and saw the horror in her mother's eyes.A smug smile formed on the corner of Alia's mouth.
"You finally got your revenge." Jessica whispered.
"Are you crazy, Mother?" Alia asked.
"I wish I was crazy," Jessica said.She thought to herself: She knows I'm going to report all this to the sorority.She even suspects that I'm going to tell the Fremen all this and force her to take a possession test.She won't let me get out of here alive.
"We're here arguing and our brave death squads are still waiting patiently," Alia said.
Jessica forced herself to refocus on Neb.She forced herself to calm down and said, "You are here to see me, Gandhi."
"Yes, ma'am. We desert peoples have seen that terrible things are happening. As the ancient prophecy said, the little maker has left the desert. Shahulu will never be seen again except in the deepest part of the desert. .We have deserted our friends, the desert!"
Jessica glanced at Alia, who said nothing but motioned her to continue.Jessica looked at the crowd in the hall, and saw shocked expressions on every face.People clearly realized how important the battle between mother and daughter was, and wondered if the court could go on.She turned her attention to Al Farley again.
"Gandhi, what is your purpose here when you say that little makers and Xia Hulu are becoming less and less common?"
"Mother of Wetness," he said, referring to her by her Freeman title, "we have been warned in the scriptures. We implore you. All of Arrakis has been turned upside down! We must not abandon the desert."
"Ha!" Alia sneered. "The fools in the depths of the desert are afraid of ecological transformation. They..."
"I see what you mean, Gandhi," Jessica said. "If there are no sandworms, there will be no more spices. If there are no spices, what will we rely on in the future?"
There was a commotion in the hall: gasps and startled murmurs spread throughout the hall, echoing in the tall hall.
Alia shrugged. "Superstition!"
Al Farley raised his right hand, pointing at Alia. "I'm speaking to the Dame of Wet, not the Banshee Cudin!"
Alia's hands gripped the armrests of the throne tightly, but she remained seated.
Al Farley looked at Jessica. "Here was once a barren land, but now it is overgrown with vegetation, spreading like maggots from a wound. Clouds and rain appeared on the dunes! Rain, my lady! O noble mother of Muad'di, The rain on the dunes is death's brother, like sleep. The sword of death hangs over every head."
"We're following the designs of Let Keynes and Muad'di himself," said Alia. "What's the use of talking so much superstitious nonsense? We're following Let Keynes and he tells us:' I want to see the planet covered in greenery.' We're working towards that."
"So, what about the worms and the spices?" Jessica asked.
"There will always be deserts left," Alia said, "and the sandworms will survive."
She's lying, Jessica thought, but why would she lie?
"Help us, Mother of Wet," Al Farley begged.
Suddenly, a double vision seemed to appear in front of Jessica's eyes, and the consciousness in her body surged up like a tide.The wave was sparked by Naib's words.This is the epiphany, the memory deep in consciousness wanting to speak.Memories flooded up, mud and sand, all-encompassing.Before it washed away, she lost all senses for a while, and only the lessons accumulated by countless generations in the past were in her consciousness.She is completely captured by the past, like a fish in a net.Yet she could feel its plea, as if it were a normal, whole human being.Every tiny component of this "person" is a memory.Every fragment of memory is real, but not complete, because it is always changing.She knew that this was the limit of her foreknowledge, approaching the divine power of her son.
Alia was lying because she was being possessed by someone who wanted to destroy the Atreides family.She herself was the first victim.Al Farley's subsequent words revealed the truth: unless the process of ecological transition is changed, the sandworm will surely die out.
Under the powerful force of the new revelation, Jessica only felt that the people attending the court meeting were in slow motion, and the roles they played were clearly exposed to her.She could see which people in the scene had received orders not to let her leave here alive!In her subconscious mind there was a way out of these people, as if it were in the sun - there was confusion among them, one of them pretended to bump into another, and the whole group fell with it.She also saw that she could leave this hall, but the only ending was to fall into the other hands.Alia wouldn't care if she produced yet another martyr.No - the one who had her in control wouldn't care.
Now, at this moment of time standstill, Jessica chooses an escape method that can save herself and Old Nab, and allow Old Nab to act as a messenger for herself.The pathway to escape the hall was still etched in her subconscious mind.What an easy way!They were all blind clowns, their shoulders tensed up in what they thought was a defensive stance, but really just immobilized themselves.Every point on the floor could be a trigger for conflict, where blood would splatter and bones would be exposed.Their bodies, their costumes, and their faces clearly outline the fear of each of them.
Jessica feels the devastation that the ecological shift has brought to Arrakis.Al Farley's voice struck her soul, awakening the innermost beast in her.
In the blink of an eye, Jessica jumped from an epiphany state to the current universe, but this universe is very different from the one she was in a few seconds ago.
Alia was about to speak, but Jessica cut her mouth, "Quiet! There are concerns that I made compromises with the Sorority before I came here. But since that day in the desert, the Fremen have given me and my Second life son, I am a Freemen!" Then she began speaking in an ancient language that only those who could benefit from it could understand her: "Onsar akhaka zeliman aw maslumen !" (Support your brother in need, regardless of his justice!)
Her words had the expected effect, and the situation in the hall changed subtly.
Jessica went on to instigate: "This Gandhi Al Farley, an honest Freeman, came here to tell me what should have been reported to me by others. None of us should deny it! Ecology Transformation has become an out-of-control storm."
Wordless approval was everywhere in the lobby.
"My daughter loves to see all this!" Jessica pointed at Alia, "She laughs alone at night, figuring out her own plot! Spice production will probably drop to zero, at most it will be a fraction of what it used to be! When the outside world got the news..."
"We have a spot on the most expensive product in the universe!" Alia yelled.
"We'll have a place in hell," Jessica snapped.
Aria switched between two languages, the oldest Chicobusa and Atreides (with extremely difficult glottal closure and inhalation sounds), and said to Jessica: "You know what, Mother! Do you think Baron Harniken's granddaughter will thank you for cramming so many life memories into my subconscious mind? Even before I was born? When I am angry at what you have done to me, I can only ask To myself: How would the Baron react in this situation. He answered me! He understood me, Atreides bitch! He answered me!"
Jessica heard the resentment in her words, confirming her guess.evil spirits!Surrounded by spirits within her body, Alia is possessed by the devil, Baron Haniken.The Baron himself was speaking through her mouth, not caring what would be revealed.He wanted her to see his revenge, to let her know that he couldn't be kicked out.
he thought.Even if I knew, there's nothing I can do but hang on, Jessica thought.With this thought, she lunged for the passage imprinted in her subconscious mind, while shouting: "Expendables, come with me!"
In fact, there were six daredevils in the hall, and five of them finally broke through the crowd and followed her.
Notes:
Notes: