Chapter 40 Chapter Forty

"Never!" said Ghanima, "I will kill him on our wedding night." His tone was firm, and there was no room for discussion. Alia and her guards have been persuading her for half the night, and the apartment has never been quiet, and new guards are constantly coming to help out, bringing new food and drinks.The whole temple and the palace near it were anxious, awaiting the long overdue decision. Ghanima sits calmly on a green suspension chair in her apartment.The room was large, with rough black walls simulating the rock walls of a cavern, but the ceiling was crystal, reflecting green light.The floor is covered with black floor tiles.There was little furniture in the room: a small writing desk, five suspended chairs, and a small Freeman bed in an alcove.Ghanima is wearing a yellow mourning dress.

"You are not a free man, you have no right to decide your life." Alia repeated for the hundredth time.The little fool will understand this sooner or later!She must agree to a marriage contract with Farrak!She must!She could kill him later, but according to Fremen marriage customs, the engagement would only be valid if she gave her consent. "He killed my brother," said Ghanima, insisting on the strong reason, "that everyone knows. If I had accepted his marriage contract, every Fremen would have spurned my name." That's one of the reasons you have to agree to the marriage, Alia thought.She said, "His mother did it. He's already exiled her for it. What more do you ask of him?"

"His blood," said Ghanima, "is of Corinor." "He publicly denounced his mother," Arya retorted. "As for the lower Fremen, whatever the rabble may say. They'll only accept what we tell them to accept. Ganni, the peace of the Empire demands that you— —” "I will not agree," said Ganima, "you cannot announce the engagement without my consent." While Ghanima was speaking, Irulan entered the room, first glanced at Alia inquiringly, and then at the two dejected guards beside her. Alia raised her hands in frustration, and then collapsed into the chair opposite Ghanima.

"You tell her, Irulan," Alia said. Irulan dragged a levitating chair and sat down beside Alia. "You are Corino, Irulan," Ghanima said, "don't waste your time with me." She stood up, went to her little bed, sat cross-legged on it, and stared at her with piercing eyes. Looking at the two women in front of him. Irulan, like Alia, was dressed in black robes, with her hood thrown back, revealing her blonde hair. Irulan glanced at Alia, then stood up and walked across to Ghanima. "Gani, if killing will solve the problem, I will go and kill him myself. You are right, Farakon and I have the same blood. But, in addition to your promise to the Fremen, you have More important responsibilities..."

"Your words are not much better than those of my beloved aunt," said Ghanima. "A brother's blood cannot be washed away. This Freeman maxim is not just words." Irulan squeezed her lips tightly, and then said again: "Falakon has your grandmother in custody, and he has Duncan in custody, if we don't—" "I am not satisfied with your explanations for what happened." Ganima looked at Alia and Irulan, "Duncan once gave his life to protect my father. Maybe this guy who came back from the dead is no longer ..." "Duncan's mission is to keep your grandmother safe!" Alia looked over at Irulan, "I believe he has no choice but to choose to do this." She thought to herself: Duncan!Duncan!You really shouldn't choose this way.

Ganima stared at her aunt, studying Alia's tone. "You are lying, Mother of Heaven. I heard about the dispute between you and my grandmother. What are you hiding about my grandmother and Duncan?" "I told you all," Alia said, but she couldn't help feeling a twinge of horror at the direct accusation.Realizing she was too tired, she let her guard down.She stood up: "You know everything I know." She turned to face Yirulan, "You come to persuade her. Be sure to let her..." Ghanima interrupted her with a piercing Freeman curse, so shocking and inexplicable coming from immature lips.After cursing, she continued: "You think I'm just a child, you have a lot of time to persuade me, and I will be persuaded by you in the end. You have a good idea. Oh, mother of heaven, you are more than anyone People know my inner age. I'll listen to them, not you."

Alia barely controlled herself, did not open her mouth to refute, but just stared at Ganima bitterly.Did she also become a deformed evil spirit?Who is this kid?Her fear of Ghanima deepened.Did she also compromise with the life inside her? Alia said, "After a while, you'll understand." "After a while, you may see Falakon's blood on my blade," said Ghanima. "Trust me. Just leave us alone, and one of us will die." "Do you think you have more affection for your brother than us?" Yirulan asked, "Don't be stupid! I am his mother, and your mother. I am..."

"You never knew him," said Ghanima. "All of you, except occasionally my beloved aunt, always thought of us as children. You are fools! Alia knows! You see, she avoids it on purpose." -" "I didn't avoid anything," Alia said, but she turned her back on Irulan and Ghanima, staring at the two female guards.The two pretended not to hear; they had evidently given up trying to persuade Ghanima, and perhaps had some sympathy for her.Arya angrily throws them out of the house.When the guard left, there was an obvious expression of joy on his face. "You avoided it," Ghanima insisted.

"I just chose a life path that suits me," Alia said, turning to look at Ghanima, who was sitting cross-legged on the cot.Has she already compromised with the life in her body? Alia tries to see clues in Ghanima's eyes, but finds nothing.Then Alia thought: Did she see the compromise I was making?How did she find out? "You are afraid of being a window to countless lives," Ghanima denounced, "but we are all born with memories, and we know that. You will be their window, whether you want to or not. You can't Deny them." She thought to herself: Yes, I know you - the aberrant spirit.Maybe I will follow in your footsteps, but now I can only pity you and despise you.

A silence fell between Ghanima and Alia. Irulan's bee gist training noticed the silence.She looked at them one by one and asked, "Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?" "I just thought of a problem and needed to focus," Alia said. "Think about it when you're free, dear aunt." Ghanima sneered. Aria suppressed the anger caused by exhaustion and said, "Enough! Let her figure it out. Maybe she will figure it out." Irulan stood up and said, "It's almost dawn. Ganni, before we leave, would you like to hear the latest news from Farakon? He..."

"I don't listen," said Ghanima, "and, from now on, don't call me by that stupid nickname. Gani! Don't think I'm a child by that..." "Why are you and Alia suddenly silent?" Yirulan asked, returning to the question she had just asked.But this time, she quietly used the magic sound method. Ghanima raised her head and laughed. "Yi Rulan! How dare you use the magic sound technique on me?" "What?" Yirulan was taken aback. "You are teaching your grandmother to eat eggs," Ghanima said. "What's the meaning?" "I know the saying, but you have never heard of it. Consider the fact," said Ghanima. "It is a saying of contempt. When it was in vogue, your sisters Bee Gist You're still young. If that's not enough to wake you up, ask your father and queen why they named you Irulan? Does it mean destruction?" Despite her training to control her expressions, Yirulan's face flushed red. "Are you trying to provoke me, Ghanima?" "And you want to use the magic sound on me. Use it on me! I remember the first person to master this technique. I remember that moment, Irulan the Destroyer. Now, you two, get out." But Alia was piqued, and the suggestion from within made her forget her fatigue.She said, "Maybe I have a suggestion that will change your mind, Gunny." "Call me Ganni!" Ganima snarled. "Think about it for yourself. If I want to kill Farakon, I just have to follow your plan. I guess you've figured that out. To Beware of the suddenly obedient Ganni. Do you understand? I've always been straight with you." "That's what I hope," said Alia, "if you..." "A brother's blood cannot be washed," said Ghanima, "and I will not be a traitor to the Fremen. Never forgive, never forget. Isn't that our basic creed? I am I warn you, and I declare to the public: there is no way you could trick me into agreeing to a marriage contract with Farrakon. Who would believe it? Not even Farrakn himself would believe it. The Fremen who hear about this engagement will only Sneaking secretly: 'See? She lured him into a trap.' If you..." "I know." Alia said, walking to Irulan's side.She noticed Irulan standing there transfixed, in shock—she knew where this conversation was going. "If I say yes, I'll be tricking him," Ghanima said. "If that's what you need, I'll agree, but he probably won't fall for it. If you want this sham engagement to be worth something, help me." You can buy my grandmother and your precious Duncan back. It's your luck. Buy them back. But Farrakon is mine, and I'm going to kill him..." Yirulan turned her head to look at Alia and said, "Alia! If we really do this..." She intentionally paused, letting Alia imagine the anger of the major families in the family union , the reputation of the Atreides family will suffer a devastating blow, the shattering of religious beliefs, and the subsequent collapse of large and small social superstructures. "... will be very bad for us," Irulan continued, "all belief in Paul's prophetic powers will be destroyed. It... the empire..." "Who dares to challenge our power? We have the right to decide what is right and what is wrong," Alia said calmly. "We are the arbiters of right and wrong. I just have to declare..." "You can't do that!" Irulan protested, "Paul..." "It's just a tool of the church and the state." Ghanima said, "Stop talking nonsense, Irulan." Ghanima touched the howling knife at his waist, looked up at Alia, "I misjudged my wise aunt, the sage of Muad'di's empire. I really misjudged you. Trick Farakon into our parlor - if you want to." "It's too reckless to do that." Yirulan resisted with all her strength. "You agreed to the engagement, Ghanima?" Alia asked directly, ignoring Irulan. "The premise is that my conditions are met." Ghanima said, her hand still did not leave the Xiaorendao. "I'm not a part of this," Irulan said, her hands sweating. "I wanted to make a real engagement to heal—" "Alia and I, we'll give you a more difficult wound," said Ghanima. "Bring him here as soon as possible, if he wants to. Maybe he'll be united. How could he doubt me so much?" What about a small child? Let's prepare a formal engagement ceremony that requires him to be present in person. Create another opportunity for me to be alone with him... just a minute or two..." Irulan trembled before the real Ghanima.Isn't that the reality?In the horrific and bloody struggle, Fremen children were no different from adults.Freeman children are used to killing wounded enemies on the battlefield, so that women can save some effort and just collect the corpses on the battlefield, and then send them to the alembic of the dead.Ghanima, with the voice of a Freeman child, with the maturity of her voice, with the vendetta of the ancient family around her, piled up layer upon layer of fear. "Deal." Alia said, barely suppressing her facial expression and voice, not to let her ecstasy be exposed, "We will prepare a formal marriage contract certificate. We will let the representatives of the big family witness the signing ceremony of the marriage contract . Farrakon is unlikely to suspect..." "He will be suspicious, but he will come anyway," Ghanima said. "He will bring guards, but will they prevent me from approaching him?" "For all Paul's efforts," Irulan protested, "at least we should make Farakon's death look like an accident, or the malice of some alien family..." "I am happy to show my fellow countrymen the bloody blade," Ghanima said. "Alia, I beg you," Irulan said, "forget this crazy decision. You can announce the assassination of Falakon, or whatever..." "We don't need to formally announce our intention to kill him," Ghanima said. "The whole empire knows how we feel." She pointed to the sleeves of her robes. "We wear yellow mourning. Man engagement dress, would anyone think that I really want to get engaged?" "Hopefully I can hide it from Farrakon," Alia said, "and the representatives of the big families we invited to the ceremony—" "Every family delegation will oppose you," Yirulan said, "You know that too." "That makes sense," said Ghanima, "so be careful when choosing the delegation. They have to be people we can get rid of in the future." Irulan waved her hand in the air in despair, then turned and left. "Put her under close surveillance in case she informs her nephew," Ghanima said. "You don't need to teach me how to plan a conspiracy," Alia said.She turned and followed Irulan, but walked more slowly than she. The guards outside the door and the helpers on standby quickly followed her, like a vortex formed by a sandworm leaping from the desert surface and the gravel flowing behind it. After the door closed, Ghanima shook her head sadly, thinking: Just as poor Leto and I thought.God!I wish I was killed by the tiger, not him.