Chapter 44 Chapter VII

The crowd gathered in the cave hall exuded the emotions that Jessica felt the night Paul killed Jamis, and the tension and anxiety were hidden in the whispered discussions.Those who belonged to the various gangs crowded together like the folds of a robe. Jessica tucked a letter into her gown, and came out of Paul's closet to the tor.Resting after a long journey from south to north, she felt refreshed.But she still resented Paul for not allowing them to use the captured orthopter. "We have not yet fully controlled the desert," Paul once said. "We should not depend on external fuel. Fuel and aircraft must be concentrated and used sparingly for the day when we can finally attack with certainty."

Paul was standing near the Tor with a group of young men.The pale light made the scene appear confusing, like a painting.But here is the smell of birds, the murmur of people and the sloshing of feet, that this is a place of living life. She looked at her son, wondering why he hadn't told her the shocking news—Gurney Halleck.Just thinking of Gurney unsettled her, reminded her of the past—the love for Paul's father, the good days with him. Stilgar and his small group stood on the other side of the tor.He stood there, silent, exuding a compelling majesty. We shouldn't lose that man, Jessica thought, and Paul's plan must come true.

Whatever happens, it will be a great misfortune. She strode down the tor, walked past Stilgar without looking at him, walked into the crowd under the tor, and walked towards Paul.People moved out of the way for her and watched her in silence. She knew what the silence meant—people didn't ask questions because they were in awe of the Virgin. As she approached Paul, the young man backed away from all around Paul.She suddenly found herself stunned by the new awe they displayed. "Everyone below you covets your position." Bee Geist's dictum came to her mind.However, she did not find any greed on the faces of these people.They kept the religious leaders at arm's length around Paul's leadership.She remembered another Bee Geist quote: "There are reasons why prophets die of violence."

Paul looked at her. "It's time," she said, handing him the envelope. One of the most obstinate of Paul's gang looked at Stilgar on the other side and said to Paul: "Are you ready to fight him, Moaddi? Now is the time. They'll think you a coward ,if you……" "Who dares to call me a coward?" Paul yelled angrily, and he quickly grabbed the handle of the Shouting Blade at his waist. People gradually fell silent. "There's something to do," Paul said as the man stepped back.He turned away from his party, squeezed under the tor, and jumped lightly onto it, facing the crowd.

"Go for it!" someone screamed from below. After the screams, there were murmurs of murmurs from the crowd. Paul waited, the scattered footsteps and coughing gradually disappeared, and people slowly calmed down.After the cave was quiet, Paul raised his jaw and began to speak.His voice reached the farthest corners of the cave. "You're getting tired of waiting," Paul said. He waited a moment longer for the answering roar to quiet down and fade away. Really, they're getting tired of waiting, Paul thought.He held up the envelope and thought: what is written in it?His mother gave it to him, explaining that it had been captured from a Harkonnen courier.

The content of the letter is not hidden: Rabin can only rely on his supplies in Arrakis! There was no way he could get help, or get supplies from the old Baron! Paul raised his voice and said, "You think it's time for me to challenge Stilgar to change the leader of the army!" Before people could answer, Paul then said angrily, "Do you think Lisan al-Gabe is that stupid? " There was a dead silence in the cave. He was taking on the mantle of religion, Jessica thought.But she remembered the letter, and what it meant.She saw Paul's intention: to directly touch their unstable inner world, to solve the problem directly, and to convince all hearts.

"No one would recognize a leader without a duel, would they?" Paul asked. "That's customary," someone said aloud. "What is our goal?" Paul asked, "to overthrow Rabin, the hideous Harkonnen beast, and to rebuild our planet into a place where water is abundant and our families can be raised in bliss—is that Isn't that our purpose?" "Hard tasks require hard work," someone exclaimed. "Are you willing to destroy your swords before the battle?" Paul asked. "I am stating a fact, not a boast or a challenge: no one here, including Stilgar, can Beat me in a single fight. Stilgar himself admits it. He knows it, and you all know it."

Again the angry murmurs sounded from the crowd below. "Most of you have been with me on the training ground," Paul said. "You know it's not me bragging, I'm saying this because it's a fact that everyone knows. I'm not so stupid that I watch it all. Not to this point. I started training with these methods much earlier than you did, and my teachers were wilder than you've ever seen. Think about it, I was still doing mock fights when your boys How can you defeat Jamis at your age?" His language was just right, Jessica thought, but it wasn't enough for these people.They have a good resistance to voice control, and logical reasoning must be used to convince them.

"Now," Paul said, "let's talk about this thing." He held up the envelope and removed the cover: "This was found from a Harkonnen messenger, and its reliability is beyond doubt. This is addressed to Rabin's, it informs Rabin, that his request for new troops has been rejected, that his declining spice revenues fall far short of his apportioned share, and that he must wring more out of Arrakis Spice of decay." Stilgar stepped forward to Paul. "How many of you understand what this means?" Paul asked.Stilger immediately understood. "Their supplies have been cut off," someone shouted.

Paul put the scroll in his girdle, took from his neck a cord woven into a whip, and from the cord a ring, and held it aloft. "This is my father's ducal signet ring," he said, "and I swore I would never wear it until I was ready to lead my army across Arrakis and claim it as my rightful domain." The ring is on the finger and the fist is clenched. The cave was enveloped in silence. "Who is the ruler here?" Paul asked. "Me! I rule every inch of Arrakis! It is the duke's fief, whether the emperor says 'no' or 'yes'! The emperor gives it to me Father, my father passed it on to me."

Paul lifted his heels and dropped them again.He looked at the people and noticed that they were outraged. They were almost angry, he thought. "There are some people here who hold important positions in Arrakis when I claim the rights of the royal family that should belong to me," Paul said. "Stilgar is one of these people. It is not what I want Not buying him out of gratitude, even though I was one of many lives he saved. But because of his ingenuity and strength, and because he used his own intelligence and not just discipline to command this army. Do you think I would be so foolish as to cut off my right arm and let it bloody this cavern ground while you watch us like a circus?" Paul's piercing gaze scanned the crowd. "Who, who here says I am not the legitimate ruler of Arrakis? Who says I must prove it by depriving every Fremen tribe in this sea of ​​sand of its leader?" Stilger beside Paul began to feel uneasy. He looked at Paul with doubts on his face. "Am I willing to weaken our own strength when we need it?" Paul asked. "I am your ruler. I say to you, now we must stop slaughtering our own best fighters and unite, Go kill our true enemies - the Harkonnen!" Stilger suddenly pulled out his Howling Blade, raised it upwards, and shouted: "Long live Duke Paul Moady!" The deafening roar resounded through the valley, echoing one after another, echoing in the cave for a long time.The people cheered and sang loudly: "Yah, hi, Johada! Muadhi! Muadhi! Muadhi! Oh, hi, Johada!" Jessica herself translated: "Long live the warriors of Muadhi!" The stories she, Paul, and Stilgar wove among one another had worked out among the masses, just as they had planned. People's excitement gradually calmed down. When he regained his composure, Paul said to Stilgar, "Kneel down!" Stilger knelt on the tor rock. "Give me your knife," said Paul. Stilger obediently handed the knife to Paul. This is not what we planned, Jessica thought. "Follow me, Stilgar," Paul said.He read those words from the knighthood ceremony, just like his father bestowed knighthoods on others. "I, Stilgar, take this knife from my Duke." "I, Stilger, take this knife from my Duke." Stilger repeated, taking the milky white knife from Paul. "Where my duke points, my knife strikes," said Paul. Stilgar repeated Paul's words slowly and solemnly. Thinking of the source of this ritual, Jessica's eyes were moist and she shook her head.I know why, she thought, and I shouldn't let it disturb me. "I dedicate this knife to the cause of my Duke, that his enemies may perish while our blood runs." Stilger repeated his words again. "Kiss the knife," Paul ordered. Stilgar kissed the knife, then kissed Paul's arm in Fremen fashion. Paul nodded, and Stilgar sheathed the knife and stood up. There was an awed sigh from the crowd, and Jessica heard: "Prophecy—a Bee Gist will point the way, a Virgin will see the way." The voice faded, "She passed through her son pointed it out to us." "Stilgar leads the Horde," Paul said, "and there is no room for doubt. He issues orders in my place, and he wants you to do what I want you to do." Smart, Jessica thought, the commander of the Horde should not lose face before those who obeyed his orders. Paul lowered his voice and said, "Stilger, I want to send Sandmen tonight, and release Selago, and send a message that I'm going to hold a meeting of tribal leaders. After sending them out, you will take Carter, Ke Come to my room, Ba, Otham, and two officers of your choosing. We shall make a plan of battle together, and we shall win the battle before the leaders of the tribes arrive, so that they may see." Paul nodded to his mother to join him, leading off the Tor, through the crowd, into the central passage.There is a living room ready for them.As Paul walked through the crowd, countless hands reached out to shake his hand, and people cheered him. "Where Stilgar points, my knife will strike, Paul Moaddi! Let us fight, Moaddi! Let us water our land with the blood of the Harkonnen!" Jessica saw the passion in the people and realized that these men were in the heat of battle.They cannot wait any longer.We're peaking their fighting spirit, she thought. In the inner room, Paul told his mother to sit down and said, "Wait here." Then he went through the hanging curtain into another side passage. After Paul left, the inner room seemed very quiet.It was so quiet inside the curtain that the faint whistling of the camp blower could be heard. He's bringing Gurney Halleck here, she thought.She was amazed at the strange mingling of feelings she felt for him.Before coming to Arrakis, Gurney and his music have been part of many happy moments in Carradine.She felt as if what had happened to Carradine had befallen someone else.In the nearly three years since then, she's been something else, too.She had to confront Gurney and was forced to reassess these changes. The silver-osmium coffee set that Paul had inherited from Jamies sat on a low table to her right.She looked at it and thought of the many hands that had touched the metal object.Within a month, Cheney was using it to serve Paul. What did the woman of the desert do for a duke other than serve him his coffee?She asked herself that she would not bring him power and family.Paul had only one choice—to associate himself with some great family, perhaps with royalty.After all there were many princesses who could have married Paul, any one of them had been trained by Bee Geist. Jessica imagined herself leaving the harsh conditions of Arrakis for the survival and safety she'd known as a royal mother.She looked at the thick curtains that covered the rock of the cavern, and remembered how she got here—in a palanquin on the back of a domesticated sand lizard, with high luggage racks piled high with weapons for future battles. necessity. As long as Cheney lived, Paul would not see his duty, Jessica thought, and she had borne him a son, and that was enough. She suddenly wanted to see her grandson, who was in many ways too much like his grandfather, Leido. Jessica cupped her cheeks in her hands and began to breathe regularly to stabilize her emotions and clear her mind.Then bend forward in a prayer pose to prepare the body for the demands of the brain. Paul was beyond reproach in choosing this bird's nest as his headquarters.It was an ideal place, with Wind's Pass to the north facing rock-walled depressions and fortified villages.It was an important place, home to mechanics and mechanics, and a repair center for the entire Harkonnen defense. There was a coughing sound from outside the curtain. Jessica straightened her body, took a deep breath, and calmed down slowly. "Come in," she said. The curtain parted and Gurney Halleck rushed into the room.She only had time to catch a glimpse of his wry face before he ran up behind her, wrapped his strong arms around her neck, and lifted her up. "Gurney, you fool, what are you doing?" she asked. She felt the point of the knife against her back, and a cold feeling spread to her body.In an instant, she understood that Gurney wanted to kill her.Why?She couldn't think of a reason, since he wasn't the type to turn into a traitor, but she was sure of his intentions.Knowing this, her brain was churning violently.This is by no means a person who can be defeated easily, but a killer who is vigilant about voice control, a killer with great combat strategies, and a tool she has personally helped train with esoteric hints. "You think you've gotten away with it, don't you? You hag!" howled Gurney. Before she could think about the question or answer it, Paul lifted the curtain and walked in. "Here he is, mother..." Paul stopped talking suddenly, stunned by the tense scene. "Stay where you are, sir," said Gurney. "What..." Paul shook his head. Jessica wanted to say something, but felt the strong arm press down on her throat. "You may speak only with my permission, witch," said Gurney. "I just want you to say one thing for your son to hear. At the slightest sign of resistance, I'll plunge this knife into your heart. Keep your voice monotonous, don't contract or move your muscles .You have to be extremely careful with your actions to buy yourself a few seconds to survive. I assure you, that's all you can get right now." Paul took a step forward. "Gurney, this is..." "Stay where you are!" Gurney yelled, "One more step forward, and she's a dead person." Paul slid his hand to the hilt of his knife and said very calmly, "You'd better explain it yourself, Gurney." "I swore I would kill the traitor who betrayed your father myself," Gurney said, "you think I can forget the man who rescued me from Harkonnen slave hell and gave me liberty, life and honor ?... He also gave me friendship, and I valued him above all else. The traitor was my sword, and no one could stop me..." "You can't make another mistake, Gurney!" Paul said. Jessica thought: So this is what happened, how ridiculous! "Was I wrong?" Gurney asked. "Well, let's hear what this witch has to say. Ask her to remember that I proved this accusation by means of bribes, snooping, and deceit. Harkoning's guard captain used hallucinogens to find out part of the truth." Jessica felt the arm around her throat loosen slightly.Before she could speak, Paul said, "The traitor is the more. I told you, Gurney. The evidence is strong and irrefutable, and I don't care how your suspicion came about—because it's unfounded. But if You hurt my mother..." Paul raised the Xiaoblade knife and put it on his chest: "...I will want your blood." "The more controlled a person is, the more suitable he is to be the royal family doctor," Gurney shouted angrily, "he can't be a traitor." "I knew there was a way to undo that control," Paul said. "Evidence!" Gurney insisted. "The evidence isn't here," Paul said. "The evidence is at Camp Teb, far to the south. But what if..." "It's a conspiracy," Gurney growled, his arms tightening around Jessica's neck. "It's not a conspiracy, Gurney," Paul said.His voice was full of grief, and it tore at Jessica's heart. "I looked at the letter that was recovered from the Harkonnen spy," Gurney said, "and that letter was directed at . . . " "I read that letter, too," said Paul. "My father showed me that letter that night and explained to me why it was a Harkonnen conspiracy. Its purpose was to make him doubt what he woman of love." "Ah," Gurney said, "you didn't..." "Shut up!" Paul said.His words were monotonous and more commanding than any voice Jessica had ever heard. He's getting more and more in control, she thought. Gurney's arm strangling her neck was shaking, and the tip of the knife resting on her back was also shaking constantly. "What you haven't done," Paul said, "is to hear my mother cry that night for the duke she lost, and you haven't seen the fire in her eyes when she spoke of killing the Harkonnen. " So he heard it too, she thought, her eyes clouded with tears. "What you didn't," Paul went on, "was to remember what you learned in Harkonnen slave hell. You said you were proud of my father's friendship! Don't you know the Harkonnen and The difference between the Atreese, and enable you to smell the plots of the Harkonnen by the stench they leave behind? Don't you understand that the loyalty of the Atreese is earned through love, and the Harkonnen But what people's money buys is hatred? Can't you see the essence of this kind of betrayal?" "But Yue?" Gurney murmured. "The proof we have is the letter written to us by Yue himself, in which he confessed his infidelity," Paul said, "I swear by my love for you, that I let you die on this land After that, I will still keep my love for you." Hearing her son's words, Jessica marveled at his will, and all-seeing intelligence. "My father was by nature fond of making friends," Paul said, "but he was rarely mistaken for his love. His mistake was that he misunderstood hate, and he thought that anyone who hated Harkonnen would not Betrayed him." He glanced at his mother, "She knows it clearly, I have shown her my father's letter, and he never doubted her." Jessica bit her lower lip, feeling like she was losing control.She saw Paul's stubbornness and realized the price those words cost him.She wanted to run up to him and hold his head to her chest, something she had never done before.But the arm holding her throat stopped trembling, and the tip of the knife was firmly pressed against her back motionless. "The most terrifying moment in a child's life," says Paul, "is when he discovers his father and mother together enjoying a love he has never tasted. It is a loss and an awakening to the fact that the world itself is Here and there, we're alone in the world. Time itself is truth, and you can't escape it. I heard my father talk about my mother, and she's no traitor, Gurney." Only then did Jessica make her own voice and said, "Gurney, let me go." There was no tone of command in the words, and there was no intention to play on his weakness, but Gurney's arm was loose.She ran and stood in front of Paul, but did not hug him. "Paul," she said, "there are other awakenings in the universe. It dawned on me that I was using you, ordering you, manipulating you, putting you where I chose—I had to choose the path— If that's an excuse, it's because of my training." Her throat clenched, she paused for a moment, looking up into her son's eyes. "Paul, I want you to do one thing for me: Choose the path of happiness. Marry that desert woman of yours if you want. Choose your own path, I..." She stopped and heard murmured voices behind her. Gurney! She saw Paul staring behind her and turned away. Gurney stood where he was, with the knife in its sheath.He tore open the robe on his chest, revealing the inferior gray filtration suit underneath, the kind bought by smugglers in the restricted area. "Put your knife into my chest," said Gurney, "and I said, kill me, and I'll be punished. I've tarnished my name, and I'm sorry to my duke. Better..." "Shut up!" Paul ordered. Gurney looked at him. "Button your robes and don't act like a fool," Paul said. "I've been fool enough for the day." "I said, kill me!" Gurney said angrily. "You should know me," Paul said. "Do you think I'm an idiot? Would you treat someone I need in this way?" Gurney looked at Jessica, and said in a pitiful, begging, completely unlike his tone: "Then you, ma'am, please... kill me." Jessica walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Gurney, why insist that the Atreese kill those they love?" She gently pulled his open robes together and buttoned them up. Gurney stammered, "But... I..." "You think you're avenging Redo," she said, "and I respect you for that." "Ma'am!" said Gurney.He lowered his head so that it fell to his chest, and closed his eyes tightly, trying not to let the tears flow out. "Let's see this as a misunderstanding between friends," she said.Paul heard the comfort in her words. "It's over and we'll be happy that there won't be any more misunderstandings like that between us." Gurney looked at her with bright, tear-filled eyes. "That Gurney Halleck I knew was a swordsman and a lyre," Jessica said. "He was the luthier I respected most. Doesn't that Gurney Halleck remember when he played for me? , how happy am I? Do you still have your kuna, Gurney?" "I got a new one," Gurney said, "from Chusuk, a wonderful sounding instrument. It plays like a real velotta, though it doesn't have his signature on it. I myself think it was made by a student of Verota. This student of his..." He stopped suddenly: "What can I say to you, madam? We're talking nonsense here..." "No nonsense, Gurney," Paul said.He walked over and stood beside his mother, facing Gurney. "This is not empty talk, but something that brings joy among friends. If you play for her now, I will be very grateful to you. The battle plan can be discussed later. We do not plan to fight until tomorrow." "I . . . I'll get the kuna," Gurney said. "It's in the hall." He walked around them and out of the inner room through the curtain. Paul put his hand on his mother's arm and noticed she was shaking. "It's all over, mother," he said. She didn't turn around, just looked up at him out of the corner of her eye. "It's passed?" "Of course, Gurney..." "Gurney? Oh... yes." She lowered her eyes. The door curtain rustled, and Gurney returned with his jiji.He began to tune, avoiding their eyes.The tapestries on the walls dampened the reverberations, and the instruments made small, soft, melodious sounds. Paul helped her to a couch and made her sit there with her back against the thick tapestry on the wall.He was suddenly startled, and he saw the dry lines of the desert starting to appear on her face, and the blue that covered her eyes spread around the corners of her eyes.How old she seemed to him! She's tired, he thought, and I must find a way to relieve her fatigue. Gurney plucked the strings. Paul looked at him and said to him, "I... have something I need to take care of. You wait here for me." Gurney nodded. At this moment, his thoughts seemed to be in a distant place, as if he was staying under the vast sky of Kaladan at this moment, and the rolling dark clouds appeared on the horizon, heralding the coming of heavy rain. Paul reluctantly turned and left the room, and entered the other side passage through the heavy tapestry that covered it.Through the thick tapestry, he heard Gurney playing the piano.He stood outside for a while, listening to the silent music. Orchards, vineyards, plump and coquettish beauties, I enjoy this endless happiness. Why talk about war? Why do I feel so sad? The mountains turned to dust. The sky remains open and spreads its riches, and my hands have only to gather its riches. Why should I think of attacking? Why do I feel my years fade away in joyful pain? My arms, with frank joy, beckon the rapturous hope of Eden. Why should I remember these scars? Why do I sleep with fear, dreaming of past sins... A robed death squad came out from around the corner of the front passage and approached Paul.His hood had been left behind, and the filtration suit was hanging loosely around him, indicating that he had just returned from the desert outside. Paul motioned for him to stop there, and he left the door curtain and walked along the passage to the death squad. The man folded his arms over his chest and bowed to Paul the way the Fremen saluted the Virgin or Seyadina in ceremonial ceremonies."Moaddi, the tribal leaders are leaving here," he said. "So fast?" "It's the letter that Stilger sent earlier, he thinks..." He shrugged. "I see," Paul said, looking back to where the faint lyre was coming from, thinking of an old song his mother loved—a strange mix of happy tunes and sad words. "Stilgar will arrive with the other leaders shortly, and you will take them to where my mother is waiting for them." "I'll wait for them here, Moaddi," said the daredevil. "Okay, you can wait here." Paul walked past the man and walked deeper into the cave, towards the water depression that every cave has.There was a small sand lizard, only nine meters long, immature, surrounded by ditches all around.After the manufacturer becomes a small carrier, it is poisonous, so it cannot be allowed to come into contact with water.Drowning the Maker is the Fremen's secret, for this produces the substance that unites them, the Water of Life, which contains poisons that can only be changed by the Virgin. Paul's decision had been made at the critical juncture of the peril in which his mother stood. There was no danger from Gurney Halleck in the clues of the future he had seen.The future—a gray and foggy future that makes one feel that the entire universe is like a phantom world, constantly flowing forward around him with boiling waves of connections. I must see it, he thought. His body has slowly acquired resistance to the decaying spice, and the visions of foresight have become less and less...more and more hazy.The solution seemed obvious to him too. I must drown the maker of that line.People will know if I'm Kwizaki Hadenatch.I, too, can stand the test that Our Lady endured.