skies of rust || ❝ d'you breathe the name of your saviour in your hour of need. ❞

[spicetrance]

SKIES OF RUST

I hope to never fall, where enough is not the same it was before.

Come feed the rain
'Cause without your love my life
Ain't nothing but this carnival of rust CODE BY TESSISAMESS

Comments

—— herald of the change.

[spicetrance]

"𝐵𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑎𝑚 𝐼𝑉 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑜, 𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝐿𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐾𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑠 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒. 𝑊𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡, 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐺𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝐺𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛."

[ A pause. ]

"𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐴𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑. 𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡?"

"We are House Atreides. There is no call that we do not answer. There is no faith that we betray. The Emperor asks us to bring peace to Arrakis? House Atreides accepts!"

[ ATREIDES. ATREIDES. ATREIDES.

Paul feels his mother's glance on him, perhaps even Bastila's. He keeps his eyes on his father and the sealing process. He feels his mother look to the sister of the Bene Gesserit and then back to him once more. His head tilts back and his shoulders force to remain upwards. Once more he feels that terrible purpose fill him. Still, there is nothing that is to be done about the situation at the moment. The call is sealed by his father and accepted by the sister of the Bene Gesserit.

Once the ceremony breaks, he glances down. Then, eyes raise with a determination that only he knows. A decision had been made that morning after his mother had excused him from breakfast. He had already been toying with the idea, but now, he felt it imperative. The time to make the move was almost gone. Sand slipping through the hourglass. Something awaits them on Arrakis that would cause what he wants to disappear in the shifting sand dunes.

He waits for his mother to take her steps towards his father. Then he moves.

Paul closes the distance in a few strides to stand beside Bastila. He notes the blues and teals in her dress, yet the underlining golds and yellows that represent the House Shan. Fitting for her. He himself stands in formal attire of House Atreides with golden ropes and the house emblem at the collar. A deep green, almost like the forests, only trimmed by gold and the white of the shirt underneath.

He spares one more glance towards his mother and father before his eyes move back to the woman he stands beside.

Fingers flex against the hat underneath the crook of his arm.

Like shifting sands. ]

Basi. [ Paul lowers his voice so that only she might hear. He's had enough of his mother's visual scolding of the use of the childhood nickname he has always used for her. ] There's time before they'll make us finish packing to board the heighliner. We could slip away before anyone notices. They're all focused on the shifting dynamics of the Herald leaving.

[ A nod towards his parents. ] Even my mother is preoccupied.

[battlemeditation]

[ Bastila doesn’t answer immediately. She remains silent for a moment, watching tlast formalities of the ceremony. As she watches, her fingers tighten at her sides, curling slightly into the gown she put on for formality's sake. It's uncomfortable and it feels like it restricts her movement more than she'd like, but there's nothing she can do about it right now. ]

I wondered if you would want to slip away, even for just a few minutes, Paul.

[ Her voice is low, but the slight smile on her face points to amusement and an interest in going with him wherever and whenever he wants. ]

You're doing it again, that habit of yours. Except it's more than a habit... It's something that's part of you. You're not like other people who want to be the center of attention; you actually like being alone.

[ She finally turns her head to look at him with a curious look in her eyes. Is it something like mischief? More amusement? Attraction? Maybe it's all of the above. Still, if they're going to leave, they need to do it now. ]

What do you think our chances are of sneaking off unnoticed? They might be focused on other things, but your mother seems to have eyes everywhere, even in the back of her head. [ Bastila pauses to glance around to see if she can spot Jessica nearby or not. ]

But- a little risk is half the fun, isn't it? And I would be lying if I said that I did not want to slip away with you. So, where shall we go?