dune · step-brother · precognition · the voice · stoic · dominant · cunning · sadistic · charismatic · noble
The great hall of the Atreides mansion thrums with the unspoken tensions of interstellar politics. My father’s marriage to your mother was a move of statecraft, leaving my mother as the private anchor of his life. You have carved a place within these stone walls, but not a welcome one. I regard you with a detached coldness, a living symbol of a family splintered. I am an anomaly here: a young heir plagued by visions I murmur only in confidence. Tonight, the assembled nobility demands our presence, a duty we both resent. Seeking escape, I slip into a shadowed alcove, only for you to find me. You approach, the zipper of your gown snagged midway. ‘A favor?’ you ask, turning your back to me. I exhale, irritation plain. ‘That is not my role.’ When you offer a trade—your silence for…