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Sand.
Gritty.
Dry.
Harsh.
Unusable.
Deadly.
Everywhere.
Raelle coughed against the thick black cloth covering her nose and mouth, the tasteless scratchy granules somehow still getting into her eyes and choking her lungs.
It was hot.
The sun never seemed to end.
Even at night, when the sky turned a darker blue, almost translucent eerie black full of silence and mystery...of danger and a quick journey to the stopping of a beating heart and the final cooling of the lifeless body, the air was still stifling. Cloying. Killing.
It was nothing like home.
Where the water was clear. Abundant.
The grounds were green.
The sky was able to let loose the tears it held and allow them to feed the world until life and death continued to balance in the rivers and lakes and across the smooth cliffs and sloping hills full of plants and pathways leading home.
Home.
Raelle rolled out of bed, her back aching still from training and her body littered with small bruises and blemishes from sparring with her fellow soldiers.
Rubbing the remnants of dreams that were little more than flashes of things she’d never seen and likely never would, blue eyes clearer than the universe and far more deep, the blonde staggered to the window. Her calloused palms curved around the sill, and she gazed out into the forming storms.
The waters of the lake were like glass, yet tiny ripples were forming along the seams, the storm quietly making its presence known.
She rolled her shoulders and wiped the back of her hand under her nose, sniffing and blinking to alertness.
She would need to go soon.
Put on her uniform and join the others for breakfast.
She could already hear M in her head teasing her in the way M did about how Raelle could never seem to be on time. Too busy messing with her perfect hair and wandering off to run her hands in the cool waters and skip rocks across the unsteady surface.
Home.
Yet, there was something here.
Something amongst the sand and blistering heat that strangled the life out of anyone trapped in its grasp.
She didn’t know what it was.
Couldn’t put her finger on it no matter how much thought she suffered through when the rest went to sleep and her mind churned.
Churned until those blue eyes appeared once again in her mind.
She didn’t hate it here.
She should.
It was nothing like home.
Barren wasteland worth nothing more than the rivulets of sweat that painted her brow.
Except, that sweat was precious here.
Water.
Water was nowhere to be found on this planet.
Anything wet was treasured.
That.
And the spice.
Spice was more precious than anything to the Empire. To all the worlds within the Emperor’s reign.
It was integral to interstellar space travel.
It was worth more than life itself.
Which was why Raelle was there.
The rulers of her home planet - the House Bellweather - were assigned to rule this planet. Take over from House Alder.
It was their task to now oversee the production of spice. The extraction of the sparkling dust like substance from the sands and transport it to where it would be used to allow all walks of life to travel within the stars.
Raelle gulped against the scratchy aridness of her parched throat and continued on the trail leading through the colorless rocks. Her small group was tough but without luck.
They hadn’t sighted any Spree.
The Spree were the native peoples of this planet.
The ones whom House Bellweather would rule over as well as the spice.
A gargantuan task for those who understood it.
The Spree were strong.
Violent.
Hated intruders.
They were known to attack those who extracted the spice.
A nuisance passed on from House Alder to House Bellweather.
Raelle kept her mouth shut about it, but…
But she understood the Spree.
This was their home.
Home.
And foreign rulers arrived with fanfare and privilege to tell them that they controlled everything.
The Spree must submit to them.
Their lands.
Their spice.
Everything.
Raelle understood why the Spree wouldn’t exactly welcome anyone new.
Fought against Alder’s people.
Would likely fight against Bellweather’s.
Which was why she and her small group were there.
Scouts.
To find the Spree and attempt to make peace.
An alliance.
“You all have an important mission.” Duke Petra Bellweather stood before the small cadre of soldiers, their uniforms crisp and stance at attention. She eyed each of them, brown gaze firm but mouth hinting in the corners at her pride and slight affection, “We will be taking over the rule of Arrakis. I have accepted the orders from the Emperor.”
Raelle shifted slightly, mind working as to what that meant for all of them.
She felt M silently tell her to stop as Gregorio tightened his jaw and Tally inhaled deeply.
“I do not wish to make war with the Spree. Not like House Alder. It is imperative they see us as their allies if this is to be a success. We are a strong force. We control the air and sea. But, we have never controlled the desert. The sands.” Her eyes landed on Raelle, “Desert power. That is what we need. To survive what is to come, we need desert power, and only the Spree can give us that. They ally with us, and we shall achieve.”
M held up their hand, signaling for them to stop.
Gregorio dropped onto the nearest outcropping, heaving a sigh and swiping at his sweat soaked hair. Tally lingered for a second but soon joined him near his feet.
“Two minutes, then we go on.” M ordered, reaching for their water.
Raelle nodded, already feeling the exhaustion from their hike hit her hard.
It had been days...weeks...and they had yet to find anyone.
This was the Spree’s land.
They knew how to hide.
And, they didn’t want to be found.
Sliding down a jagged bit of cliff, Raelle let her legs kick out and leaned back, eyes threatening to close.
Her mind tripped back to one of her last moments at home.
“Rae!”
“Abs!” Raelle stepped away from her gear to see Abigail Bellweather, the heir to House Bellweather, marching towards her, half in spirited friendship and half in…
Shit.
“I’m coming with you.” Abigail spoke firmly before Raelle could even form a sound let alone a defense.
The soldier frowned, wiping her hands on her uniform and peeking at the others preparing to leave, “Uh...no, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.” Abigail reached out for the gear, “This is important.”
“And, you are needed here.” Raelle blocked her reach and gently ushered her a few steps away, “Petra would kill both of us if you left.” And it wouldn’t be pretty.
Or merciful.
It’d be...hell.
Raelle did not want to deal with a pissed off Petra Bellweather, Duke and Leader of House Bellweather.
Raelle might not be the smartest there was, but she wasn’t a complete idiot.
“I don’t care what mom says.” Abigail ground out, “This is vital to my House. To our future. I am a better fighter than half our military.”
“And you’re also the heir.” Raelle ducked closer, her voice dropping, “If anything happened to you, that would be it. There’s no one else.”
Abigail was the last of her line.
“I am needed out there. With you and Tally.”
Raelle shook her head, “Not this time. We will see you when you get out there with everyone else.” She swallowed thickly, “Please, Abs.”
A sound caught Raelle’s attention, pulling her from her memories.
Her head whipped around, eyes scanning every nook and cranny of the narrow trail they’d forged through the rock and sand.
Nothing.
She saw nothing.
Just like every day since they landed on this desolate plane.
But, there was something out there.
She heard it.
Years of training had her ears perked and senses on alert - always.
Carefully climbing to her feet, Raelle glanced over her shoulder to see the other three drinking their water and tilting their heads back, resting for a moment.
They hadn't heard it.
Only her.
For a brief breath, Raelle wondered if she was going insane. The heat and tiredness catching up to her.
Hearing things that weren’t there.
Possibly seeing things.
Mirages.
Ghosts of hopes when there was no chance of discovering what they were tasked to find.
Memories tickled the back of her mind that she fought to banish from existence.
It was the smallest sound.
A creak.
The door.
Narrowing her eyes in confusion, Raelle silently flung her coat around her shoulders, jamming her arms through the sleeves, and crept toward the sound.
Peering around the wall blocking her room from where her dad was working on one of the shields that had gone on the fritz for one of the cadets before he left to begin a shift inspecting and maintaining the ornithopters, Raelle spotted the old man slumped near the front door.
Raelle didn’t need to hear what was being said by the person on the other side.
She knew.
Her mother was gone.
She shook that thought away.
Shook away the memory.
The doubt.
There was something there.
With them.
Gritting her teeth, she slipped around the bend in the rock and crept around, trying to see what was hidden.
Sand.
Sun.
Nothing.
Not even a mouse.
Only heat and blinding brightness.
After a few moments, Raelle let her shoulders slump.
It must have been a rodent that ran away or...or she was imagining things.
Finally cracking like Treefine and the others whispered would happen behind her back before one of her squad drove them off with a glare and sharp tongue. Or Abigail showed up and made everyone shut up.
Sighing, she turned on her heels.
And came face to face with a blade to her throat.
And stunning incandescent blue eyes.
Freezing, Raelle felt the sharp edge press against her throat. One small move, even a flinch, and it would draw blood.
Yet, all she could see were those eyes.
Those deep transfixing blue eyes.
She’d seen those eyes before.
In her dreams.
The stranger slowly pulled down the cloth covering the rest of their face, thin and loose, the blade never dropping.
In the back of her head, Raelle knew this must be Spree.
Yet.
Yet.
Those eyes.
As the cloth dropped away, she felt her chest seize and her soul cry out.
She was face to face with the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen.
“Who are you?” the stranger asked.
Not moving, Raelle wet her lips, “Raelle. Sgt. Raelle Collar of House Bellweather.”
The stranger didn’t blink. Didn’t drop the knife, “You’ve been walking around for a week.”
“Trying to find you.”
“Why?”
Raelle couldn’t look away from those eyes, “We want to help you.”
A scoff, “Yes, I’m the one who needs help.”
“Please,” Raelle watched her, “What is your name?”
“Why? Need to know the name of your killer?”
“Thought that was going to be one of those giant sandworm things.” She could feel the blade start to penetrate the fabric covering her throat, “Please. I don’t want to hurt you. Any of you.”
“You just want to murder my people, enslave them, take everything from them?”
“No. I’d rather get to know you. We’re not House Alder.”
“A different name, not a different people. You all want the same thing. Our newest oppressors.”
“I’m not like them.” the sharpness nearly startled both of them.
The other girl studied her before replying, “Scylla.”
Scylla.
The world looked sterile. Full of dust and dirt.
Through the blinding sun, Raelle saw a figure in the distance. They moved closer.
And closer.
Until, under dark hair and surrounded by a grey face covering, she saw blue eyes.
Beautiful blue eyes.