Sorrow | Dune | Gurney Halleck

Chapter Five

Sunlight flittered into an unfamiliar room. Well, it felt familiar in her dreams. The crackling of a fire could be heard burning from the large fireplace warming up her cold body. She knew when she opened her tired eyes and rolled over he would be laying there sleeping peacefully. He always seemed to look ten years younger in his sleep. His face would be relaxed. His usual, harden gaze would be absent.

She would reach over and gently touch the rough skin of his cheek. It would cause him to stir. He would open his eyes, taking a moment to realize where he was and then smile a smile he kept reserved only for her. Sometimes she would roll over to straddle him. Sometimes he would roll over on top of her and press soft kisses along her skin. She would giggle and push him off.

Then it would change. They would be in the training room, fighting. Their bodies mirror one another perfectly. They fought with such precision that it scared others. His sword would move when her's would. Both carried playful smirks on their face. They knew. They knew they were good, a perfect match. This was only behind closed doors though. No one would ever see this side of them.

It would change again. Music could be heard. He would whisper some verse or quote from a book into her ear while she tried desperately to pay attention to the meeting. They would walk hand in hand along the beach. She would usually be barefoot since she enjoyed feeling the cold sand. He would hold her close when she got cold from the crips air.

It would change again. Soemthing usually more explicit. It would cause her cheeks to burn bright red. Neither of them would be clothed as the laid in the large bed. Limbs would be intertwined. She would thread her fingers through the ends of his hair. He would bury his face into her shoulder while moving inside of her. He held her as if she were was his lifeline.

It would change again to her least favorite part of the dream. She could feel the sweltering heat before she even opened her eyes. Terror rained down all around her. Explosions. Screams. Weapons clashing against one another. She would be running while holding his hand, not daring to look behind her. They would stop and they both knew. They both fucking knew that this was the end. She would hold him until the last minute. She would beg him not to go. She would scream his name.

"Gurney!" Fourteen year old Mildred sat up straight in bed covered in a thin sheet of sweat. Her heart would be pounding against her chest. Her cheeks would be flushed.

It happened often recently. Usually the dream would be mostly the same except for some minor details. She didn't dare speak of it to anyone. How could she? What would they think if the future Duchess was having romantic dreams about her father's Warmaster who was at least twenty years her senior. They would laugh. They would question Gurney thinking he did something to Mildred. It was best if she kept quiet about it.

It was still early. The sun hadn't even had a chance to rise yet and cast lines into her room. She climbed out of the comfortable bed and walked over to her closet to change. In addition to her regular combat training, she also was trained how to deal with environmental challenges. She had already been stranded in the ocean before. Left in a cave with a knife and matches. Today, she would be ascending the side of a mountain on Caladan.

She changed into a pair of pants tucked into her boots. She debated between a t shirt and long sleeve shirt. It wasn't terribly cold, but part of her wanted to protect herself from getting too banged up. She chose the long sleeve shirt. She pulled her hair back into a simple bun not wanting it to get in the way. Breakfast hadn't even been made yet when she walked into the kitchen. The cooks looked at her with surprise and quickly made her a smoothie to take on the go.

The castle was just beginning to wake up by the time she reached the storage room for the military. It was where she would meet before beginning her ascent of the mountain. Soldiers whisked all around her, barely paying her any attention while she filled a bag up with supplies; water, rope, a harness, protein bar.