Sorrow | Dune | Gurney Halleck

Chapter Eight

"You did what?" Mildred's mother's voice boomed through the hallway.

"Technically it wasn't my idea." Mildred argued. "It was Zurkar's."

"Something had to initiate the need for a duel." Her mother spoke.

"Again, Zurkar. He was saying that since Gurney was a slave, that he wasn't a good Warmaster. I begged to differ."

"I assure you that Gurney doesn't need defending."

All eyes in the hall turned to Gurney who stood a good distance away with Duncan. For once, he agreed with Lady Jessica. He appreciated Mildred's wanting to stand up for him, but the opinions of young, spoiled boys did not matter to him.

"Leto," her mother looked to her father. "Aren't you going to say anything."

For a moment her father was silent, but then a small smile appeared. "It's just a little duel. No harm in it. I was even younger when I participated in my first duel. If anything, you should be proud."

Jessica shook her head. "This is not the way to win a man's attention."

"Some men might like a little fight." Mildred said rather snarky.

"Mildred Atreides!" Her mother exclaimed before walking off.

Leto glanced over his shoulder at his concubine before turning back to his daughter. "You could go a little easy on her."

"You should the say the same to her."

"I've tried, Millie. I've tried. Now, do you know how the duel works?" He asked.

She nodded. "No blood shed. No shields. Someone must yield in order to win."

He gently cupped his daughter's cheek. "My money is on you."

"I'll try my best." She assured him before he motioned for Paul to follow him.

Per tradition, the duel would be held in front of everyone in attendance. Bets were allowed to be placed on who they thought would win. It was slightly nerve racking to think about all the eyes upon her, hoping she would lose. Very few would want her to win if she had to guess. When she turned around to face Gurney and Duncan they both bore different expressions.

Duncan looked quite entertained and as if he was stifling a laugh. Gurney looked very displeased. She walked to the both of them slowly, preparing for Gurney to yell at her. Instead he just told her to go change and meet them back down there. By chance, she had packed training clothes. While dueling in a dress would be quite a comical sight, it would prove to be difficult.

When she returned back downstairs she could see that Gurney still look displeased. Part of her was starting to regret ever saying a word to Zurkar about bloodlines. The last person she wanted upset by her was him. Duncan was still pacing around.

"Duncan," Gurney spoke. "Give us a moment."

Uh oh. Mildred remained frozen in her spot. She knew that he was mostly likely going to have a stern talking to. He would never yell at her given her status, but at least he could scold her. "I can't believe I'm agreeing with your mother, but she's right. I don't need defending. It doesn't matter to me that I was a slave and now I'm Warmaster."

"I understand that, but I can not have people speaking about members of my military or any of my staff in a negative manner. It's not right." She argued.

"Mildred, if you go around picking fights with everyone who discredits your people or you, you're going to have many conflicts on your hands."

"So, I should allow them to slander you? Then it appears I have no backbone."