Sorrow | Dune | Gurney Halleck

Chapter Thirty

It was hot. No, it was worse than hot. More like a fucking inferno. Fire licked all around her illuminating the night sky. The ground shook. A ball of fire shot across the sky aiming for a target. It's job was to destroy. Screams of fury and of pain could barely be heard over the explosions. Her legs were burning. She was running for her life. She wanted to stop. She wanted to look behind her, but she couldn't.

If she did, she would surely die. She could hear his words ringing in her ears. Run. Run! RUN! She didn't want to, but she had no choice. Her hand was around something. She looked down. A sword, the end of it dripping in blood. The hand wrapped around the hilt had blood splatters on it. Something covered her nose mouth! Her eyes widened. She tried to scream, but couldn't. All she could smell was a burning almost sulfur smell.

Mildred shot up in bed. A dream. It was only a dream. Her body was covered in thin sheet of sweat. Her heart was pounding against her chest. She looked over to her left where Gurney was sleeping peacefully. Good. She was scared she had woken him up. He needed all the sleep he could get too. She slowly slid out of bed, not bothering with slipping a robe over her nightgown.

She ambled to the balcony needing the fresh air. It was still dark outside. She could barely see the moonlight bouncing off the dark colored water. She took a deep breath in of the salty air and instantly found herself calming down. They left for Arrakis today. Meaning, this would be the last morning she spent on her home planet for a long time. Years perhaps. In hours they would leave for a planet much different than Caladan.

She felt arms around her and she leaned into Gurney's warmth. He didn't say anything for a while. He just stood there holding her. "Bad dream?"

"Yeah." She whispered.

"The same one?"

"Yes."

She heard him sigh from behind. He gazed out at the water just as she was doing. Like Mildred, he was feeling a mix of emotions as well. He was about to go to a planet where the people who enslaved him ruled. It left an almost bad taste in his mouth. He had hope though that Leto would do everything differently. She turned in his arms so she could rest her head against his chest.

These would be the last few moments of calm. In a matter of minutes those heading to Arrakis would have to wake up and ready themselves to leave. From there it would be chaos for the next few weeks while they took time to adjust to the new planet. She felt Gurney gently brush her hair with his hand and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Having second thoughts?"

"No...just...taking it all in." She said still half asleep.

"You aren't alone, you know that?" He asked.

"I know." She told him. "Are you going to be okay?"

He chuckled. "You don't need to worry about me, love. How about we go eat some breakfast?"

"That sounds like a wonderful suggestion." She agreed and took his hand in her's.

Their last breakfast on Caladan was simple. Since there would be no remaining members of the family staying, the kitchen staff has greatly reduced the amount of food available. She didn't mind. She barely ate a thing. After they finished eating they would return back to their rooms to get ready. The room was completely sparse now aside from the bed and the clothing that they would wear today.

Gurney would be dressed in the tradition armor while Mildred had opted for a beige dress with a halter neckline. It clasped at the neck with a metal clasp and left her shoulders and most of her back bare. They had been warned of how much sand could fly around and recommended some sort of head covering. She only covered her hair and neck though. As soon as both of them finished getting dressed, Sara entered the room teary eyed.