I'll always be there

Chapter 2

"What's in the box," Paul questioned, fearing the worst.

"Pain," was all she said. Paul was right, this was going to be difficult. The Reverend Mother told him no guard would get past his mother standing outside the door.

"Why are you doing this?"

"An animal caught in a trap will gnaw off its own leg to escape. What will you do?"

He started to feel a slight tingling in his hand and the box was humming quietly. The test had started. It soon became worse. It went from tingling to itching to real pain. The humming intensified. Paul groaned, it felt like his hand had been stabbed. Zane was tense, almost feeling his brother's pain.

"Silence."

Paul was shaking intensely, tears in his eyes.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, his mother was reciting the litany against fear: "Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

His whole body was shaking, even his lips. By now it felt like his hand was burning. Then, though the pain was still there, he started having one of his dreams. He had to do something to get this lady to stop. He looked into the Reverend Mother's eyes sharing his vision.

Palm trees were on fire, a hand was touching the sand, and there were fires and flames, a hand that looked like it had been burnt, and then a hand dripping with blood holding a dagger.

"Enough." The pain stopped, the Gom Jabbar was withdrawn, and Paul was breathing heavily. She had stopped because she couldn't afford to let him figure out the Harkonnen's plan.

"Do not let your brother see your hand. He has to go through the test still," the Reverend Mother whispered to Paul as he retrieved his hand from the box. It was untouched. He stuffed it in his pockets before Zane could see.

"You inherit too much power," the Reverend Mother said plainly.

"What because I'm a duke's son?" Paul was angry, confused, rebellious and scared all at once.

"Because you are Jessica's son. You have more than one birthright, boy." Paul could hear the bitterness in her voice.

"Take the place of your brother. And you, come here. Kneel." Zane had been expecting her to do that. He walked over slowly and knelt. He would have done it without her using the Voice, but he presumed it was part of the test. He looked at her sternly. He would never forgive her for what she had done and would do to him and his brother.

"You are forbidden to use the voice." The Reverend Mother knew that Zane had more control over the Voice than Paul. She didn't want him to stop the test whenever he wanted. Zane nodded.

"Put your hand in the box." Zane looked back at his big brother. He had watched his brother suffer with nothing he could do about it and he hated every second of it. Paul nodded comforting his brother. He hated seeing his little brother in pain.

Zane slipped his hand in the box just like his brother. The Gom Jabbar was at his neck in an instant.

He had a sudden urge to slap the Reverend Mother but decided against it. His angry thoughts were cut out by a slight humming noise. The test had started again.

Zane didn't know what to expect except pain. It started with tingling and ended with burning. He was shaking, whimpering and almost crying. He had to find a way to do this.