Threats & Promises

1

Mornings on Caladan were cold and grey, the smell of the sea left a tang in the air.

Nera loved Caladan before the sun came up.

She had been sitting in silence in at the breakfast table with Lady Jessica for over eight painful minutes now. They would not eat until Duke Leto or Paul arrived. Nera sighed, looking at the fruit on her plate wishing Paul would finally appear.

Lady Jessica cleared her throat, clearly growing impatient. Such was the burden of noble women.

The carved wooden door slid open, and Paul Atreides entered wearily before slumping down into his seat beside Nera. His hair was a scruffy brown nest on his head.

"Morning." She whispered before popping a slice of pear into her mouth.

"Morning." Paul smiled, before looking dutifully to his mother who was eager to get something off her chest. He began playing with his food.

"I'm glad you're up early. Father wants you in full dress before the Emperor's herald arrives." Her voice was sharper than usual.

Clearly she was dreading this day just as much as Nera was.

Nera Vernius's entire family had been destroyed by the machinations of the Emperor and the Bene Gesserit. For generations, House Vernius ruled from their home world, the planet IX and specialized in technological innovations and held the manufacturing rights to the Heighliners of the Spacing Guild. They were an ancient bloodline and grew rich from their lucrative trading in technology and machinery. When Earl Dominic was a young man, he lent Ixian forces to the old Emperor in his hour of need, and the Emperor rewarded her family's loyalty by expanding Earl Dominic's fief to include several more planets.

However the Earl made a critical error in judgement when he fell in love with Lady Shando, a former concubine of the Emperor. They had met on Caladan, and knew at once they were meant for each other.

Although the Emperor had long since moved on to other concubines and released Lady Shando from his service, after the announcement of the marriage of Earl Dominic and Lady Shando, the Emperor was incensed with jealousy. House Vernius became the enemy of the Emperor and he spent years waiting for his retribution against the Earl.

Together the Earl and his lady welcomed their first two children. A daughter, Princess Kailea and son Prince Rhombur. Their life on Ix was blissfully content. They happily welcomed young Duke Leto Atreides to their home planet to study politics with their son Rhombur. Earl Dominic hoped for a match one day between Kailea and Leto, solidifying  his close ties with House Atreides for generations to come.

Thankfully, in passion of their teen years, Leto and Kailea formed a strong bond and naturally grew to love one another. At the same time, Lady Shando found her self pregnant again which came as a great surprise. After a long and difficult labor, she gave birth to another daughter, Nera. Their family was complete, but all would soon change.

Ixian engineers had developed a new Heighliner design with an even larger capacity, curtailing Imperial taxing which greatly reduced one of the Emperors largest streams of income, once again incurring his wrath.

The star of House Vernius was rising too high.

The Emperor sponsored a revolt against Ix, landing his Sardaukar forces in Vernii City. The Sardaukar stationed on Ix were operating completely under the Landsraad's radar, they were going to wipe out the House of Vernius once and for all.

To increase their chances of survival, the family split apart. Rhombur, Kailea and baby Nera were smuggled to Caladan under the protection and care of Leto's father Paulus Atreides. Earl Dominic took some Ixian troops who were still loyal to him and hid on Arrakis, while his beloved wife fled to Bela Tegeuse. Still weakened from a very difficult childbirth, she was easily tracked by the Sardaukar who hunted her down and executed her. Not long after receiving this news, Nera's father took his own life.