"For four weeks, I lived with the Fremen." Duncan explained to the group as they stood inside one of the meeting rooms inside the palace. "Hidden in the desert in a community called a sietch. Stilgar, the leader of that sietch, has come with me to meet you, sire."
"This...sietch, how it is hidden?" Leto asked.
"It's underground. Arrakis is filled with caverns." Duncan answered.
"How big was this place?" Paul asked curiously.
"I'd say 10,000 people. And there are hundreds of sietches."
Mildred's eyes widened. The number the Harkonnens had reported had been off greatly.
"Millions of Fremen." Leto spoke quietly.
"The Harkonnens estimate was 50,000 on the whole planet." Thufir told Leto.
"The Fremen watched me search for them for days." Duncan continued. "I never saw them. Finally, they sent a warrior out to kill me. And I gotta tell you, I have never been so close to dying before. They fight like demons."
"Desert power." Leto walked forward and shook Duncan's hand. "Well done."
"Sire," one of the guards interrupted the reunion. "The leader was a knife, he won't surrender it, sire."
Duncan looked back at Leto. "It's a crysknife. It's sacred to his people."
"Let him pass." Leto told the guard.
Mildred, Leto, Paul and the others went behind to stand at the table. She didn't know quite what to expect from the leader, Stilgar, but it wasn't what she pictured when he walked into the room. The first thing she noticed was the blue eyes followed by the confidence in his walk. He didn't even seem to care who was in the room. He wore a suit similar to Duncan's with a light, almost mesh cloth over it.
"Stop there!" Gurney yelled as he approached the table quickly. "Hey, hey!"
Her father raised his hand and all around Mildred heard the sound of swords unsheathing. Even she herself had wrapped her hand around her sword. The man studied the group for a moment, noting the similarities between Leto, Paul and Mildred. What he did next surprised all of them. He spit right on the floor just as her father welcomed him and Mildred tensed. Gurney lunged towards Stilgar, but was stopped by the sound of Duncan's voice.
"Hold! Thank you, Stilgar, for the gift of your body's moisture. We accept it in the spirit in which it was given." Duncan said before spitting himself.
Mildred didn't know if she wanted to laugh or be amazed. It would be incredibly disrespectful if she did laugh. It was just another long list of reminders about the scarcity of water on the planet.
"I'm glad you've come. I believe your people and mine have much to offer one another." Leto spoke again.
"No, no, you are outworlders. You come here for the spice, you take it, and give nothing in return." Stilgar said with the shake of the head.
"That's true." Paul spoke quietly.
"I know you've suffered at the hands of the Harkonnen. Name what you want. If it's in my power to grant it, I'll give it and ask for nothing." Leto said.
Mildred could see the disbelief, the untrusting look in the man's eyes. "My father is a man of his word."
Stilgar lifted his head to look at the young woman who spoke to him before adverting his eyes to the Duke. "I ask for this. Do not seek our sietches. Do not trespass in our lands. The desert was ours long before you came. So, come and dig your spice, but when you have it, go back to this side of the Shield Wall and leave the desert for the Fremen."
"You will address the Duke as 'my lord' or 'sire.'" Mildred could hear the annoyance in her husband's voice.
"Gurney, just a moment." Leto stopped him. "The Emperor has given me Arrakis as my fief to rule and protect. I cannot promise not to travel into the desert of duty compels me. But your sietches will be yours forever. And you will never be hunted while I govern here.
Stilgar pondered her father's words.
"That's very honorable." He said and then turned his eyes upon Mildred. He studied her for a second, a bit too much and everyone in the room picked up on it. She was young. Healthy. Beautiful. She would do and it could create an alliance. He muttered something in his native language, but no one understood it with the exception of Duncan.
Mildred's eyes shifted to Duncan who looked perplexed. "Duncan, what did he say?"
Duncan refused to look at her directly. "H-He wants to know if you...if you would like to be one of his wives?"
"Wives?" Mildred's voice croaked. Everyone in the room looked around shocked. She didn't even know what to say. Obviously, the answer would be no, but she couldn't feel her mouth in the moment.
Gurney stepped forward towards Stilgar. "She's spoken for."
"By you?" Stilgar asked the man.
"Yes." Gurney said rather harshly.
"My apologies." He said. "I must go then. That's all I have to say to you."
"Won't you stay?" Paul asked as Stilgar began to leave. "We could honor you."
"Paul..." Mildred trailed off.
Stilgar stopped walking and looked at Paul. "Honor requires that I be elsewhere."
He muttered something again in his native tongue and left. Mildred stood firmly planted. Despite the marriage proposal, she actually liked him and his bluntness.
"I don't like him." Gurney muttered.
A smile spread across her face. She could see the jealousy in his eyes. It was a rare look for him. She walked to him slowly. Mildred looked up at her husband who was still staring at the man leaving.
"You just don't like him, because he wished to marry me." She said with a sing song tone. "I found it flattering."
Gurney was trying so hard not to laugh in the room full of people. All he could do was look down at his wife with affection. "I would have fought him."
"Oh," she whispered. "I don't doubt it."
She listened intently as her father requested that Duncan go back to the Fremen and continued to strengthen the relationship between them. Although, he allowed Duncan to stay at the castle for a few nights before leaving. He was invited by some of the soldiers for drinks as were Paul and Mildred which they both agreed too.
"Mildred?" Paul asked just as she began to walked with Gurney and Duncan.
She nodded at the two to continue before waiting for Paul to catch up to her. "Yes?"
"I just wanted to see if you were okay." He asked and they trailed behind the group slowly.
"Shouldn't I be asking you the same?" She said with a small smile.
"Catching a hunter seeker and killing a man are different. What was it like, killing?"
Mildred stopped walking and glanced at her brother. Why was he so keen on knowing? She thought it was natural curiosity. He was still young. "It wasn't pleasant. It's not something I wish to do again."
Paul noted the glazed over look in her eyes and decided to drop the subject completely. He could see a change in his sister. Hell, he was changing everyday on Arrakis and it scared him. He couldn't help but wonder if she saw the change. If she saw the way she didn't smile as much or how rigid she seemed to stand at times. He suppressed anymore thoughts and chose to remain silent the rest of the way to the soldiers' quarters.
A group of them all sat outside one of the bunks. Some sat on buckets. Some sat on crates. All were eager to hear stories about Duncan's travels. Mildred sat on the ground next to Gurney. One of her arms laid carelessly across his thigh. Everyone of them insisted that she sat down in a chair, but she protested. She didn't mind sitting on the ground.
One of the men pulled out an amber bottle full of homemade liquor. It was strong in odor as it was passed around the group for each of them to pour into a mug. Mildred had her hand wrapped around the bottle and poured a small amount for her brother.
"If you tell mother that I'm giving you this, I'll tell her that I caught you kissing one of her handmaidens." Mildred half joked.
Paul's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."
"Oh, lighten up, Lady Mildred. You drank when you even younger than him. Do you not remember that one time when you, me and some of the other trainees snuck off to-" Duncan started to tell a story, but Mildred cut him off.
"You swore we would never speak of that again." She said sternly earning a curious look from both Gurney and Paul.
"I think I would like to hear this story." Gurney said with a smirk.
"It was really more of a game." Mildred assured him.
Duncan scoffed. "Yeah, a game. That's what we'll go with. We called it strip or drink. You spin the bottle. If it lands on you, you either remove a layer of clothing or drink. Mildred, being the lady she is, chose to drink instead. She ended up passing out at one point. I had to carry her to her room. Her parents were furious."
Her cheeks were burning bright red. "Alright. Enough embarrassing me, please."
"Here, this is for you." Duncan handed something that was wrapped up in cloth to Paul. He unwrapped it, but Mildred had no idea what it was. "It's a paracompass. The moons here have a magnetic field, so...a simple compass needle won't point north. Takes a clever piece of clockwork to sort it out."
"The Fremen make these?" Paul asked.
"And stillsuits, and sand compactors, and all kinds of ingenious things." Duncan told the group.
"What the hell is a sand compactor?" Gurney asked.
Duncan leaned down and pulled an odd shaped device out of his bag. "That is a sand compactor."
Gurney chuckled. "My God, man, you've gone native."
"You admire them." Paul observed.
Duncan nodded. "I do. They're fierce, but loyal. They're attuned to the desert. Part of it. It's part of them. Wait until you see it. It's beautiful out there."
"Well," Mildred said. "I say we raise a toast to Duncan Idaho. May you continue to strengthen the relationship between the Fremen and us."
"To Duncan!" Everyone shouted.
"Drink or strip, huh?" Gurney asked hours later as they walked back to their room.
"It's not as bad as it sounded. No one was ever completely naked." She told him.
"I found it rather entertaining actually. Maybe I would like to partake in that game with you." He teased her.
She laughed and shook her head. Then, she remembered to a few days ago, right before they left for Arrakis. It was probably part of the reason she was so sullen. She had seen one of Dr. Yueh's assistants for another scan to see if she was with child and she was not. The disappointment had followed her for days and she realized she had never told Gurney.
"I'm not pregnant." Mildred said quietly, not wanting others to hear their conversation.
Her sentence stunned him for a second. However, he could hear the disappointment in her voice. This would not be the time for him to joke. "Well, I figured if you were, you would have told me. These things take time."
She sighed and stopped walking to look up at him. "I know. I just....I don't know. People have been asking me when we're having a child and then Duncan made that joke..."
Gurney reached out to steady her. "Mildred, those opinions don't matter. This is something between you and I. Have you talked to your mother? I know the Bene Gesserit have experience with this."
"The last thing I want to talk to my mother about is my sex life. Besides, she would only want to know if you wished to have a son or daughter. She wouldn't care about me."
"You know I don't care. I would be happy with either."
She nodded. "I know. That's why you are the best husband."
"I don't know if I'm the best....but I would like to think I'm pretty damn good." He said with a smile before scooping her up in his arms causing her to squeal. He tapped her bottom playfully. "We at least have fun practicing."