rights?'
'My duties as High Priest are clear. The Holy Church of the Divided God will -'
'M'Lord Tuek! I am trying very hard to maintain the necessary courtesies. What I do is for your benefit as well as our own. The actions we have taken -'
'Actions? What actions?' The words were pressed from Tuek with a hoarse grunting. These terrible Bene Gesserit witches! Tleilaxu behind him and a Reverend Mother in front! Tuek felt like a ball in a fearsome game, bounced back and forth between terrifying energies. Peaceful Rakis, the secure place of his daily routines, had vanished and he had been projected into an arena whose rules he did not fully understand.
'I have sent for the Bashar Miles Teg,' Odrade said. 'That is all. His advance party should arrive soon. We are going to reinforce your planetary defenses.'
'You dare to take over -'
'We take over nothing. At your own father's request, Teg's people redesigned your defenses. The agreement under which this was done contains, at your father's insistence, a clause requiring our periodic review.'
Tuek sat in dazed silence. Waff, that ominous little Tleilaxu, had heard all of this. There would be conflict! The Tleilaxu wanted a secret agreement setting melange prices. They would not permit Bene Gesserit interference.
Odrade had spoken of Tuek's father and now Tuek wished only that his long-dead father sat here. A hard man. He would have known how to deal with these opposing forces. He had always handled the Tleilaxu quite well. Tuek recalled listening (just as Waff listened now!) to a Tleilaxu envoy named Wose... and another one named Pook. Ledden Pook. What odd names they had.
Tuek's confused thoughts abruptly offered up another name. Odrade had just mentioned it: Teg! Was that old monster still active?
Odrade was speaking once more. Tuek tried to swallow in a dry throat as he leaned forward, forcing himself to pay attention.
'Teg will also look into your on-planet defenses. After that rooftop fiasco -'
'I officially forbid this interference with our internal affairs,' Tuek said. 'There is no need. Our Priest Guardians are adequate to -'
'Adequate?' Odrade shook her head sadly. 'What an inadequate word, given the new circumstances on Rakis.'
'What new circumstances?' There was terror in Tuek's voice.
Odrade merely sat there staring at him.
Tuek tried to force some order into his thoughts. Could she know about the Tleilaxu listening back there? Impossible! He inhaled a trembling breath. What was this about the defenses of Rakis? The defenses were excellent, he reassured himself. They had the best Ixian monitors and no-ships. More than that, it was to the advantage of all independent powers that Rakis remain equally independent as another source of the spice.
To the advantage of everyone except the Tleilaxu with the damnable melange overproduction from their axlotl tanks!
This was a shattering thought. A Tleilaxu Master had heard every word spoken in this audience chamber!
Tuek called on Shai-hulud, the Divided God, to protect him. That terrible little man back there said he spoke also for Ixians and Fish Speakers. He produced documents. Was that the 'new circumstances' of which Odrade spoke? Nothing remained long hidden from the witches!
The High Priest could not repress a shudder at the thought of Waff: that round little head, those glittering eyes; that pug nose and those sharp teeth in that brittle smile. Waff looked like a slightly enlarged child until you met those eyes and heard him speak in his squeaky voice. Tuek recalled that his own father had complained of those voices: 'The Tleilaxu say such terrible things in their childish voices!'
Odrade shifted on her cushions. She thought of Waff listening out there. Had he heard enough? Her own secret listeners certainly would be asking themselves that question now. Reverend Mothers always replayed these verbal contests, seeking improvements and new advantages for the Sisterhood.
Waff has heard enough, Odrade told herself. Time to shift the play.
In her most matter-of-fact tones, Odrade said: 'M'Lord Tuek, someone important is listening to what we say here. Is it polite that such a person listen secretly?'
Tuek closed his eyes. She knows!
He opened his eyes and met Odrade's unrevealing stare. She looked like someone who might wait through eternity for his response.
'Polite? I... I...'
'Invite the secret listener to come sit with us,' Odrade said.
Tuek passed a hand across his damp forehead. His father and grandfather, High Priests before him, had laid down ritual responses for most occasions, but nothing for a moment such as this. Invite the Tleilaxu to sit here? In this chamber with... Tuek was reminded suddenly that he did not like the smell of Tleilaxu Masters. His father had complained of that: 'They smell of disgusting food!'
Odrade got to her feet. 'I would much rather look upon those who hear my words,' she said. 'Shall I go myself and invite the hidden listener to -'
'Please!' Tuek remained seated but lifted a hand to stop her. 'I had little choice. He comes with documents from Fish Speakers and Ixians. He said he would help us to return Sheeana to our -'
'Help you?' Odrade looked down at the sweating priest with something akin to pity. This one thought he ruled Rakis?
'He is of the Bene Tleilax,' Tuek said. 'He is called Waff and -'
'I know what he is called and I know why he is here, M'Lord Tuek. What astonishes me is that you would allow him to spy on -'
'It is not spying! We were negotiating. I mean, there are new forces to which we must adjust our -'
'New forces? Oh, yes: the whores from the Scattering. Does this Waff bring some of them with him?'
Before Tuek could respond, the audience chamber's side door opened. Waff entered right on cue, two Face Dancers behind him.
He was told not to bring Face Dancers! Odrade thought.
'Just you!' Odrade said, pointing. 'Those others were not invited, were they, M'Lord?'
Tuek lifted himself heavily to his feet, noting the nearness of Odrade, remembering all of the terrible stories about the Reverend Mothers' physical prowess. The presence of Face Dancers added to his confusion. They always filled him with such terrible misgivings.
Turning toward the door and trying to compose his features into a look of invitation, Tuek said: 'Only... only Ambassador Waff, please.'
Speech hurt Tuek's throat. This was worse than terrible! He felt naked before these people.
Odrade gestured to a cushion near her. 'Waff is it? Please come and sit down.'
Waff nodded to her as though he had never seen her before. How polite! With a gesture to his Face Dancers that they remain outside, he crossed to the indicated cushion but stood waiting beside it.
Odrade saw a flux of tensions move through the little Tleilaxu. Something like a snarl flickered across his lips. He still had those weapons in his sleeves. Was he about to break their agreement?
It was time, Odrade knew, for Waff's suspicions to regain all of their original strength and more. He would be feeling trapped by Taraza's maneuverings. Waff wanted his breeding mothers! The reek of his pheromones announced his deepest fears. He carried in his mind, then, his part of their agreement - or at least a form of that sharing. Taraza did not expect Waff really to share all of the knowledge he had gained from the Honored Matres.
'M'Lord Tuek tells me you have been... ahhh, negotiating,' Odrade said. Let him remember that word! Waff knew where the real negotiation must be concluded. As she spoke, Odrade sank to her knees, then back onto her cushion, but her feet remained positioned to throw her out of any line of attack from Waff.
Waff glanced down at her and at the cushion she had indicated for him. Slowly, he sank onto his cushion but his arms remained on his knees, the sleeves directed at Tuek.
What is he doing? Odrade wondered. Waff's movements said he was embarked on a plan of his own.
Odrade said: 'I have been trying to impress upon the High Priest the importance of the Atreides Manifesto to our mutual -'
