About an hour later, Thufir and Jack began escorting the Bene Gesserit and the Spacing Guild towards the west pad.
It was silent, with only the sound of footsteps echoing.
'Wow... this is awkward,' Jack thought to himself as he walked in front of Mohiam and the Herald of Conflict, the awkward silence between them landing on Jack's nerves.
Soon, they reached the west pad.
The Sardaukar waiting outside stood in complete silence.
Jack glanced towards them and Duncan, who had stood out here to keep an eye on them, and Jack noticed some cracked masks on a few Sardaukar soldiers and a few cuts on Duncan's clothes.
For the moment Jack decided to ignore them as he turned to face Mohiam and The Herald of Conflict.
"By the grace of the empire, and the power of the guild, you shall have a safe journey," Jack said staring at them.
The Herald of Change nodded and was the first to move towards their ship.
The Navigators and representatives following behind him as they made their way towards the ship's ramp.
Mohiam stepped forward as well.
"You will learn," Mohiam said as she passed him.
"Adversity does not announce itself." The sisters quickly followed behind her.
'Well that is very ominous,' Jack thought to himself with a frown staring at them walking away.
The Sardaukar soldiers also began to climb the ramp.
Jack glanced towards Duncan who had walked closer to him and Thufir.
Seeing his ruffled hair and dirty face, Jack almost laughed.
"You look like you went through the grinder," Jack said.
"Did you see the other guys." Duncan replied as he laughed out loud, and Jack chuckled along.
Thufir on the other hand was very silent and serious.
"So how did the meeting go?" Duncan asked, and as Jack was going to respond, Thufir spoke.
"They were wasting our time."
Both eyes fell on Thufir and the atmosphere stalled a bit.
Jack became silent, his smile dropping a little.
"What do you mean?" Duncan asked, confused.
Jack glanced at Duncan.
"Mohiam either ignored clear evidence, or was very difficult, not wishing to even give any reasonable reparations, which is very odd of them to make a trip all the way here, get the Spacing guild involved, only to sink the discussions," Jack said.
Thufir nodded.
"Indeed, there is something odd about this visit..." Thufir muttered.
'But nothing happened,' Jack thought to himself.
'The problem is exactly that, nothing happened.
'Duncan was here as well, keeping a very close eye on the Sardaukar, ensuring they do not cause any trouble.'
Jack let out a sigh.
'What could their goals of coming here have possibly been...' Jack thought to himself.
....
Time quickly passed by.
Before dawn, Leto suddenly woke up.
His breathing was uneven.
Sitting up on his bed, he glanced around but nothing was out of the ordinary.
His mind relaxed a little as his back leaned on the bed support behind him.
A few moments passed as he sat there in silence, collecting himself.
Finally, his eyes moved to the clock at his bedside table.
"It's 4 am..." he muttered.
'I should get some more sleep' he thought to himself as he moved to lie on the bed, underneath the blanket.
He shut his eyes and tried to sleep, but sleep did not come.
Turning his head to the left he saw Jessica, peacefully asleep.
A small frown appeared on his lips.
He stared at her for many moments.
A strand of her hair had caught against her lips, he naturally raised his hand to remove the strand, his hand approaching close to her face.
His fingers were inches from her face when they froze.
His hand hovered close to her for a few moments before Leto quietly retracted his hand.
Rubbing his eyes a little he let out a sigh.
'It's going to be a long day... I should get a head start on some work before I leave for Landsraad later today' Leto thought to himself as he got out of bed.
...
At his desk, Leto stared at a document.
His eyes remained on the document, though his thoughts drifted elsewhere.
His jaw tightened as he set the paper down harder than he intended.
Bringing his hands towards his chin, he rested his forehead on them, staring down at his desk.
A moment later he looked up, his eyes determined as he activated his communicator.
"Thufir," Leto said.
He waited for a moment before Thufir confirmed he was listening.
"I want you to summon Jessica to my office," Leto said, ending the communication.
He sat there on his chair staring at the door in front of him in silence.
Several moments later, the door was pushed open and Jessica walked in.
"Thufir informed me that you wished to see me?" Jessica said as she approached Leto.
She stopped in front of his desk in silence.
Leto stared at her for many moments in complete silence before he spoke.
"I will be leaving for Landsraad in 4 hours. Do we still have no witness against the emperor?" Leto asked.
"None have broken," Jessica said.
Leto let out a sigh.
"Cova's death still troubles me," Leto said, staring at Jessica in silence.
"Death can come unexpectedly."
Leto was silent as he just stared at her.
"Yes... death can indeed come unexpectedly," Leto muttered.
Jessica was silent, unmoving, her eyes softened a little.
"Were you given a choice in the matter?" Leto suddenly asked, and Jessica was silent.
She knew.
She had known that Leto suspected her, and he finally confronted her.
She thought for a few moments before speaking.
"The choice was mine to make," She muttered.
Leto leaned back on his chair with a very deep breath.
His eyes were furious as they stared at Jessica. She didn't look away. But her eyes weren't cold.
More like they were... exhausted.
"Why?"
Jessica didn't answer immediately.
"Protection."
"Protection?"
"Yes"
Jessica nodded.
Leto glanced at her in silence.
Taking a deep breath in, he exhaled once more.
"Go." He said, pointing to the door.
Jessica was silent for a few moments, turning around, she quietly walked out of the room.
The door closed behind her.
Leto didn't move.
For a long time, he did not move.