He sat in silence for several moments, his breathing a little laboured.
His eyes flashed towards Mohiam and he spoke.
"He will be dead tomorrow morning, correct?" He asked.
Mohiam was silent for a moment.
"Estimates say he will not live through the morning," She said but paused.
'Perhaps... he delays his death, if Jessica taught him well... but that is only reliant on the fact that he knows,' she thought to herself.
"Good"
Mohiam was silent for a few moments as it hovered on Shaddam's face.
'In case,' She thought to herself before speaking.
"I suggest we set up a backup," Mohiam said.
"Back up...?" Shaddam muttered to himself before he nodded.
"Indeed, a backup must be se —"
He was mid speech when his communicator buzzed, interrupting him.
"Emperor Shaddam, this is Minister Ivae. House Ecaz has just informed us that distributions of CHOAM product in Galaxy's under their jurisdiction are going to be frozen due to —"
Another voice buzzed in, cutting Minister Ivae off.
"Emperor Shaddam, this is Minister Lins speaking. House Vernius has announced that production on several major contracts has been delayed due to —"
Another voice buzzed informing him that House Richese has also announced delays.
A fourth, then a fifth and they kept going as more voices appeared informing him that several major transactions amongst the minor houses have been put on hold, until the heads can return to manage the houses.
Silently, his hand moved towards his communicator and he silenced it.
'They are trying to force my hand' Shadddam thought before letting out a sigh.
"It's okay..."
"Inform them of the meeting being set for tomorrow —"
Meanwhile, outside the throne room.
A man was quickly walking.
Beads of sweat were dropping from his brow.
Appearing in front of the door he tried to rush in but was stopped by the guards stationed outside when they saw his appearance.
His breathing a little uneven, he glanced at the guards.
"Move out of the way!" He exclaimed, yet the guard remained unmoved.
"I bring urgent news to the emperor! move out of the way!" He shouted to the two guards blocking his way with the extended swords pointed at him.
A moment of silence passed as the two guards glanced towards each other and then back at the man.
They hesitated for a moment before they withdrew their swords.
Inside the throne room, just as Shaddam was ordering Mohiam, the large doors were pushed open with force.
The messenger burst into the room, quickly startling both Shaddam and Mohiam.
"Guards!" he exclaimed in surprise.
The two guards, almost on instinct rushed in and grabbed the man, swiftly pinning him to the ground.
Holding the messenger down, one of the guards eyes widened.
'Didn't we just let him in...' The thought crossed his mind as he glanced towards the other guard who seemed to have had the same realization dawn on him.
'We are...' the guard did not dare to complete the thought.
"Your Majesty, the houses have announced that the Landsraad convenes in three hours!" The messenger exclaimed as he resisted the pressure of the guard pushing his head down.
Shaddam froze for a moment.
He was dazed for a few moments as he stared blankly at the wall in the distance.
"Let... let him go," Shaddam muttered.
The guards released the messenger and stood up.
"Leave" Shaddam muttered and the guards bowed and turned to leave the room.
The Messenger quietly stood up and dusted his dress for a moment before approaching closer to the throne.
Shaddam was silent as he quietly stared at the messenger.
"I am sorry to burst in like that, your majesty," he apologised. "We were not able to get in contact with you through your communicator," he said, meanwhile Shaddam kept staring at him in silence.
He gulped a little as a feeling of nervousness appeared in his stomach.
"Count Fenring had received the notice and immediately tried to contact you, but could not reach you due to too many communicators trying to communicate at once, so he reached out to the control room, and I rushed here as soon as possible," he said.
Shaddam remained silent for several moments before he took a deep breath in and exhaled.
'Those bastards...' the thought flashed through his head.
"You can leave" Shaddam said as the messenger nodded.
As the messenger exited the room, Shaddam glanced at Mohiam.
"It seems the backup must be arranged immediately."
Mohiam's gaze lingered on Shaddam.
"He is accelerating," she said quietly.
'That is not the action of a man who expects to live.' She thought to herself.
'He must have figured it out somehow...'
'But is it more beneficial to let him live...' Mohiam thought to herself as her eyes hovered on Shaddam.
In the end, she decided not to mention it.
...
Paul silently walked through the dim hallway into the Landsraad hall of Ortario.
'Feels like it's been forever since I was back here' he thought to himself.
Thufir walked behind Paul, a small frown hung on his face.
Duncan noticed the frown and wanted to ask, but could not as they stepped into the well-lit hall.
Just like the first time, murmurs quietened down as Paul's eyes glanced around the large hall.
Several rows filled with people.
Except this time, Heads of all houses, no matter the standing filled the stands instead of representatives.
Paul's eyes landed on Count Fenring, who was no longer sitting on the highest position, but rather he was seated in the stands near House Harkonnen.
'Even now, the Baron did not come' Paul thought to himself as his eyes lingered on House Harkonnen's stand.
He noticed Feyd intently staring at him, but put that in the back of his mind.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed his mind.
He slowly walked towards the center of the hall and noticed Mohiam quietly observing him.
His eyes moved to the right, a little past the empty central pillar, and it landed on the Vorn who had come to represent the sapcing of the guild.
House Richese and several other Houses that had signed to begin this meeting were slightly nervous as they sat in their own sections watching Paul.
Paul's eyes hovered towards the central platform, finally.
'Where is he?' Paul thought to himself as he stood there in silence.