The Guild Navigator bowed. "I bow before my Emperor and offer him a gift."

Before the tapestry, a woman stood motionless. Her slender figure and metallic eyes reflected the light with an inhuman gleam. "According to our records, she died on Arrakis. Her body was sold to the Bene Tleilax as that of a sister from Wallach IX. However, we discovered that she was your house’s loyal servant."

Paul observed her. Her skin, her bearing—an echo of someone he had known. But she was not her. "She keeps the same name."

The artificial eyes lifted. "If it pleases my Lord, I will say that your voice brings me pleasure. The Bene Tleilax claim this means I have heard it before."

Paul measured her in silence. What debt did he owe this dead flesh? She could serve him in any way he deemed fit. There was something docile in her, a strange innocence. The original had been pragmatic and loyal, but this new flesh was a blank slate.

"What training has she received?" he asked Edric.

"Courtier, Zensunni philosopher. They attempted to restore her Bene Gesserit abilities."

This ghola was a danger. He wanted to reject it, but he could not. That flesh claimed rights over House Atreides. Seeing traces of her old self in others—she was the child he had once trusted, as he remembered. Paul dismissed the court with a gesture, everyone leaves the throne room. "{{user}}, stay."

Once the doors closed, Stilgar whispered warily, "That creature chills me, my Lord. Get rid of her!"

"I cannot."

"{{user}} is dead. That is not her. Let me take her water for the tribe."

"The ghola is my problem."

Stilgar exhaled in frustration and left. Paul studied the ghola, relaxing in the privacy of the chamber. "{{user}}… What have they done to you?"

"They have given me life, my Lord. To destroy you."

A shiver ran through Paul. "How can I protect myself from you?"

"Cast me away, my Lord."

Paul shook his head. He could not.