Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Chapter 1: My Own Prisoner

I was sleeping peacefully in my room when someone, in all black, entered. I didn’t realize until I had woken up, with my hands tied behind my back and my body tied to a seat in, what felt like, a plane. I also had a blindfold on and a T-Rex tape gag over my mouth. I groaned as I woke.
I couldn’t see, nor could I speak. But, I could hear others in the plane with me. I pulled at my restraints a little and one of the guys looked over and removed my blindfold. What I saw made my stomach contract. In front of me was a tall, burly man in all black, and I thought I saw a scar on the man’s face.
The man reached down and took a corner of my gag.
“Don’t scream,” he said.
I nodded and my tape was ripped off. I groaned through a closed mouth.
After the man went back to the front, I asked, “What are you going to do with me?”
The man next to me slapped me across the face and said, “Just because we took off your gag, that doesn’t mean you can talk.”
I glared at the man and tried to get out of my restraints. It was only then when I realized my hands were crossed behind me. I felt absolutely helpless. I had trained to get out of bindings, but not when my hands were crossed and the wire was sharp and rusty. I was afraid, for sure, because I knew I was so massively screwed. I refused to speak the rest of the way.
When we landed on the launchpad, the door opened and I was shoved forward. All the Harkonnens looked at me and I heard things like, “Prince”, “Atreides kid”, “Young Duke”, and “Son of Duke Leto”. I was too angry to be sad about how un-princely I felt. They were all Harkonnens. Of course, they wouldn’t call me by name. I was kinda foreign to them.
When I was fully off the plane, I saw Baron Harkonnen, the leader of this monstrosity of a kingdom. I was brought closer and forced to my knees at his feet. I couldn’t use the voice to make them let me go, because, 1) I didn’t know how, and 2) they had gagged me again, this time, with black cloth. I looked at Baron's ugly face, wanting to punch that venomous smirk right off. He reached down and pulled my cloth gag out of my mouth.
“Paul Atreides,” he said, “My grandson. It is a pleasure to see you, young man.”
My blood boiled in my ears, I could hear the sarcasm in his voice. I knew he wasn’t happy to see me specifically, but he was happy to see the young duke, the prince of the Atreides Family, on his knees, at the Emperor's feet. To him, it must’ve seemed as if I was submitting to him, which I was not about to do.
“I’m sure you have many questions,” he continued.
“Just one,” I answered, “Why have I been brought here? One of your guards took me, in my sleep, blindfolded me, bound my wrists, and gagged me. What do you want with me?”
Baron’s mouth contorted into a smile.
“Why, I want your father,” he mused, “of course.”
“Then, why take me?” I had to ask.
“Because,” Baron said, “The only way to truly hurt your father… is to threaten your life.”
Baron gestured to his guards and I felt their hands grab my arms and haul me up. They, then, gave me a shove and I was escorted down a steep set of stairs, into a hallway of cells. The guards stopped me in front of one that seemed fairly large. They untied my wrists and again, I was shoved into the cell, and I fell on my side. I saw them lock the door and leave the cell hall. I was left to drown in my own humiliation.
When I say humiliation, I mean it, as literal as it can be. Before Baron took over this kingdom, it was going to be my father’s. But, he lost it in a fair fight. This is the only reason it was humiliating. I was basically a prisoner in my own dungeon. I felt like a disgrace to my family, even though we didn’t run the monstrosity this kingdom became. I still felt like my father would disown me for letting this happen. I sat against the back wall, and hugged my knees into my chest. It was going to be a while before my father got here. All I could really do… was wait. Wait. Wait.

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Chapter 2: Prince’s Hell

     I was unaware of how long I had been in my cell, or how long I had been asleep. Sleeping, leaning against a wall was messing with my back and my neck. I was sure I’d get a stiff neck if I kept tilting my head towards the wall.
     The door to my cell opened and I could do nothing to fight back, when I felt hands grab me. They closed around my arms and I was dragged out of my cell. My eyes were open the whole time so I knew where I was going.
     The hallway was as narrow as I remembered, but when he got to a set of double doors, one of the men that grabbed me, opened the door, and they both dragged me into a room.
     “Bring him to my side.” said the unmistakable voice of Baron.
     The two men brought me to Baron’s side. When he snapped, a hand came over my mouth and the other held one of my arms behind my back. I was left with one hand to pull at this guy's hand. Another man was holding a knife… no… a dagger to my throat. I had no hope of getting free, without knowing I could die. I knew my life would be hell until my father came, if I lived that long.
     Baron made another motion and I was turned to face him. Another prisoner was brought in. I didn’t know this man, but I knew he wasn’t a Harkonnen. Nor was he an Atreides though.
“Paul,” said Baron, “This is one of the decisions you can make. Do we kill this prisoner or let him go?”
    I looked at the man in front of us. His eyes were pleading with me. I didn’t know him, so I shouldn’t have cared.
    He said, “Please, Young Duke Atreides. Don’t let them kill me. I’m just a poor refugee. Please, Duke. I don’t want to die.”
     I pulled at the man’s hand on my mouth. Once it came off I said, “Let him go.” The man looked at me with gratitude while everyone else gave me a confused look.
    “Let him go?” asked Baron, “Why should we?”
    I explained how I didn’t know him, but he was doing what he could for his family. Baron must’ve remembered what it was like to have family, because he snapped his fingers, the hand came back over my mouth, and he let the man go. I exhaled in relief.
    Baron ordered the men to take me back to my cell. The man holding me removed his hand from my mouth, brought my free arm behind my back, and forced me back into the direction of my cell. I was led back down that same narrow hallway.
    When we arrived, one of the guards opened the door and I was shoved back inside. I was so crushed that I could do nothing, but wait until my father came for me. He must’ve known I was missing by now.
    I began praying that my father would find me soon. Even though my prayers were in vain, I still kept going. I knew that the gods would hear me at some point. I decided to try and get some sleep before the men came back to grab me again. Sleep was the one thing not in vain, because I actually used the bed in my cell.
    I had no idea how long I had slept for. The fact that I didn’t wake up once, must have meant I was tired. What woke me, was the guard that took me from my room, opening my cell. I was too tired to fight back when I was grabbed, bound, and gagged by another man. Then they both dragged me out of my cell and escorted me up the steps to the double doors.
    This time I was led to a dimly lit room. There was a table and two chairs. One of the chairs had restraints on them. When I was untied, I was forced into the chair. And when I tried to reach up to ungag myself, one of the men held my arm down and strapped it to the chair, while the other did the same with my other arm. Then the man who got my first arm held my shoulders to the back of the chair while the other strapped my head in. I wanted to tell them to remove my gag, but without my mouth in the first place, I couldn’t do much.
    There were now four Harkonnen guards with me as opposed to two, one of them I have never seen before. That is the one that came over and removed my gag, and I let a pained “Ow” escape me. The guard folded the strip, threw it away, and grabbed a new one. When I was worried he would put it over my mouth, I was surprised that all he did was stick it to the edge of the table.

     “It seems that you know when to hold your tongue.” said the guard, “Are you ready to listen?”
    “Yes.” I responded, “on one condition, you tell me why you didn’t just take my father. If he’s who you want, why did you take me?”
    “Fair question,” said the guard, “You are easier to capture than your father. And now that we have you, we can convince your father to come.”
    I was scared now. They were just using me as bait for my father? Why was I always the target? This whole house wanted my father, but they decided to use me, as a reason, for my father to have someone to die for.
    My life was going to be bargained for. And the only thing my father could do was give his own life in exchange. This was madness. Either me or my father, and there was nothing I could do about it. 
     If my guards were here, there may have been something I could do about it. But, now… I was helpless, hopeless, and most shameful of all, useless.

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***POV change***

I felt something was wrong when I woke up. My brother wasn’t in our bed, yes we slept together, and my father was yelling at my teachers. I knew something was up if my father was ballsy enough to yell at the witches.
“Father,” I said, “Where is Paul?”
My father looked at me and I could swear his eyes calmed when they met mine. He knelt in front of me and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Emma,” he said sadly, “your brother has been taken…”
Now that got my attention.
“Taken?” I said, “Like, taken hostage?”
“Yes,” said my father, almost in tears, “I’m trying to organize a rescue party, but the witches don’t want to help.”
“Let me,” I insisted. Paul was my brother. He was my family and I was young, but not weak.
My father told me I would not be going on this rescue mission. I was very confused as to the reason. I’ve suffered far worse than kidnapping before. I should be able to handle a rescue mission.
“Father,” I began.
“Emma, please,” said my father, “This is dangerous. It is too hazardous for someone your age.”
“FATHER,” I nearly yelled using the voice, and my eyes turned from blue to purple, “If I passed the Gom Jabbar, when I was eight, I should be able to handle a rescue mission.”
My father look at me, then to my mother, across the room, then gave me a puzzled look.
“The what? When you were, how old?”
“The Gom Jabbar,” I restated, “when I was eight.”
Mother looked down in sorrow. Father didn’t know that Mother had put me through that. He pulled me into his arms, and told me to stay close to Duncan and Gurney. I widened my eyes and said, “Father?”
“You must bring Paul home,” said my father.
I curtsied to him in a form of respect, changed out of my nightgown, into my formal wear, got into Duncan and Gurney’s crawler and we went to find Paul. The wretched Harkonnons were not getting away with this. Not now, not ever.

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The crawler came to a stop as we arrived at the Harkonnen Kingdom. I was a little anxious as we got out of the crawler. I was worried we wouldn’t find Paul here. Or worse, I was worried that he would be killed right in front of us. Or what if he already was?
No. I couldn’t think like that. He was alive, he had to be. I don’t know what I would do if he wasn’t. Plus, I could feel him here. If he was dead, I wouldn’t be able to.
Gurney put a hand on my shoulder and said “Emma, you are the only one who knows magic. Can you cloak us?”
“I can try.” I said.
I did a cloaking spell as everyone gathered around me. I could only do it if we stayed close together. So, splitting up to find Paul was out of the question.
We began to walk through the Harkonnens kingdom. I was going to find my big brother, whatever it took.

Paul POV
My hands were now chained above my head and I was nearly hanging off my feet. So every interrogation I had was a blessing, because at least my arms were down. Today, I had no such luck.
As I dangled, I was sweating like a dog, my head hung down to my chest and I was so tired I just wanted to sleep. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t fall asleep.
When my door opened, I lifted my head and saw my grandfather enter. He floated over to me and I stared at him as defiantly as I could.
“You’re sleepy, my grandson.” The Baron said as he placed a hand on my cheek. I jerked my head away.
“Why do you care?” I managed to croak.
The Baron snapped his fingers and a flask was brought forward, held up to my lips, and poured, little by little, into my mouth. After the first two sips, I began to cough, but I recovered quickly, and accepted whatever I was given. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to give me the strength to keep my head up.
“You know I won’t talk.” I said.
“You won’t have to,” said the Baron, “You’ll be screaming.”
The Baron floated aside, and another Harkonnon came forward with some sort of weapon. It wasn’t until it was too late that I realized it was a crysknife.
The blade cut my side. I resisted screaming since that’s what they wanted. They then slashed my shoulder and I let out a small groan, as I felt my strength leaving again. Another Harkonnon came forward with some type of baton. They thrust it into my stomach, I involuntarily convulsed, and I couldn’t hold it back anymore, I found myself screaming. They were electrocuting me. All because I wouldn’t talk.
They tortured me for, what felt like, hours. In reality, it might have been only a few minutes. Baron floated in front of me and used his finger to lift my head to look at him. I was slowly blacking out from the pain, and my throat was burning from screaming.
“We are going to let you down,” he said, “but we will keep your hands tied. Understood?”
“As long as my arms are let down,” I responded with a parched throat, “I couldn’t understand more.”
The Baron smiled evilly, and his guards let me down, I fell, and my arms were retied behind my back. I felt the blood rush back into my arms and that was a relief. Even though my wrists were still tied, at least my arms were down. And oddly, I was given a few more sips of water.
The Baron locked my cell, and I heard him whisper to his guards, “Set up for his execution.” I didn’t care if my father came anymore. I wanted to escape from all this hell. I wanted to wake up from this nightmare I was living. And the only way to do that was to die and wake up in Heaven. So I guess you can say, I wanted to die.

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Hey everybody, I’m working on Chapter 5 now. It’s coming. Very slowly, but it is coming. I know it says Chapter 5, but this is just a note from me.

Chapter Text

Emma POV
We were all walking around the halls. I was keeping everyone around me cloaked as I guided them through the kingdom. I could feel my brother, somewhere within. His presence was faint, but it was there. I couldn’t turn back. I’ve come too far.
Duncan whispered to me, “How close are we?”
“Not much farther,” I responded, “We should be five cells away from him.”
We walked a few more meters and suddenly I saw it. I saw a boy, with curly black hair, a beige shirt, and black pants, with ropes around his wrists. I knew that could only be one person. It was my brother. It was Paul.
I used my magic to unlock the cell and quietly open it.
“Paul?” I said, reaching my hand forward. Once I touched him he flinched. “It’s okay, brother. It’s just me. It’s Emma.”
Paul’s eyes opened to mere slits. He looked up at me, and I could swear that I saw a look of recognition in his face.
“Emma,” he croaked, “You have to get out. Baron, he’ll kill you.”
“He doesn’t know I’m here. I promise.” I said.
I went to untie my brother, when a group of Harkonnens came in behind us. I didn’t notice until I heard Duncan say “Emma…”
I turned and saw Gurney held at gunpoint, Duncan being held back, and a gun pointed at my chest.
“What you were about to do,” said the Harkonnen pointing the gun at me, “I’d advise against it.”
Another Harkonnon came behind me, and I heard Paul grunt, as he was grabbed and hauled to his feet. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. I couldn’t tell if they were worried about me or disappointed in me. They may have been worried about Paul.
The Harkonnon holding my brother said, “Paul, you get to choose who we kill first. Your sister, your swordsman, or your war master?”
“If I don’t choose?” Paul wheezed back.
“Then we kill them all,” said the Harkonnen, “then we kill you.”

Paul POV
My heart plunged into my stomach when he threatened to kill my family, before they killed me. Who was I supposed to choose? I didn’t want any of them to die, and I wasn’t one of the options.
I looked at Gurney, then at Duncan, then at my sister. I built up courage and said “Kill Gurney.”
Gurney pulled at the man’s arm around his neck.
The man holding me said, “Ah, interesting, you seem to care more about the swordsman and even more about the princess.”
He nodded to the man holding the gun at Emma’s chest. Without warning, the man aimed at Emma’s stomach and fired. I heard a loud grunt from Emma as she collapsed against the wall.
“NO!” I screamed as I wrenched my arms free and went to my sister’s side. She was on the ground now. And with my hands tied, I couldn’t hold where she was bleeding from. I could do nothing to help her, she and I were both helpless.

Chapter Text

I struggled to free my bound hands so that I could apply pressure to Emma’s wound. But, any movement from my wrists, shot pain through my entire body. She was bleeding out, and groaning, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I glared at the man who shot her, and his gun was now pointed right at my face.
“You shall pay for this,” I sneered, “I swear. You shall all pay.”
I heard a weak “Paul” from below me, then I felt Emma’s hand touch my knee.
I closed my eyes and using the voice, I said, to the man behind me “Untie me.”
He untied my wrists and I was able to hold Emma’s hand while putting my other hand on her wound.
“Paul…” she wheezed, “I’m gonna die, aren’t I?”
Hearing those words come out of her mouth, my heart dropped. I never thought I would hear anyone ask that. But my sister, of all people, that was on another level of… of… of insane.
“No,” I said, as calmly as I could manage, “You’re going to be okay. Alright? I promise.” I held out my hand to her hand not on my knee and said “Do you trust me?”
She grasped my hand and said “Always…”
Out of desperation, I ripped off a sleeve of my sweat soaked shirt, and tied it around her wound. I had learned how to do this, in case an infirmary was not available. Since this was an emergency, I didn’t see another choice. I tied the sleeve around her wound and knotted it where it needed pressure. Emma winced, then calmed down. It was very makeshift, but at least, she wouldn’t bleed out.
The Harkonnon’s pulled Gurney and Duncan out of my cell, and locked Emma in with me. Emma's eyes fluttered closed, but I willed myself not to panic, and just sat there holding her. Since some of my family came, my father must have been on his way. I still had to wait, but my sister’s wound was not bleeding out, and I was no longer bound. Time seemed to stop, and I was just there with Emma. Little did I know, this moment of peace wouldn’t last for very long.
Baron Harkonnon came into view a short time later. I heard his venomous laugh when he saw Emma, unconscious, in my arms. He entered my cell and said “Such a pity. She got killed trying to save her brother.”
“She isn’t dead!” I shouted, “She’s just…” I didn’t know how to finish the thought.
The Baron snapped his fingers and two of his guards pulled me away from Emma, while two others grabbed her arms.
Baron looked at me and said “I’ll have to fix that.”
What did he mean by “fix”? Was he going to take her someplace to kill her? Was he gonna patch her up with something better than a sweaty sleeve? I don’t know.
I prayed my father would come soon. He had to save me. He had to save Emma. He had to save all of us.