Madness and Retribution (cca. 10,124)

[Shalandra Corrino]

The perfect sky of the capitol planet was darkening as evening approached and the citizens of Kaitain City were beginning to filter home from their jobs, returning either to either the quiet company of family and friends or a night of alcohol-fuelled indulgence in one of the many fine nightspots which the sprawling metropolis boasted. Even as the lights began to wink out in the various offices and places of business though the Imperial Palace blazed with the brilliance of a miniature city which never slept. Indeed no matter what the time of day or night there was always work to be done in the Corrino household, and the current hour saw a flurry of activity as busy staff hurried around making ready for the night's entertainment and festivities. The royal family would be playing host to a number of important dignitaries from across the Imperium on this, the anniversary of Emperor Elrood's asseccion to the throne and there was much to do. The Emperor himself was currently enjoying the attentions of his favourite concubines who would spend several hours ensuring that his highness was washed, moisturised and perfumed ready for the banquet ahead. Other members of the court were similarly engaged in preparations, all except for one.

Shalandra Corrino, sister of the Emperor and Princess Royal of Kaitain, had not even changed out of her daywear yet. Indeed as the light outside faded the princess had not even thought to turn on one of the many glowglobes which drifted about the ceiling of her richly appointed chambers. Anyone entering would have found Shalandra seated behind her fine varnished writing desk, a look of such twisted fury and hatred marring her face that it would have likely made a Sardaukar warrior flinch. Clenching and unclenching her fingers, adding yet more scratches to the exquisitely finished surface of the desk and more scuffs to her delicately painted nails, an astute observer would have instantly likened her to a hungry predator flexing its claws. Shalandra was an attractive woman, in a slightly wild untamed sort of way, and in her younger years had attracted no small number of suitors from among the young men of the Landsraad. To look at her now though was to realise why those offers of marriage had long since dried up, and why the Emperor would be unlikely to be welcoming any nephews or nieces into the royal household in the future. The Princess Royal was a woman insane and it was never more obvious than now.

To understand the source of her current fury one needed to go back around half an hour. Shalandra, after a light snack and some time playing with her beloved cats Raphael and Fondil, had received a visitor in the form of Lindberg Ridondo. Ridondo worked under the Emperor's chamberlain Horance de Lanier and was a regular fixture about the Palace. An oily and shifty little man, he had a habit of appearing from the shadows without warning and was quite rightly suspected by many of being de Lanier's eyes and ears among the staff in the Palace's lower levels where the white-suited chamberlain would not dream of setting foot. This time though he had chosen to impart information not to his superior, but directly to Princess Shalandra, for what he had seen concerned her most especially.

"And you are certain of this?" hissed the princess, her head to one side and mouth in one of her characteristic lop-sided smiles even as her dark eyes bored into the bureaucrat's soul.

"Absolutely, majesty" continued Ridondo, "I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears. Your lady in waiting, I definitely saw her in the linen store although she did not see me. I had it in my mind to investigate there after reports of servants helping themselves to bedding and the like, and I most certainly heard her speaking into a small portable recorder of some kind. She was addressing a Reverend Mother and your name was mentioned. Just before I left she also spoke about recording more tomorrow after the banquet".

"Thank you, Mr Ridondo" replied Shalandra, almost forcing the words out as if against the urge to scream, "You have done well to bring this information to me personally rather than unnecessarily involving other members of the court. Should it prove accurate you can be assured that I will be recommending your promotion the next time I have the chamberlain's ear."

Since then she had been sitting glowering behind her desk awaiting the return of Kaylynn Langerak, the trusted servant whose help in shielding her from the attentions of the hated Bene Gesserit sisterhood she had hoped she could rely on. Shalandra had taken Kaylynn in when nobody else would employ her. The girl had something of a history, having been involved in a scandalous affair with the head of the House she previously served, and had come to Kaitain in desperation after fruitlessly seeking work with many other families. Shalandra cared nothing for her history or for the raised eyebrows among the women of the court when she made her lady in waiting, but she cared a great deal for Kaylynn's apparent dislike of the Bene Gesserit. Now it appeared that one she had come to regard almost as a kindred spirit in such matters was nothing more than a double-crossing spy for the vile witches. That afternoon Shalandra resolved that anyone betraying the mad princess would be extremely sorry that they had done so.

"Majesty? It's awfully dark in here. Shall I turn on a glowglobe or two?" came the honeyed innocent sounding voice, snapping Shalandra out of her solitary fury and forcing her to focus on the object of her newfound hatred.

"Yes Kaylynn, please do" replied the princess, the twisted look vanishing from her face like the first dew under the Arrakis sun, "and then please join me in the reception room. There is something I need to discuss with you".

While the efficient Kaylynn busied herself bringing some light to the princess's chambers, Shalandra rose from her desk and stomped into the next room. Most royal ladies glided with their feet, which were rarely seen anyway under their long flowing dresses, appearing not to touch the ground. Shalandra though had never been any good at gliding, and the heavy almost military-style boots which she favoured would have made it a hopeless task in any case. She hurried to a control pad half hidden behind a large cat figurine and swiftly manipulated its switches, locking her chambers with a private code that could be overridden only by Palace Security. She did not want anyone walking in on what was about to take place.

"Turn out your pockets" she said matter of factly as the lady in waiting at last joined her.

"Majesty?" replied Kaylynn with a puzzled expression on her pretty face.

"I won't ask again. Turn them out now, or I shall call the guards and have them search you. It is your choice" continued Shalandra in a steely tone.

Looking bemused but also a little worried, the servant girl emptied out her personal effects onto the table between them. Finally, as though she had been keeping it until last in the hope that some distracting event might occur and keep her from needing to produce it, a small digital recorder of Ixian manufacture landed atop the pile. Shalandra's eyes lit up. She might be mad, but she was not stupid. She knew that Kaylynn had not been back to her chambers since Ridondo had seen her in the linnen store, and so the device was likely still to be on her person. The girl had been very clever about it she had to admit, realising that she would likely be seen sooner or later having clandestine meetings with a Reverend Mother but that few people would likely give any regard to a serving girl speaking into a device on which she could just as easily be recording her tasks for the day as an aide-memoir.

"And that is... ?" questioned the Princess Royal, grinning unpleasantly.

"My diary, Majesty" replied the dark-haired woman opposite her with obvious concern on her face, "I am not given to writing so I thought to record my experiences in audio form".

"Liar!" snarled Shalandra, the veneer of calm finally cracking to show the fury beneath, as she snatched up the recorder and flicked the controls to playback.

"Reverend Mother, here begins today's report. I'm afraid to say that the princess continues to act in her customary unstable and worrisome manner. Although she has done nothing outright dangerous since the events of last month I continue to observe..."

"Please Majesty, I can explain" wailed Kaylynn as Shalandra shut off the recording, "They made me do it! Those witches, they blackmailed me. They know about Daniel, and the baby. They said that unless I spied on you for them it would all come out. I meant no harm. Please..."

Shalandra took a step towards the clearly petrified woman, a curiously serene look coming upon her face, banishing the earlier look of rage.

"Kaylynn, it's alright" she soothed, "Come here child, it's alright".

Spreading her arms wide she embraced the now gently sobbing girl tightly.

"Do not worry yourself Kaylynn" she continued softly, before dropping one arm to her side and gently massaging her lady in waiting's back with the other.

"You see" she whispered into the servant girl's ear, "I forgive you".

Shalandra then gently lowered Kaylynn to the floor, leaving the blade which she had retrieved from the folds of her long gothic skirt only a moment ago firmly lodged in her chest. The Emperor's sister was no warrior of course, but the self defence lessons that all children of the royal household received from an early age had left her reasonably skilled with a knife. In any case her distraught victim had never suspected a thing, and the poison on Shalandra's blade acted fast enough to allow no chance to cry out. She picked up the audio recorder, before walking quickly to a chest of drawers on the other side of the room and unlocking it. Placing the recorder inside she retrieved a second blade, similar to her own but plainer and without the Corrino lion motif adorning the handle. Locking the drawer behind her the Princess Royal paused in front of a mirror to mess up still further her already unruly hair and to smudge her makeup a little, before visiting the control pad once again to unlock the doors. Returning to the body she took the second blade in her left hand she slowly and deliberately, with the practiced movements of one not unused to cutting her own flesh, drew it across the palm of her right hand. The illusion that she had just survived a fight for her life complete she dropped the blade to the floor beside the corpse, turned to face the door, and screamed.

[Elrood IX]

Settling back in his luxurious padded whalefur seat and flicking the controls of the video screen to play, Elrood IX mused on the roaring success which had been his ascension banquet. While of course no mere anniversary celebration could match the high pomp and grandeur that had been his coronation some two years ago it had still been packed with fawning nobles and enough famous faces from the arts and sciences to make Elrood appear quite the enlightened ruler, so his chamberlain said anyway. Most of the dignitaries had now returned to their guest rooms and hotels, and in as much as it ever did the Palace was starting to slip into the quiet of night time. The sun had long since gone down outside and stars twinkled brightly through the enormous window which dominated one side of the Emperor's private suite, high on the topmost floors away from the ever present lights of the city below.

Elrood himself would be taking to his bed soon enough, but first he felt the need to once again admire the divine form of his most favourite concubine, Elena Camarva. Sadly he would have to make do with her form on video for now since Elena herself was away on tour with her Jongleur troupe, of which she had insisted on remaining a part even after becoming bound to the Emperor. Imperial concubines historically had a notoriously short shelf-life and it was not without precedent for them to be cast out of the Palace with nothing more than the clothes they stood up in once the Emperor tired of them. Elrood had never so treated a concubine and certainly had no intention of pushing Elena to one side, but nonetheless he admired her shrewd judgement and had agreed that she could continue to pursue her career part time as long as it did not take her away too often.

Not long until she returns now, but it can't be soon enough...

Elrood wriggled further back into his chair, heart quickening as Elena pouted sexily at the camera. She looked magnificent in the fine parsilk negligee, but the best was still to come as in a moment she would literally rip it off and throw herself upon him with the animal passion that only she seemed to possess. Oh, how he had enjoyed making this video and what a thrill it gave him to know that he could buy his beautiful Jongleur another identical nightdress with but a wave of his hand.

"Your majesty? Are you still awake? So sorry to trouble you, sire, but something terrible has happened!"

Elrood jerked up in his seat and reflexively stabbed at the video controls, blacking out the screen just as Elena's hands began to grip and pull at the silk. The voice was de Lanier's. Could that man not leave him alone for five minutes? He might be unsurpassed as a counsellor and administrator but he had a shocking sense of timing.

"Can it not wait?" called out Elrood testily, "We have just retired for the evening and would appreciate some privacy!"

"Sire please once again accept my humblest apologies for bothering you so, but this really cannot wait. It's your sister..."

Instantly more attentive, Elrood rose from his seat and called for de Lanier to enter. What could have happened to Shalandra? She had not been at the banquet, but this was nothing unusual for his flighty sister. He assumed that she'd been distracted by her cat or taken too long picking out something to wear. Perhaps he should have taken more care to check on her. The door opened and in burst the chamberlain dressed not in his trademark white suit but in gold silk pyjamas and a hurriedly added blue cape. It had to be a serious matter for de Lanier to go about his business improperly attired, and Elrood's worst suspicions were indeed confirmed as two burly Sardaukar warriors practically had to carry a distraught and sobbing Shalandra across the threshold.

"Whatever has happened?!" cried Elrood, "De Lanier! Details at once!"

"Sire, guards entered Pricness Shalandra's room at the sound of a scream and found her beside the body of her lady in waiting..."

At the sound of the chamberlain's words Shalandra suddenly launched herself out of the supporting arms of the Sardaukar and practically threw herself against Elrood, weeping uncontrollably.

"She tried to murder me! I thought I could trust her but she pulled out a knife and went for me. Oh thank heaven for those classes father insisted upon or she would surely have succeeded... but my hand, see here!" she wailed, holding up a cut and bleeding palm which Elrood had just noticed was staining his suit as she clung to him, "I had to kill her, really I had to. It was self-defence. You believe me, don't you Roody?"

Shalandra clung tighter to Elrood as he nodded and de Lanier confirmed that a blade had been found on the body of the lady in waiting, one Kaylynn Langerak. An assassin in the Palace! This was unthinkable. and heads would roll.

"Right, de Lanier, go at once organise removing the body and having our sister's room cleaned. Interview all the security staff who had responsibility for her safety. Go all the way up the chain of command if you have to from the lowest guard to the highest Bashar. Now leave us, for this is a family matter and we must comfort Shalandra"

Judging wisely that sending the others away would put Shalandra more at her ease, Elrood was considerably relieved as her tears subsided and she was able to stand unsupported.

"Why do they hate me, Roody?" she half whispered at last, her face a mask of abject sorrow, "Why does everybody hate me?"

"Nobody hates you, Shal" he began, at something of a loss as to how to answer her question.

"They do!" cried Shalandra in reply, her tearful sobs now replaced with an angry petulant tone, "The witches hate me, the servants hate me, your courtiers hate me. Dominique, she hates me too! They all hate me!"

Shalandra backed away from Elrood, seemingly noticing the pain in her injured hand for the first time since entering the room and pulling it to her chest. She looked at him curiously.

"Do you hate me as well?"

Her voice was plaintive now, pleading for reassurance, and yet there was something else there too and an odd look in her eyes; a hint of menace? No, surely not. He refused to think badly of his younger sister even though many in his inner circle thought him far too accommodating in his dealings with her. Shalandra had been dealt a bad lot in life and if he could use some of his authority as Emperor to make things a little easier for her then he most surely would.

"No, Shal" he replied softly, "You are my sister and I love you. I will do everything in my power to help, you know that. Now come let us find a Suk to look at that hand, see how de Lanier is going investigating how that awful woman could have threatened you so, and you can tell me of anything else that you need".

The dark look vanished from the Princess Royal's eyes and a broad smile broke out on her dark painted lips. Elrood breathed a hefty sigh of relief.

[Shalandra Corrino]

It was around 7:30 in the morning as the Imperial frigate Psyche settled into its berth at the private Palace spaaceport, hull steaming in the crisp and slightly chilly weather that had been selected for that part of Kaitain that day. Although Holtzman shields were deployed to protect the vessel during its descent, such were the extreme temperatures of re-entry that the ship would remain hot to the touch for several hours at least. The Psyche had changed considerably since her larrival at the Palace some two years ago; faded and out of date Imperial insignia had been stripped from the metalwork to be replaced with finely painted versions of the latest design and the entire interior of the craft had been gutted of its decade old fitments and furnishings. Truly Emperor Elrood had spared no expense on the official transport assigned to his sister, Shalandra Corrino, the Princess Royal. Shalandra rarely used the ship however, since she her official duties seldom took her away from Kaitain and she was not really one to take vacations. Indeed the princess was not even aboard, the frigate instead having travelled across space at her request to return with a very special passenger.

"On your way! About your business!" growled a hard-faced Sardaukar to the small group of servants and spaceport workers who had gathered, curious about the recent arrival of the rarely seen ship, before taking up his place alongside another guard flanking the still closed exit hatch.

Clad in a long leather overcoat to guard against the chill, hair slightly damp from the early morning mist and hands clasped in front of her, Shalandra herself stood silently at the head of the gangway. Those who had taken notice would have spotted a more cheerful expression on the face of the mad princess that morning than had been seen for some time, at least since the mysterious death of her lady-in-waiting and would-be assassin two weeks previously, and now she had a distinctly expectant look in her black-rimmed eyes. It had taken her long hours of wheedling to convince her brother to allow the Psyche to return to the hidden world of Tupile, sanctuary of the exiles, and bring back yet another who should by rights have never set foot on Kaitain again. Shalandra knew well that she herself had been intended by her father never to leave that place, that secret prison for those whom successive Corrino Emperors had deemed too dangerous to remain part of noble society and yet whom chivalry demanded be spared from execution. She had returned though, and Elrood had welcomed her back. Now she would extend that gift to another who had been one of her closest friends during the dark years of her banishment and whom she now chastened herself for forgetting. Why had she taken that idiot Kaylynn Langerak, so easily manipulated and made a spy for the witches, into her confidence when the ideal companion had been languishing on the sanctuary world all along?

"Gio!" she cried, her face breaking out into a seldom seen smile as the hatch hissed open at last

From the opening, two more Sardaukar on either side of her, emerged a short and rather plain young woman. The newcomer was Giovanna Montelli, only daughter of Count Alberto and Countess Isabella Montelli. Standing some five feet tall and possessed of a skinny unfeminine build she always fallen some way short of the willowy yet womanly look which conventional standards of beauty required of the Imperium's noblewomen. Red haired and with a face that nobody would spot in a crowd, blessed with friendly yet somehow unsparkling brown eyes she could easily have been mistaken for a servant girl even when she was Lady Giovanna. Now she would be the Princess Royal's new lady-in-waiting.

"Gio!" exclaimed Shalandra again, "It's so good to see you again! Welcome to Kaitain! Oh will you lot buzz off and do some guarding elsewhere! She's in my care now, and I'll see to her thank you very much".

Briefly turning her attention to the looming Sardaukar figures Shalandra put a protective arm around her new attendant and began to guide her up the gangway and towards the Palace entrance, recalling as she did so her first meeting with Giovanna on Tupile. House Montelli had once been high up in the Landsraad, favourites of her father Corrin XXV even, until the Count's impulsive and free-spirited son Alessandro had seen fit to conduct a steamy affair with the Emperor's youngest and most beautiful concubine. Justice had been swift, with Alessandro executed and the rest of the family stripped of their titles and holdings before being dispatched to live in exile. Shalandra had encountered them not long after arriving and had initially been greeted with hostility as the daughter of the man who had wrought their undoing. Soon though, when it became apparent that she resented her father as much as they did, she was accepted by Alberto and Isabella and made firm friends with their young daughter. Making friends had never come easily to Shalandra, as she invariably found something to dislike and mistrust about almost everyone she met, but she had formed a real connection with Giovanna. Both had been cast out of civilised society and both had one man to blame for it. As the most high-ranking person to be seen on Tupile in a long time, and also since she was only a nominal rather than literal exile, Shalandra had been able to recruit a large retinue of servants and attendants. Giovanna had headed this group, and indeed it had been she who first introduced the Princess Royal to de Vries the Suk doctor who had done some much for improving her self-confidence. For that if nothing else Shalandra felt she owed her a lot, and felt another twinge of guilt at having forgotten her for the last two years.

"You're very quiet! Long trip, was it? I remember when I came back from Tupile it felt like they were sending me half way around the known universe. I think it's deliberate, to deter anyone from trying to re-trace their journey and discover its location. Heaven only knows why anyone would even try though - it's such a ghastly place!"

"I'm sorry, Highness" replied Giovanna at last in a soft-spoken voice, "It's just so strange to be back on Kaitain after so long. When last I saw this place I was only ten years old. I don't remember it much, only my mother and father showing me around and telling me that this was where the Emperor lives."

A sigh escaped the girl's lips at the mention of her parents. Shalandra had briefly considered asking Elrood to pardon them too, but in the end had decided against it. She doubted even she could have got him to agree, and in any case she did not really want the responsibility of an entire disgraced House on her hands. No, it was better all round that Giovanna returned alone to make a fresh start.

"I'm sorry, Gio, really I am" she replied, "But it was difficult enough convincing my brother to let you return. He's so much a better man than father ever was, but he has his limits. It would be politically impossible for him to be seen to be giving succour to his late father's enemies."

"Oh, do not worry Majesty. I shall be in your debt for ever for what you have done, and my parents are really very happy for me. They know that I can have a much better life here working for you again than I ever could have had on Tupile. If I may be so bold, it sounds like you need those around you who you can trust what with all that the witches are up to. I'll help you any way I can. If the Sisterhood want to bother you then they will have to come through me!"

Shalandra's eyes lit up at the mention of the witches. While on Tupile she had spent a great deal of time convincing the young Montelli daughter of how evil they were. Doubtless those vile crones had even been responsible for convincing weak-minded Corrin to punish his former favourites so harshly, just as they had talked him into sending his own daughter away. She was indeed glad to have a servant she could trust around her again, and she did feel she could trust Giovanna. Friendship aside, the girl would not dare betray her for fear of being sent back into exile. With luck she at last had someone that Miral Alechem could not corrupt.

"Indeed! Now let's see about finding you a room and a bed. I could really use your help with my makeup when you're rested too. The girls I've been using are hopeless, hopeless I tell you. I think they normally work for my brother's stupid wife so you can imagine how great they are at my style of eyeliner."

As she lead her old friend and new lady-in-waiting away from the spaceport, through the arched entrance and into the Palace, Shalandra's mind was not on her eyeliner however. Having been reminded of the detested witches she was already turning her thoughts to future plans of revenge.