Date: 10,191 A.G.
Location: Caladan, Palace of House Atreides
The rain fell steadily on the cliffs of Caladan, as if the planet itself shared the silent mourning that had settled in the halls of the Atreides palace.
In the audience chamber, Duke Leto Atreides stood motionless before the large window overlooking the raging sea. His usually steady hands were clasped behind his back with a stiffness that only his closest circle recognized as a sign of suppressed tension.
The doors opened with a whisper, and Lady Jessica entered, her Bene Gesserit robes billowing gently as she advanced. Her eyes, trained for serenity, could not hide the internal storm that had consumed her for days.
"Leto..." she said softly, as if afraid to break the fragile silence that surrounded them.
The Duke did not respond immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the gray horizon.
"Have they left yet?" he finally asked, referring to the Reverend Mothers who had left Caladan hours earlier after overseeing that the "matter" was closed.
Jessica nodded, stopping a few feet away from him.
"They made sure to erase every trace..." her voice cracked barely audible. "As if I had never existed."
Leto closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.
"Kael..." he spoke the forbidden name, letting the weight of those four letters fill the room. "My first son. My biggest mistake... according to them."
Jessica shifted her gaze to the floor, feeling a pang of guilt that not even her Bene Gesserit training could quell.
"You knew he was different," she murmured. "From the day he was born, the Reverend Mothers saw in him something... uncontrollable."
Leto turned slowly, facing her with a tired look beyond his years.
"Uncontrollable? Or simply something beyond their control?"
His voice was bitter. "They couldn't tolerate an Atreides being born outside their cursed genetic plan."
Jessica pressed her lips together. She herself had disobeyed the Sisterhood by giving him a son when they'd ordered a daughter. But Kael... Kael had defied everyone's expectations.
"If we hadn't accepted exile..." she whispered. "They would have demanded his death outright."
Leto shifted his gaze to the shadows in the room.
"Perhaps he would have been more merciful."
The silence thickened between them.
In the distance, soft footsteps broke the tension. An eleven-year-old boy appeared in the doorway, watching his parents with questioning eyes.
Paul Atreides.
"Father... Mother..." she said timidly. "Why were the Reverend Mothers upset? I heard the servants... they were talking about a brother."
Jessica tensed immediately, but Leto raised a hand, stopping her.
He approached Paul, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"This isn't the time for such questions, son."
Paul frowned, feeling the truth being denied him, like so many other things he sensed in adults.
Jessica, in a firm but gentle voice, added:
"There are names, Paul... that it's best not to mention. For your safety."
Paul nodded slowly, though a seed of curiosity grew inside him that he would never fully erase.
When the boy withdrew, Leto's shoulders slumped, as if all the Duke's dignity had cracked in the privacy of his home.
"It won't be long before he, too, starts asking questions we can't answer."
Jessica leaned closer, placing a hand on her husband's arm.
"If Kael... if he ever returns, we'll face the consequences together."
Leto let out a bitter laugh.
"If he returns, Jessica... he will no longer be the son we knew."
Months Later — Landsraad, Kaitain
In the carpeted halls of the Landsraad, where the Great Houses wove their alliances and betrayals under the guise of diplomacy, the name of Kael Atreides floated like a forbidden whisper.
In a private room, representatives of several Minor Houses conversed in low voices, far from official ears.
"Is it true about Leto's eldest son?" asked a noble of House Moritani, always eager for dark information.
Another, of House Richese, nodded cautiously.
"Missing. Silenced by order of the Bene Gesserit. They say he was born... defective."
A stifled laugh emerged from a third noble.
"Defective or too dangerous to their plans? There are those who believe he had gifts that even the Brotherhood could not control."
The first of them leaned forward.
"It doesn't matter." If he's dead or lost in the void... that's one less ghost to worry about.
But while they laughed in whispers, a hooded figure listened from the shadows. A Reverend Mother, always present where control of information was vital.
The next day, those nobles conveniently forgot to have spoken of the subject.
Years Later — 10,193 B.A.
On Caladan, Kael's name was no longer spoken. Paul had learned not to ask, though sometimes, in dreams, he saw the silhouette of an unknown brother, a figure shrouded in shadow and light, watching him from afar.
On the quietest nights, Jessica gazed at the starry sky and wondered if the son she lost was still breathing... and if one day that breath would become a wind that would sweep away everything in its path.
Duke Leto, aged by political and family burdens, kept only one sealed letter on his desk: a letter with no addressee, written the day after Kael's exile.
"If you ever return... I hope you can forgive us."
But deep in his heart, he knew Kael wouldn't return seeking forgiveness.
He would return to collect a debt the entire Empire didn't yet know he owed.