Thus spoke St.Alia-of-the-Knife: "The ReverendMother must combine the seductive wiles of acourtesan with the untouchable majesty of a virgingoddess,holding these attributes in tension so long asthe powers of her youth endure.

For when youth andbeauty have gone,she will find that the place-between, once occupied by tension,has become awell-spring of cunning and resourcefulness."—from"Muad'Dib,Family Commentaries" by the Princess Irulan "WELL,JESSICA,what have you to say for yourself?"asked the Reverend Mother.

It was near sunset at Castle Caladan on the day of Paul's ordeal.

The two women were alone in Jessica's morning room while Paul waited in the adjoining soundproofed Meditation Chamber.

Jessica stood facing the south windows.

She saw and yet did not see the evening's banked colors across meadow and river.

She heard and yet did not hear the Reverend Mother's question.

There had been another ordeal once—so many years ago.

A skinny girl with hair the color of bronze, her body tortured by the winds of puberty,had entered the study of the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam,Proctor Superior of the Bene Gesserit school on Wallach IX. Jessica looked down at her right hand,flexed the fingers,remembering the pain,the terror,the anger.

"Poor Paul,"she whispered.