Halfway to Sietch Tabr, the grounded ’thopter perched on its outcropping in the middle of the desert. The wind picked up, making the hull plates creak and rattle, which Jessica could hear from their sheltered place a short distance away. A hiss of sand scattered across the rocks, but the sound only deepened the sad silence as Jessica paused in her story.
Upon hearing the startling revelations, Gurney showed more overt emotion than Irulan did. “ ‘A memory can be sharper than a dagger and can cut more deeply.’ Those were sad times, my Lady, and difficult for both of us, but I was not aware of the vile things the witches asked of you. It doesn’t surprise me that you’ve distanced yourself from the Sisterhood.”
“Oh, I’ve more than distanced myself, Gurney. I have turned my back on the Bene Gesserit entirely.”
Irulan shifted uncomfortably on the rock. “The Sisters ask many things, without regard to the damage they may do. They’re concerned only with their own goals.” She drew a long breath through her filter. “But I still don’t see how any of this changes or excuses Bronso’s crimes. And I don’t understand why you insist that you must keep this information from Alia. The Regent certainly has no love for the Bene Gesserit, nor did Paul. In fact, I think she’d be pleased to hear how you thwarted them.”
Gurney said in a rumbling voice, “I am happy enough that you refused to do what the witches demanded, my Lady. Compelling a mother to kill her own son is appalling and inhuman.”
“It’s worse than that, Gurney.” Jessica leaned back against the hard, rough rock and forced herself to say the words aloud. “Not long afterward, I decided they were right, and I did make up my mind to kill him. And because of that, I did even more terrible things.”