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There was a squelch as Minghyung's blade thrust into Feyd Rautha's chest. Donghyuck, along with everyone else in the room, watched with bated breath as the baron's hands dropped his sword to clasp at the one entrenched into his dark heart. Minghyung snarled, lips pulled into a grimace as he shoved his crysknife deeper. Feyd Rautha gasped, eyes blown wide with panic at the realisation of his imminent death. Donghyuck couldn't help but be reminded of a sand rat in the face of a snake - a helpless prey about to be devoured by a predator.
Feyd Rautha’s corpse hit the floor with a thud. In the silence of the room, Minhyung's heavy breaths reverberated as loud as a drum. His knees were weak from battle and his steps buoyed as he walked towards the Golden Lion Throne's current emperor.
"Your fighter has lost, and so you have lost your throne. I am now the ruler of the Golden Lion Throne."
Lisan Al-Gaib! A voice in the crowd called out in euphoric supplication. Lisan Al-Gaib! Lisan Al-Gaib! The echo grew until it was a united chorus. From the glimpse Donghyuck was awarded over the crowd of his kinmens' heads, even the Emperor seemed to know that his throne had been lost on Arrakis.
"What do you want?", the Emperor sneered. Despite his immaculately embroidered robe and the physical crown on his head, it was clear that he was now just a cornered man. The snake had cornered yet another prey.
"Take me as your bride! Allow my father to retain his life and take me as your bride!" A voice suddenly rang out. A beautiful woman, dressed in the finest dress Donghyuck had ever seen emerged from the wall of guards beside the Emperor. "I am Princess Arin of House Corrino, daughter of Emperor Shadam IV of the Golden Lion Throne. You can legitimise your new leadership through the union of our houses. Spare my father and I will marry you willingly."
The world seemed to stop. The chaos in the room seemed to trickle away like the last rays of a day's light, leaving only the darkness of a dessert night.
Then, for the first time since their spat in back in the sietch, Minhyung turned around to look at Donghyuck. Like a trained dog, Donghyuck felt his breath catch at the meeting of their eyes. Donghyuck's eyes drank their fill of Minhyung, who despite all this madness and his manipulations, still owned his heart.
"Donghyuck of Arrakis," Minhyung's voice rang loud and clear throughout the hall, commandeering the room into obedient silence, bringing Donghyuck back from his disassociation. "I, Lee Mark Minhyung, Duke of House Atreides and the rightful ruler of Arrakis, will always love you. I solemnly swear that no other human may possess even a sliver of my heart or share my bed."
Donghyuck stood in disbelief. In a blink, Minhyung had turned his back. "Princess Arin, I accept your hand in marriage. As my first order as Emperor of the Golden Lion Throne, I hereby denounce and abolish House Harkonnen. Arrakis is now the centre of the Emperorship and matters of ruling will be conducted on this planet."
Fists flew up in fealty, “Lisan Al-Gaib! Lisan Al-Gaib! Lisan Al-Gaib!”
Around his frozen body, bodies embraced each other in cacophonous triumph. His eyes flittered around his surroundings, wondering if he were the only sane person in the room. Minhyung stood with his fist raised and head down, a victorious warrior, a generous saviour – a liar.
Donghyuck saw red. He could be here no longer. His lover was beyond forgiveness. The sweet Minhyung he fell in love with, the young man who wanted peace on Arrakis, the boy who rejected genocide was gone. Donghyuck would not stand here and watch this monster taint his memory of Minhyung.
Repelled away from hysteria, Donghyuck slipped past the mass of writhing bodies in the hall, past the carcasses littered on sandstone and out of the gate - back to the dunes he belonged in. Out in the beige sand, the glare of the sun felt like a balm on Donghyuck’s cut soul.
He took a moment to glance back once at the capital. It loomed over the dunes, a mockery of the surrounding natural cliffs. A symbol of subjugation and now - betrayal. Donghyuck would never return here again, not by choice. He would have to be dragged in kicking and screaming. He would rather slit his own throne than support the newest era of violence the new Emperor’s regime would no doubt bring about.
Already, omnicopters took off into the sky. They dotted the blue sky with black, foreshadowing their role as agents of death.
Donghyuck, return to me.
“Get out my head.” Donghyuck hissed. His hands covered his ears, an exercise in futility. “Stay away from me.”
“Lisan Al-Gaib! Lisan Al-Gaib!”.
You are not the man I know. You do not have a single claim towards me. Lee Minhyung is dead to me.
How could the man he fell in love with become the very thing Donghyuck swore to fight?
Donghyuck, please. Donghyuck. Donghyu-