Chapter 36

In the Temple foyer at dusk, Alia confronts nine priestly guards who pursued the Preacher but failed to capture him. Still shaken by Idaho’s disappearance and rumors about Jessica on Salusa, Alia lets her anger show, challenging their defiance and the blasphemies they claim to have heard.

The guards’ Kaza from the Cadelam family insists the Preacher must be killed for sowing disorder. Alia coolly reframes the situation, warning that any public seizure would force severe official reprisals—especially if the Preacher proved to be her brother. This reminder isolates the Kaza, prompts the others’ unease, and compels a formal retreat.

Alia pardons their haste in Fremen fashion, orders them to refresh and join the imminent procession, and thereby reasserts authority while subtly guiding them toward patience. She signals that only a discreet opportunity might justify action, preserving deniability and control over any future move against the Preacher.

As she dons Arrakeen yellow for mourning and prepares the second and final funeral procession to Old Gap to complete Leto’s stone marker, the Baron’s voice resounds within her, praising her manipulation and promising immortality. Alia recoils, recognizing her deepening possession and lack of escape.

The Baron reminds Alia that Ghanima’s knife is sharp, a dark hint that family could still threaten her. Alia seizes on the thought as a possible way out of her predicament, even as she proceeds with public rites that cement the narrative of Leto’s death and her own imperiled rule.