Chapter 3

Alia leaves the twins and fights an impulse to seek their help, chastising herself for weakness. She fixates on prescience, resents her blindness to the future, and resolves to lure Leto II into a spice trance, believing the twins’ curiosity and ancestral memories can be exploited.

En route by ornithopter, Alia surveys the greening Arrakis and fears the fragility of her Regency. She wonders why Jessica returns now, suspecting Bene Gesserit motives. Alia recalls Gurney Halleck’s loyalty and imagines leveraging rumors of his intimacy with Jessica and his hatred of Harkonnens against the twins’ hidden Harkonnen blood.

Alia considers how to direct Jessica’s scrutiny toward the twins to shield other vulnerabilities, noting Leto II’s likeness to Paul and both twins’ capacity to assume ancestral personas. She contemplates Jessica’s pain in returning and the separations inherent in pre-born awareness, justifying her ambivalence toward her mother.

Reflecting on the Bene Gesserit breeding program, Alia links Jessica’s defiance and spice addiction to her own “Abomination” status and the Sisterhood’s fear. She dismisses relitigating ancient errors, insisting this is a new lifetime demanding new choices.

Alia recalls Duncan Idaho’s mentat conclusion: Jessica likely returns to secure the twins for the Sisterhood. Accepting this as plausible, Alia braces for confrontation as her ornithopter lands on her Keep, determined to test Jessica’s intentions.