Chapter 47

Moneo, anxious about security and time, assembles courtiers and Fish Speakers for a three-day peregrination to Tuono, where Leto insists the wedding will be held despite Moneo’s pleas to remain in the Citadel. Leto closes the bubble over himself and Hwi, signaling no further delays.

As the procession begins climbing the Sareer’s Ringwall, Hwi probes Leto about Moneo’s mood and Leto’s view of past, present, and future. Leto reflects on the trap of idealizing the past and hints that Moneo must free himself from such thinking. Hwi presses gently about Malky and Ix; Leto recounts warning Malky that some inventions should not be made, admitting he fears Ixian capacity to invent catastrophe.

Hwi asks to share love of the soul since physical love is impossible. She names Leto’s condition: a mystic who lives where fear and love of being meet, longing to share but fearing it. Her insight moves Leto to tears that smoke on his cowl; she touches his cheeks without being repelled.

Recognizing Hwi as a creation the Ix themselves do not fully understand, Leto accepts her understanding. He agrees to share his soul with her as the cortege continues toward Tuono, while Moneo, growing inwardly distant, leads the way.