Inside an infirmary, Duncan was silent as he was seated on the side.
His eyes resting for a moment.
The gentle rays of the sun filled the room lighting it up with its golden glow.
Paul's eyes slowly fluttered open.
His eyes shimmered in the sunlight for a moment as they lingered on the roof for a few moments.
He took a sharp breath in.
Immediately, he noticed the sharp pain was nowhere to be found.
His breathing was smooth.
His eyes glanced towards his arm and saw no injuries.
Bringing his arm towards his face, he clenched his fists a few times with zero discomfort.
Duncan, who had been napping, sensed movement and immediately snapped awake.
His arm ready to draw his blade and protect Paul, but he paused for a moment as his eyes landed on Paul.
Silently, he withdrew his hand away from his blade and stood up.
"You are finally awake," Duncan said with a soft smile on his face.
Paul glanced towards him and nodded.
"It's good to see you so well rested, Duncan," Paul said with a small smirk hanging on his lips.
"Uhh" Duncan scratched his head as he chuckled a little, nervously.
"So how bad was my condition? The Doctor here on Kaitain seems to be excellent at their job," Paul said as his hand rested on the side of his body as he felt his ribs, ensuring everything was alright.
'I am honestly surprised the Nerve touch did not take me out first.'
Duncan frowned slightly as his eyes hovered on Paul's ribs for a few moments.
Taking a deep breath in, he began to speak.
"The attack you took on from Feyd, it was impossible to expect everything to be alright, However once the doctors analyzed your ribs, there were zero injuries, not even a light crack," Duncan said.
A moment of silence settled between them.
"What about the poison?"
Duncan paused for a moment.
"There was no poison," he softly said.
"..."
"What?"
"There was no poison in your body," Duncan repeated.
"..."
'There was clearly poison,' Paul thought to himself.
'Something is not adding up here, no injuries, no poison... that feeling.'
'Could this be the thing the man had left...?'
Paul was silent for a moment as he took a few breaths to calm his mind.
He moved to stand up and he felt completely fine.
Hopping in place for a few moments, his body moved perfectly.
He sat on the edge of the bed as he shut his eyes.
His breathing became restrained in a split second.
Paul's consciousness submerged into his body, his focus completely on his arm.
No sign of clot, no signs of poison.
Everything was clear.
He observed his own body for several more moments in silence before his eyes opened as he stared at Duncan.
"I am completely fine..." Paul muttered as he paused for a moment.
"That's what I am saying," Duncan said.
In silence, Paul stood up.
'This... is not normal, this needs to be looked into, who exactly was that man... what did he do to me?' Paul thought, but pretended to be fine.
"How long have I been unconscious for?" He asked, and Duncan silently raised 4 fingers.
"Then it is time we leave, we have overstayed our visit on Kaitain, take me to Thufir," Paul said.
Duncan's eyes widened, "Oh... I completely forgot, Thufir had asked me to immediately inform him when you woke up" he said as he chuckled slightly as he activated his communicator.
Duncan quickly received a response from Thufir, and Duncan's eyes shifted towards Paul.
"Thufir is currently discussing specifics of the deal with House Richese." Duncan paused as he was speaking.
A moment passed before he glanced towards Paul again.
"Lady Sera Richese is asking if you will grace the meeting with your presence," Duncan informed, and Paul nodded.
...
"...lling to concede on the matter of installation." Thufir had finished speaking when the door behind Thufir was pushed open, and Paul walked in with Duncan following behind.
Paul wore a simple white shirt that hung loosely on his body, with black pants and shoes.
His eyes glanced at the room as he noticed Thufir sitting opposite Count Aldric, Sera and what looked to be two advisors.
"Hope I am not interrupting," Paul said, holding a polite smile on his face as he grabbed a chair and sat beside Thufir.
"It is good to see you recovering well, Duke Paul" Aldric said and Paul nodded.
"Indeed, the battle seems to have left no real issues with my body," he said.
Sera frowned when she heard this, her eyes lingering on Paul's calm face for several moments.
"Please continue," Paul waved his hand slightly.
"We had just completed discussions on the very last point," Thufir said as he glanced towards Paul.
"Good" Paul nodded.
"Would you like to hear an overview of the exact agreements?" Thufir asked and Paul nodded and so, Thufir spent the next forty minutes getting Paul up to speed about the exact details of this deal.
'Thufir has been working hard in these past four days...' Paul thought to himself as he took a deep breath and leaned away from the table.
His eyes flashed towards House Richese for a moment before he spoke, staring at them.
"It seems everything is already done," Paul said as he stood up.
"We shall be leaving for Arrakis very soon, but it was good to meet you all. Looking forward to successful cooperation between us," Paul said and Aldric nodded.
Thufir stood up as well and began to follow Paul, who left the room.
Stepping outside the room Paul glanced at Thufir and paused for a moment.
'House Richese provided us a pillow when we needed to sleep,' he thought before speaking.
"Thufir, the moment we return to Arrakis draft bulk orders on infrastructure to repair from the damage done during the war and the damaged infrastructure the Harkonnens had left us when they left" Paul said.
Thufir was silent for a few moments as his eyes flashed white instantly compressing the calculations that would take several days into a few moments.
"The damage to the infrastructure amounts to twenty billion solari, and it is the most expensive expenditure, so far Duke Leto had already spent 5 billions solari on this" Thufir said, and Paul nodded.
"We have the 50% House Richese requires, but it would be preferable if we can avoid using the money in the House currently" Thufir stated the obvious problem.
Paul nodded, "I have thought of that, we do not resume spice production until House Harkonnen pays every single penny they owe."
Thufir silently nodded as his eyes lingered on Paul's body for a few moments, but he hesitated speaking.
They soon returned to their room, packing up their items.
Meanwhile, Thufir spread the word while he was on Kaitain, until House Harkonnen did not pay the fifty billion solari, operations on Arrakis will remain grounded due to infrastructure damage, and this spread through the capital like wildfire.
But that was no longer a major concern for the three of them anymore.