It was the only liquid provided him, and he would surely be driven to consume it unless he could quickly find a way out of the maze. That prospect, carrying as it did the certainty of exposure to the "internal multitude" the Atreides were said always to harbor, frightened him far more than the idea that he might die of thirst. And yet, among that terrifying throng, was it not likely that there existed a previous servant of the Lord Leto whose memories included the directions for escaping the maze? After another twelve hours had passed, leaving him even deeper in confusion, Moneo realized that he had no choice. He tossed off the contents of the vial with all the enthusiasm of a man drinking hemlock, then sat down, his back in a comer, to await its effects. They were not long in coming. The melange opened Moneo's awareness, not only to his ancestral voices, but to the prescient scenes of death and destruction that Leto- and his> father-had witnessed so long ago. They showed him the end ot humanity as well as the means by which that end could be averted- the Golden Path that the God Emperor had chosen. They showed him the reason for the monstrosity he had fought more clearly than he might have wished to be shown. A timeless period later, when the effects of the spice wore off, Monen was left with two certainties. The first was the escape route he must follow back up to the Lord Leto's chamber, where he would be expected. The second was that he would obey the God Emperor faithfully for the rest of his life, if only out of gratitude that Leto and not he ATREIDES, MONEO 77 ATREIDES MONEO had been forced to make the choice he had seen Over the next nineteen years, Moneo was groomed to take over his mother's administrative post He was given increasingly more responsible assignments to carry out for Leto maintaining an overall record of the farflung Fish Speaker garrisons, for example, and acting as Leto's intermediary with the Heilaxu When Lichna stepped down in 13634, Moneo was able to replace her without a npple being felt in the workings of the Court Moneo took great pnde in his work, seeing his role of majordomo as the best and most appropriate use of his talents -And his list of accomplishments was impressive even when compared to those of his extremely competent predecessors In 13659* he uncovered a massive stockpile of melange on Kaitain, the planet House Cornno had used for its Court in the days of the Padishah Emperors, it was the largest such find made to that date and Moneo's agents discovered its exact location only days before representatives from the Bene Gessent and the Spacing Guild arrived on the same errand He saw that a rebellion in 13664 on Shandor (third planet of Theta Shaowei) was pat down with an absolute minimum of bloodshed, standing firm against the majority of the Fish Speaker Command who wanted a wholesale slaughter as an example to other would-be heretics Had it not beea for these greater deeds, however, he would still have been valued by the God Emperor for the flawless way in which he kept the Court running No detail was too petty to attend to, no arrangement too minor to oversee, if it involved me interest of the Lord Leto Nor was any bribe large enough to make him waver from his duties, his incorruptibility earned Moneo a grodgmg admiration even among those to whose advantage it would best be to subvert him Moneo desired only three things in return for his labors to enjoy the confidence of his ruler, to be allowed to abstain from any further experience with melange, and to preserve a quiet domestic life with Rhiani, a former Fish Speaker with whom he had lived since his entry into Royal Service Until 13667, he was given all three It was m that year that Leto informed him that he was needed as part of the God Emperor s breeding program Moneo had known about the program from childhood, of course-all of the Atreides, and much of the population at large, knew that Leto was working toward some kind of change m the basic human stock-but Moneo had hoped that after so many years of childlessness with Rhiani he would be excused from participating The exemption was not to be, and Moneo bid his Rhiani an emotional farewell after Leto commanded him to marry Seyefa, a Fish Speaker many years his junior It was the closest Moneo had come since his rebel days to breaking with the God Emperor, but the bonds so long established between them were too strong to permit then" rupture, and Moneo entered into an uneasy alliance which gradually evolved into a marriage Siona Ibn Fuad al Seyefa Atreides, Moneo's only child, was born in 13698 She lived with her parents in quarters near Leto's Citadel until the age of ten, when she was sent to the Fish Speakers school m Onn Shortly after this separation, Moneo was made to face yet another loss, Seyefa died the following year If he had been a dutiful servant before, Moneo was now fanatic in his devotion to Leto Anyone who threatened the God Emperor, threatened him personally-even, when she reached adolescence, Siona Leto was.