She even persuaded Harq al-Harba to write a masque which the family produced privately for the court, each person proudly playing his or her own role. Leto appeared, appropriately enough, as the voice of God. Unfortunately the text of this masque was not preserved, and Harban scholars have argued that the story is merely apocryphal. Though Ghanima enjoyed a loving relationship with all of the children, her most frequent companion was Elaine. Recent evidence supports the theory that Volume Two of the Book of Ghanima is in Eiaine's voice, and from her we get a portrait of the middle-aged Ghanima: Mother was always slender and wiry, never becoming, as the Fremen used to say, water-fat. Her crinkly red hair curled around her forehead, always a bit adrift and never sleekly in place like the rolls and tendrils of beautiful Aunt Irulan. But Mother's steady blue, reasonable gaze brought instant trust and respect, and her dignity was warm, unlike Irulan's cold green eyes and remote aristocratic manners. Uncle Leto says that Mother was more Liet-Kynes than Atreides, but I'm not sure what that means. He seemed to mean it as a compliment, though. To me she will always be the most beautiful woman in the world-her loveliness coming as much from her kindness and wisdom as from her pretty freckled face. The only other family woman whom Ghanima trusted besides Elaine seems to have been her mother Chani even though her mother had been "dead" for years. After an initial period of conflict when Ghanima was young and the Cham-persona within Ghanima still wished to be with Muad'Dib, the two women formed a coalition of support which lasted Ghanima's lifetime. Ghanima had loved Harah, her living mother-substitute, but Alia separated them when Ghanima was three, jealous of their relationship. Jessica, her grandmother, was a rather remote figure who Ghanima saw rarely. Farad'n's respect and ATREIDES, OHANIMA 54 ATREIDES, GHANIMA affection for Jessica helped to strengthen Ghanima's relationship with her grandmother, but Jessica spent most of her later life on Caladan. Thus, Alia and Irulan had vied for control of die young Ghanima. Ghanima was both terrified of and empathetic to Alia, seeing her as a mirror of the possessed soul Ghanima could so easily become. Though the rest of the family refused to speak of Alia after her waters had been emptied on the sand, Ghanima taught her children about their aunt to show them the problems and die pain of being human and in contact with one's active past. Frulan presented a more complicated problem for Ghanima. The woman was not only her grandfather's official wife, she was also the twins' tutor and tried in her own way to show them affection. Bat when Ghanima began speaking with her mother, she soon learned the part that Irulan had played in Chant's death. Ghanima was also suspicious of Irulan's Bene Gesserit ties and of her connections with Wenskia's assassination plot.