he accepted it as another part of her service that she did not entirely undefstaad Such messages passed more and more rapidly from Nayia to her master as Siona's rebellion gamed momentum By 13723, when Siona and her companions succeeded in taking the Stolen Journals from Leto's Citadel, Nayla was sending daily transmissions, after the pilfered volumes were sent for translation to the Bene Gessent, the Guild, and the Ixians, the messages contained frequent requests for Nayla's release from her vow of obedience to Siotia The ugly Fish Speaker finally saw Siona as a threat to her master, and the contradiction involved m obeying a rebel was taking its toll on her The God Emperor decided that a freshening of Nayla's faith was m order He summoned her once again to his audience chamber, quizzed her about Siona's latest move and emphasized the importance of Nayla's continuing obedience to her oath Having made certain that Nayla saw this latest reminder as the beginning of her faith's ultimate test, Leto permitted her to leave the Royal Presence, satisfied that she would continue to do his bidding Occasionally, Nayla was given duties to perform as a Fish Speaker so that her contact ^with her sisters would not be totally severed *On one such assignment, she was sent as "Friend,' in the company of another Fish Speaker, to assess the new Duncan Idaho whom Leto had ordered, on another, she meted out the punishment Leto had ordained for Duro Nunepi, the Tleilaxu Ambassador responsible for the Face Dancer attack against the God Emperor m 13723 Nayla was masked on both occasions primarily to keep her identity as a Fish Speaker a secret from Siona, and it had been impressed upon her fellows that she was not to be discussed outside of ranks hi 13724, following the attack on the Ixian embassy by the Tleilaxu and a splinter group of rebels, Leto ordered Nayla to reveal herself to Siona and to ask for her silence regarding her true identity (She was to explain the need for secrecy by saying that she alone, of all the Fish Speakers, recognized the nghtness of Siona s cause, and that the rest of the Fish Speakers would cheerfully dismember her if her defection was known ) Nayla was made even more intimate a member of Siona s group after this revelation- just as Leto had expected Later in that same year she accompanied Siona and Duncan Idaho to Tuono Village Nayla suffered from mixed feelings concerning both of her companions Siona she admired, even while she feared her actions toward the God Emperor, the ghola was mysterious to her, but she was interested m bearing his child the Lord Leto permitting, because she felt that a mix of their genes would result in a strong, resourceful offspring Her emotional muddle was stirred further by her part in their plan to attack the Lord Leto on his way to Tuono Village Only her vow to obey Siona, and her underlying certainty that the God Emperor could not truly be hurt by any action taken by mortals, sustained her through the days of planning and the actual execution oi the lasgun attack Nayla had been trained, and trained well, m using a lasgun When the Royal Cart reached the bridge spanning the Idaho River, she cleanly shot out the bridge support and the suspensors beneath the Royal Cart, certain that she was about to witness a miracle NYCALUSTE 399 OFFICIAL HISTORY The God Emperor would survive, and her loyalty would be rewarded at last.