o their own naibs and continued to work with Muad'Dib as Warmaster and advisor Fxcept for those times when his services were needed in Arrakeen, Stilgar preferred to remain at Sietch Tabr with his wives (now numbered four, since Harah, Muad'Dib's servant for his first year with the Fremen, had joined the Naib's household) There were, of course, some things demanded of an Imperial servant which Stilgar would never have had to face in the desert Court intrigues, interplanetary diplomacy, and the like occupied much of his time-more than he cared for-and his favorite tasks were usually of a military nature (The em peror dispatched him at times to the more troublesome or sensitive spots, on the jihad ) Despite his occasional longings for simpler times, however, Stilgar managed to adapt to his new role and to carry out his duties with a minimum of personal trauma for the first twelve years of Atreidcs's reign In 10209, the background against which Stilgar had fixed himself was shattered past repair Following the births of Leto H and Ghamma, and Cham s death, Paul Muad'Dib Atreides-twice blinded, first by a stonebumer and then by a shift in his prescient vision- walked into the desert, leaving Stilgar as 479 guardian of the children and Alia as their Regent Under Aba's orders, the Naib's first duty was to execute the group of traitors who had helped to bring about Muad'Dib's downfall, the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, once the Comno Emperor's Truth-sayer, among them The decade Stilgar spent as guardian aged him severely Misra died of a sudden fever in 10211, ending a companionship that had lasted more than half a century (At the ceremony to release her spirit, Sulgar was said to have "given water to the dead", it was the one time in his entire life the old naib was seen to weep ) The Regency was turbulent, marked by rebellions major and minor Worst of all was the Regent's steady progression into Abomination, as Aha succumbed to the control of an ancestral personality stronger than herself All the threads tn the skein were drawn together in 10219 Young Leto was assumed dead, Ghanima and Irulan were endangered by Aha's possession, and the unknown element of a Bene Gessent-tramed Comno prince was entering the scene Amid all this, Stilgar found himself confronted by Aim's consort, the original ghola of Duncan Idaho Idaho urged him to take Irulan and Ghanima and flee to the desert with mem, arguing that Alia s condition negated Stilgar's oath of fealty to her The Naib listened, but declined to rebel against the woman he acknowledged as his rightful liege Seeing that argument would never succeed against the stubborn Fremen, Idaho resorted to desperate measures he provoked Stilgar to a murderous rage and let the other man kill him without raising a hand in his own defense Stilgar, after his passion dissipated, realized the enormity of what he had done, he gathered his household, as many of his fellows as were willing to travel with him, and the Atrejdes women Idaho had urged him to protect, aad decamped to the safety of the desert Aha sent Buff Agarves to negotiate with Stilgar for his pardon, demanding the return of Ghanima is its pnce Stilgar refused, as Alia had anticipated he would, but it made no difference, the Regent had also sent a troop of soldiers to attack Stilgar's camp, capture him along with Irulan and Ghanima and scatter the remainder of his people Her trap worked perfectly The one satis faction Stilgar took with him to the dun geons beneath Aha's Temple was that he had managed to kill the treacherous Agarves Even this vengeance was scant consolation, however, as the Naib nghtlj assumed that Alia had chosen her emissary with just such a fate in mind Chained and isolated, Stilgar did not wit ness the final confrontation between Leto II and his aunt Nor was he forced to watch as Muad Dib, now known as The Preacher died He first glimpsed the new order when Leto freed him and Irulan by tearing the door to their dungeon off its hinges and nppmg their chains out of the walls It was an impressive first look In the days that followed, Stilgar watched with the other naibs as the new emperor demonstrated his powers The rest were awed and terrified, and quick to pa> homage to their new ruler Stilgar, on the other hand mourned for Muad Dib s son even as he honored him What horrors couid the child have seen tn his oracular visions that made such a terrible transformation seem his duty7 He mourned for his people as well Though he would not live to see it, Stilgar had heard Leto's description of the changes in store for Arrakis, and he wanted no part of that new world No worms'' No spice9 ISO endless desert against which to pit body and mind, knowing that the outcome of such a battle could only be determined by Shai-Hulud m the end1* The old life the Fremen life, would come to an end It was a subdued and tired naib who returned to Sietch Tabr In less frightful times, one of the younger men of the sietch would undoubtedly have challenged Stilgar and won but much of the heart had gone out of the desert folk, and the challenge never came Following Stilgar s death in 10228, Leto forbade the men of the sietch to slay one another for his burda Instead, he appointed one of their number, a pliable young man named Mirat, as leader That the Fremen acquiesced would have proven to the old naib that his worst fears were justified CW 480 NOTES 'The case for such a challenge could be made only if Liet-Kynes was willing to claim that Stilgar had caused intentional hatm to his tribe by killing Fbrad.