even being in the same room with him, but this meeting could not be helped.
Heavily armed Sardaukar escorted Hidar Fen xxx vide o Ajidica through a back
passageway, through maintenance corridors, down unmarked stairways, and
finally behind a succession of barred doors.
Shaddam chose the most xxx vide o private room, a chamber so discreet xxx vide o it appeared on
no printed floor plans. Long ago, a few years after the death of Crown
xxx vide o Prince Fafnir, Hasimir Fenring had uncovered this place during his usual
skulking around. Apparently, the
hidden room xxx vide o had been used by Elrood in the
early days of his interminable reign, when he had taken numerous unofficial
concubines as well as those he formally adopted into his household.
A single table remained in the chill room, illuminated by new glowglobes
dragged in for the occasion. The walls xxx vide o and floor smelled of dust. The
sheets and blankets on the narrow bed against the wall were now little more
than xxx vide o frayed xxx vide o fibers and lint. Xxx vide o an ancient bouquet, now petrified xxx vide o into a clump
of blackened leaves and stems, lay in a corner where it had been tossed
decades ago. The place conveyed the desired impression, though Shaddam knew
xxx vide o the Bene Tleilax were not known for their attention to subtleties.
Across the plain table, Hidar xxx vide o Fen Ajidica, swathed in his maroon robes,
folded his grayish hands on the wooden surface. He blinked his close-set
eyes and xxx vide o looked across at Shaddam. "You summoned me, Sire? I came from my
researches at your command.&xxx vide o quot;
Shaddam picked at a plate of glazed slig meat one of the guards had
brought him, since he'd had no time today for a formal dinner. He savored
the buttery mushroom sauce, then grudgingly nudged xxx vide o the platter toward
Ajidica xxx vide o to offer his guest a morsel.
The xxx vide o diminutive man drew back and refused to touch xxx vide o the food. Shaddam
frowned. "Slig meat is of your xxx vide o own manufacture. Don't you Tleilaxu eat xxx vide o your
own delicacies?"
Ajidica shook xxx vide o his head. "Though we breed those creatures, xxx vide o we do not
consume them ourselves. Please forgive me, Sire. You need offer me no
amenities. Let us discuss what we xxx vide o must. I am anxious to return to Xuttah
and my laboratories."
Shaddam sniffed, relieved that he xxx vide o didn't have to make any
further attempts
to be polite. He had no interest in displaying proper etiquette to this
man. Instead, he rubbed his temples, where his long-standing headache
threatened to