Siona Atreides

Siona Atreides is a major character in the novel God Emperor of Dune.

Siona is violently opposed to the rule of Leto II and is the leader of a rebel group on Arrakis. At the start of the novel, she and members of her group manage to steal some of Leto's personal journals and plans. Siona gives these documents to the Ixian ambassador for decryption in a secret meeting. The Ixian ambassador mocks Siona for her disguise, asking why she bothers when it is well known she is the leader of the rebels. He goes on to mock her 'rebellion' by asking her when she intends to join the God Emperor, since one generation after another the young Atreides have 'played' at being rebels before being called into the loyal service of Leto. At the end of the meeting Siona unmasks a spy in her ranks, sending him back to Leto with a message. However, the spy is actually only a plant of her father Moneo, and it is Siona's closest companion, Nayla, who is Leto's true spy.

Later, Leto meets with Nayla. This is a very disquieting meeting, because we discover that Nayla, as a typical Fish Speaker, is completely fanatical and devoted to Leto and takes his title of God Emperor literally. He orders her, for unknown reasons, to obey Siona's every command. During their conversation we learn from Nayla that Siona is ready for testing, a fact Leto was unsure of, because she wasn't always visible to his prophetic dreams.

Leto decides that Siona has been let off the leash for long enough and so sends his Fish Speakers to induct her into his service. She does not enter his service willingly and is in fact guarded at all times. Leto intends to breed Siona with Duncan Idaho, and so he arranges for them to go on a trip together, expecting that things will happen naturally sooner or later. Siona, being angry, decides to take Duncan to Goygoa village, which was in the past known by the name Jacurutu. This is a cruel trick; he is stared at as soon as he arrives in the village and is unpleasantly surprised to be confronted by a young boy, learning that the previous Duncan Idaho was the father of the boy. Unable to resist investigating, he discovers that the mother of the child resembles Jessica Atreides greatly. Roomed together by the Fish Speakers, Siona and Duncan swap insults in their irritation at Leto's breeding plans for them both.

Leto meets with Siona to assess her readiness for the testing. They talk about many subjects, including his worm body, and the state of his Empire. She points out that his position is much weaker now; because of his reaction to the attack on the Ixian ambassador, Hwi Noree, people now realize that he is vulnerable to attacks on the people he loves. She goes on to question his right to rule, a question which is the root of her rebelliousness. His response is that he rules by right of loneliness and sacrifice. This puts Siona on the defensive, because she had never considered that Leto might have any rights as a consequence of his uniqueness.

As Siona is tested in the deep desert by Leto, she is forced to drink Spice Essence from Leto's body which sends her into a spice trance and into prophetic dreaming. In her dreams she sees the various possibilities in the human future, and more importantly how in many futures humans are hunted and killed to the last person by deadly machines. But she also sees Leto's Golden Path which leads to the survival of the human race. Despite going through the spice agony and being shown the Golden Path this does not convince Siona of the rightness of Leto's rule.

Due to the dangers involved in Duncan's love for Leto's fiancée, Hwi Noree, Moneo tries to save Duncan from Leto by sending him and Siona away for the time of the wedding to Tuono village. When Leto learns of this, he is amused that Moneo is attempting to save Idaho and changes the location of his wedding to Tuono. The traitor Malky has been captured by the Fish Speakers, though Anteac died capturing him. The Tleilaxu and Spacing Guild, seeing Leto move against the Ixians, had struck first in order to steal the secret of the Ixian device. But Anteac had managed to delay them enough to allow the Fish Speakers to lay siege. As a result, the secret of the Ixian concealment device is scattered far and wide. Malky is escorted into Leto's presence, and they talk about old and new times. At the end of this conversation, Moneo does what Leto cannot and kills Leto's friend, at Leto's behest.

Duncan and Siona talk at Tuono village after a difficult start, and realize that they both still believe that the God Emperor needs to be overthrown and killed. Reaching the realization that Leto, being part Sandworm, can be killed by water, Duncan and Siona hatch a desperate plan to kill the God Emperor.

On the night before Leto's convoy comes to Tuono, Idaho climbs a high cliff by himself without ropes, using the experience he learned in his youth. From there he lowers a rope down for Siona and Nayla. From the cliff they await the arrival of Leto's convoy. When the convoy does arrive, Siona orders Nayla to fire her lasgun at the bridge and Nayla, having been directly ordered by Leto to obey Siona's every order, obeys, fully expecting it to be religious test of Leto's. The shot shatters the bridge and Leto is hurled into the water. He escapes to the shore, but his death is now assured, and sandtrout desert his dying body into the sands. Hwi Noree is accidentally killed by the blast sitting as she was in the same carriage. Duncan is distraught, and kills the utterly shocked Nayla. Leto leaves Duncan and Siona stewardship of his Empire by telling them where he has hidden his spice reserves before he breathes his last.

As Leto predicts at his death, the Fish Speakers choose Duncan Idaho as their leader following the death/transformation of Leto II. Duncan Idaho rules the remnants of the Imperium with Siona at his side; their power is based on the military power of the Fish Speakers and control of Leto's hoard of spice. They marry and have children together as Leto II planned; and their descendants share Siona's invisibility to the prescient vision of the Spacing Guild.

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