...

The following morning, Sirikana awoke with his own family inside a large brown cloth tent that made up part of their family compound. Sirikana, like other Dunelanders, slept on goatskin rugs and had a usual breakfast of goat's milk and barley.

"Good morning, my husband." announced Liyahara, Sirikana's wife, "Did you sleep well?"

Liyahara shared the same complexion and brown eyes as her husband, wearing the same brown robe that most Duneland women wore. She did not wear the usual hair-covering hood as she was in the private presence of her husband and her long black hair flowed freely.

"Yes, I slept well." Sirikana replied.

"Good." Liyahara replied, "My brother wishes to speak with you."

Sirikana's eyes widened in a twinge of fear. Liyahara's brother Mohar was the tribal chieftain whose contempt for the serpentines was no secret. Sirikana also could not help but notice that Liyahara's tone also had a contempt outside of her usual respect toward him.

"Papa! Papa!" shouted Madiji, Sirikana's young son, who had been hiding behind his mother, "Play with me!"

Madiji, still a very small boy, hugged his father who brushed him aside.

"Later, Madiji." Sirikana said, "Go play with your sister."

Madiji's sister Bihali also stepped forward and held out her hands. She was only a few years older than her brother but she did everything she could to prove herself an adult. She craved her father's acceptance and ultimately the sonship that would naturally go to her brother.

"What do you have there?" Sirikana asked.

"Snake scales." Bihali replied, "Rather large snake scales."

Sirikana gulped and thought of an excuse.

"I must admit..." he said, "I ate a rock snake...."

"But Father..." Bihali said in genuine disappointment, "Snakes are unclean..."

"Yes, I must ask forgiveness and wash in the Dune River." Sirikana said, "Stay with your mother."

"Yes, Father." Bihali replied.

Sirikana quickly shuffled out of his tent over to another larger tent where Mohar sat inside. Mohar was a good bit older than his sister, having a long grey beard and withered brow. He sat on a ceremonial chieftain's carpet, a tapestry of complex gold and green weave, burning sacred incense in a bowl.

"Sit, my brother-of-marriage." Mohar ordered.

Sirikana sat with his legs crossed and breathed in the incense.

"The Sun Father be with us this day." Mohar greeted.

"May the sun shine ever upon us." Sirikana replied.

"I will not mince words, my brother." Mohar said, "The snake demons are a growing threat."

"We are at peace, a truce." Sirikana reminded him.

"They grow in number, possibly at a faster pace than we." Mohar said, "They would devour our children in their sleep if they did not fear we would destroy them in equal measure. We must strike now while the sun shines upon us lest dusk overtake us."

"May I ask, chieftain, what does this have to do with me?" Sirikana asked.

"You are a man, and thus a warrior, are you not?" Mohar explained, "As my brother-of-marriage, you also have the burden of leading the tribe in my stead. The sudden deaths of my wife and son has aged me well beyond my years. The sands overtook them..."

The old chieftain started to weep in remembrance. When Sirikana was still young, before his children were born, Mohar had his own family. His wife and son had accidentally ventured into a heavy sandstorm and were choked to death. They had been found and buried together not far from Mohar's tent.

"It is rumored that the snake demons know dark ways." Mohar continued, "Ways to summon sand storms. Worse still, the Sun may not shine upon us if there is treachery in our midst."

"Treachery?" Sirikana asked, by this point breaking into a nervous sweat.

"Yes." Mohar explained, "My father, his soul be at peace, was too lax as chieftain. He allowed brothers to freely cavort with demons. Our next chieftain, most likely you, Sirikana, will need to be strong. Stronger than me. Strong enough to overtake the heathen Kotarians and restore our people to what we once were and can still be!"

Sirikana tried not to shake his head as Mohar referred to the Great Sun Empire, which had fallen nearly a hundred years ago. Dunelanders claimed their descent from the empire, which according to tradition had fallen after the emperors began worshiping foreign gods. Mohar apparently expected Sirikana to not only wipe out the serpentines and Kotarians but also rebuild a lost civilization.

"Your words are good." was all Sirikana could manage to say.

"I know that I shoulder a great burden onto you, my brother." Mohar concluded, "But by the Sun Father's will it shall come to pass. You may depart."

Sirikana nearly sprinted from the chieftain's tent, wondering how much Mohar knew about his brother-in-marriage. Sirikana was deliberately vague about his own childhood but most everyone knew how Mohar's own father was ambivalent about the serpentines. Sirikana wondered if he should warn Salamanca about another possible conflict but then thought it best if he just kept everything to himself.