Dune Messiah (Dune, #2)

Paul makes his way through Arrakeen to Otheym’s house, musing on the increasing bureaucracy of the Qizarate, and debating his degree of agency in his fate. He witnesses Alia’s rite, a display of her prescient powers for the pilgrims who flock to her temple. The enormous crowd causes Paul to imagine the full extent of the universe and he wonders, “How could one man, one ritual, hope to knit such immensity into a garment fitted to all men?” (219).

After a call-and-response exchange with the crowd, Alia accepts questions from the pilgrims. The pilgrims ask about their own futures, and Alia answers with cryptic, angry answers. One pilgrim asks how long Paul will rule, and she ends the rite furiously and abruptly. Paul realizes that Alia has seen the same future that he has, as well as the alternate futures.

Paul arrives at Otheym’s house, nervous about performing his part exactly as he has foreseen and wondering how far he has already committed himself. A dwarf, Bijaz, greets Paul at the door; Bijaz is also a Tleilaxu-created being of mysterious capabilities who speaks in riddles and double-meanings. Otheym greets Paul as an old friend, calling him by his Sietch name “Usul” and “Maud’Dib,” Paul’s chosen Fremen name.