Harrow Harkonnen: Baron of a fallen House

Baron Harrow Harkonnen was a Baron of House Harkonnen and a rising politician of the reign of Emperor Javicco Corrino, in the generations when his House held little standing among the Great Houses. He harbored a strong desire to elevate House Harkonnen to its former glory, and that ambition made him the instrument of his aunt, Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen of the Bene Gesserit. At her urging he joined the High Council and formally petitioned the Landsraad to investigate the Bashar Desmond Hart for the murder of Pruwet Richese, a gamble that failed publicly and drove him to seek an accommodation with the very man he had accused.

A Baron of a diminished House#

Harrow bore the title of Baron in an age when House Harkonnen possessed little of the power it had once known, its members far removed from the high offices of the Imperium. He was kin to a remarkable generation of Harkonnens: his uncle Griffin Harkonnen had died young, his aunts Valya and Tula Harkonnen had both entered the Sisterhood, and the aging Evgeny Harkonnen, his grand-uncle, still presided over the family. Where Evgeny had grown bitter, Harrow remained hungry. He harbored a strong desire to see his House restored to its former glory, and he pursued that end with a politician's persistence.

That persistence was on display at the celebration held for the engagement of Princess Ynez Corrino to Pruwet Richese of House Richese. Harrow attended the party and pressed a business proposition upon Emperor Javicco Corrino himself, so insistently that the Emperor excused himself simply to get away from him.

The return of Valya#

Harrow was surprised when his aunt Valya came home for the first time since she had joined the Sisterhood. Despite the long absence, he welcomed her in and asked after her sister Tula.

Valya had not returned for sentiment. She told Harrow of her plan to restore their family name and, with it, the Great Houses' trust in the Sisterhood. To guard Emperor Javicco from a rebel plot against him, she needed to be inside the palace, and for that she needed Harrow to join the High Council and to bring her with him as his Truthsayer. The invitation itself she arranged through the order's quiet machinery: other Truthsayers whispered into the ears of their lords that the Council required a man with more to gain than to lose, one who could stand up and formally demand that the Bashar Desmond Hart be investigated for the murder of the boy Pruwet Richese. The whispers did their work, and the invitation duly arrived. For a Baron of a fallen House, a seat on the High Council was precisely the elevation Harrow had hungered for, and he accepted the part his aunt had written for him.

The petition before the High Council#

Harrow went before the Landsraad with Valya at his side as his Truthsayer and entered the formal request: an investigation into the death of Pruwet Richese. When the speaker asked against which House the request was being made, Princess Ynez Corrino entered the chamber and interrupted, publicly directing the accusation at her own father, the Emperor.

What followed took the petition out of Harrow's hands entirely. Desmond Hart admitted before the assembled nobles that he had killed Pruwet, but he named the killing an execution, declaring that the boy had harbored a thinking machine, technology forbidden under the highest law. The Bashar then had the criminals Horace and Duri brought into the chamber and revealed that they had been part of a conspiracy to kill Emperor Javicco and everyone else in the room by means of a drone he had confiscated. Before the Council he publicly executed the two plotters, and Lord Hagal with them.

Harrow and Valya left the chamber disappointed, their accusation not merely deflected but turned into the Bashar's triumph. At home, Evgeny offered no comfort. He reminded Harrow that he had said all along that Valya was only ever out to help herself.

Accommodation with the Bashar#

With his petition in ruins, Harrow went to see Desmond Hart and apologized for the accusation. Desmond told him that it had bordered on treason, but allowed that he could overlook the offense if Harrow gave him information worth his while. Harrow supplied it: he told the Bashar how insurgents could be found at an underground market. Desmond was pleased, yet he set a further price. To be completely off the hook, Harrow would have to provide proof that Valya herself had been involved in the accusation.

When Harrow returned home, he told Valya that the lead she had given him had helped, and said he hoped he would be forgiven. He then asked his aunt plainly what the Sisterhood was up to. Valya answered only that they were serving the Imperium, as they always had. Harrow left to attend Evgeny's funeral, promising to send on Valya's regards.

Harrow never learned how close the Bashar's blood ran to his own. Desmond Hart, the man whose forgiveness he had bought with an informant's bargain, was in truth his cousin, the hidden son of his aunt Tula Harkonnen.