Ashtium: City of Sun

Chapter 27 | Subtle Acceptance

GRETA

Sweat trickles down my neck. I don't think I've ever felt so warm. I kick my legs a little feeling them buried and tangled beneath heavy cloth. Something freezing cold slides under my belly and scoops me up.

A low voice hovers near my neck, "Are you feeling well?"

I turn my head near the source of the sound. My eyes peel open. It takes me a moment to realize I'm not even laying down. I'm sitting up against the fluffy backrest of my god's bed. Adler's freezing cold arm moves around me keeping me snug against his side. I squirm in his hold, moaning quietly in protest against the discomfort.

"Good morning, my sweet!" he chuckles loudly over my head. "You are acting very grumpy! Did someone not get enough of a nap?" he coos while adjusting his robes around me.

The heavy material makes me sink even further against him. His skin is like ice.

Tiredly, I yank the pile of cloth closer around myself while turning over away from my god. Free of his suffocating hold, I wiggle around until I'm comfortable again in the puffs of warm fluff.

"Thank the cosmos you don't kick in your sleep. You are quite sour in the morning," he teases while pulling away my source of warmth. "But it's time to get up now and embrace the day," he adds in a sing-song.

I sit up while wiping the sleep from my eyes. "No..." I argue meekly.

"I don't think I've slept so soundly in a millennium either," he murmurs while playing with my hair. "What do you think? Hmm? Are you awake yet?"

"I want my own cloud," I admit shamelessly, "Not a noyk. I am too old for a noyk."

"It is a clout, my sweet, not quite a cloud."

"When did you take me to your chamber? I fell asleep in the hospice."

"I could not leave you there. So I took you with me."

My sisters will kick me out of the hospice if I am late. I'll be homeless and out on the streets without a job.

There are many empty glasses scattered around us. Self consciously, I tug my robes tighter around myself under his unfaltering stare.

"I've failed," I mumble in distress.

"No, no, no," he argues lightly. Adler rubs his nose against mine before moving his face to my stomach. I tense up feeling him blow air on it. It produces a loud farting noise and a great ticklish sensation sending me into a fit of squeals and laughter. "It was not a trick to make you miss work. I need you here."

"Please, no more!" I cry out while biting my lip and twisting my legs together. "It tickles."

My insides feel like they're going to burst. He sits up letting me catch my breath. A strange silence grows between us as I watch him watching me in the mirrors on the wall. He scoots off the cloud bringing several empty wine glasses clattering to the ground.

Something holds his silliness away as he trudges over the cluttered ground. He opens a metallic cabinet on the wall and pulls out a book after undoing a series of noisy contraptions to get it open.

The book looks very old. Adler flips through it while returning to the cloud. He sits down and then leans back against the backrest.

"Do you want to learn more about the city?" he asks.

"Yes!"

"We can read together. It gets lonely reading alone and I must read this dreaded thing every day."

"Why?"

"I create our light. Hasn't Enoch told you? I am the one who controls your day and night," he chuckles while stroking my hair. "I'll show you firsthand how it all happens here. We'll make it morning together. If...if I mean, if you want to, little pearl. It's, um, up to you," he tells me. He sounds uncertain himself, "Do you want to?"