Ashfall: City of Shade (UNDER EDITING)

Chapter 10 | Cleaning

CEPHINE

Something scrapes against the floor of our bedchamber.

"Goodness, what is that noise?" I hiss while sitting up in bed.

A layer of dust falls over me as I look over at my dear who still remains asleep.

Above, Greta sits among a cluster of discarded parchment and my dear's astronomical devices. A dead beetle lands in my hair, fallen through the geometric holes of the floor of the observatory up above.

She must have been cleaning the big glass lens of the telescope for she holds a long stick in her hand with a fragmented shard of cloud on its end. Each time she wipes it across the lens, the huge instrument tilts slightly in mid-air producing a high pitched squeak.

Her little happy hum does nothing to cover up the sound.

More dust and dead bugs fall down as she continues wiping. In a hurry, I shake Adler's shoulder.

Adler grumbles, "What in Ashta? I am not making the morning yet for it is too early."

He lays back down just as his aloof daughter travels down the ladder. She must know she has woken us. However, she tiptoes around our bed and unlocks the bookcase as if to access our city's most sacred item. Such a young heart should not be allowed to read our greatest secrets.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

She jumps, glancing at me briefly over her shoulder.

"Cleaning."

"Don't open that bookcase-"

Greta turns the key anyway and pulls out the book of sood. I watch in shock as she crawls back up the ladder completely ignoring me.

I should probably go get it from her. I start to get out of bed, but Adler suddenly rolls over facing me, wide away, and grabs my arm.

"She makes the morning for me sometimes."

"A child? You have given her permission to keep such a secret?"

At my words, the little girl moves the sundial above our heads. A series of loud clicks follows as she sets the beams in place by pushing them across the floor. The movement sets off a series of mechanisms around the great telescope. Shortly after, a piercing bright light shines down right onto our cloud nearly blinding me.

Adler touches our bed and it dims significantly.

"My sight could have been destroyed!" I whisper in shock.

"My little pearl doesn't know any better. She is only trying to help. She was probably under the impression you were still asleep."

Doubtful. I'm pretty sure that was completely intentional.

She must not like me here. Greta completely ignored me when I questioned her snooping around the bookcase and opening it up. Any fool could see how bright such light is and this is not the first time she has done it either going off of my dear's attitude.

I can't hide my annoyance at being woken by bugs and dust falling on my face very well either.

"You need to start setting some boundaries. She should not be in our bedchamber," I tell him carefully.

Adler tilts his head back to look up and address Greta.

His tone turns so soft it's almost comical, "Little pearl, can you come down here?"

Silently, Greta abandons the telescope and climbs down the ladder.

Timid, she crawls up onto my dear's lap. Instead of scolding her, he lays back down with her as if to return to sleep.