Ashfall: City of Shade (UNDER EDITING)

Chapter 15 | Spoiled

GRETA

My new Fluff shrieks in its cage waking me up for it resides near my head. Sleepily, I open my pet's cage. Its furry mass darts out and onto my bed where it remains on my lap curled up in a shivering ball.

The beaded entryway to my small chamber parts...and it is not one of my sisters.

Adler observes me from the entrance of my chamber. 

"I'm sorry, little pearl. I could not sleep. I just needed to know where you were."

The blur of his silvery form moves closer to my bed. The grey outline of his tunic drifts near his feet. In his hand, he holds a tray. A perfectly boiled egg resides in its center.

"Hungry? I know it is your favorite."

I blush thinking about yesterday and the sounds Cephine and him made. The moments they shared sounded much more intimate than the silent kiss my god and I had weeks ago.

Has he forgotten?

I should not even be thinking about it. Both of us were crying. It was not something happy.

He looks too big for my small space. Today, he wears spiky shoulder clasps and carries yet another thing. A giant wooden crate. Something inside of it clinks as it slides back and forth inside.

He sets down the tray near my pet's cage, and then, places the crate beside it.

"We're going to be celebrating yule tonight at the dockyard. I thought you may want to play in the sand with some better tools."

"Thank you."

My Fluff crawls up inside the crate as he sets it down on the ground. Inside, several strange trinkets shine against a small lantern and wooden pale.

Enoch had some of these things inside on display in his room.

"You can dig with them. Then, you can put your shells and such discoveries in here," he explains while picking up the pale.

Gemstones line the handle. The bottom is made of some kind of metal. The wooden sides do not feel tarnished.

More gifts.

I feel as though I have a trove of my own here now.

Adler shows me something else inside the crate. A long rope crafted with silk and dozens of small pearls. He helps me put the new harness around my limpnut. Then he hands me the end of the pearled leash.

"You can bring it with you."

"Oh," I gasp knowing the trouble I had keeping my old limpnut close. My new Fluff will not be able to run from me now. "This is perfect."

"I thought you would like it, my sweet. I want to apologize about yesterday. I did not mean to scare you or have you catch me and Cephine doing such a private act. We agreed it's best you stay in my chamber until you find this new job you seek."

Something tells me this is not Cephine's wish. Otherwise, he probably would have asked her to come along.

"I'm well here, thank you."

I stand up and pick up my breakfast. The egg is perfectly cooked. Adler walks around my chamber while I eat it.

Empty tins, baskets and decorations lay carefully lined up on my shelves. A pile of parchment and ink remain on my desk in the corner. He runs his hand over the surface of the wooden furniture piece.

"You are very special to me, little pearl. I'm so glad to call you my hatchling."

"Hatchling?"

He nods while approaching my bedside. "You've grown into a beautiful specimen of our race. How did you endure twenty-three moons alone?"

"I don't know, Adler."

A strange smell fills the room as I watch one of my sisters come in and leave after placing a tall candle on the ground.

I don't want to see the softness in his eyes or acknowledge the way it tugs my heart.

"It's bint oil, little pearl," he explains while eldest sister comes in. She moves a metal rod over the candle flame while two more of my sisters enter with baskets. "They are going to check on their mending job. We can't afford to have you depart from this facility with infection."

I tense up as he starts to unwrap my tunic. My chest falls out, and along with it, the ugly stitches.

"No!" I holler in protest. I clutch onto my god's meaty arm. "I do not want them to come out. It's too sore," I hurry out while searching Adler's eyes for understanding.

He rubs my bare back, but proceeds to pluck my fingers from his arm so he can turn me around to face my sisters.

My eldest sister remains firm. "Sister Greta, it will only take a few seconds. There are but five needles needed to be removed."

I glare at the wall ahead as Adler holds my shoulders. Fire licks away my unhealed flesh as they tug the needles out of my skin. Some of their tugs are not so straight for much of my skin has already healed around the needles.

By the time its over, my chest is left a horribly miserable bloody mess. None of them stopped when I cried for them to.

"The worst is over, little pearl."

Adler dabs salve over my raw flesh. I watch his fingers work the substance across my skin gently.

"Hush, now. You need your rest," he murmurs while moving the front of his robes to the side. He lays my head against his naked treatch-covered chest. "I had to go see my men to the gates. Enoch is leading Zard out soon. I wish you would not injure yourself like this. It hurts me to know you are hurting so badly as to harm your own beautiful skin."

He continues rubbing the tingly substance across my skin. Each kiss he leaves against the side of my face is as cold as the first. Smears of his own tears meet my cheek as he rubs his face against my own.

I can hear the cruel smile in his voice, "The days will become very warm. The mongrels despise us for we are adept to survive. I wonder what you will do when Enoch hates you too?" he chuckles.

☁️