Ashtium: City of Sun

GRETA

It’s late evening going off of the new dimness approaching. The basket leaves my grip as Enoch takes it and sets it between us. He sits down behind the bush with me.

“When did they come back here, again?”

“Early this morning,” I admit.

“There’s not much I can do. She really must want it built. You may have to leave here,” he tells me while plucking the bread from the basket. Beneath the sleeve of his tunic, he pulls out a funny looking dull blade and starts cutting the bread. “You should taste this, I made it specially for you.”

I gulp hard, blushing when I feel him tap my arm playfully.

“It’s good, isn’t it?”

“It tastes like urkmink-”

“Do you like it?” he asks.

“Yes.”

He stretches his legs out. “You can keep the rest. The dough has urkmink blended into it, to um, help you get used to real food.”

I hope he doesn’t think I’m accusing him of anything, but I want to know the truth.

“Why are there slaves here?”

“The enslaved are criminals,” he answers sounding sad. “I’m sure you’ve witnessed them getting whipped here today. It’s cruel, yes. Until my father frees them nothing will change.”

I blink, confused. “What?

“Law-abiding Shelliv need not be worried over such matters. Neither should you...” he explains vaguelly.

“Shelliv? What is that?”

“It’s the name of our people here in Ashtium. I tried telling you before my father is no god.”

I watch him as he stretches out more into a resting position on the ground.

“Are you testing me?” I whisper.

Enoch’s movements are rigid as he sits back up. “No,” he sighs. He reaches for something in the pocket of his tunic.

It’s more powder I can tell, but there’s something else and he sets it down on my lap.

It feels much thinner than my tunic. It’s very soft and light, more thin than a dead leaf. I’m tempted to stretch it to see how expandable it is.

“Greta, don’t. You’ll rip it,” he chuckles. “It’s a slynk, our people wear them for protection in general. It’s a thin material, supporting your body beneath, but you’ll probably not even feel it. It’s much like a second skin. I’m wearing mine too.”

“Why?”

“It’s a precaution to protect our skin in case this light harms it. Some people refuse to wear them under their tunics. Others can’t afford to.”

“I don’t want it,” I mutter.

“Greta, if you are a woman, you should especially wear it.”

“No!”

“I’m wearing one right now, see?”

He may be wearing one now, but I don’t remember seeing him wearing it yesterday. I don’t ever remember seeing him wear it all actually. There are strange tiny little geometric shapes cut into the thin fabric that let me see his shiny silver skin beneath.

I would have definitely known if he was wearing one before.

He holds his arm out, lifting the fine layer of thin cloth from underneath his tunic.

“Yes, I see...ah!” I flinch feeling him touch the nape of my neck.

“Hold still,” he whispers. “It may try to bite.”

Bite? What will bite?

Something tickles my lower back.

I scream feeling it stab into my skin as he tries to pull it away. I bite my lip feeling him tug harder. A moment later, he sits back holding something by its wings in his hand.

My stomach churns eyeing the moving creature in his open palm. Its spindly legs kick out as if to reach me once more.

Enoch squashes it beneath the basket.

“A Larvitch, notice its signature needle-like beak. They are known to cause disease around here. You should not leave your robes open in the back so much,” he says while tying the very cloth together. “It hurts, doesn’t it? It’s exactly why you need to wear your slynk.”

“Yes,” I groan in misery.

The bite mark pulses with an agonizing burn that sends me rolling onto my stomach.

Of all places and times for the little creature to bite me.

He hovers above me. “The bite may have felt big, but the mark is too small to see. Unlike this,” he murmurs while lightly tracing over the mark beneath my eye. “A mark like this may be permanent.”

If only I could see his face. It’s not fair he gets to see me.

“I am not worried about it. I was wondering about her today. Why is she so violent?”

“I don’t know. Things didn’t used to be this way. I wish you would have told me more about what happened.”

I already did, but he didn’t believe me.

“What changed?”

“My father, or maybe, it was her. I think I was too young to know. They have plenty of time to mend things. We all are a far ways away from seven hundred. Makes things seem much less worrisome when you think about it like that.”

“My parents only lived to one hundred.”

His hand moves over mine. “I imagine on other stars they live much shorter. My great uncle lived to eight hundred. At least, we don’t have to worry about wrinkles for a long time. A shame your parents died so early. Guess how old Urdmin is?”

“That’s not a fair question. I can’t see him,” I laugh.

“Six hundred.”

“Wow, it’s a wonder someone so terrible has survived for so long!” I grin. “I’m twenty-three moons old. What about you and your family?”

“I’m twenty-five. My mother is ninety and father is one hundred and thirty, but he looks no older than me. Enough about that though, how is your bite feeling?” he whispers while touching the edge of my robes.

My breathing hitches feeling him gently caress the area on my ankle Urdmin lashed me. I don’t mind his touch, but he seems to be doing it a lot more lately. Or am I only just now noticing it?

“The bite still hurts,” I admit.

“A shame I have no more salve. I do have some oil, but not much. That might ease your pain.”

“Okay.”

“Turn around for a second. This will help numb the soreness, but be advised. You may get a strong sense of...pleasantry.”

“I welcome that.”

I feel him carefully move the back of my tunic to the side to give him access. Tingles and shivers wash over me when just the first drip hits the bite on my back.

“Oh!” Already I feel better. “It feels much better. Better than before actually.”

“I’m relieved.”

My face reddens as the blissful feeling spreads over me in strange waves. All too soon, he finishes smoothing the oil over my back.

“I...I-I am well n-now,” I stammer while squirming a little.

I sit up with a frown when he finishes closing the back of my tunic with a light pat.

“Have I offended you?” he asks in a low voice.

“No, I’ve never felt so good before. It was nice.”

“You’re shivering. I’ve freightened you.”

“No, you have healed me. It’s been a long time since someone took such care of me like you do. It’s nice to not have to depend on myself for everything. Thank you,” I reply stiffly, remembering the sensation of his hands rubbing my back. “I will wear the slynk. Let me put it on. I’ll be back.”

“Great!”

I grip the thin garment and hurry off behind the nearest wall. After I undress, I step into the strange fabric feeling it glide over my skin with ease. It does feel extremely thin. No wonder Enoch thought I’d rip it.

There are strange tiny little diamond holes in it just like he has in his. I can see the silver of my skin through them. I suppose it makes it more airy for my skin to breathe beneath.

Enoch was right, I can barely feel it on me. Although, it feels a little too snug around my chest, but other than that, it fits well. It really covers no more than my tunic does, but on my arms and legs, it stretches a little further out.

If I must go to the trouble of wearing this, it better keep the bugs away.

I slide my tunic back over my head and make my way back over to Enoch.

“Ah! Look at that. How does it feel?”

“Strange.”

His voice turns serious, “It’s also considered an undergarment,” he pauses. “So, eh, you could use it for bathing to keep your tunic dry. The market was nearly sold out. They only had black. An unpopular color choice among women. I hear purple is the most demanded.”

“How do you know?”

“My mother tells me these things,” he laughs, but he touches his neck.

A nervous habit of his I’m beginning to discover.

“Black is a color the poor wear here. The dyes in it are least costly to make.”

“What color is yours?”

“White,” he huffs out. Gently, he moves my hand from touching the surface of his slynk on his arm. “It is an intimate piece of clothing. Make sure no one touches yours either and don’t ever take it off.”

I’m not going to verbally object to that, but how can he expect me to always keep it on? Eventually, it will need washed and such.

“Okay. Sorry,” I say wondering what the difference makes. “I didn’t know.”

He hands me something else. Enoch is just full of gifts today.

“I know you like your tunic, but it needs to go. Would you be able to wear another color instead?”

“Colors do not mean anything to me,” I begin. The material of cloth he hands me feels rougher than the one I wear already. It’s hard for me to hide my disappointment. “I...will wear it.”

“It matches your slynk.”

“Oh,” I manage a small smile. “Is there a reason you’re giving me all these things now?”

“Yes, we’re going to find you a new home here. But first, we need to get some more powder on your neck and face. You missed a few spots. Also, you forgot to paint your teeth this week, didn’t you?”

A new home? Something tells me this idea of his wouldn’t have bloomed if his mother hadn’t found me in here.

“I don’t like painting them.”

He stands up with me.

“I know, but if you begin to eat like me, you won’t have to paint them anymore.”

My chest hurts a little more when we start to walk. I didn’t notice it so much when we were standing still.

I wonder if he accidentally bought me a man’s slynk or is it supposed to be this tight? It probably just takes some getting used to.

“Yes,” I cheer anyway. “That is good news!”

I look upward, wondering if my god is watching me leave the place he told me to stay.

For some reason, I don’t feel so bad about not listening. He seems to trust Enoch to take care of me. So it can’t be wrong to leave with him.