Ashtium: City of Sun

ENOCH

Mother sweeps her hair over her shoulders while rifling with the basket of gifts she has for Greta. Honestly, these gifts are pretty nice though for Greta, and to some degree, I suppose it is important I come to terms with my parents meeting her.

“Let’s go in,” Adler says from beside me.

Once inside, we pass down the main corridor finding the Sisters waiting at the end of the hall. They all are dressed in their usual long tunics. The nine of them, but where is the tenth?

Mother approaches the hospice keepers.

“Hello!” she greets. The keepers curtsy in respect, keeping their faces toward the ground until Mother speaks again. “We are here to celebrate Greta’s addition to your shelter here,” she says while scanning the line of old women.

My head begins to ache noticing the krexbin’s absence. Something tells me she isn’t running late to her prayers as we’ve caught these civilians doing at our arrival.

The woman standing in the center of their line speaks, “She was taken away by an advisor yester-evening, Empress Femke. We do not know of her whereabouts now. Please pardon our lack of knowledge.”

Urdmin. It had to of been him.

Something heavy lands on my shoulder. Adler watches my forehead like I’m the culprit.

“Take care of it.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” I mutter while shaking his hold off.

Mother steps between us watching him.

“Adler, what are you speaking about-”

He cuts her off, “You know exactly who I am talking about, my dear Femke. Urdmin has it out for Greta’s life. Do not stand here and pretend you know nothing of the matter.”

Mother slaps him across the face with a shaky breath. Her long dark locks swing around her face as she watches the Emperor rub the side of his face that she hit.

“My love would never hurt a hair on her head!”

“But you would,” Adler cuts back while gripping her arm and drawing her in closer. “Don’t ruin Enoch’s future, Femke. You’ve already ruined the lives of many families here. I will not let you ruin our son’s too!” he bellows as his personal guards close in on her. “Greta is to be his bride!”

“Bride? Ha! She’s your whore! Enoch would never have attraction for a dirty wrinkled little woman!”

“Greta is more beautiful than you could ever imagine.”

Tears flow down her face, but she does not move or show any sign of retaliation.

Adler bunches the back of my tunic in his fist forcing me to follow him out of the hospice and leaving Mother to his guards to take care of.

He lets go of me the moment we make it outside the building.

The crowd in front of us parts as I follow in my father’s shadow through the market.

He draws his sword, dragging its heavy mass on the ground as we make our way through Ashtium. Sparks and dirt explode out from the end of the weapon as it hits the rough surface of the streets we walk.

“We are not going to find Greta this way,” I reason while hurrying after him.

“That’s right. You are going to find Urdmin,” he announces sharply without even looking back at me. Once we reach the stables, more and more of his guards descend the stairs leading up to his temple. “Take these soldiers and bring the advisee to my temple. Greta is already dead. Finding her in this city would be a pointless mission right now, Enoch. Our family will pay for her funeral as soon as a body is found. Until then, you will find Urdmin and pray in my name she has been spared from his wrath,” he replies carelessly while walking back up to his cave to avoid me.

“Adler!”

“I’m glad you’ve quit calling me ‘father’, Enoch. It makes things less personal when decisions like this must be made,” he chides with a dark chuckle. “Do keep that fighting spirit up. It might come in handy one day.”

***

GRETA

Every day is the same here. Work, eat and sleep.

My arms feel heavy always and appear more bulky where they were not before. I do not know how I am getting heavier here.

I wipe the sweat from my face, missing Enoch and my freedoms outside.

During breaks, the short time we have, some of the slaves fight. At first, I found it fearsome, but now I find it fun to watch. Some of the guards watch and give the winners extra food.

Since arriving here, I have been given the name “Keon”. I don’t remember names well here much because many of the men appear the same to me. My vision has returned to its previous state without my god’s gift. Shapes are no longer defined, but smudges of silver, dark silver and of course, black.

Suddenly, a livid voice breaks through the air, “Eustice! Where is he? The slavemaster overseeing this temple’s construction!”

Everyone on break returns to work while the guards move in formation at the sound of Adler’s voice. I’ve never heard him sound so angry. It is not pleasant and commands my attention even though I know he is not talking to me.

My tiny frame is squished between the big men hitting the marble boulder around me.

“I am looking for a woman!” my god’s voice raises through the air again.

The guard behind me speaks, “Your wife, ruler Adler?”

I jump seeing a whip hit the back of some man a few boulders away from mine.

“No!” Adler retorts.

No slaves are talking. Only the voices of the guards and Adler speak now.

How could he hit one of us? Enoch has been right all along. Adler really is an awful man...even if still my god. I have known no other person with such knowledge and divine resources as he. It is a terribly disturbing truth I must accept now.

“She is no taller than a toddler, has pale eyes and is wearing an empirical tunic,” he grounds out.

He must be talking about me, but I would rather die here than turn myself in after witnessing him do such an act.

“She is going to be my son’s wife! Tell me, has she come by here?”

“N-n-no, my Emperor. I h-have not seen any female working or passing through here.”

The slave stands back up and continues chipping away as though nothing happened to him. I’m tempted to cry, but I’m too tired to. It feels like I’m choking as the walls seem to close in around us when the emperor loses it and begins whipping his own servants, the guards.

Eventually, he makes his way over to my group.

Metal meets stone as I continue chipping away despite his commanding presence.

Something freezing cold grabs the space between my shoulder and neck. My tool gets taken from my hold. When I look up at Adler there is not an ounce of recognition in his downcast stare.

The anger in his voice seems to shake the walls his own guards back off to as he looks around the room slowly.

“A child?” he begins while rapidly winding up his whip. “Can we not afford greater labor than the children off the streets?”

No one answers his question. I cower away from him eyeing his crown instead of his face.

Urdmin was right. I have lost my womanhood here if my own god can’t acknowledge me as a girl no less an adult! My eyes sting, but I’m glad the world has returned to a smudge of blurs. I don’t want to see the look on Adler’s face.

“I am dismissing this group. They are to be taken in as guards and will make better ones than you,” Adler demands while turning away. “You will march them up to my temple and be dishonored in front of your own people. Unchain them, now.”