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.

"Adler."

"Yes, Cephine?"

Greta moves away from him. A dark red blush forms on her face as she looks over at me. Her feet are still covered in sand.

Adler fusses over her face wiping the beads of sweat dripping down from her hair. Her hair...dear Ashta I cannot even look at her now without feeling my heart tugged. There are only a few strands remaining.

Is her illness the cause?

Her voice is barely above a whisper, "You are beautiful. My god will not be able to find someone of more beauty, right, Adler?"

My dear smiles. Greta hops off the bed. Deep in thought, he watches her return to cleaning the room as he sips his wine.

"Zard is coming for you tomorrow. My little pearl spotted his ship while we were on the docks," he murmurs.

"What?" I spew out.

"He knows," he whispers with a faraway look. "He knows about her too. Enoch's voyage raised awareness over Greta's worth to me. I can feel it."

"Adler, you are being paranoid! How did you know it was Zard?" I scoff.

"The wood on his ship was charred where we managed to burn it."

"Oh."

We saw his ship sink, how could he have salvaged it?

Adler watches for my reaction as he speaks, stirring his wine around in the goblet, "So my little pearl will be sleeping with us from now on."

I understand his worry, but Zard may just simply be docking near our city. By no means does it mean he will bother raiding us. Half of his fleet was taken out.

"You were seeing things. If you are so worried though Enoch can shelter her in the palace," I counter evenly.

A small voice comes from near the side of my head, "I like the hospice better."

I jerk upright nearly falling off of the bed. Goodness, I did not hear the child approach!

"I'm sorry," she whispers with big watery eyes. Her eyes sharpen though when my dear turns away to sit up and tug his robes around himself. "Just don't take my Fluff away again," she grumbles with enough threat to make me nod my head in compliance.

Her bony fingers trap its trembling mass in her hands so she can pet its soft fur endlessly. She treats the tiny creature as her stress relief if I knew any better. It's three tiny eyes blink rapidly in discomfort as she places the trembling ball of fur back into the crook of her neck.

Adler rounds our bed.

"Come here, Greta. You need a bath and your limpnut too," he announces.

The child acts shy as he approaches her. I get a funny feeling watching him help her take off her tunic. Greta steps to his side where he holds some of his unraveled robes out.

Her hips flare out more so than I'd imagined. She hugs her arms, peeking up at him through delicate eyelashes. He wraps it around her quickly with a purple tint growing in his face. Then he lifts her up into his hold.

Already, he is walking away. "Cephine? Do you wish to join us?" he asks.

"Yes, dear."

Tiredly, I sit up and go to follow them out.

The bathing pool water is piping hot. Greta stays on the edge while my dear steps down into the water. I join her side.

She washes the small squeaking creature's fur in her hands.

My dear is much more enticing to look at. The water runs down over his skin nicely showing off his muscles and glistening silver curls. I lean back, looking over my nails as I imagine his firm touch washing every inch of me with such luxurious soap.

Once the child finishes bathing, I'll have him to myself and we can enjoy each other. I want to learn about all his treatch and I will tell him all of mine. His eyes are hungry as he looks over my body and licks his lips. My heart thuds heavily as warmth spreads across my chest remembering our recent nights together. The hours we shared in passion.

I find it amusing how the child is so unaffected by his nakedness as she scrubs the rat down before herself.

Adler comes my way. Excitement blooms within me, but falls flat when he reaches for the child instead of myself.

She doesn't even look up at him and continues dunking the soaked creature under water by its tiny paws. The limpnut screeches as she pulls it back up. It writhes in her hold as she rubs its fur with more soap as though to drown the creature in the expensive substance.

My dear picks her up with one arm taking the ladle from her. "Let's get your soap on now," Adler tells her.

"But my Fluff isn't clean yet," she protests.

Adler frowns, taking the limpnut from her grip by the tail. He drops it off beside me. The creature's fur stands on end as its newly cold feet crawl up my arm rapidly.

"Ew!" I whisper-yell. "Get off," I mumble while flicking it away.

The motion sends it retreating to the marble ledge of the bath.

Greta's eyes widen with happiness, her little hands clap together as my dear pours the ladle of warm water over her. A smelly odor rises above the soap though. I look down finding the water golden around where she wades with him now in the bath's center.

My words stumble out, "Greta? Did y-you just go to the bathroom in here?"

"She does that sometimes," Adler answers. His free hand holds his wine glass. Dark trails of crimson bleed down his neck from his sloppy consumption of the expensive drink. "Most of the time I'm holding her when it happens."

"You should tell her not to," I say.

"I didn't mean to," she rushes out with a purple face.

My dear's serious voice echos across the chamber, "Cephine knows, little pearl. You couldn't help it."

There is something aggressive about the way she touches him now. Those little glowing pale eyes look my way from over his huge shoulder with defiance. She settles her chin on top of it, as if claiming what's hers, her little hands rub over the bulges in his arm muscles as she watches me.

Childish is she.

He kisses the back of her balding head while she closes her eyes with a dreamy expression.

Enoch admitted to me yesterday his father intends to use him and I as public figures so he can continue getting away with what he wants.

Could it be this child convincing him to do so? Making him spoil her rather than his own citizens. Forcing his son to marry her. After all, it would be any young girl's dream to marry the prince of this empire and he did bring his son to power very early on.

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