GRETA

"I want to be a man," I remind Adler bitterly. With a serious gaze set on my new shell necklaces, his hand moves to pull them aside.

This morning I woke to find him in here accompanied by my sisters. I do not need a well check and I most certainly do not need Adler here during it.

Many insicion scars stretch across my breasts. His spyrt lowers until it hovers just between his face and my chest.

He makes a choking noise as his spyrt glows revealing the scars. 

"Why haven't you been using your salve?"

I shove his face away. 

"Quit looking! You saw my sisters remove the needles! They tried their best."

Eldest sister nods in agreement. "Sister Greta was given substantial medical treatment."

"Not all these are from needlework," Adler says while standing up straight. His voice falls hollow, "Some lines are...sloppy."

My heart twitches as he traces over one particular jagged line across my chest.

His gaze bores into my own. "What has made you do this to yourself?"

Soft cloth falls around my shoulders as he reels me in slowly against the sturdy wall of his chest. Despite my feelings, I do find his nearness comforting.

My lip trembles. 

"I want to be a man!"

"No, you do not want to be a man," he answers tiredly, "You have lost your mind. That is the truth. You are much too fragile to be involved in empirical matters. That is why you are here now-"

I shove his shoulders. I do not want him this close to me. 

His eyes widen with shock as he loses his footing and falls onto the ground. His pointy crown of lies clatters against the stone floor. My sisters scramble out of my home leaving me alone with him.

My heart races as I look at my hands. I just pushed him onto the ground.

A terrible cry leaves me as I grab the sides of my head feeling as though my mind is lost. My vision sinks behind the steady flow of tears. Smudges of silver and black. So much black.

"Help me," I whisper feeling small.

For how long will the god of the sun make me suffer?

"You will never be alone again," Adler soothes. Gently, he wipes my face clean of tears. "Only our souls can attain a certain pureness. In this body, I cannot be your ideal god. What is just and unjust is ever-changing and I cannot know what is or isn't. I only know it is. We all suffer here, my sweet. I'm sorry for harming your body. Our bodies are filth as you say. I wish to be free as well, but I did not wish the feeling on you too."

I guessed it before. Not all his scars are treatch. He does not like his body either.

I sniffle, hugging my arms when he kisses the crook of my neck. "Adler," I huff while turning to face him. "I am a man now."

"But you are still my hatchling...and I must nurture you," he babies while lifting me up suddenly. Carefully, he sets me back in my new bed. The beautiful giant clam. A sad smile forms on his face as he crawls into the blanketed space with me. My new bed. It is quite cosy but not as comfortable as my cloud.

Adler and Cephine share it in the temple.

Abruptly, he reaches upward and closes the shell shut cutting off the sounds of bugs outside among the murmurs of guards.

I clench my jaw. "What are you doing?" I ask. All I can see are his eyes in this darkness. I don't like it. "Oh!" I gasp watching the beautiful crescent above his head glow with life.

His full lips curl upward cracking into a wicked grin. "You are so cute in your new noyk! Comfy?"

With a nod, I snuggle down into my blankets to hide my blush.

The shadow of his arm moves over me. High up, as he sits upright, to fetch one of many hundred sleeping urkmink resting just above us blanketing the roof of clam in shiny bubbles of silver.

"I am starving," he says while dangling the bug playfully over my face.

Its legs crawl rapidly in mid-air for he holds it dangling by the antenna. Then he drops its moving body into his mouth. With a sharp crunch, the bug is dead and swallowed.

"I am not upset, my sweet," Adler murmurs while drawing me in close. "I have done far more wrong. More than your little push could ever mount to," he coos. "All is forgiven."

I sniffle, watching the way his soft curls fall just above his eyebrows. 

"I hope you feel better soon. You are most precious," he gushes while cuddling up against me with ridiculous baby noises. His hand slips underneath the back of my tunic. He caresses my skin slowly. "Is there something you want to tell me?" he murmurs in a ridiculous voice as he pinches my waist. "My hospice keepers have told me you shared quite some truth with my son-"

Why is he still calling Brommy his son?

"Adler," I say with warning. My legs twist together as I squirm against the tickles he leaves across my belly. "Stop," I laugh.

"Okay, my sweet."

My breathing settles, but I feel his heart race against my back. His gentle touch strokes the inside of my palms where the bumpy traces of scar remain. The angry collared scar around his neck draws my attention remembering our imprisonment.

"When will Cephine's baby come? Are you excited? I am surprised you brought her all the way out here when she is pregnant-"

"You are but a baby as well, sweet pearl. What has given you the idea that I would consider you otherwise?" he challenges. "You told me you do not wish to be my wife. So, I have taken you in as my hatchling."

"I am not your child!"

A sullen look forms on his face. His shoulders sag along with his drooping spyrt.

I tense up watching his deep frown turn into a slow smirk that falls into shadow as his spyrt's glow dims completely.

His strong grip fastens over my arm. "Then how else am I to care for you?" he says before blowing air against my neck. "What other title could I give my secret pearl? Hmmm?"

The sensation makes me squeal and kick with laughter.

I giggle feeling his breath tickle the side of my face. With one hand, he grasps my newly healed knee. I shiver feeling his firm touch rise up my leg dragging a smoldering heat as he gently tugs me onto my back.

A great heat fans across my chest when he gently holds the ugly flat peak of my chest. Sharply, I let a breath feeling his lips meet the skin. My body fidgets with pleasure but a greater pain still haunts me.

I thrash beneath his warm weight. "Get off me...now!" I huff.

Like water, his tunic moves over my skin, soft and silky, as he moves off me and lays on his side.

"What is wrong? I can't have you running off again," he says anxiously. His hand goes to the top of my head as he lowers his voice, "Are you planning to?"

"No."

"Good," he mumbles before placing a tentative kiss on my neck. "Have you found a woman yet?"

"No," I sigh. "You should not be here, Adler. Cephine is with a baby now. You should take care of her."

"You are not sour by it?"

"No," I answer in honesty. The tension in my body has vanished. I feel the full of my weight being supported by his bulkier frame. "I am happy, Adler."

His fingertips slide across where Cephine stabbed me. "My soul feels at rest here. I do enjoy your company more than you'll ever know. You are the vision of my light," he whispers behind me. "You will rule by my side one day. We must wait a little longer."

"How long, Adler?" I search his eyes.

"No matter what number I tell you, it will bring you to leave me. You wish to leave now, don't you?"

"No!" I hurry out. "I only care for the people, Adler. For their sake, how long will it be?"

He cuddles up against me. "Oh! I don't wish to give my hatchling nightmares," he babies. Swiftly, he sits upright, lifting the roof of the shell so he can leave. He moves off my bed with a new seriousness. "May your dreams be...blessed. I love you."

I blush, despite myself, as he waits for my response before leaving.

He rubs his face, watching the floor, in the painful silence between us. Why must it be like this?

"I wish I knew what love is, Adler. Goodnight."

☁️