Book 1

GRETA

For years, I suffered alone outside this city of marble. It was only a few days ago, Adler, the emperor, found me and saved me from a lonely death in the pitch-black desert.

It was the ash falling from the sky, beyond the dome of this city, that stole my world of color. It has left my deteriorated vision in shades of black with life moving in shades of blurry silver.

Some day, I hope to discern the true color of the milky hues of stars clustered in his eyes.

"Come," his voice urges me through a soft whisper. A blinding crown of sparkling light forms a magnificent halo around the shadow of his silver face. "Hurry, my sweet."

I can only walk so fast with these little legs. Most believe me to be a small child. It is lonely to be considered such when I am an adult.

My feet hurt from climbing up this huge staircase. My god is patient though.

Above, he waits for me outside the columned wall of his temple. My sandals clap against the marbled ground as I hurry over to him.

"I am tired, Adler."

He picks me up. It is embarrassing, but I do quite like being held by him. My strength in this form is limited and for so long my god left me alone. I do not want to be alone again. My fingers curl into the crease of his tunic hearing his wife, the empress, approach.

"Adler, dear, where have you been all day?"

"Taking her on a walk, my dearest."

He does not see the anger hiding behind her eyes because she is beautiful. Tall and regal. No blemishes mark her face. She does not have a double chin like me. Her hair is long and healthy. The desert made mine weak and thin. I am nearly bald.

She glows with an energy I'll never attain.

"All day?"

He pets my head. "Yes, Femke."

Adler turns away with me. I hold his neck tightly watching her face darken on me over his shoulder.

Statues crowd around us until we enter the temple. Inside, shade welcomes us along with his many silent guards. They stand along the walls blending in with the motionless statues. In the center of the large open space he sits down on his large chair where pointy shards of black marble stick out of.

A slave approaches. Adler accepts the wine on the platter. It spills down his neck as he drinks it greedily.

My god is different from normal Shelliv here.

Although I cannot see color, his skin is a darker silver than others here. He is a few heads taller than everyone else and his eyes have strange shapes in them like my own. On top of his head, a wafer-thin antenna holding up a beautiful crescent begins to glow. It is his spyrt. I gulp hard watching it lean in my direction through the nest of his soft curls.

"How are you feeling? Ready for your nap, my little pearl?"

"No," I whisper.

The sound of talking nears. Rapidly, his spyrt lowers, diming until it's void of the heavenly light leaving us shrouded in darkness. I duck my head back into the crook of his neck. His skin smells like the salt of the south sea and warm baargi fruit cake.

Beautiful women enter. They gather around Adler's feet giggling. His advisors come in next. The room becomes even louder.

My god pets my head gently understanding my anxiety around so many new visitors. It is a strange thing but I quite like my scalp being massaged.

"Emperor, Adler!"

I hide my face in the silky cloth of his tunic hearing the dreadful voice of Urdmin. Before answering his advisor, I'm handed off to the hospice keepers. I'm too small to take care of myself.

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A/N: Thank you for checking out the story<3 I will be fully releasing edited chapters.