Ashfall: City of Shade (UNDER EDITING)

Chapter 23 | A Visit

CEPHINE

I did not want to travel out here with Adler. Enoch remained behind overseeing construction. Brommy has been traveling with us at my husband's request.

The nook appears untouched by the lava. I suspected such after finding my dear talking with Greta on his fona.

Finally, we have made it. A bad feeling grows in the pit of my stomach as we move further into the secluded area.

"Where is the light?" I whisper to Adler.

He holds out the lantern in front of us. "It has not been made," he answers, aggravated.

The old women guide us through vines and large dark green leaves. The humidity is horrible and the bugs travel in one big endless swarm. Finally, we reach the netted tunnel. It's an enclosed space where the overhang of tree limbs and wooden dead plant arch over.

Inside, it is shaded and significantly colorful. Many flowers are growing along the tunnel's walls. Stone pots on the ground have been lit with fire. Small statues stand between the gaps in their spacing on the floor.

"What a marvelous structure," I say in awe. "Who built this?"

"We did," the hospice keeper answers. She does not wait for us and continues ahead as if in a hurry. "Much thanks to sister Greta for gathering most of the materials."

The little woman could not muster the strength to build this tunnel let alone drag one tree branch. Adler does not seem fazed by the old woman's claim.

Eventually, we make it around my dear's temple. More of our guards wait at this end. Even more are outside it standing outside with a very worried looking Brommy.

He appears to be talking with a man with frilly silver shoulder-length hair. The man's tunic is improperly tied at the waist leaving on display their treatchless back.

They must be of the same race as my dear for their skin is a grey.

"My sweet?" my husband asks in a questioning tone. I look at him confused.

The man turns around.

"Dear Ashta!" I mumble in shock. "C-cover yourself," I huff.

The manly woman openly scowls at my reaction. Her chest remains on full display. Her white tunic is ripped up and dirty, hanging down from her waist where it drags on the ground.

Her glazed milky eyes observe me, unaffected by my discomfort. "I'm unsure of what you mean," she answers simply.

I look to my dear. Silent worry rises in me as he shrinks back against the insane woman's new glare that turns on him.

"Hello, Adler. I see your wife is pregnant."

"Who do you think you are to talk with such disrespect?" I demand. "You will address me properly."

She turns away from me. "My name is Greta," she answers flatly. She walks up the observatory and stops at the stone entrance.

Since my husband won't, I walk around her. I hold back a laugh as she quickly moves out of my way for I do not wait for her to step aside from the new observatory.

"It's been ruined!" I shout seeing piles and piles of the precious glass scattered across the floor. My dear comes in, anger makes him storm right back out, I follow him eagerly. Finally, the whorish woman will be put in her place.

However, my husband remains quiet as the hideous woman orders around his personal guards. She points, barking demands, for them to begin helping the old women set up a table with huge baskets of food.

Torches are placed around the table. The atmosphere feels strained as the hospice keepers begin sitting down in wooden, scrappy, chairs before ourselves.

Have they all lost their minds?

Brommy holds his head in his hand while Greta marches around him to the end of the table where she most certainly is not permitted.

Her voice lightens on the young man, "Brommy, you may sit across from me if you wish."

Adler remains quiet as his war advisor sits on the other end.

"Where do you want me to sit, my sweet?"

The woman ignores my dear. We end up sitting on the other side of the table. My dear stares blankly down at the cooked bird meat while the elders eat around us like starved street dogs.

She has gained her health back it appears. My dear told me her size fluctuates because of the temperature. I'm not so sure that's it though.

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