Ashtium: City of Sun
Payment

ENOCH

“Emporer?” I bark for the millionth time.

I know he’s back there lurking in his private chamber. I’m to tell him of our arrival as routine would have. He usually comes out almost immediately.

I don’t have time to waste. Yesterday, I came back to replace Greta gone, again. I spent all day looking for her and turned up empty handed. I’m really starting to consider tying our wrists together so we won’t get seperated. Was my room truly that boring to make her wish to leave?

I knock again, hollering louder, “Father!”

Maybe he’s been on rounds. I doubt it though. Someone else would have seen him by now.

I’m not leaving here without him.

Fed up, I heave the heavy door open.

“F-father?”

I step back, surprised to replace water still dripping from his hair. It looks soaked. His face is beat red, either in embaressment or arousal because for once he doesn’t look mad.

Who knows what he’s been doing back there.

The upper portion of his tunic is sloppily wrapped around his torso. One robe looks completely torn and hangs down getting wet in the puddle he stands.

He’s barefoot...

“You have arrived,” he states while not moving from the doorway. “How was your trip back?” he asks in a heavy voice.

Did he run all the way here from his bathing pool?

I scratch my neck feeling very uncomfortable seeing him in such a state. “Shulor is still...recovering. Everyone else is fine. Urdmin has been looking for you too. You missed dinner last night. Where have you been all day?”

“Is today already tomorrow?” he asks slowly looking stunned.

“Yes,” I inform him. “You have been missing since yesterday. Mother, and your advisors, have been waiting for your appearance to show. I am the only one who had the courage of coming here to replace you.”

Adler looks in complete disarray.

Well, this is going down in my memory vault. He’s finally lost track of time, and for once, has missed his court appearance. After every desert outing, the courtwomen record events from his tellings. The same is for myself, but my hearing is over.

“Are you feeling well?”

A scowl forms on his face as if insulted by my question.

“I’m very tired from the trip, Enoch. I will be paying you all for your trouble. Come,” he beckons me into his cave.

Paying us? I can’t wait to tell the others! Maybe he should take long baths more often.

“Alright,” I mutter.

I pick up my lantern, following him inside the very dark chamber.

It’s no surprise why his guards try to keep out of it. Even with my lantern, I can barely see my hand in front of my face.

It’s night. A convenience for me since I happened to bring a light source because he carries none. I haven’t been back here for years and it’s still as dark as I remember -- nearly pitch black.

He probably keeps it like this so no one can escape easily if they happen to sneak back here and try to kill him.

Adler knows this place like the back of his hand. I don’t know how else he’d replace his way around. He must be in a really good mood too to wish to bring me with him back here.

We enter the chamber of his unnecessarily big bathing pool. The smell of soap is overpowering. It wafts through the air tempting me to take a quick swim myself, but in this darkness, I’d never dare step foot in those shallows.

I’ve heard many stories of people getting murdered back here. Many guards have told tales of replaceing bodies floating in the pool when the slaves come in to clean it in the mornings. The poor souls. I can’t imagine they clean it very well in this darkness.

Getting a bad feeling, I hurry after him, barely making out his shape as he walks down the pool side ahead of me.

We continue further down, passing the pool and rounding the bed behind the back wall of the pool. It leads right to his bedroom chamber. I follow him inside.

Small candles line the tall walls giving me enough light to not have to rely on my lantern so much. I set it down and walk over to his carefully stacked piles of pillaged loot. Telescopes surround me, but the biggest one sits above us in his observatory with staircase access. Hundreds of star models hang from the ceiling in a careful order of swirls to match that of the bits of sky he can see above.

We do live in a sheltered dome, but it really is one big telescope that only one person uses, him.

“You should really clean this place up sometime. When was the last time the slaves came to clean?” I ask him.

“They do not clean my room. They just clean my bath.”

It’s hard not to gag. No wonder he’s burning candles. Trash, pillows and blankets are discarded all over the floor. Thousands of dead bugs that have made the mistake of crawling back here lay dead. Some, of course, are still alive and attempt at crawling over my feet.

To top it off, the walls are all made of square-cut mirrors to adhere to his paranoia and showcase the gross scenery of this dump.

“Oh, this is disgusting!”

“You sound like your mother,” he chides while rifling through star sampling cases and gifts from foreign nations.

Everything is either covered in grime, bugs or dust. The only thing that looks clean is his huge clout bed that most of the clutter lays beneath. It’s made of condensed, fluffy plumes of clouds extracted from our skies.

Our kingdom does not manufacture them.

The Harlong Kingdom did. No more though, unfortunately. Funny how I was about to recieve one before Adler decided to burn their city down. The furniture piece looks like a puff of clustered clouds, mainly with a pure white tint. There are some faint streaks of blue too. It glows softly, the fluffy lumps slowly shifting around each other. It pulses in some areas as it hovers in place.

Clout beds usually are only crafted for the wealthy and they take thousands of years to make. There are not many floating around.

“Here,” he says while handing me a heavy sack of ashta coins.

“Wow, I’m sure this will make a lot of people happy. Thank you.”

I’ll take money over a useless rare trinket any day. I’m sure this will be a pleasant surprise to many of our guards and advisors.

With a grunt, I heave it over my shoulder and follow him back out.

He remains in the chamber, watching me from the inside when we reach the door and I step out.

“Will you be attending your ceremony tonight, then? Ashtium is looking forward to hearing your updates about our star’s health.”

“What is there to tell? It is dying and has been.”

“You know what I mean.”

His face sharpens. “No, Urdmin will stand in for me.”

“Have you softened up to him? I thought you wanted him dead.”

A loud crash comes from somewhere behind him causing us to both jump. I draw my sword, stepping forward, ready to act in case it’s a threatening danger. He blocks my way, unmoving. I’m not expecting him to shove me back with such force either.

I barely catch my footing in time before landing in the arms of two of his personal guards.

“I’m afraid I bumped into your grandfather’s urn,” he begins. He watches me down the bridge of his nose with new callous. “We owe it to the prayers and strength of our people to not stir worry about inconvenient truths. So I will arrive just for the dinner party, afterward.”

“Unbelievable! I did not come out here to be dragged back,” I yell back. “I can ride my own horse, thank you very much.”

“Release him,” he orders. “Tell the empress I will be arriving shortly, Enoch. Why don’t you invite your lady of interest to dinner tonight? My advisors will be bringing their dates and spouses. You should too. It’s about time we meet her. Give her a coin or two, why don’t you?”