Words

  I hate words

  Words

  I love words

  Words

  Insufficient

  Words

  I’ll hum instead

  Collected Unpublished Lyrics

  - Sibsil Creed, Stories of Shurwinn, (2783)

  Salt scrubs, unlabeled, of course. Oh, just grab one and get to it! I scrubbed myself vigorously.

  I felt edgy after being in my small room all day researching the Sibyls. So, I'd come to the spa where there were no signs, but familiar comforts like salt scrubs, showers, shampoo bars.

  Once I rinsed off the scrub, I slid into the large rectangular indoor pool and swam to the far edge, all the way to the exterior wall, where a passageway led to the outdoor pool.

  Outside was a huge, round hot tub big enough for 30 people. There was no one there, so I had it all to myself. When I surfaced outside, the night air was cool, and the sky above was an ocean of stars.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Ocean after ocean of stars. Exactly what I needed. I needed to stretch out to the vast sky above, so I leaned back, floating on the surface of the water.

  The day had been so unreal. All of it. Was it really just a few hours ago that I had read about the Durstahngnat—the upside-down male erotica position? That felt like a lifetime ago.

  And then meeting Sorchen. She'd known exactly what I was looking for in the library. How did she come to be there, at that time, in the Fertility section, right when I needed her?

  Sorchen and I'd eaten lunch together in the dining hall. My first shared meal at the monastery. No, my first shared meal on Shurwinn! But I'd been eager to get back to my room to translate everything from the library.

  It was an eye-opening day, and I wasn’t ready to look at the Chaludra graphics because I was still digesting everything else. Erotica books? Ancient art and prophetesses?

  I let myself float in the hot tub while all of the new knowledge percolated like tea in a pot.

  I exhaled a slow sigh of relief, focusing on the stars.

  Did the ancient Sibyls look at the stars in Milky Way Galaxy? What did they think of when they looked up? Did they know that there were millions of people out here?

  "Dear Sibyl, did you know that I would ask about you and what you saw? If I could’ve talked to you, would you have thought that I was a sister in this strange new world of visions, and mysteries, and arcana, and things that no one else can sense?” I whispered.

  I closed my eyes and smiled. It felt so nice to relax and just let myself go. I could feel out beyond the oasis, beyond the desert, beyond the sphere, beyond, beyond.

  And I was happy. Maybe too happy?

  Uh oh. No way, I was in public, and I would not be getting turned on. Forget about The Art and Practice of Tindin Erotica, Ryst. No, that book did not exist. There were no nude men in backbends.

  I kinda wished there were.

  I giggled to myself, and I felt something. Something happy and warm, and there was an arm around my waist. He was around me, and he was laughing too.

  I could feel him! He was with me!

  And he knew!

  He knew I wanted him, and he knew I was in public, and he laughed at me! He was behind me, nipping at the side of my neck, teasing me, and playing with me. We laughed together, then he faded.

  I stood up, lowered my body into the hot water, and opened my eyes.

  I smiled.

  I was awake.

  And I had not been alone.