Rivers of Fate

The Only Key

Who are you, warrior guy?

His face looked so serene as he lay in the water as if it were the most natural place for him to be.

Xia studied the man who still held her gaze despite his eyes being closed. She'd guess he was around the same age as her, maybe a little older but not by much.

His upper lip, cheeks, and forehead glistened with a sheen of fine water droplets; the steam misting over his angled cheekbones and thick swept brows. The golden honey complexion of his skin became evident as he warmed up.That worrisome tinge of blue was gone from his lips.

Whoever her warrior was, the warrior was, he was definitely no couch potato. Muscled arms reached up to broad, square shoulders. His lean and taut muscled physique was most apparent through the soaked fabric of his thin undershirt. The creases of the wet shirt outlined every defined ridge of his torso; sculpted pecs on a toned chest tapering to a rippled six pack abdomen. One of his hands lay upon a hard muscled thigh and...

Xia ripped her wandering gaze away.

Drawing a deep breath, she focused instead on the man's other hand which hung limp over the edge of the tub. The warrior's fingers were long and slender but his palms were calloused and rough. Whatever he did for a living must involve some sort of intense work with his hands. Xia took hold of it to lower into the tub so it could warm up as well. But the moment Xia touched the water with the warrior's hand, the water shimmered and started to glow. His body gave a jolt at the same time.

With a squeak, Xia dropped his hand with a splash. The glow went out just as Xia fell back on her rump again. What the...?! Snatching her back scrubber from the sink counter, she held it at arm's length to poke the water with first, then the man. The water stayed normal and the warrior stayed quiet.

She was so focused on watching for anymore sparkles that she didn't hear the new set of footsteps enter her apartment.

"Xia? Are you decent, luv? You left your door open. "

Lucy appeared in the bathroom doorway wearing a thick sweater and corduroys. "I wanted to ask you how your interv..." Her upstairs neighbour's eyes bugged out as she took in the sight of the man soaking in Xia's bathtub. "Oh my, new bath toy, Xia?" Lucy asked, planting her hands on her hips. "Now that is one hot rubber ducky. What did you do? Club him on the head like a neanderthal and drag him home?"

In addition to extolling the virtues of yoga and the odd therapeutic cigarette, another of Lucy's life philosophies was that all women should embrace their inner goddess to become more empowered. She often regaled Xia with stories of her activist daysback in the women's liberation movement of the 70s.

"No, I did not club him on the head and drag him home," Xia muttered, her eyes still fixed upon the water. Had she imagined it? Maybe she was still feeling the effects of yesterday's migraine?

"The water's about to spill over," Lucy remarked.

Xia lunged forward to shut the taps and her breath caught at the pair of striking, now focused, black eyes meeting hers.

_____

He must have passed out again. And now it was an older woman's voice he heard speaking to Xia. There seemed to be but the two women with him now.

Wanfeng couldn't remember clearly what happened after he'd arrived outside the window in the night. He'd been so cold... his hands and feet numb, his limbs aching; despite the small weight of warmth on his chest and the even smaller one against his neck. Then he'd heard the Fox's voice... along with another? Had he heard a man's voice before? There were blurred flashes of entering the manor house and descending stairs, then the near euphoric feel of hot water chasing the chill away.