Beyond The Stone

Chapter 7

Despite the fact that having a horse meant that Tristava didn't have to hobble the whole way there, the journey was still less than pleasant. They had to try and gently flex the injured limb against every jolt and jangle to keep the pain at bay. It was tiring and unpleasant, to say the least. By the time they entered the castle bailey, Tristava was exhausted. They dismounted carefully, and gave their horse to a stable hand to be cared for, then sat down and rested on the edge of a trough.

"Your leg is troubling you?" Lord Brantly inquired politely.

Something about his character still irked Tristan, despite his earlier turn for the better. He nodded that it was.

"We should get the healer to look at it. He has some potions that would render an injury like that healed in little more than a week."

Both Tristan and Ava liked the sound of that.

'It would normally take at least six weeks,' Ava thought, 'This place must have some pretty knowledgeable healers!'

'Six weeks?!? 'Tis long enough to kill a man without a home in a world like this,' Tristan noted with concern. 'Mayhap their healers truly are masters of the magic arts.'

Ava wasn't so sure she believed in that possibility. It seemed a little absurd to her.

"Come. You should wash and sup while you wait on his arrival," Brantly suggested with a gesture for them to follow.

Tristava got up and followed on as suggested.

A short while later they hobbled into a sort of roman-styled public bath house.

'The master of this keep must be very wealthy to afford such a luxury for his men,' Tristan thought as he glanced around.

'Judging by your odor, I'm guessing there's not a lot of bath houses around where you come from?' Ava shot back with a sickly sweet tone.

'Who needs a bath when there's a river down the lane?' Tristan shot back uncaringly.

They weren't the only people in the bath house. One or two men were already lounging in the warm water. Another was rinsing himself down before joining them. Tristan started stripping as he eyed the third man curiously.

'He's washing himself to bathe himself?' he mused with amusement.

'Of course. Imagine how filthy the water would be if he didn't,' Ava shot back.

She strongly appreciated the fact that the facility used the Japanese hot spring method of pre-cleaning over the early Greek and Roman method of scraping the body clean with oil and a strigil. One method was vastly superior to the other when it came to hygiene.

'Why not just cease after the first wash then?' Tristan mused, still struck by the excess of it.

'Have you ever had a nice, long soak in a hot tub?' Ava shot back in disbelief.

Tristan didn't respond.

'Oh my god! How have you survived??' Ava wailed.

Tristan grinned to himself. Even if she had surprised him so far, women were still women – always in want of extravagant luxuries. He went over to the washing station, and started to lather his skin with his hands. They seemed to work a bit slower than usual over his chest and abdomen, and it took him a moment to realize why.

'Dost thou like what thy is feeling?' he teased.

Ava didn't respond, but his cheeks warmed in a tell-tale blush. He grinned to himself.

'Should I surmise that your tastes lean towards the less hairy then?' he guessed playfully.

She was quiet, but a moment later his hand ran down his abdomen again unbidden by him. The sensation stroked his libido a little.