Jeremy Laszlo - The Choosing

Sara dug out the two large silver coins still in her possession, and eighteen small silver coins. She paid Sasha, who thanked her graciously and asked if they would like to see their rooms or bathe first. All of them decided they would much rather bathe first asked to be led to the baths. Sasha led them through the lavish building taking them first through the dining hall and then around a corner into a long hallway. They walked to the end of the hall and Sasha opened the door at the end of the hall revealing a room like none the group had ever imagined. It was not that the room was excessively decorative. It was the massive metal structure in the middle of the room that drew the focus of their attention. A giant copper tear hung from the ceiling at the middle of the room, it was polished to a golden honey shine, and across its polished surface flames leaped and danced. The fire was actually situated below the giant metal tear, but its reflections danced all over the object causing it to appear as if it were completely engulfed in flame. At the top of the giant tear, where it hung from the ceiling, dozens of small copper tubes erupted out in a cascade across the ceiling. The tubes ran across the expanse of the ceiling in all directions, curving this way and that, some of them even doubling back upon themselves before turning once again in another direction. The tubes then flowed down the walls disappearing behind the semitransparent glass walls of a dozen stalls. Shadows and sparkles danced around the room making the entire expanse seem alive. It was an amazing site, awe inspiring. Sasha watched their expressions as they entered the room and she smiled knowingly.

“The device was once created by the gnomes as a weapon of war. They brought several of them here to Valdadore to present to the King as a gift. However as most gnome devices are dangerous at best, there was a fatal flaw in their design. The large tank we so lovingly refer to as the gods’ tear was designed to hold a large quantity of tar. It would then be heated causing the tar to expand and spray out the tubes. The tubes can be bent to face in the direction of the enemy who would subsequently by coated in boiling tar. However while demonstrating the device to the King its tubes clogged preventing the escape of the heated tar. Pressure continued to build in the tear until the demonstration unit exploded killing all of its handlers. The King rejected the gift, and the gnomes were so upset by their failure left the remaining devices for the people to do with them whatever they wanted. We, here at The King’s Herald obtained this one and modified it slightly to heat water for our baths. Inside each stall is a tube with a valve, if you would like to heat your bath further simply turn the valve and hot water will flow into your bath. Be careful though it is very hot. After you undress please place your clothes at the base of the door to your stall and one of our people will collect them and have them quickly washed, dried, and returned. Please feel free to take your time and relax.” Sasha finished her narrative, and smiling politely left the room allowing the door to close behind her.

Without a word the group headed down between the two rows of stalls. Ashton walked straight into the first stall and closed the door behind him. Garret walked half way down the same row and disappeared into a stall of his own. Sara led Seth by the hand to the back of the room. She led him to the next to last stall in the room and kissed him gently before allowing him to enter the stall. Watching him close the door behind him, she stepped into the stall directly next to his, the last stall in the room. Sara waited until she heard Seth step into the water. Knowing he was undressed and relaxing, she too quickly removed her clothes. The walls between the stalls were made of the same semitransparent glass as the doors, and being such you could see through them a bit, kind of like looking at a colored silhouette. It was a view lacking detail, thus granting privacy into each stall. Sara walked to the wall she shared with Seth. Assuming the closer she got to the wall the more definition he would be able to see through the glass. She tapped the wall lightly with her fingertips and heard his bath water slosh around. Assured she had his attention, she stepped as near to the glass she could without actually touching it and turned around painfully slow allowing him a less than perfect view of every angle of her naked body. Hearing Seth sigh loudly Sara giggled and turning, climbed into her tub.

Seth looked around the small stall. The tub was a large copper caldron with a tube protruding through the top lip and out through the back wall. Another tube came out of the bottom of the tub and had a knob on it to close or open it. Above the tub as promised one of the copper tubes climbed down the wall, and turning at a right angle ended abruptly just above the tub with another of the knobs. In the back corner of the little stall was a series of shelves easily within reach of the tub. Upon the shelves rested several bowls with salves and creams, small bars of soaps, bottles of differently scented perfumes, and a pile each of washing cloths and towels. Plucking both a bar of the soap and a washing cloth he rested them on the side of the tub. Seth then quickly undressed and stepped into the tub. As his body displaced the water it flowed quickly out of the upper tube through the wall preventing even a drop to overflow onto the floor. Seth was thinking to himself about how great an idea it was when he heard a tapping from behind him. Turning in his tub he could see Sara’s fingertips resting on the pain of glass that separated them. Seth watched as Sara stepped up to the glass. He could see her, though the image was clouded and dull, and lacked detail and definition. Without realizing he had done it Seth inhaled sharply and held his breath. Sara stood naked before him, and though the vision lacked intimate detail, enough clarity remained to keep his attention fixed. She turned then, ever so slowly allowing him to see her fully exposed making up with his imagination the details he could not decipher through the glass. Hers was a body of perfection. Seth tried to breath and found he still could not as she paused once again this time facing away from him. He watched in silent reverence as she bent slightly at the waist to give him a better view of her retreating form. However instead of retreating she again stood erect and continued her painfully slow show. Seth could not help himself. He watched trying to take in every bit of her, unable to look away. As she finally finished her blood stirring game and stepped away from the glass, Seth’s ability to breathe returned once again and he exhaled loudly. This was responded to by a giggle from the other side of the glass. The melodic sound his angel made when she purposely pushed his limits. Seth smiled to himself aware of her little game. She enjoyed his torture, and he could easily admit to himself he enjoyed it just as much. Pulling the cloth and soap from the edge of the tub, Seth began to wash away the dirt and grime of the road.

Sara enjoyed teasing Seth. She enjoyed enticing him with her body. It wasn’t that she was over confident about her body, not even that she found herself attractive. She imagined herself the plain picture of the girl next door. She did not think herself anything special, but Seth seemed to be intrigued by her. If he thought well enough of her body to pay it such close attention, then she saw no reason not to give him something to look at. She knew that he wanted to wait, wanted to do the right thing by her. Seth was very old fashioned, and she adored that about him. Though his body showed no signs of having the same intentions his mind had, Seth had been able to refuse her advances each time she had applied herself. She knew all too well how to arouse his body, she had been raised in a brothel after all, and Seth was a man much like every other man. Even so, though his body might scream for hers, he had yet to step over that line, and said he would not do so until they were joined. So it would be that though Sara did not have the same old fashioned opinions, she would not expect Seth to give in to what she wanted. However, if he planned to make her wait, she would do her best to make him think twice about it. Smiling to herself, thinking about how she might tease him the next four nights that they would be sharing a bed, she began to wash herself.