Beyond The Stone

Chapter 13

"Because I be too little," the youngest replied with a cheeky grin.

"Because it is your chore, Christine," the oldest laughed as she gave her sister a playful shove.

"It's not fair!" Christine groaned dramatically as she shoved her sister back.

The eldest lost her footing in the mud and slipped into the river with a squeal and a splash. Her two younger sisters stopped what they were doing and ran to her aid.

"I'm so sorry, Elena!" Christine apologized as she tried to help her sister find dry land again.

Elena looked rattled. She was shivering uncontrollably and her chemise had become virtually transparent as it clung to her wet body. Tristava could see virtually every curve and bump. Even her nipples were standing proudly against the fabric – something Tristan noted with especial enjoyment.

'We should not be watching this,' Ava growled.

'Shut it, wench. Thy spoiled yester eve for me. At least allow me this little indiscretion,' Tristan growled back.

'They're practically children!' Ava protested.

'Ah, there be nothing childlike about that girl,' Tristan replied with genuine appreciation for her form.

Ava tried to leave, but Tristan fought her off stubbornly and turned his focus back to the girls. Elena was starting to peel off her wet chemise, while her middle sister held a cloak ready for her to wrap herself in. Tristava felt a now familiar pressure build below their belt. Ava bit her lip with irritation. Tristan could feel her peevishness, as though her eyes were somehow boring into the back of his skull disapprovingly.

''Tis a natural reaction. The maid is well endowed,' Tristan shot back in an attempt at justification.

Ava harrumphed indignantly.

"Help her, Miriam," Christine urged.

'Yes, help her, Miriam,' Tristan agreed eagerly as Elena fought stiffly with the wet fabric that was clinging to her legs.

"You be frozen stiff. Jack will get a fire going for you as soon as we rejoin him," Christine noted worriedly as she put the cloak over her shoulder to rub her sister's arms.

'I wonder who Jack is,' Ava mused, having somewhat resigned herself to putting up with Tristan's voyeurism for the time being.

'Who?' Tristan replied absentmindedly, barely paying any attention to her.

The pressure was building in their trousers, and his eyes were firmly fixed on the slowly evaporating chemise. The maid's skin was slightly flushed beneath it, and what he'd already spied promised him that he was in for a real feast for the eyes.

Barely a second later, Ava heard a noise to their right. She glanced over to see what had caused it. The last thing she recalled was a massive fist hurtling towards her face.

'Oh, that must be Jack,' Tristan noted briefly in the final moment as the knuckles made contact with his jaw.

Tristava flew back from the powerful punch, more or less missing what remained of the embankment completely, and flying straight into the river. Jack had walloped them with such power that their senses had left them entirely, engulfing them in darkness until the icy cold water enveloped them. Its chill revived their senses almost instantly, and the pair rose splashing and spluttering and completely shocked. It took a moment for Ava to calm to the point of just trying to swim out the water – a difficult task because its icy embrace was holding her lungs hostage. She couldn't breathe, and even moving was difficult. She struggled to the water's edge, then felt Tristan take over as he dragged them onto the river bank. The water had washed them a short way downriver. Tristan turned over and heaved air back into their lungs. His head was spinning.

'Wow, what a bear of a man,' Tristan mused to himself as he examined his jaw gingerly.

The man's fist was so large that it had caught part of his eye socket too.

'Oh my word! Our dick and balls are literally aching from the cold. We can barely breath or move, and you're acting like this sort of shit happens every day?' Ava grumbled miserably.

Tristan paused, like he was wondering how to choose his words.

'I trust thee enjoyed thy bath, milady?' he noted sardonically.

Ava's eyes narrowed. 'That was your plan all along, wasn't it? You were going to shock me with the icy river water?'

Tristan shrugged and grinned.

'We have been thoroughly cleansed, have we not?' he reasoned, 'though I cannot take credit for the entertainment that was to be enjoyed along the way...'

Ava harrumphed and started fighting with their sword belt buckle.

'What be thee about?' Tristan asked as he fought her hands to a stop.

'We're freezing. We've got to get these wet clothes off,' Ava reasoned.

'A man shouldst never remove his sword in the woods,' Tristan told her wearily as he stood and began to fight his tunic out from under the belt with sluggish arms in compromise.

He just managed to wrestle the cold, clingy garments off when a loud thud alerted them to a second presence.