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.
'Slowly now. I dare say we shall have plenty of time to play in the days to come,' he cautioned her.
He felt his cheeks flush again and grinned.
'Sorry. It's just... well you're ripped! I've never felt such a hard body before,' Ava admitted on a shy whisper.
Tristan beamed knowingly. He'd always been proud of his physique, and it never hurt to get an honest appraisal from a lady. Something inside of him was just a little too happy about her touch and appraisal. He grabbed the bucket of water at his feet and doused himself with it before his body could start to show its appreciation. The coldness took his breath away.
'Holy shit! Why did you do that!' Ava moaned after they caught their breath.
'There is much that thee hath yet to learn about this body, my lady,' Tristan admitted. 'Until thou be better acquainted, I shall take the liberty of caring for it.'
He stood and turned to approach the bath. He froze. Brantly was standing between him and the bath, Tristan's sword belt and weapons in one hand and his dirty clothes in the other. The captain had four guards at his side.
'I didst know that man to be untrustworthy,' Tristan growled with a gritted jaw.
'Why? What's going on?' Ava asked, confused.
''Tis just that we are about to be arrested,' Tristan replied with a scowl of annoyance.
'What? Why?!? But we defeated the ogre! We saved everyone's lives!' she protested.
The guards moved forward and clapped strong hands on Tristava's arms. He didn't bother to retaliate. He knew how to pick his battles.
"I didst believe that we had a gentleman's agreement," Tristan growled angrily, "we shook on it."
"The shake of the hand does not stand for anything more than a greeting in this place," Brantly replied with a cunning smile. "In my land we pledge on our chests."
"Bah! Thy was aware of my meaning. Didst I not prove myself to thee?" Tristan argued irritably as they started dragging him away.
"That you did," Brantly admitted, "But I know a scoundrel when I see one, and my lord trusts me to keep the filth under control in these parts. You shall be detained until the woman is examined for signs of harm. After that you shall be brought before my lord, and he will determine your fate."
"I didn't touch the woman!" Tristan shouted back as he was dragged away.
'At least I don't think I did,' he thought.
"I didst not even know of her presence!" he argued.
Ava was still fumbling over her change in circumstances, but she could sense his heartfelt honesty in that remark. She felt something twitch below and glanced down to see what it was.
'Really? At a time like this?' she asked Tristan dryly.
'I cannot control when my sap rises,' Tristan shot back. 'Mayhap it was thy doing this time,' he added snidely.
Now that she'd drawn his attention to it, it was trying to stand very proudly. They got a number of entertained stares from the men they passed along the way.
'Argh. Best we think on unpleasant things ere we end up waving to all whom we pass without the aid of our hands,' Tristan growled with frustration.
A pretty young serving lady happened to be passing at just the wrong time. She ran away giggling and blushing. Tristan tried hard not to think about how pretty her flushed cheeks had been.
'Stop it. You're making it worse!' Ava growled as the maddeningly sensual feeling swelled in her groin.
'I'm trying,' Tristan grumbled back.
By the time they finally dragged him into the dungeon, the thing was at least a little flaccid. The guards let him pull his shirt and tunic back over his head before they cuffed his wrist in an iron bracelet. Then they left to let him get on with dressing himself. Tristan yanked against the chain that secured him to the wall irritably. The straw beneath him was dirty – he could already feel the fleas jumping on it. He quickly pulled his trousers and boots on, and tucked every opening closed in an attempt to stem the scourge. Then he paced a little restlessly, and kicked at the straw listlessly. Ava could sense his anger. It seemed to surge through their body, empowering it uselessly. She'd been angry plenty of times, but that sensation was different somehow. It was making her muscles bunch and ache for release through activity. She realized that he wanted to hit something. A second later her first struck the wall. Pain sang out in her hand in response.
'Well that was stupid,' Ava remarked dryly as she bit back the pain.
Oddly enough, the pain was helping to dull her immense irritability. Was that what it felt like to live with extra testosterone?
'Mayhap it was a little stupid,' Tristan admitted as he cradled his fist.
He let himself fall back against the wall and slide to the ground miserably.
'I was beyond angry. I needed a release,' he confessed. 'I cannot believe that I trusted him. Thy perception of the man must have skewed my instincts.'
'My perception?!?' Ava shot back, flabbergasted by the insinuation.
'Didst I not tell thee from the very beginning that thy attraction to the man was idiotic?' Tristan reasoned.
'I thought you were just being jealous,' Ava admitted.
'Not in the least. In fact, anytime that thou so wishes, thou shouldst leave my head and go inhabit his,' Tristan grumbled as he fisted his thigh softly with frustration.
'Trust me, if I knew how I'd gotten into your head in the first place, I'd have left long ago!' Ava shot back, a little hurt by his words.
They fell into silence as each of them brooded.
'If... if I was in my own body, I don't think I would have fared very well in this place,' Ava admitted softly after a while.
Her thoughts had turned a little morose. Tristan scoffed.
'Was that meant as some sort of praise?' he asked.
'I... I guess it was a thank you," Ava replied on a whisper.