part0032

A braham returned to Stronghold alone. King Hector and Queen Clarann’s spat became an ongoing argument. King Hector had quickly dismissed him, but Melris and the others stayed. As soon as he entered Stronghold’s threshold, he greeted all the Henchmen that he saw. The triplets, Sofia, Selma, and Bridgett, gave him welcoming hugs and kisses.

“Master, you stink,” said Selma, who wore a short strapless dress. She escorted him downstairs to the dungeon level. “You need washed. Very much.”

The dungeon was a basement with stone walls, where one part had hot springs turned into a grotto. Steam made for a warm fog that filled one of the rooms.

The triplets stripped Abraham down. Bridgett, wearing a skimpy white cotton dress, fought to tug his boots off. His bare feet slapped on the wet stone floor. Several large pools of churning water waited for him to enter.

Through the steam, he noticed several figures moving out of the waters. “Horace? Iris?” he said.

“Sorry, Captain, we’ll give you some privacy,” Horace said.

“No, get back in the tub. Geez, it’s not just for me. It’s for all of us.” Abraham let the triplets lead him into the waters. He noticed Sticks in one of the other hot springs with Solomon. Shades was in the same one that Abraham got into.

Shades waved a hand and said, “Hello, Captain.”

Abraham soaked in the tub. The triplets sat on the edge of the pool and began rubbing him down.

“Uh, that’s not really needed, girls. Not that I don’t appreciate it, but I really just want to sit here and soak.” He nodded at Shades. “That fella there might need a rubdown. The others too.”

Shades grinned. “That would be lovely.”

“As you wish,” Sophia said.

“I’ll rub down my own man, thank you,” Iris warned.

The triplets split up. Sophia joined Shades, while Bridget and Selma moved in on Sticks and Solomon. Sticks shooed the attractive women away, so they both went to work on Solomon’s shoulders.

Abraham lay his head back against the damp towel Selma had laid on the rock ledge. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The hot bubbling pool of water was just what his aching body needed. His nostrils flared. The minty steam began to soften his hard muscles. The aches and pains that throbbed all over began to fade away.

Ruger Slade’s body was more or less a restless device. The slightest abnormal aberration in the environment would fire up his instincts. He was as alert as a prowling panther, always ready to strike at any moment.

Abraham managed winks of rest. He dozed off while the others talked, but every so often, his nerves would fire, waking him up and putting him on edge. Abraham tried to get the body to let go, to relax. They were safe inside Stronghold.

Normally, Abraham slept well when he slept, though lightly. Ruger’s body could make do on a few hours. Right then, that rest, despite all the creature comforts, wasn’t happening. For some reason, Ruger’s body wasn’t settling down. He cracked an eye open.

Sticks lay with her head back, eyes closed, her creaseless face as expressionless as ever.

Solomon had Bridgett in his lap while Selma sat behind him, rubbing his hairy shoulders. Bridgett’s fingers were playing with the troglin’s gums and teeth, and Solomon would chuckle.

Horace and Iris sloshed around in their own pool, giggling quietly.

Sophia’s legs were draped over Shades’s shoulders while she gave him a temple massage. The man looked as if he was in heaven.

The room was filled with happy people, yet Ruger’s instincts were still firing. Abraham had been in Ruger’s body long enough to know to trust it. Something’s wrong.

Abraham caught Sticks looking at him. She quickly looked away. He lifted an arm out of the water and waved her over. Quietly, she came. His eyes popped when she came out of the water not wearing a stitch of clothing.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Sticks asked as she sank back down into the water beside him. She slid a look at the triplets. “Is it because I don’t look like them?”

“Uh, no, it’s not that. You look great. I guess I was expecting to see you in a bikini.”

“It’s something that the women wear when they are in the water back home.”

She nodded. “I see. So, you wanted something?”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“I’m fine.” She sat so close their thighs were touching. She touched his leg. “You?”

“Feeling better, but it’s hard to unwind after a trek like that. We still have a big situation to deal with. The king sent me away, so I don’t know where things are going.”

Shades jumped into the conversation and said, “So, what did the king say?” He scooted toward Abraham.

All of a sudden, Horace and Iris climbed over from their small pool into Abraham’s bigger one. Solomon stretched out from his pool and leaned over its rim, which poured into the bigger pool as well.

“Huh, when King Hector speaks, people listen.” Abraham cleared his throat. “I laid it all out for him. I told him about my world and the corporation behind the portals. We gave him the red and orange stones. I think they changed him. Let me ask all of you this: have you ever wondered how you know for certain that you are on the right side of things?”

Horace gave him an appalled look and said, “We always know we are on the right side of things because we serve the king.”

“Yes, but there are other kings in Titanuus.”

“No, there is only one true king.” Horace’s brows knitted together. “Captain, I find your words unsettling.” He grabbed Iris by the hand. “We have to go.”

“Horace, wait,” Abraham said. “It’s only a hypothetical question.”