An Oath Of Lords And Ladies (ARTK, Book 1)

Chapter 68

Noveno 20th, 3328 A.G

  After breakfast, Tuyon left the armies under the temporary command of Mace so he could have time to himself. The man was young- just a few years older than his queen, and he'd grown up in a village- but he'd already shown so much military potential. During training sessions Mace had proven himself to be one of their strongest fighters- behind Nara and himself. If he continued to be, he would make a great second in command- maybe even commander once Tuyon died.

Because he didn't feel like waiting for the water to boil and cool down, he asked a servant in the hallways where the bath chamber was. On the continent Bracari and Libera, they were common enough. In commanding and Major houses they were often as large as great halls with three or four "baths" in the floor instead of large containers made out of metal. If possible, the bathing chambers were built over rivers or lakes- preferably underground ones, and "cages" of a sort were built underwater around them to allow soap and oils to be filtered outwards, keeping the water clean.

The servant pointed him a few hallways over. It was easy enough to find, and completely empty when he did. The army had bathed in it last night, so he was grateful for the quiet.

The steps downwards were large and poorly built, so he stumbled once but quickly picked himself up. He didn't recognize the building material- some old kind of stone that hadn't been used in centuries because of how heavy it was, but the walls were incredibly smooth compared to House Ashhand's inner and outer. He stripped out of the tunic and breeches he'd been wearing for far too long( even he'd been clean enough to wash his braies in seawater once or twice a week) and lowered himself into the closest of six floor baths.

At first, he sat on the stone ledge lining the bath's edges with his eyes closed. He hadn't known silence in years- and he would never know true silence again.

The only sounds around him were of the water sloshing due to natural currents, and a finch that'd landed outside the closest window. For a while it stayed like that. When he was ready to actually clean himself, however- he found that the provided soap was "unscented" and smelled of pig fat. He wished for a moment that he'd stopped to grab his soap- but then his saving grace came along. The heavy doors creaked open. In walked Uwen, carrying his sack in one hand and Tuyon's in the other( I didn't mean for this specific sentence to sound sus but it kinda just happened, WORD DIFFERENTLY IN EDITING).

"Saw you come in here." Uwen said, almost leaping down the steps. "Took me a while to find your room but I figured you'd want real soap and not.... whatever that is."

Uwen looked at the unscented bar with disgust, then tossed Tuyon's sack as close to the bath as he could. Tuyon mumbled a thank you, immediately sinking his arm in to find the sage and rosemary soap. He stood on the grid at the bottom of the bath then, running the soap over the most visibly dirty parts of his body. He glanced up for only a second as he moved on to his chest, but it was just in time to catch a glimpse of Uwen's bare backside as he stepped into a separate bath.

"I thought you bathed yesterday with the rest of them." Tuyon said.

"I did but it's hard to feel clean when you're sharing a bath with five people and the same water with thirty something. I guess I was lucky enough to get in on the first round. I like to bathe daily in freshwater when I'm able." Tuyon only nodded. He'd never bathed more than every other day, but that was the standard in most corners of the world. Uwen was an interesting character, especially when where he'd grown up was considered. He had no living blood family that Tuyon knew of, yet he talked about the other villagers like they were his family. He cared about how he looked, and though he wasn't as good at it as his best friend- he could use just about every weapons there was.

  And physically-(FIND OLDER WORD)he was decent to look at. He was older than Mace, had the type of eyes that always seemed to smile, a jawline nearly as sharp as Ashhand Iron tools, dark brown hair he wore in a bun most of the time but that reached just past his shoulders then- and was fit from the jobs he and Mace would do around the village.

  "Makes sense..." Tuyon finally replied. "Can I ask you something?"

  "Only if I can ask you something." Uwen shot back, then to Tuyon's surprise- rose out of the water, walked the few steps to his bath and sunk in.

  "I...Uhm...you....." Tuyon stuttered.

  "Go on- I'm listening." Uwen smirked, and though Tuyon didn't- he knew exactly what he was doing.

  "Your.... When was...... Why did you choose to leave the village... and... everything you'd ever known?"

  "Easy- no matter how long it takes you always get tired of the same people after a while. Now I loved my near dwellers in Old Westwend, but I'd never been further out than how far I could walk on a two day hunting trip. Since joining our queen and king I've seen four different territories- kingdoms, and all just to 'gather soldiers and seek answers'." Uwen shrugged.

  "It will not always be like this, you know." Tuyon said quietly. "Sooner or later-"

  "There will be battles and bloodshed, I know." Uwen finished his sentence. "And when that time comes I will be prepared- but that time is not now, so I am going to enjoy as many of the servant made meals as I can while here."

  When Uwen leaned forward, a smirk on his face- Tuyon backed as far away as he could; not out of disgust but because of how hard his heart was pounding.

  "Have you enjoyed your time, commander?" He asked lowly.

"Y-yes?" It came out as more of a question.

"Have you enjoyed it with men or women?"

  "Uhm... Uhm...."

  Uwen smirked again and Tuyon forgot most words. "Women?"

"Most of the people I've asked that question of don't have a hard time answering." Uwen shrugged. "I suppose I'll help you: Men who enjoy only the company of women do not hesitate."

"And...you?"

"Why must one choose? Cunt or cock, it makes no difference. The end result is always the same- for me at least." Uwen was less than half a pace from his face( REWORD SO IT DOESN'T RHYME YOU DUMB BITCH) then. Tuyon gulped as he leaned in further.

"I... fuck, this is wrong." Tuyon repeated the words his father had said after catching him with another guard nearly thirty years ago. "You are... at least two and a half decades younger than-"

"So?" Uwen interrupted. "It's not like you nobles have ever cared about that before."

  "I'm not a noble." Tuyon argued. "I'm the bastard son of a guard-"

When Uwen fully leaned forward, interrupting Tuyon with his lips- Tuyon forgot all protests.

"You are the commander of the only queen's army." Uwen said after pulling away. "Like it or not, you are a noble."