A Knight to Remember

In his arms

The next day, Kara laughed to herself at her misunderstanding of Derek's reference to bathing. Especially as that was where she had chosen to meet him. In the town of Toulouse almost everyone bathed, some much more than others. One had to pay, of course, but it was a very small sum, a copper coin that even the poor could afford.

Kara had learned that when the Romans built the baths, hundreds of years before, people bathed in the nude, though they often had separate times for the men and women. But today the Church frowned on nudity in public places and both women and men wore clothing in the common areas of the baths.

Kara had her bathing essentials with her. Oil, to lather on her body, a strigil to remove the oil to make her body fresh, a small towel and larger towel for drying. She entered the door to the woman's bath, gave the token payment to the woman at the entrance, and moving further inside proceeded to undress. There were three other women there, one with a young child, but she didn't know any of them as like most people she usually went to the baths later in the afternoon.

The first room was warm as was to be expected, and Kara didn't stop there but went right through it to the hot room. There were several more people in the spacious great room, some relaxing and some lying down as the warmth enveloped them. Kara didn't plan to stay long, but wanting to get clean she applied the olive oil all over her body. She waited in the heat giving the oil time to penetrate down to her pores as the oil cleaned her and then used the strigil all over her body to remove almost all the oil. The heat of the warming chamber was becoming oppressive. Ready to leave, she put on her bathing suit and looked forward to meeting Derek in the cooler temperature of the swimming pool.

When she stepped out into the open air, she saw many people lying on towels sunning themselves and a fair number of people in the pool enjoying the water. Standing in the bright sunlight, she couldn't make out Derek until she heard him call her name from the other side of the pool. She walked around the side of the pool and when she was close she got a good look at him as he stood in the waist high water. Strong chest, muscular arms and narrow waist. She smiled at him and then jumped in feet first, landing only a meter away.

"Kara," he said. "Glad you could come." Then he turned to his right. "Marcus, Julia, this is Kara. Her family makes the most delicious pastries. Kara, meet Marcus and Julia."

Kara was a bit disappointed for she had expected that she would only be meeting Derek but she extended a hand to Marcus and then Julia. Kara noted both Marcus and Julia, but her interest was more in the girl. She was attractive, with blonde hair and a perky figure. She seemed genuinely nice. Marcus was slightly taller than Derek but of the same general body type. Both men were trim and fit. Derek said to her, "We've already been here awhile and have had a chance to swim. How about a game?"

Kara saw he had a blue ball in his left hand. "I don't know," said Julia. "Why not just play catch, at least at first?"

"OK." Kara saw that Marcus was already backing up and she did the same. Now, they formed roughly a square. Derek eyed her and pitched her the ball first. She caught it and was surprised that it was heavier than it looked. She pitched it to Julia, but it didn't quite make it there. Julia jumped forward, managing to catch it even while falling frontwards into the water.

"Nice catch," yelled Derek. Kara told herself to throw it further next time.

The game went on for awhile and then someone had the idea to play keep away with the ball. Kara was not at all surprised that she was the first person they chose to keep the ball from. After all, she was the new one. She watched as they pitched it between them, and as she wasn't yet trying to get it they began lessening the distance between them. "Come on, Kara, try to get the ball, spoke Derek.

She half swam and half walked to him, as the water wasn't much more than waist deep, and tried to jump up for it when he threw it to Julia. She waited until Julia threw it to Marcus and when it landed a short distance in front of him she dived for it. Too late. This went on for a time as Kara watched to see which one she could more easily get the ball from. Then she had an idea. At the exact moment when she guessed that Marcus was going to throw to Derek, she planned to move right next to Derek to try to prevent him from getting the ball. Instead, she would get it.

She watched as Marcus was about to throw, and then, just at the right time, she stood up and put her arms around Derek, With the hope of wrapping his arms in hers so he couldn't catch it. Her plan should have worked for as she held Derek the ball fell lightly on her back. All she needed to do was release him and then turn around and pick up the ball. But as she held him, she saw surprise and then something else in his eyes that completely made her forget her plan of letting him go and turning to pick up the ball. Instead, she continued to hold onto him until he gently removed her arms encircling him and put his own arms around her waist while continuing to look into her eyes.

"No fair!" shouted Julia.

Kara barely heard her words while Derek was holding her. Finally, he turned toward the others and said, "Maybe that's enough for today."

Kara backed away a short distance from where he stood in the water. She had felt something very personal during the short time she and Derek had been together. She wondered if Derek felt it too.

Soon, they said goodbye and went their separate ways back through the rooms of the bath, men one way and women the other. Kara at first thought Julia was with her, but when she didn't come right away she went ahead toward where she had come in. Returning to near the entrance, she dried off any water still left on her body, removed her bathing suit and put on the clothes she had worn when entering the baths. In doing all that, she couldn't get Derek out of her mind. Had something passed between she and he when when they stood arms around each other? Or was it only her overactive imagination? No, Kara felt it was real for her. Was it real for him?

Oil for bathing: I Know it sounds different, using oil instead of soap, but apparently it works because the more expensive soaps you can buy today have oil in them.

Roman baths: long after the Romans lost their empire, their famous baths remained in use in many parts of the former Roman world. As you can see here, it was quite different than today's private bathing.

Note:  Missed adding to this recently because of a crashed laptop. Thank you for your patience. Anyway, in the next part we'll learn what Derek thinks of his and Kara's close encounter. But that's only a part of what is coming.