Ella shook her head hard.None of that. Get a grip!she chided herself.
Ella removed her clothes, shy at first, but then remembering that he’d seen every bit of her during her recovery, and more than once. She dropped everything in a pile on the shore and waded in, quickly submerging to her neck in the delightfully warm water.
“Ooh, it tingles,” she marveled as millions of tiny bubbles gently tickled her skin.
“Yes, it is a particular trait of these restorative springs. Pilgrims would trek for days to visit them in the past, but, like so many traditions, this too has fallen out of fashion.”
“But you still come here.”
“Not as often as I once did. But now I have the opportunity to share them with you, and that has helped me remember just how much I adore this place. It’s funny, but until we see through the eyes of another, it’s too easy to take things for granted that are actually quite amazing. And for that, I thank you, Ella.”
“And I thank you for, well,everything. This place, your friendship, oh, and that little bit about saving my life. Yeah, thanks for that too,” she added with a chuckle.
“I am glad to have not only saved someone in distress, but to have made a new friend in the process.”
“Me too. Hey, is that cool spring safe to drink? I’m kinda parched.”
“It is all perfectly safe, though the hot springs have been known to amplify one’s runes a bit more than the cold ones.”
“You’ll have to explain that to me. But in a minute. Be right back.”
“Of course,” he replied, swimming to a partly submerged rock and taking a seat, the water now barely over his waist.
Ella climbed out and knelt by the cool spring, cupping her hands and downing several gulps of the refreshing water.
“Oh yeah, that hits the spot.”
She turned back to find Draikis watching her and felt her nipples harden under his gaze in an instant. He had to have noticed, but she could clearly see his glorious cock just beneath the surface, and it did not rouse. She wasn’t exactly insulted, but it was a rather odd reaction, or ratherlackof one, for a healthy man.
Ella carefully slid back into the hot spring and swam over to him. His rune tattoos, she noted, were faintly undulating in his skin. It was a living pigment, she’d learned that much while still a Raxxian prisoner. But this? It was far different from the little marking behind her ear. Draikis noted her gaze with amusement.
“Here, watch this,” he said, scooping up a handful of the hot water and drinking it down.
The tattoos flared brighter for a moment, then faded to almost normal, but retained just a tiny bit more brightness thanbefore. All but the one on his chest, that is. That one remained dark and dormant.
“What was that?”
“As I said, the waters can enhance one’s runes. Some more than others. I happen to be a bit more susceptible than most.”
“But that one isn’t brighter.”
“My Infala? No, it wouldn’t be. The blocking runes placed when I took my vows prevent any connection, even if I drink these waters. It is quite sequestered and will never find its match.”
“Doesn’t that make you a little sad? You’ve said the Infala is the most important rune.”
“Yes, by far. But it’s okay. I may never bond, but this is what I’ve sworn my life to.”
“If you took an oath?—”
“Vow.”
“Right. Vow. If you took a vow, why bother with that?”
Draikis was at a rare loss for words for a moment. “It–it’s complicated.”
“Then explain it to me. Not like we don’t have time.”
He grinned. “Ever curious, how refreshing. What a delightful trait you possess.”
