Legend to Farmer 3: A Slice of Life Fantasy by Dante King

Author:Dante King [King, Dante]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

“Is it good?” Valdis asked pointlessly.

In response, Maelis let out a long sigh. “It's pure bliss.”

Valdis unbuckled his belt, pulled off his shirt, and kicked off his boots. As he approached the pool, the warm, earthy scent of the forest mingled with the steam's mineral sweetness, making a balm that soothed him from the inside out. The pool's surface rippled invitingly.

Valdis stood at its side as he surveyed the water. Maelis was staring up at him. He motioned to his trousers. She smiled coyly. It was an expression that he had often seen on her face in his daydreams, but to see it in reality sent a shiver down his spine and through his stomach like a warm jolt of lightning.

“Is Valdis Wolfbane, feared commander of the King's Army, shy of getting nude in front of a single homeless female?” she asked.

“You’re no longer homeless,” Valdis pointed out, “but as for the rest of it…”

Maelis laughed lightly and turned her back to him. Valdis saw the toned muscles in her shoulders moving under the pale skin as she floated out deeper into the pool. He quickly slipped out of his trousers and tossed them over to where the rest of his clothes were. Then with far less grace and poise than he imagined she had entered the water in, he flopped and splashed into the rejuvenated waters.

“Oooooh, boy.”

Valdis could instantly feel the pool's healing heat seeping into his muscles, touching his bones, and soothing away the cares and dirt of the road.

“Blissful,” he said in a croak. “Yes, that's the word.” He closed his eyes and lay back, allowing all but his face to be submerged in the wonderful, hot, steaming, mineral-rich water. His hearing became muted when his ears were under the surface. Steam and mist from the thermal waters mingled with the scent of the ancient pines, turning it almost into an invigorating fume.

“I hadn't realized how sore my rump was from riding on that seat for the past couple of days until I got in here,” Maelis said.

Her voice echoed dimly through the water, as if it was reverberating out of her chest and entering his ears through the water itself.

Valdis smiled, his eyes still closed, picturing, quite unintentionally, Maelis’ rump. “I agree, even with that fancy goblin engineering, you can't get past the fact that traveling by cart is still traveling by cart.”

With that thought, he wondered whether High King Bucarius and his retinue had set off for the border yet. Somehow, he couldn't find the energy to care that much. The outside world—the politics, the plots, and the complexities of the Realm that Bucarius Blackthorn ruled—seemed distant and inconsequential just then.

The gentle hissing, pattering cascade of the waterfall served as a natural lullaby. The cares and burdens of Valdis’ everyday life, such as they now were, began to unravel. It was as if the warm pool had mystical properties, pacifying not just his aching muscles, but also the small amount of turmoil and stress that he carried within himself.

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