The Unexpected Spa

The banks of the river, for that is what is was now, had overflowed. There was a current, but it was broken by voritices of turbulence. Hesht pointed out one little whirlpool, and observed that the current should not be irresistable. Astra suggested that she lead, as she was taller, perhaps tall enough to wade across some tricky section.

Astra started to wade in, bracing herself against an expected cold shock of water -- only to find that it was delightfully warm. She looked back at Hesht with raised eyebrows, and then said, "It's warm."

Hesht replied, "It shouldn't be. Unless something strange is going on upstream. It should be cool."

"Yes, that is what I thought." Astra continued on. She had hoped that there were no further surprises, like that of some unsuccessful magical formula being dumped into the Little Still. She looked for strange animals, such as snakes, which she feared might infest the water, but none were to be seen. There wasn't even moss on the rocks, or scum on the surface, as she would expect. Just some soil suspended in the water, and not too much of that.

If she did not have to move on, she would have been tempted to stay in one of the little whirlpools. Some of the stiffness of her legs and back that she had picked up from her travels was relieved. Her bare feet now felt the rocky bottom, her shoes long since having fallen apart on her journey. She waded out until she was knee deep in water. She looked back, and saw that Hesht had followed her. He was not a good swimmer, but managed to keep his head and make the crossing.

Once she had left the water, she noticed that she could barely walk. Her legs almost as if they were not there, although she could see that they were. She sat down, and noticed that she was a rosy red all over. She now felt chilly, and her body wanted to go back into the soothing water. However, she knew that she had no time to waste.

"That was pleasant," she told Hesht, "but I will need to stay for a bit before I can go on. My legs feel like they will not move."

"They will get their feeling back in a few minutes," said Hesht. "The air f- feels cool. I think rubbing the cold parts should help. What do you think?"

"Try the back of my neck," suggested Astra. As Hesht started to do so, she said, "That feels good."

"I am happy to hear that. There is a place called the Royal Spring, near the K- King's court. Bakhtar told me about it. One can go by the invitation of the King only. I have heard that the legs of the visitors go numb, and that certain of the kings servant's rub the visitor's bodies in such a way that go to sleep, unable to move a muscle, but wake up feeling stronger. Astra, the one thing that you need to do is to keep warm, as it is hard to warm back up once you get cold, and we are not going to be able to start any fires tonight. I th- think we should be fine, though, because it does not feel like it is going to get too cold tonight. Do you mind rubbing my calves? The air, after wading the warm river, is making me ch- chilled."

Astra agreed to his request. It was ironic that, she and Hesht had this place to themselves, enjoying the same pleasure that Hespaniard nobles had to fight to get. Astra still had an unanswerable question - what warmed the water?

1. But that question remained unanswered, as Astra and Hesht made their way to the first cache.
2. Astra soon had her answer.

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