Chapter Two Hundred and Fourteen: The Horn
I slowly made my way across the bath to the far end. Once there I sat and just enjoyed the water. Sitting there and relaxing, I could feel just how tired I’d gotten whilst on the road. I knew I should probably head back upstairs to bed soon, but I was in no rush to leave the bath. It was just too nice after this long.
I had been sitting there for about ten minutes, when I noticed footsteps approaching. At first, I thought it was just someone coming in for a bath, but no one appeared in the bathroom. I could still make out the sound of occasional steps near the entrance.
It fell silent again and just as I laid back against the bath side, I thought I noticed a head pop around the door. It was too steamy in there to make out who it was from just a glance.
Wondering what was going on, I decided to call out. “Hello?”
As soon as I had, the figure returned. This time they walked into the bathroom. I struggled to make out who it was at first due to the steam.
As they approached, they answered my call. “So, you are in here Theo!”
“Jules? I wondered who was wandering around out there!”
She paused as she approached. “Yeah… I wasn’t sure if it was you in here or not. I was a little worried about wandering in here dressed like this.” She looked down over her covering.
Jules appeared to be wearing just towel. I wasn’t sure if she had anything on underneath, so I could understand her concern.
“It’s only me in here.”
“I can see that now.”
She strolled over to the edge of the bath where I was sat. She stopped and dipped a toe into the water.
“I thought you were off to bed?”
“I was, but I wanted a wash first. I heard you leave before me, so I hoped you would be in here.”
“Well, you were right.”
She glanced across the bath. “You don’t mind if I join you, do you?”
“No not at all.”
She smiled. “Great!”
Jules slowly loosened the towel around her and then lifted it away. She folded it and left it on the nearest bench.
I was right, she had been completely naked under the towel.
I watched on as she climbed into the bath.
She blushed slightly as she noticed my gaze. “Hey.”
“Ugh, sorry… I didn’t think you minded.”
“I don’t. It just made me feel a little self conscious with you looking at me like that.”
“You shouldn’t be.”
Jules pushed her way through the water, before taking a seat next to me. Her breasts floating just under the water’s surface.
“Ah, this is heaven!”
“Isn’t it?”
“I’m sure the men’s bath is nicer than the women’s one!”
“I’ve not been inside, so I’ll just have to take your word for it. I know that I’m the only one that ever seems to come here.”
“Yes, you’re lucky.”
I laughed. “Sometimes it does feel like it.”
She moved a little closer and locked eyes with me. “Is this one of those times?”
“It is.”
She pressed her body up against mine, her face so close to mine I could feel her breath on my skin. I wrapped my arms around her as we started to kiss.
Things quickly started to get heated and before I knew it, Jules had climbed onto my lap.
“Weren’t you worried about letting me rest?”
“Well, we’re here now, and you don’t look like you’re planning on leaving anytime soon.”
She reached down into the water and grabbed my dick.
“I’m not.”
Jules begun to position herself over my dick.
Then just as she was about to push it inside. We were interrupted by a loud sound.
I wasn’t sure what it was at first. It sounded like a horn being blown outside. Whatever it was it had to be incredibly loud for us to be able to hear it inside here.
Jules’s reaction told me it was serious. She immediately began to climb off me. “It’s an alert. We should check what’s going on!”
“Could we be under attack?”
“It isn’t the attack warning. It’s the call to stations, something big has happened.”
I grasped at her hand before she stepped out of the bath. “Do we really have to go now? Don’t we have time to finish in here?”
She looked back at me. She looked torn. “I really don’t want to stop… But I must return to the desk and see what is happening. You should really go as well.”
I knew she was right. I already knew this place was surrounded by alliance forces and now the alarm was being sounded… But I just wanted to finish up here first.
“But…”
She shook her head. “Sorry, Theo. Lisa will be coming down because of that alert. I have to go. I wouldn’t be surprised if your party return to the guild either.”
“I suppose.”
“You should at least check on the members upstairs. They won’t know what’s going on.”
I had told them that if anything happened, they could find me in my room, but here I was wasting time in the baths as the alarm horn blew.
I got to my feet and started to climb out of the bath. “You’re right, I should go and check.”
We each headed for our towels once out of the bath. We dried ourselves as we walked back to the changing room. When we reached our clothes, it was a rush to get dressed and then head to the reception desk.
When we reached the reception there was already a bit of commotion in front of the desk. There were a few adventurers frantically trying to get information from the girl that was manning the night shift.
When the girl spotted Jules approaching, she started waving. “Jules there you are! I was starting to worry. I checked your room, but you weren’t there!”
“Sorry… I was in the bath when the horn sounded.”
The girl glanced between Jules and I. “Oh… I see. Well, you’re here now.”
“What’s going on, why was horn sounded?”
“Enemy movement has been sighted and they’re heading towards the city!”
“Are they preparing to attack?”
“We don’t know yet. That’s all that’s been reported.”
“I see. Has Lisa been down yet?”
The girl shook her head. “No, she hasn’t.”
“I’ll go and check her office.”
“Right.”
Jules turned to me. “You should go and check on your friends. I’ll return to the desk once I’ve spoken with Lisa… You should probably come back here once you’ve checked on them. We all need to be on alert until we find out what’s going on.”
I nodded. “Right, I’ll go find the others and meet back here.”
“I won’t be long.” Jules turned and headed through the hatch in the reception desk.
I stopped for a minute just watching the people panic in front of the desk. No one seemed to have a clear idea what was going on and were all clamouring at the desk. The poor receptionist was trying her best to deal with them, but with limited information to share she was struggling.
With little that I could do to help, I turned and headed for the stairs.
When I reached the corridor that led to my room, I noticed that all three of the girls were standing just outside my door.
Aetherin was the first to notice me approach. “Theo! Where have you been. Something is going on!”
I sped up my stride. “I was in the bath, sorry!”
“What’s going on?”
“The horn was sounded because the enemy is on the move.”
Lucy rushed to my side. “Have you been past the desk, do they know anymore?”
“I passed it on my way up here, but they don’t seem to know much yet. I left Jules to speak with Lisa. We should probably all grab our gear and head downstairs just in case.”
“Got it.”
“We’ll meet back here and go down together. People are panicking a bit down there. It’s probably best if we stay as a group.”
“Okay, we’ll meet you back here in a minute.”
Lucy and Ameri hurried back down the corridor to their rooms.
Aetherin turned to me. “Do you think they’ll attack tonight?”
“I don’t know, but it’s worrying.”
The timing of their movement and our arrival here was just too much of a coincidence. Lisa might have been right about them letting us walk in here.
I unlocked the door to my room and turned back to Aetherin. “I’ll just be a moment.”
“Right. I’ll wait in the corridor for the others and keep an eye out for trouble.”
“Thanks.”
Having Aetherin watch my back was a relief. After last time here, I knew that even the guild wasn’t entirely safe anymore. There couldn’t be many people that would be able to make it past Aetherin.
I rushed inside and headed straight for my gear. I was rushing around trying to get changed as quickly as I could. I just had a bad feeling about this.