A Bath

It was another bright and sunny day. The weather was dry and hot. It hadn't rained for four weeks now, so the dust on the road was thick. Luckily there was a breeze that would carry the dust away so it wasn't hard to breath while walking next to the wagons. Marcus was tired of being on the road. They were at the two week mark of their journey, they'll be arriving in Clearmount by noon. It was probably eleven-thirty right now so they had about a half hour left to travel.

"So, what will you be doing for the two days we'll be in the city?" Ellen asked Marcus as they were trailing the caravan.

"First, I'm going to find a bath. I can't hardly stand myself right now,"

"Neither can we!" Ellen said laughing.

"Or is that Roger? I can't really tell. Haha." she said with a red face.

They've all gotten to know each other quite well over the last two weeks. They've actually had it pretty easy during the trip so far. No bad weather, no magical beasts, and only that one run in with the bandits. All in all a good trip.

"No, I think that it's just your upper lip." Marcus said in retort, also laughing.

"Hey now, that's not very nice. I'm a proper young lady, you're not supposed to make fun of me!" She said as she punched him in the shoulder.

"Ha, sure you are, whatever you say!" Grinning, Marcus continued.

"After I find a tub to soak in. I'll find a blacksmith to do some maintenance on my warhammer. Make sure it's in tip top shape."

"That's a good idea, wouldn't want the head to come flying off in mid swing." She said nodding her head.

"What about you and Tim? What will you guys do?"

"I think we'll go with a bath as well, then just find a cheap place to stay. Also stock back up on supplies for the return trip."

"Well, maybe we'll meet back up while we're there. Either way we're meeting at the east gate in two days right?"

"Yup, two days, don't forget!" Ellen said cheerfully. She was thinking about a long hot bath. It might cost a few coppers, but a bath was worth it after two weeks on the road.

"Don't you worry, I won't."

.........…..

Marcus was standing in front of a bathhouse, the Boiling Frog. He wasn't a fan of the name, but still decided to go in. Many people didn't take baths very often. For one, heating water was a hassle, even with magic. Another thing was the space it took up. Just like anywhere, the more square footage, the higher the price of a house or room. They just couldn't afford it. So the solution was to either go to the river or lake and wash yourself there in the cold water, or pay some money and go someplace that provided a hot bath. Today, Marcus was going to splurge.

He walked in the two story building. It had a pleasant scent of cedar wood and was rather humid. As soon as you walked in there was a small counter with an attractive woman standing behind it. To the left of the counter was a long hallway with individual rooms sprouting off of it.

"Good afternoon sir. How may we assist you today?" The woman behind the counter said.

She was short, only about five feet tall. She had long brown hair that had a silky sheen to it and came down to her lower back. Dark olive colored skin gave her an exotic look. She had a slim body with small breasts, wearing a tight fitting dress that came down to the top of her knees.

"I would really like to take a bath if it's possible."

"Of course it is sir. What kind of bath would you like?"

"What is available? I didn't know there were more than one kind." Marcus asked. As far as he figured they'd just heat the water up for you and that was it. He even brought a small bar of soap with him because he didn't figure they would provide it.

"Well, we have the copper package where we just provide the hot water. That one is fifteen coppers. The silver package where we provide the soap along with the hot water. A value of eight silvers. Finally, the gold package where we provide the soap, hot water, and perfume for after the bath. That one is one gold coin" The woman said in a surprisingly loud and clear voice.

Marcus was severely short on money. He hasn't been paid yet for the mission, that won't be until they arrive back in Jakarta. Right now he only had twenty-one silver to his name, and he still had to go to a smithy, so he'd only be able to afford the copper package, which was fine with him.

"I'll take the copper package if you would please." Marcus said respectfully with a smile. He always tried to be polite no matter the situation. He found that if you used nice words with a smile you'd get further in life.

The woman smiled back at Marcus, nodding her head. She was used to dealing with travel wary mercenaries, and they weren't always the most pleasant people to deal with. She's had to call the guards on numerous occasions when a mercenary thought that the prices were too much to pay and thought they deserved a better deal.

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you to the bathing room." She said as she took a key from under the counter.

Marcus followed her down the hall until they came to a room about halfway down. The woman unlocked the door and opened it for Marcus.

"There are towels on the shelf by the back wall. The water will be brought to you shortly. You have an hour to bathe once we fill the tub. Do you have any questions or other needs before I leave?" She asked with a smile on her face.

"No, thank you." Marcus shook his head.

"I will leave you to it then. They will knock on the door witht the hot water shortly." Saying this she bowed slightly and closed the door behind her.

Marcus started to undress and take a look around the room. The room was fairly small, with only one tub that was actually very large. Two shelves were hanging on the back wall, they held several white towels. The towels were high quality cotton. Marcus was surprised to see this, cotton was considered a luxury good and wasn't something he'd expect to see in the copper priced room. Lastly, there was a chair sitting next to the bathtub.

Marcus now just had a towel wrapped around his waist. He was sitting in the chair waiting for the water to be delivered. It was about five minutes after he sat down when a knock could be heard from the door. Marcus stood up and opened the door for the bathhouse worker.

A much taller woman was standing behind the door. She was quite a bit bigger than the woman that was behind the counter standing at five-feet three inches. She had muscled arms from carrying buckets of water. Long blonde hair tied behind her head in a ponytail. A pretty face with blue eyes, a small waist and medium sized breasts.

Marcus had yet to see an overweight person the whole time he's been in this world. He figured that it was the lack of junk food and the abundance of physical labor. He didn't know if the lifespan was any different than back on earth, so he didn't know if the people here were actually any healthier.

Marcus stood there in nothing but a towel, his well defined muscles were bare for the world to see. The woman had started to say something, but stopped midway when she saw Marcus. She now had wide eyes and a red face looking at him.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" He asked. He had an idea of why she was staring, but didn't want to embarrass her too badly.

"Yes, of course. Yes, I'm fine. Sorry about that." she said in a fluster, quickly shaking her head to clear it.

"I have your water here. The other girls are right behind me with the rest."

"Come right in then." He said smiling and gesturing for her to enter.

The woman quickly entered, looking away, trying not to make eye contact with Marcus. She emptied her bucket of hot water and exited the room as quickly as she could. Right after her came another woman with another bucket. This repeated until the tub was full of steaming hot water.

"There you are sir, enjoy." The last woman to enter said, bowing. She was stealing glances at Marcus on her way out the door.

Marcus just nodded and smiled as he shut the door behind her. They were all attractive women, naturally some more than others, so he didn't mind the attention at all. That attention made him feel good, it always works wonders on the ego to be desired by people, as long as they keep it respectful.

Marcus dropped his towel and slid into the tub. The tub was actually large enough to fully accommodate him, which made him pleasantly surprised. Soaking in the tub, he noticed that a flowery scent was coming from the water. It was a calming smell, very similar to lavender. With a large smile, he sunk lower into the water, thinking about the woman behind the counter.

.........…..

"What can I do for ya pal?" A young man asked Marcus.

This greeting wasn't nearly as nice as the one that he had gotten from the woman at the bathhouse. In words or in appeal, but this environment was also completely different. Instead of a pleasant smelling bathhouse, he was currently in a hot foul smelling smithy. After his refreshing bath, Marcus made his way here to have his warhammer inspected and maintained. You could only do so much with a rag and some oil.

"I'd like for you to have a look at this. See if it needs anything." Marcus said as he laid his warhammer on the table in front of the young man.

"That's some hammer you got there. A big hammer for a big man I see." Picking it up with both hands, he started to inspect it. Turning it over and over, he looked closely at every part of it.

"The head of it looks fine, no problem there, but it's got some stress fractures along the neck here." The man pointed at the neck of the warhammer just below the head. Marcus leaned in to look closely at it, sure enough he could see hairline cracks.

"She can't take much more of whatever you're putting her through. I recommend replacing the whole handle with steel. We can keep the iron head, that's in good shape." The man said nodding his head.

"How much will that be?" Marcus was worried, he didn't have much money left to his name.

"It'll run you two gold coins. Steel is harder to work with and to make."

"How much can I get for this?" Marcus asked as he place the broadsword he got from the bandit that he killed.

The man picked up the sword and started to inspect it as well. Turning it over and occasionally nodding his head.

"I'll give you one and a half gold coins for it. It's a steel sword in fairly good shape, it does need sharpening and has a few knicks in it."

"Will you take the sword for replacing the handle?"

"Tell you what. I'll take the sword as a down payment. I'll start on your hammer today, should be done by tomorrow afternoon. You come back tomorrow with the rest of the money, ok? I'll even throw in a holster for it so you can strap it to yer back, how's that?"

Not knowing the prices very well, Marcus decided to just go with the current deal.

"I'll take the offer. I'll be back tomorrow at noon to retrieve it."

"Just as long as you have the other half gold with ya." The man said, reaching out his hand. Marcus took his hand and shook it, sealing the deal. Now all Marcus had to do was find a way to earn another half gold by tomorrow afternoon. He had one surefire way to make the money, but that would be his last resort. Clair had given him two high quality healing potions before he left, but he didn't want to sell those unless he had to.

Leaving the smithy, he looked into the sky. It was getting dark out and a cool breeze was blowing. Not wanting to spend the night on the streets, Marcus made his way to find a room to stay in for the night.