I woke up with a start and a gasp of breath. “AHH!” I yelled as both of my hands almost became fists and all of the muscles in my entire body contracted at the same time. I heard a loud hiss beside me and then whatever was happening to me passed. I did a quick mental inventory of my body and realized something very important.

I no longer had a headache!

I sighed as the tension in my muscles faded and I immediately initiated all of the mental techniques I had used automatically for years. My Presence and my mana flowed freely and I circulated it over myself, then I felt such relief as Detect Mana Presence let me 'see' everything within seven hundred and fifty feet of me, if I wanted to look. I even went to the trouble of using the temporary buff for personal strength and body fortification, just to make sure that it worked, and I could tell that my body was back to normal.

I turned my head to look at who sat by my bedside and whose hand I had inadvertently squeezed a little too tightly a moment ago. “Your highness.” I whispered to the queen, a little surprised that she had stayed at my bedside and still held my hand. “Forgive me.”

“I do.” Queen Orella said without showing the pain that her hand was in. “I'm glad you are all right.”

“Me, too.” I said and used Minor Mana Presence Healing on her hand to make it glow. Her eyes widened when her hand was instantly healed and she looked at it.

“Did you just...”

“...do my job?” The head healer asked, and I couldn't tell if she was joking or angry.

“I can't heal major injuries; but, everything else?” I smiled. “Piece of cake.”

“What else can you do?” The head healer asked.

“That's what I'm here to find out.” I said and looked at the queen. “Your highness, may I stand?”

“You don't need my permission to leave the bed.” Queen Orella said, and I glanced down at our clasped hands. “Oh.” She said and smiled demurely as she let my hand go.

“Thank you for attending to me.” I said and sat up, flipped the blanket off of me, then moved off the bed to stand up. I caught a whiff of myself and I could feel the sweat that I had accumulated from spending three days in bed. I turned to the head healer and bowed to her. “Thank you for healing and taking care of me.”

The head healer glanced at the queen and then looked back at me. “You're welcome.”

I slipped on my boots and used a Presence Hand to grab my uniform coat that was on a chair across the room and pulled it towards myself. When it was close enough, I checked it for any damage that the teleportation might have done to it, and I saw that the batteries were still at a quarter of a charge. Of course, I haven't used the powered aspect for more than a few minutes every couple of weeks.

My ability to use Presence to funnel energy through the conversion component of my father's old Light sword was slow at best, since it changed the energy into the proper format to be held inside a battery. I did not want to overload it, especially since I knew for a fact that I wasn't going to be plugging the uniform into a charging port within the next few years. Once I confirmed that the coat and my pants were completely intact and weren't damaged, I slipped the coat on and turned the powered armor on. The familiar energy flowed over the cloth and it became weightless.

I was relieved that nothing was touched and there was even still silver and copper coins in my pockets. “Your highness, may I ask a favor?” I asked and turned my armor off.

“Anything.” Queen Orella offered before she could think about how she should really answer.

I held in my chuckle and smiled. “I really do need a bath and to clean my clothing.”

“Braya!” The queen said as she stood. The door to the room opened and her eldest daughter came into the room. “Hunter requires a full bath.”

“Mother, are you sure that...”

The queen gave her daughter a look that said she had better listen and follow her order, or else.

“Yes, mother.” Braya said and bowed her head to her mother, then looked at me. “Follow me, please.”

I bowed to the queen. “I request permission to leave your august presence, your highness.”

I saw the queen, her daughter, and the head healer exchange glances and I hid my smile.

“Granted.” Queen Orella said, her voice a little unsure.

“I will endeavour to clean up as quickly as possible, then I would like to leave to meet my contact.” I said as I stood up straight.

“It's getting late.” Braya said. “It's not safe to travel during the night.”

I raised my eyebrows slightly, then shrugged. “I guess that means I'm staying for tonight.” I looked at the head healer. “Will I return here to sleep for the night?”

“Other arrangements have been made.” Queen Orella said. “The guest suite has been prepared for you.”

“You are too kind, your highness.” I said and gave her a slight bow.

“I will see you at dinner.” Queen Orella said and turned to her daughter. “Hunter's quite necessary bath awaits him. Please, lead the way.”

Braya glanced at her mother momentarily and then led me over to the door. The two guards had odd looks on their faces as I approached. I couldn't tell what kind of emotions they were feeling, so just as I passed between them, I created two more Presence Hands and gently stroked their faces. Both women jerked slightly and made their armor rattle a little.

“Keep protecting the queen.” I whispered and pulled the door shut with a Presence Hand, then I absorbed them all.

Braya looked back at me with raised eyebrows. “They are the queen's personal guards. Of course they will keep protecting her.”

They do more than protect her physically. I thought with a smile. They also protect her secrets.

Braya led me through several hallways and we passed dozens of women. Some were ambivalent to me being there in the castle, some were surprised that a man was there, and others looked at me like I was a particularly tasty dessert. I thought the last was a little odd, considering the way they go completely passive when engaging in sex, then I remembered Maylia saying that she wasn't inexperienced, even though she had never been with a man before.

Okay, I need to push that thought right out my head. I thought with a big smile, and we just happened to pass another small group of women. There were four of them. One gasped, one had wide eyes, and the other two stood there with slightly open mouths. I gave them a wink and the one who gasped waved a hand in front of her face as the one next to her held her steady. The four elves had different faces and yet their hair was almost all the same color, with only slight differences in style. I had lost count of all the different shades of blonde hair that I had seen on the elves, which ranged from platinum white all the way to burnished and bright gold.

I fit right in. I thought. If it wasn't for my shorter ears, I could be mistaken for one of them, easily.

“Here we are.” Braya said and broke me out of my thoughts. At the end of the hallway was a large door with two quite beautiful young women that wore almost see-through beige cloth dresses. They couldn't be any older than I was, however. Of course, they were elves, so according to Maylia, that meant they could be anywhere from twenty to eighty years old and would still look that young. One of the girls let out a yip of surprise at the sight of us and edged open the door.

I couldn't hear what she said, so I used my Detect Mana Presence technique to look through the wall and inside, since it was well within my detection range. I saw two other young women as they scrambled around a very large in-floor stone tub and prepped it for use as water flowed from two large taps. Several inches of suds and bubbles appeared like magic and covered the ten foot wide tub.

“Princess Braya.” Both young women said as one and bowed deeply to her. “Your bath is ready.”

Braya pointedly did not look at me as her face flushed red. “It's not for me.” She said and corrected their misunderstanding. “The queen said to give Hunter a full bath.”

Both young women's mouths opened and closed once, then again.

“Y-yes, princess. A full bath.” One of them managed to say and opened the door. “Full bath!”

The two young women inside the room looked at us for a moment, nodded, then quickly left through a side door. The two young women at the door motioned for me to enter and I looked at Braya. I was very tempted to tease her and ask her to join me, knowing she would refuse. She squinted her eyes and glared at me. Of course, I've always liked a challenge and opened my mouth to ask anyway.

“No.” Braya said and cut me off before I spoke. “Even if you meant it and weren't speaking in jest.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise at her. Can it be? I asked her mentally. Can you read my mind?

“Yes.” Braya responded, a little harshly. “It has not been a pleasant experience listening to you think about what a group of elves does during their... personal time.”

I turned my body to face her and her eyes widened as my considerable mental shields started to fold into place. I had been lax in protecting my mind and had only covered my deep thoughts. As each new layer of protection formed around my mind, I could see her eyes twitch from my right eye to my left. When I was done and all of my protections were in place, she was breathing a little heavily.

I used a touch of Presence to connect to her mind directly. Is that better? I asked her with a gentle mental voice that only she could hear. I'm sorry for leaking my stray thoughts all over you.

Braya stared at me and I could tell that she didn't know what to say.

I've had a lot of experience with telepaths. I whispered to her over the now devoted link. If you're curious about my range, it's the same as my detection range. I closed my eyes and let her 'see' what I could see with my mind. The flow of mana through the walls, the floors, and the people filled my vision and she shook her head at all of the information.

“By the ancestors.” Braya whispered. “How... how can you...”

“Years of practice.” I said out loud. “Would you care to join me in the bath?”

Braya seriously considered the offer, knowing that I meant it to be completely platonic, then I felt her realize that she couldn't, despite the temptation. She couldn't be seen as 'taking my side' in the eyes of the people and especially her sisters.

“Maybe I'll ask again after we get to know each other better.” I said to save her from answering. “Thanks for the escort.” I gave her a bow of my head and turned to look at the young women that still had their arms held out to the side to show me into the room. “How long is the bath going to be?”

“Twenty minutes.” The one on the right said.

“Does that include soaking afterwards?” I asked and stepped into the room.

“We would have to drain it to prepare it for soaking in.” The one on the left said and I glanced at her. “Different oils and fragrances are required to relax.”

“Ah. Just a bath, then.” I said. “I don't want to be too much trouble.”

Both young women smiled at me.

“It's no trouble. It's our job.” The one on the right said. “Do you need help to disrobe?”

“My uniform armor needs to air out.” I said and slipped off my coat. “It's heavy.”

The young woman took it as if it weighed nothing and waved a hand. A kind of rack appeared and she hung the coat up on it.

“Handy.” I said and she chuckled. I slipped off my long sleeved t-shirt next and the two women's eyes fell immediately upon the scars arranged in a circle around my heart. I thought it was nice that they didn't ogle my muscles like some women would. I handed my top to the one by the rack and she hung it up as well. I took off my boots and socks, which she took as well, then I undid my pants and slid them off. I wasn't self-conscious at all, especially since they didn't glare at my underwear.

“I think I better use the bathroom first.” I said, and the one on the left took my hand and led me over to a small room and turned her back to wait outside. I did my business fairly quickly and she led me over to the large in-floor tub. I walked down the steps and found the water was almost up to my waist, so I slipped off my underwear and handed them to her. She took them over to the rack, hung them up, then waved her hands over all of the clothing there and covered them in mana. I saw the clothing become clean as the dirt and sweat disappeared, then her mana faded.

“Where were you during the last year while I had to wash all of my clothes by hand?” I asked with a laugh and sat down on the seat in the middle of the tub. “You could have saved me hundreds of hours of work!”

The young woman turned back to me and her face had both a smile and a blush. “Surely, you exaggerate.”

“If anything, I'm downplaying it.” I said and looked for a cloth or something to start washing myself. “With Afyne, Maylia, and myself, we go through at least two sets of clothing by the time we reach the next inn and take a full bath, and that's assuming we don't eat out and dress up.”

“That sounds wonderful.” The other young woman said as she unhooked the front of her flimsy dress and it dropped to the floor, which left her completely naked. “Eating out and dressing up, I mean.”

“Hey, what...” I started to say and the other young woman dropped her dress to the floor, too. “Um...” I was at a loss for words as their pert and firm breasts pointed straight forward and barely moved as they walked over to the tub. When they climbed into the tub, I got my senses back. “What are you doing?”

“The queen said to give you a full bath.” One of them said in a soft voice, and I 'saw' several more young women approach from the door that the other two had left through. A dozen young women came into the room, and each had their long blonde hair tied back into a tight ponytail. A moment later, their dresses fell to the floor and left them completely naked as well.

“Oh, damn.” I whispered as they all climbed into the tub with me. “Tell me your ages.”

“Sixty-two.” One said. “Fifty-eight.” Another said, then I lost track as a cacophony of soft-spoken answers pelted my poor brain and my eyes pained at the sight of fourteen pairs of the most cutest and prettiest breasts I had ever seen.

“Who's the youngest?” I managed to squeak out as they floated closer.

“I'm thirty-six.” One of them said and I looked at her. She didn't look a day over twenty as she moved close to me through the throng of beauties and gave me a warm smile. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with mischief as she took the 'main' position and knelt between my legs as the others spread out around her and me. No actual soap was required because their hands seemed to magically lather themselves, then they started to rub me all over.

My arms, my legs, my back, and my hair had thirteen pairs of hands rub over everything to scrub them. The one in front of me placed her hands on my pectoral muscles and gently massaged them. I could hear little moans and hums as they worked, and even with my considerable mental fortitude, I couldn't help but react in a manly way to being treated like I was. My reaction was almost painful as it appeared and the one in front of me felt it press against her belly.

She caught her breath at the sensation and her whole body shivered for several seconds, then her body reacted just like Maylia's used to. She became completely passive and lost all motor function as she slid down my chest and slipped into the water on her back. I tried to catch her; but, my arms were being held immobile by three women on each side. They stared at the one that had been 'chosen' as she floated and drifted away from me in the water.

*

“What happened to...” One of them started to ask and looked at the man's front. Since he was sitting on the appointed seat in the center of the tub, the royal position, the water was only deep enough to cover the top of his thighs and nothing else. It was deep enough to save a woman's modesty when she sat there; but, he was a man. The poor girl caught her breath at the sight of a man's prominently erect penis, then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she gently laid back into the water and went completely passive.

Of course, once there were two casualties of some unknown phenomenon, all of the other women just had to look and see what had happened to the other royal bathers. One by one, each of them saw the object of procreation and their bodies reacted on instinct. Even though none of them were anywhere near the age to have a child, they all became completely passive and floated in the water as they drifted and waited to be inseminated.

*

“Goddammit.” I said and sighed. All fourteen of the 'young' women floated on their backs in the water and displaced all of the soapy bubbles. Instead of bathing in a tub of water, it looks like I'm bathing in a tub of women. I thought to myself.

I looked them over and I could see that several of them were... quite ready for intercourse. The rest of their bodies might be completely passive at the moment; but, some of them were prepared to consume anything that came near them.

I think I need to nominate my name for sainthood. I thought as I stared at the multitude of eager openings around me. Yeah, I'm not losing this erection for a while. I reached for one of the women's hands. Let's see if this works. I rubbed my hand over her palm as if I was lathering up with soap and my hand became lathered. Ha! Nice. I thought and tried to finish bathing. My eyes kept going from the woman's hand to my erection as I finished washing myself. Yep, a sainthood is definitely in order.

I splashed myself with water and felt it flow over me and rinse the soapiness away, then I carefully moved one of the women aside slightly as I ducked my head under the water to rinse my hair out. I couldn't leave them like that, so I very carefully lifted each woman out of the water and placed her on a towel beside the tub. Luckily, there were dozens of the towels, so I had plenty to dry myself off with and even rolled some up to make pillows for them.

I quickly got dressed in my fanciest clothing. If I was going to be eating a meal with the queen, I needed to look my best. I stored my uniform armor and used two Presence Hands and two brushes to brush my hair out, then left it untied. It flowed over my shoulders and down my back to end at my waist.

I'd say that's good enough. I thought as I caught my reflection in a large window. It was dark outside, so I could clearly see myself. I smiled, nodded to my reflection, then walked over to the door. Just before I left, I used a touch of Presence on each of the women's foreheads to wake them up from their stupor. I closed the door and watched them all sit up and look around in surprise.

Thanks for the bath. I thought and walked down the hallway. I had no idea where I was going; but, I figured I would find the dining room eventually.