A light steam filled the air, the scent of lavender wafting around the massive bath chamber. A soft groan escaped Virion’s throat as he leaned back against the side of the masterwork carved stones, shaped by the magic of the elves. Heat seeped into his bones and the relaxing familiar scent reminded him of home in a way. The fall in this region was rather bitter cold so the heated water was a bliss for him. A blissful retreat from the crown of governor as well.

In a way Idria’s visit to rattle his cage had jump-started him to his next stage of planning. Virion had no intentions of lying back and letting her trap snap shut on him. He would succeed, he would claw his way back to the royal court, and he would make the councilor regret the indignity forced upon him in his exile. Which meant playing at the game of the region’s politics a bit. It was hard to know who to trust really. One that he had grown to trust more and more was certainly Selena. 

Her suggestion to lighten the treatment of humans in Albar had already started to bear fruit. Naturally many were distrustful of him, others however were beyond grateful for having been liberated from absolute certain death. The rebuilding effort with the new labor pool was going well. He was setting infrastructure faster than most colonies did with the extra hands. As well he drew upon others that knew the country well, offering them incentives for offering their knowledge rather than simply torturing it out of them. It was a balancing act of course. He couldn’t improve things too well or the elves under him would get *very* leery. So far he managed. 

His golden eyes turned to the edge of the bath and a certain tiny figure stood there, covering herself in a towel and as red as a cherry as she was working hard to look anywhere but him. A smirk curled up his lips. “I can get one of the servants to get a cup for you if you prefer.” He remarked. 

“W-we could also be bathing separately like decent people!” She squeaked. 

He lifted a brow at that. “Is mixed bathing not common among humans?” Absolutely alien. He couldn’t imagine such a thing. He had been bathing with servants and his sisters since he was old enough to walk. 

“It's indecent!” The young woman said. “Men and women are only supposed to see each other naked after marriage!”

What a very human load of nonsense. He had heard however that civilized humans were very much a species that valued a concept of modesty. Elves wore clothes as a means to express status visibly. The body however was something to be glorified and displayed. He flicked his eyes to his servant nearby and the woman bowed her head. Before Selena’s eyes she dipped down into the large pool of water, removing her clothes as she did so. It was amusing how wide her tiny dark eyes got at that. 

“Rytha, how long have you served me?” He asked the servant elf as she waded her way over to him. 

“Since you were born, your grace.” She answered automatically. 

She was indeed an older elf, having matured over the centuries into a full woman. Selena probably recognized her as the servant that generally cared for her needs, her lovely green hair and milky pale skin a sharp contrast to the prince himself. A good head taller than the dark skinned prince as well. He turned around and folded his arms against the side of the bathing pool, presenting her his flawless smooth back. Rytha had brought a cloth with her and immediately started to use it to scrub his back. 

“How many times have you attended me in a bath and does it shame you at all?” He asked, looking at the mesmerized Selena as the female elf washed his back. 

“Uncounted times, your grace. It is my greatest honor that I am worthy enough to be your bodyservant and tend to your needs. There can be no shame in such service.” The woman said. 

He lifted a brow at the dark haired human. “It is quite different in Elsira. While in this case you might argue it is a difference of servant and master, generally as a culture nudity is celebrated. Many of our cultural festivities are done naked. Naked parties are quite common in high society. I am curious though, is the concept of nudity intrinsically linked to erotic things for humans?” He asked. 

The spell seemed to break for her and she forced herself to look only at his face it seemed. Amusing. “Of course! A servant performs a service for their master for payment. But in polite society one covers their body to protect their dignity. It's a special thing reserved for people that are intimate with you to reveal it.” 

“Ah, so it is less immoral and more that it's a means to create mystery for potential suitors. It creates a desire to view that which is covered by your clothes as it is so rare. Which leads to the erotic connotations. Interesting. In Elsira, such a thing would be seen as extremely odd. Indeed, it implies there is something wrong with the body of the person hiding themselves. A sickness or deformity.” He mused. “It's also the exception to the rule that you are wearing clothes at all. Almost all humans in Elsira are naked, providing clothes for them is seen as unnecessary. I had never thought it was actually humiliating for you to not have clothes.” 

Indeed it rather shined a new light on the whole thing for him. Another sign of how their cultures were so divergent from one another. Whatever the case was he allowed Rytha to continue her work, catching Selena eyeing him as the servant worked. A smirk curled his lips as he considered another implication there. 

“So is this… erotic for you to watch then?” He asked. 

“Is-Is it what?” She sounded like she was having trouble thinking straight at the question. 

He flicked his fingers in dismissal of Rytha and she moved to the side of the pool obediently. “I asked you. Is seeing me like this erotic for you?” He asked as he stood up straight and started walking toward where Selena was. 

The water was at his waist in height, though looking down into the water one could see a clear distortion of what lay between his legs. Not something he had considered being a problem but  for Selena she was absolutely fighting to not look down it appeared. She was as red as possible and looked like she was, for once, not able to think. She was a headstrong woman with her own opinions, but her fluster was quite strong enough to disrupt her. 

He stopped right on the edge of the pool, his shadow looming over her as he set his hand on his hip. Before Selena a smooth and lithe wall stretched up. There wasn’t really a muscle to be found on his body, no clear defining sign of martial abilities. It was as smooth and soft as any woman's body, moreso really. Judging from how paralyzed she was no doubt it was enough to stun her. 

He tugged at the strands of the tapestry that bound his lifeforce, plucking along the weave of magic and Selena found her form glow blue for a moment before it faded away. With that done he slammed his hand down behind her, his hand like a great brown wall towering above. The way she jumped at that sent a thrill down his spine. He slowly started to move it towards the pool and him, forcing Selena to back away. 

“The water is so lovely, my little princess. Won’t you join me?” He asked with a smirk. 

“H-hey! Wa-Wait! I’ll drown, s-stop!” She stuttered. 

“Oh no worries there, the spell I cast will keep you from drowning. No excuses my dear. Learn a little about the elven culture.” He chuckled as he swept Selena into the pool. 

She landed with a little plop into the warm waters and when she rose up she was gasping and panting and looking around frantically. For whatever reason he felt his heart race, the same feeling he’d had when she had been dangling around his neck in a cage. He bit his lower lip slightly and kept his composure however. He shifted around and seated leaned down into the water, resting against the edge of the pool again. Only this time Selena was floating in front of him. 

“Relax, princess. We aren’t engaging in anything erotic. Simply two people enjoying a pleasing dip in a bath.” He said as she drifted near his collarbone. 

His hair was draped around him, the long silky strands extending into the water and at one point Selena drifted too close and almost got tangled in them. She righted herself before that and instead glared up at Virion. 

“You! Are an insufferably smug jerk!” She shouted. 

“What was it you said with Idria around… I should use you as I see fit?” He mused. 

“That was different. I was trying to help you save face.” She said stubbornly. 

Why had it been something he had hesitated to do? He hadn’t quite parsed that out himself. He would have tossed any human in there without a second thought. However Selena wasn’t any other human. At least not to him anyway. She was an ally, a clever woman, and also just generally amusing to be around. He halfway enjoyed when she was disrespectful. It was a curious thing. 

“I know. Thank you.” He said earnestly, without a mocking smirk. “Finding you in the dirt was truly like finding a diamond in the mud.” 

She fell silent at that and slowly drifted over to his collarbone. He shivered slightly as he felt her tiny form touch there and she leaned against him as he was doing against the side of the pool. There was a wave of heat that went through him as he felt her upon him, pooling between his thighs in a manner that would have been very *very* obvious above the surface. He wasn’t sure why it got him like that. Maybe it was that she did it willingly. Without needing to be ordered or bound to do it like so many slaves. 

“You’re a gentle heart, master. Still a smug jerk, but a good person beneath it.” She said. 

Master, there was that word again. He had heard it a number of times but there was a bit more of a spice to it coming from her lips. He let out a sigh. “A selfish heart, princess. I do what I see as practical and useful, not what is good and right.” He insisted. 

“Maybe. Maybe not.” She mused. 

He frowned at that. “I’m the Prince of the Empire that makes playthings and slaves of your race. I have grown up using humans like that. I am not a good person by your definition, princess. No different from any other elf that might stand over you.” He insisted.

There was a pause before she let out a little laugh. “Any other elf would have turned the people of Albar into playthings as well. Any other elf would be endlessly tormenting me until I’m a brainless slave. Any other elf wouldn’t have listened to me when I argued the merits of mercy. Perhaps you do things other elves do, but you are not solely ruled by practicality. There is something else below it. Compassion.” 

“Compassion gets people killed.” Virion remarked. 

“Yet you don’t refute it.” Selena returned. 

How irksome. He frowned but bit his tongue. For the moment he let the matter settle and instead relaxed into the pool. He tried to let the warm waters take his thoughts far away, however all he could think of was the warmth he had felt between his legs when she had called him Master and the complex feelings her words had given him.