The Librarian and the Assassin, a Sapphic Romance at the End of the World - 51. Chapter 51 - Mud, Part Two

Xylda let out a rapturous moan. “It feels soooo good.” She was in the bubbling mud pool up to her neck, and she had smeared a thin layer of the grey-brown glop on her cheeks and forehead. “And it’s rejuvenating for the skin.”

“It feels really lovely,” Bix agreed in a breathy voice. Her eyes were closed. She had stripped down to nothing and gotten right into the mud with Xylda. Bix was leaning back against the side with her arms stretched out and her cleavage right at the surface. She had rubbed some of the mud across her chest, shoulders, and collarbones.

Tawni was trying not to stare at Bix’s breasts in the mud, but her eyes kept being drawn to Bix’s curvaceous body. Tawni was seated on the rocky edge with her knees up to her chest and only her feet in the mud. She was also naked, but she did not like the idea of getting into the pool.

“It’s really hot,” she complained. “You’re not burning yourselves, are you?”

“Oh Tawni,” Xylda groaned, “stop worrying so much! The mud is good for you.”

“Yeah, get in here,” Bix agreed with a playful smirk. She dipped one hand beneath the thick bubbles and flicked her finger, sending a tiny bit of mud.

Tawni pulled her knees away from Bix’s droplets of mud that almost hit her. “But how are we supposed to get the mud off?”

The two others paused and looked at Tawni like the answer was obvious. They both glanced past her, and she turned. Behind where she was seated were the three other hot springs leading up to the river, each of which was filled with sparkling clear water. She looked back at Bix and Xylda again.

“Well, okay, I guess.” Tawni dipped her legs into the mud up to her knees. “It’s so hot. Xylda, are you sure we’re not burning ourselves?”

“Would you just hush and enjoy the mud?” Xylda replied with a laugh. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the side of the pool next to Bix.

“This is so weird,” Tawni grumbled to herself, and the other two pretended not to hear her. “It kind of stinks,” she added, again getting no reaction. Tawni did not feel like her body was adjusting to the temperature. The mud still felt hot. “How long are we gonna stay in here?”

Bix shook her head and chuckled. “If you really hate it, Tawni, why don’t you just get into the next pool. You’ll be close enough that we’ll all still be together, but if you hate the mud, don’t stay in it.”

“Well, I think you’re being silly,” Xylda replied. She did not open her eyes and added in a matter of fact tone, “It feels delicious.”

Tawni pulled her legs from the thick mud and stepped into the adjacent pool, which immediately also became muddy. “Oh no,” she whined. “I’ve ruined this one!”

Bix glanced at the water and scoffed a little laugh, but she did not say anything.

A moment later, the mud from Tawni’s legs was gone, and the pool she was in had become clear again. The hot water did not feel any cooler than the mud, but Tawni was grateful that she no longer felt dirty and disgusting.

Xylda turned and rose partway out of the mud, resting her elbows down on the rocky space between where she and Bix were soaking and the pool Tawni was in. She was wearing a rather small bikini, but it was completely hidden beneath the layer of mud that coated her. “So Tawni, there’s something we haven’t really talked about yet.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“You killed a lot of Fallandish nobles.”

“I did.”

Bix turned and positioned herself beside Xylda.

“Tawni, have you considered the consequences?” Xylda asked.

“Yeah, kind of, I guess, not really. Erm… what consequences are you talking about?”

Xylda gestured at herself. “One of the consequences was me, but so was the battalion of soldiers that I came here with.” She turned to Bix. “I don’t know how or when the queen and king will learn that Commander Liae and her soldiers were overwhelmed and slaughtered, but they’ll hear about it at some point, and I suspect they’ll try and find some way to get revenge. The two of them are a couple of petty and conniving villains.”

“Xylda, do you know anything more about them that Bix might not know?”

“Yeah, good point,” Bix agreed, “you were much closer to them as one of their chemists.”

Xylda shrugged. “Barely, I was hardly connected to them at all. The only time I ever spoke with either the queen or the king was when they needed something from me.”

Tawni was disappointed. “So you don’t know any secrets about their past or who they were in the old world?”

Xylda shook her head. “No, I don’t have a clue who they might have been. Once I started going through puberty and realized I couldn’t be a boy anymore, and the queen dissolved the marriage she had forced me into when I was nine, I focused on chemistry. I never went snooping around or tried to find old documents about the royals. When I became a chemist, my relationship status was no longer a matter of the queen’s concern. She had wanted me as a part of her army of child-husbands and brides, but once she no longer saw me as, I guess, breeding material, or maybe parent material, she just sort of gave me a free pass. I could have as many boyfriends and girlfriends as I wanted.”

Bix placed her hand on the back of Xylda’s and quietly said, “I’m sorry you went through a time in your life when you weren’t yourself, or didn’t get to fully be yourself.”

Xylda smiled. “I hadn’t quite figured myself out, not until I started having feelings for other people and realized I needed to be a girl. I love being a girl! I also love being a chemist. There were a lot of years that I was pretty content under the royals. I spent a lot of time learning, and much of it was good, but I was turning a blind eye. I liked being in my little bubble, and I was safe, but then you got away, Bix.” Xylda looked from her to Tawni. “It had been years since I’d considered leaving, but escaping had been in the back of my mind for months. The royals have a lot of deterrents set up to prevent people from leaving Falland. There are laws about retaining Fallandish nationality. We’re all indoctrinated to feel responsible to the country.” Bix nodded in confirmation as Xylda added. “Life in the capital is lavish. Life is very comfortable under the queen and king.”

“Yeah,” Bix confirmed, “after I was brought back to the palace and restricted to the basements, my life was still fairly comfortable, even though I was being kept.”

“Prisoner,” Tawni interjected.

“And there are new layers of security around the palace,” Xylda went on, “ever since you burned down the chapel.”

“Chapel?” Tawni repeated.

“Oh right,” Bix replied, “I forgot to mention that part. I’m the one who started the fire when I got away.”

“You did?” Tawni asked. “And it was a chapel?”

Xylda snickered. “Yeah, the queen had commissioned a new wedding chapel.” She spoke the word filled with disdain. “And our Bixie here burnt it to the ground!” Xylda let out a cackle.

Tawni’s heart fluttered at hearing Xylda say our Bixie.

Bix winked at Xylda. “Learning it was going to be a wedding chapel was what started my fantasizing about burning it down. The construction had been going for about a week before I overheard the workmen say what it was intended to be used for.”

“And you set it ablaze!” Xylda concluded.

Tawni wanted to go to Falland, and she wanted to kill the queen and king. She wanted to free the youths who had been forced into relationships against their will. She wanted to release whoever else was being kept in the palace basements, where Bix had been imprisoned. Tawni wanted to rid the world of the horrible nobles who were taking advantage of everyone they could oppress.

Bix let out a loud whew. “I’m getting a bit hot.” She hoisted herself out of the mud and sat on the side of the pool between Xylda and Tawni.

The mud coated almost every inch of Bix’s body, and Tawni could not help but bring her fingertips to one of Bix’s thighs. Bix smiled hungrily as Tawni began to draw swirls and zigzags on her leg. Tawni’s eyes moved up to Bix’s soft tummy, and her fingers followed. The mud was gradually getting thinner on Bix’s skin, and her thick bush began to prickle through. Tawni’s fingertips traced stripes up Bix’s round, full breasts, and Bix shifted toward Tawni.

“Hey there, babe,” Bix whispered as she slid into the clear water pool, and she wrapped her muddy arms around Tawni.

The pair kissed, and the water slowly cleansed the mud from Bix’s body.

The pool that the pair was sharing had become very cloudy, but in a matter of minutes, the water was clear again.

When they glanced over at Xylda, she was giving them a sideways look. “You two are ridiculously sexy,” but then she groaned and looked down. “I think I’m done with the mud too.” She climbed from the bubbling pool, and she joined Tawni and Bix, cleaning the mud from her face.

A few minutes later, the trio was seated together at the side of the creek with their feet in the cool water. Bix was still fully nude; Xylda was in her adorable little bikini, and Tawni had put all of her clothes back on.

“So what’s at the other end of the stream?” Tawni asked.

“You’re not interested in the surprise?” Bix replied.

Xylda just grinned at the pair. “Let’s go, girls!” She hopped up and reached out for Tawni’s hand.

Tawni took hold of Xylda and was pulled to her feet.

Bix also rose, and she casually tugged her flimsy shirt and shorts back onto her body as she strolled along behind Tawni and Xylda.

There was no path, but the three followed the stream. The meandering flow made its way across the subtle curve of the rounded summit and cut through the field of wildflowers.

Xylda picked more of the blossoms, and as the trio rounded another pile of boulders, their destination was suddenly revealed.