It was a few days before Rae found time to test out the bathing caves. The baby had still yet to be born and Duke Ashem and the rest of the family were too busy tending to the Shana to oversee Rae’s work too closely. Bejuk was quite excited by the whole idea and was happy to take on Rae’s duties in exchange for feedback on his hard work.

“It doesn’t look like much,” Gaori said when they reached the mouth of the cave.

They had walked up a winding little mountain path, unassuming. The entrance to the bathing caves was marked with a plain red banner and an unlit lantern. The ground around the cave had been artificially levelled, and more lanterns were mounted on the walls inside the cavern.

They lit the lanterns as they walked, revealing the gleaming moisture clinging to the cave walls. The entrance was cool and damp, not exactly an inviting combination.

But as Rae and Gaori walked deeper into the cave, the air went from crisp, to lukewarm, to steamy. Eventually, the passage opened into a vast chamber, in which water flowed.

The water wasn’t murky but smelt quite different from the fresh river water that fed the Shak’s camp. Like something cooking, something stewing.

“Do you think it’s safe?” Rae asked, before turning to see Gaori crouched down, dipping his fingers in the water.

“It’s hot! That’s all that matters to me,” he said and threw aside his belt and sword.

After only a second, his leather breastplate was gone too, followed by his boots, tunic and trousers.

“Hey! You came here to watch out for intruders, not to bathe,” Rae said.

His cousin was standing in the water up to his waist and looked like he wanted to melt into it.

“There’s sand on the bottom, feels very soft underfoot! Rae, you must get in, come help me find a good spot to sit,”

Gaori waded further into the pool, but the water didn’t seem to get much higher than his belly button. The light from the lanterns flickered across the water and danced off the rising steam.

“It looks like it goes deeper,” Rae said, squinting into the darkness that enveloped both the walkway and the far end of the pool, “I’m going to take a look,”

“Alright,” Gaori had found a stone to sit on, and let out a sigh as he submerged himself deeper, “I’ll keep watch here,”

Rae scoffed and strolled deeper into the darkness. It was comforting, being in this deep, hidden place, gradually illuminating it with flickering light. The sound of rushing water got louder, and Rae found the main pool was fed by a small waterfall at the end of the cavern. There, the passage twisted to the left and grew narrower. And the air grew moister. Rae wondered if this passage was simply here to vent the steam from the spring, but there were still regular lanterns mounted on the wall, and the floor had been carefully levelled and cleared of wreckage, so he suspected there might be one more thing to discover.

Once the lanterns were lit, the passage didn’t seem quite so long anymore, and soon Rae emerged into another vast chamber and saw the glare of daylight again.

The chamber was almost perfectly round, large enough to fit about ten people comfortably. In the centre of the ceiling, there was an opening to the sky, drenching the chamber in light and fresh air.

Rae took a deep breath, the warmth of the thermal pool was surely very soothing after a long walk, but paired with the peace of this chamber, with its natural window, Duke’s Bejuk’s secret baths were really something else.

He stood beneath the opening, trying to catch a glimpse of the forest above. Other than a few stray tree roots, all he could see was sky. Steam from the baths twirled up to the surface, illuminated by elegant sunbeams.

“Gaori, come out for a second! Come see this!” Rae shouted into the passage behind him.

If he could get a seat brought up the mountain, he would find this a pleasant, private place to meditate or sunbathe. His secret hideaway… with a bath attached!

“Gaori!”

The waterfall must have been drowning him out. Worrying the chamber might just be a fleeting dream, and would be gone, or less magical when he returned, Rae went back to the bathing pool.