Aella stared at Arad, “Is that right?”
“Yes,” Arad replied with a passive face, “She’s too old for me,”
Eris giggled, “Shouldn’t have expected less,” She approached Arad and stared at the maids, “We said it for the two in the changing room, but hands off, he’s ours.”
Mira and Aella nodded, approaching Arad as the three maids stood facing them. Two of them bowed, “Sorry for her inappropriate behaviors. Shall we get back to helping you wash?”
“Of course,” Arad replied, turning to face the wall, and so did the girls, standing beneath the flowing hot water.
One of the maids approached Arad with the sponge in her hand, rubbing it with soap, and then started scrapping his back. She scrapped and scrapped, but nothing happened. “It’s too tough,” She growled, using her nails to scratch his back.
After a few seconds, she noticed her nails getting damaged and not his back. “Spong and your nails are too soft to get through my skin. You better find something harsher,”
Aella looked at the maid, “I’m used to using a metalwire scrubber on him, the one used to clean pots and urns,”
The maid gasped, “That would rip the skin off a human,” She stared at Arad’s back, remembering the large wings and tails. He’s a half-dragon.
The maid turned, “I will be back in a second,”
Arad stood there, waiting. His draconic scales are too hard to clean with a sponge or anything less than metals. They are used to protect him after all.
The maid soon came back with a metalwire scrubber, and a cheese grader for some reason.
Arad stared at the cheese grader, “What is that?”
“With how hard your skin is, I doubt this metalwire would be helpful,” She started scrubbing his back and was right. The metalwire barely had an effect. She would take a whole hour to finish cleaning his back.
The maid sighed, “Cheese grader it is,” And that seemed to work, but the teeth dulled so badly she had to throw the cheese grader at the end.
“Done,” she tapped Arad’s shoulders, and by that time, the girls were already in the water. “I bet not even swords can scratch your skin, can they?”
Arad turned toward the maid, “They break upon contact,” He smiled. Cleaning his scales wouldn’t have been easy. Looking at her red fingers told him everything he needed.
Arad walked toward the hot water and slowly sat inside, “Nothing beats warm water,” He sighed, not realizing that the water was too hot the girls barely managed to get in.
Aella crawled, sitting at Arad’s right side, “You say it’s warm?”
Mira did the same and sat at his left side, “It’s hot enough to boil eggs,” She joked.
Eris stared at them, “Leave some place for me, or you will regret it,” She growled, approaching Arad and trying to find a spot beside him to sit.
Aella stared at her, “Regret it? Try if you can,”
Eris smiled, “You two are novices.” She crawled over Arad’s legs, sitting on his lap, “This is the best spot, no argument,” She gigged, relaxing her back at his chest.
Eris started shaking her but at Arad’s hips as the two girls cried by his side, and Zephyr relaxed on his hair, “Come on, Arad,” Eris turned to approach his face, but Arad opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling.
Eris stopped, “What is it?” she asked.
“People aren’t supposed to sneak around the castle roof, are they?” He asked, lifting his hands.
The maids stared at them, “Probably an assassin. We should inform the guards,”
“No need for that,” Arad clapped his hands together, a purple flame burning in his eyes, “Get him down, now,”
***
Up on the roof, a masked man crawled silently, trying to approach the princess room. He stopped, seeing a hawk glaring at him with glowing purple eyes.
“Hush! Hush!” The man tried to scare him away, but ten other hawks landed, all glaring at him. He knew it was the end. GWAAAAAAAAA!
The hawks swarmed the man, clawing his face and flying with him all the way down to the guards’ training ground.
***
Arad sighed, separating his arms, “Got rid of him. Did he use a teleport spell to get up there?”
“How did you notice him from here?” One of the maids asked.
“The hawks living on the roof informed me,” Arad replied with a smile, patting Eris’s head, “You don’t have to worry about anyone sneaking into the castle while I’m here. This is my domain…” He paused, “Sorry, it’s their domain, not mine.” He smiled, remembering Kin and Gin as one of the hawks saw Kin standing inside Isdis’s room, waiting for the assassin.
“Are you a druid?” One of the maids asked, but Arad shook his head, “No, but I have some skills,”
“Arad,” Aella poked his side, and he smiled, “What?”
“Who’s first tonight?” She asked with a worried face. 𝐞𝐨𝘃𝐞𝐥.
Arad scratched his chin, “Regular order, you first then Mira,” He smiled.
“Hey! Can I get a turn?” Eris growled at them, “If not, I will do it here!”
Aella and Mira stared at each other, “Fine,” Mira sighed, and Aella stared at Eris, “You can get it but after us,”
Eris smiled, “Yay!” She then looked at Aella, “But won’t it be better for me to go first and teach him some stuff?”
As Eris said that, a gust of wind splashed water all over her face. “Did you lots forget about me?” Zephyr flew down and waved her hand, sending Eris flying to the other side of the hot bath. She floated in front of Arad, [Size Magic]
In the blink of an eye, Zephyr’s body expanded to the side of a human, and she landed on Arad’s hips. She smiled, her wings wiggling, “I will be teaching him with Aella.
The girls glared at her, “No you won’t,”
As the girls fought over him, Arad remained still with his eyes closed. ^[They do want a piece of you,]^ Doma giggled inside his head.
^I feel like I shouldn’t interfere. They have to pick for themselves.^
^[You’re right. You can’t favor one over the other except with what cannot be changed, like Aella going first since she’s the first one that met you.]^
^You’re right.^
^[Say, want an advice from me?]^
^Speak,^
^[Seperate them unless necessary. Zephyr and Aella are one person, so they go together, but the other must be separated.]^ Doma giggled, ^[And, don’t always focus on whether a woman can bear an egg or not.]^
^I will keep that in mind. What about you, Mom?^
[The more, the better.]