Draw a bath.

Oh, a bath! What I wouldn't give for a real bath right now.

Yes, I'm sure the innkeeper here would lend me a little wooden tub, but that's hardly ...

Let me continue the story. You'll see.

After I command you to draw me a bath, you go directly to my bathing chamber. It's a small room, with a deep square basin in the floor. The basin was constructed to fit me. It's just wide enough that I could stretch out in it without touching the sides, and it's deep enough that if I sit in it, the water comes just up to my chin. The sides are sloped so that I can lean back comfortably. There are steps carved into one side so that I can descend into it without slipping.

If you had to fill it with buckets of hot water, it would take you far longer than I would be willing to wait. But that's not how it works. There are a few levers hidden behind a panel in the wall, and as my servant, you know where they are. You open the panel and pull the levers, and water rushes through pipes in the floor to fill my bath. The pipes deliver both hot and cold water, and you've learned to adjust the levers to give me a bath at exactly the temperature I like, which is almost but not quite scalding.

Soon the basin is full of water, and steam fills the chamber. You open another panel and find a few bottles of scented oil. You pick one and pour a little into the water, and soon the steam smells like summer flowers.

You don't have to tell me the bath is ready; I heard you stop the water. I step through a curtain into the chamber. I let my robe fall from my shoulders. I draw the jeweled pin from my hair, and shake my head so the hair streams down my back. I hold out the pin so that you can take it and set it aside.

I step into the pool, slowly, enjoying the heat on my skin. I kneel, then sit, and then hold out a hand. You reach out over the water and give me a clean, soft cloth. Then you step back to the side of the chamber and watch, quietly, while I bathe.

I start with my arms, and then my neck and chest.

Did I pay more attention to my breasts tonight than I usually do? Was I caressing, not just washing? Perhaps.

The cloth is long enough that I can take one end in each hand and loop the rest behind me to wash my back. I stretch out to wash my legs, then hold up the cloth. You take it away.

I duck my head, immersing myself completely, then emerge again. My hair is heavy with water now, and my cheeks and lips are glistening. I settle back against the side of the basin, relaxing into the heat and steam, and I make a pleasurable little sound.