The next several days passed by quite slowly. Besides their morning and nightly routine when they were all together, they split up into two groups. One group that tried to decipher and gather as much information as they could, while the other prepared the fort. The fighters stuck to preparing the fort and setting up traps while Toni tagged along.
Turns out that when you have a cute boy singing chanties for you, work tends to get done faster. They were able to fortify the entrances and stables much faster than anticipated thanks to Toni improving morale. And how strong their three warriors were. Ursa, Hannah, and Claire joined their strength together to move heavy objects to fortify the fort's doors. By the end of each day, they'd worked up quite the sweat.
Thankfully, there was a working bath within this place. Victoria was gracious enough to clear the area and get the water running before leaving. There was a natural hot spring nearby and a river for both warm and cold water. It relieved the physical stress that had built up throughout the week.
"Godsdamn, this place is convenient." Jasmine groaned in pleasure. She had a heated towel placed on her face to soothe her. "A working bathhouse after millennia? Who the fuck built this place?"
"Mmmm," Lily groaned beside her. "Likely the Tyrant Himself."
"The magic, though, was likely Silkie or His wife…" Elsie continued. She was massaging her sister's shoulders while the two bathed in the warm water. "Both were quite competent mages."
"P-probably Silkie," Ana continued. She leaned into her sister. "His Wife was a healer, w-we think."
"So you've made progress on learning the old language?" Claire asked as she leaned against the side of the bath. Beside her, Toni sat upon Hannah's lap. "That's genuinely amazing."
"Our modern language is heavily based upon this old version," Samira slithered out of the warm water bath and towards the colder one. She couldn't handle the drastic temperatures for very long, especially her lower half. So she would switch every few minutes. "So the roots of the words are similar, and the letters are kind of similar. "Still very difficult to decipher."
"Glad I'm doing manual labor," Hannah exhaled. Just listening to the explanation made her head hurt. "Much easier than what you are doing."
Samira giggled and slithered towards the three. "Indeed. But it is necessary to learn more about why we are here."
"At this fort?" Hannah tilted her head. She watched the Lamia enter the bath, her ample breasts bouncing when they hit the surface. "Or like in general?"
"Oh my," Toni giggled. He could feel Hannah's arousal growing.
"Shush," Hannah smiled at him.
"In general," Samira settled next to Claire. She leaned against Claire's shoulder and sighed. "I'm starting to question my own existence more and more. I look strikingly similar to the Lamia of His time."
"Scary," Toni cringed into Hannah. He'd bounced between the two groups, so he knew a bit. "I couldn't imagine the weight that puts on you…"
"Yeah, at least it keeps me distracted from the other stuff…" Samira muttered. She settled against Claire's shoulder. "So does a warm embrace."
Claire giggled and wrapped an arm around her. "Glad I could help."
"In a lot more ways than you realize," Samira mumbled to Claire.
"Still, I'm surprised that this place works so well." Claire smiled down at Samira. "Even the structural integrity of this place is superb."
"Could we use it afterwards?" Ursa finally spoke up. She was floating on her back in the middle of the cold water bath. It was quite odd and exposed her entire nude body, but it helped her relax. "Be a nice place to control. A fully realized fort in the middle of this land."
"I'm sure it's part of Victoria's grand plan," Jasmine waved her hand. She didn't even want to think about that woman anymore. "But you are right. It'd be a good thing to hold onto."
Lily pulled the towel off her face and rolled closer to Jasmine. "It'd be worth it just for the knowledge, but I have no idea how we'll keep this place a secret anymore. Now that the barrier is down, I'm sure the locals have been freaking out…"
"Surprised we haven't seen them around the perimeter." Jasmine pulled her towel off. "Maybe the compulsion magic is still in effect?"
"Could be," Lily rested her head against Jasmine's belly. "Wonder if we'll be able to find it after we leave."
"I don't know," Jasmine looked down at her. "We'll worry about it later."
"Wow," Lily giggled. "I've never seen you so nonchalant."
"Yeah, yeah," Jasmine sighed. She glanced around and focused on Claire. "Think it has something to do with my punishment. Feel much less stressed after that night."
"Or the hard labor," Lily grabbed Jasmine's hand. "Heard it can help you think."
"Claire told you that?" Jasmine smiled. "Cause it sounds like something she'd suggest."
"Yup," Lily giggled. She glanced at Claire, who wasn't even paying attention. "Plus, it gives you a sculpted body like hers…"
"Yeah?" Jasmine glanced at herself. "I thought I was already quite 'sculpted' too."
"You are," Lily giggled. "But Claire has larger and more defined muscles."
"Guess I need to lift more…" Jasmine giggled.
"Actually, I love your leaner body." Lily traced her finger against Jasmine's tummy. "Love the diversity we have…"
"Yeah?" Jasmine chuckled. "I see three buff women, three thin, short women, and two busty women. I'm the only one with a uniqueish body type."
"Does Toni count as a woman now?" Lily tilted her head against Jasmine. "I guess he kind of does… But you know what I mean."
"Does he?" Ursa butt into their conversation from across the room. She sat up from floating in the bath and glanced at Toni, who was looking confused. "I guess his breasts have grown a bit."
Toni's gaze shot down to his chest, while his knight took the opportunity to feel them. She squeezed her master's chest, feeling a slight amount of growth coming in. Hannah let out a laugh, then bit her lip. "Looks like Ursa is right. I wonder if it's Claire's gift, or all the stimulation…"
Toni pulled her hands off of him and felt for himself. He was surprised to find some growth himself. "I-I thought it was just muscle coming in."
Hannah couldn't help but continue to laugh. "Yeah? It still could be. All that training with your sword and the strength training could be building up."
"Shut up!" Toni covered his chest.
"Could ask the Goddess next time I see her," Claire smiled at the man. "I assume She'd tell me if it was Her affecting your body."
"Ohh, I wanna see," Elsie moved with surprising speed. She slipped into the water on the other side of Hannah. "Gimme gimme."
Hannah handed the embarrassed man over to Elsie. Elsie settled him into her lap, while Ana slowly walked over to join her. Elsie's hands wandered the man's body quicker than her could react. She was closely examining his chest with her hands.
"Ahh," Elsie giggled. "There does seem to be some growth. Reminds me of when mine started forming."
Ana sat beside her. She leaned into her sister and whispered to Toni. "Just s-say the word and I'll have her let you go."
"Please," Toni whimpered. His whole body was shivering. He could feel the older twin's cock pressing into him and the pleasure of Elsie's hands. His own cock was peeking above the surface of the water. "Please stop."
"Awww," Elsie giggled. "Sorry, Toni. I just got excited! About the only thing that could make you hotter was breasts."
"Come here," Ana opened her arms for Toni to crawl into. He settled in her lap and focused on lessening the pleasure his body was feeling. "There, there."
"Sorry, Toni," Elsie looked pretty guilty. She glanced at Lily, who was distracted by Jasmine's body. "Our doctor is distracted right now. I thought I could help a bit."
"I-it's okay," Toni exhaled slowly. "Got a bit too excited and didn't want to ruin the bath…"
"You know it wouldn't ruin the bath," Elsie smiled smugly at him. "Honestly surprised we haven't fucked in here yet."
"Not where we bath," Claire shook her head at Elsie. "I thought that was what we agreed upon."
"Yeah, but rules were meant to be broken." Elsie crept closer to Toni. She moved her hand up his arm and leaned in close. "And we haven't gotten Toni to ourselves yet…"
"Hannah, splash Elsie for me." Claire commanded the knight. Without hesitation, Hannah splashed Elsie with the warm water. "Thank you," Claire whispered. She had a slumbering Samira leaning against her that she didn't want to disturb.
"Hey!" Elsie stood up in shock. "I was only kidding!"
"Sure you were," Hannah pulled the older twin down. She settled Elsie into her lap. Her hands went immediately for Elsie's petite chest. "Let's see how you like it."
Elsie giggled and shuddered in Hannah's lap. "I actually love it."
"Fuck," Hannah bit her lip. Her plan had backfired. She turned to Claire, who was shaking her head with a smile. "What do I do now?" She asked in jest.
"Keep her in control," Claire whispered. She glanced down at Elsie and put on a sterner voice. "Be good."
"Yes, ma'am," Elsie threw up a fake salute.
"Eugh," Hannah grimaced. She moved Elsie's hand to form an actual salute. "That's how you're supposed to salute, dummy."
Elsie glanced down at her thighs in disbelief. "Never would I have imagined that a bad salute would be a mood killer for you."
Hannah shrugged. "I had discipline and proper respect drilled into me. It surprises me too."
"Damn," Elsie wiggled her butt against Hannah's softening erection to no reaction. "I joked around too much. My bad."
Claire couldn't help but laugh. She glanced at Hannah, who was just as shocked as Elsie. "They must have really drilled in how to do proper salutes. Were you bad at them?"
"No, but the women I trained with were," Hannah furrowed her brow. "It always pissed me off."
"That must be it," Claire relaxed. She glanced down at Samira, who was shuffling in her sleep.
Hannah picked up the older twin. She stood up and huffed. "Well, we must go fix this."
"Huh?" Elsie tilted her head as she was carried away.
"Thank you," Toni whispered to both Ana and Claire. He'd gotten dangerously close to losing it to pleasure.
"Anytime," Claire smiled. "I also didn't want them to disturb Samira."