Silence filled the bathing area as neither Alex nor Roselyn made a single sound for the next half hour or so. Each was too lost in their own thoughts and worries to even try to communicate with the other.
"I went too far," Roselyn couldn't help thinking to herself. "I knew he was a Skyblade. I knew he was engaged to the Lady Diamondblade. Why the hell didI get all cocky and put my foot up my own ass? Now I'm screwed! I just hope my family doesn't get screwed over as well."
Alex, on the other hand, was — as was his custom — writhing in mental self-crimination. "I can't believe I went that far," he told himself, ready to cry in his own mind. "I know she said a few hateful things and she looked down her nose at me, but that really wasn't any reason for me to basically strip all her freedom from her and enslave her for the rest of her life!"
"What exactly did I make her promise to do, again," Alex asked himself. "To *give herself fully to me*? Doesn't that make her my personal pleasure toy? To *obey, no matter what order*? Doesn't that strip away her very humanity and right to life completely? If I told her to kill herself, then she'd have no recourse but to obey!"
"And for what," Alex lamented mentally. "Asking about my manhood? Threatening to tell my fiancé the truth?" The more he thought on the whole situation, now that he had calmed down again, the more he felt like a complete and utter ass, and the heavier his heart felt. He should've just gotten out and left while she was silent and soaking, and none of this ever would've happened!
"Are those real?" Pointing over at her breasts, Alex said the first thing that came to mind, in an attempt to quiet his own inner thoughts.
"Realer than yours," Roselyn answered moodily.
"No… I mean…" Alex couldn't help but shake his head and sigh deeply. Once again, his words were just stirring up trouble. "I just wanted to know if you altered your breasts with alchemy, or if they grew that size on their own after you started cultivating."
For the briefest of moments, Roselyn glared at him as if she could kill him, before slowly hanging her head and admitting, "They're enhanced."
"Who helped you with that?" Alex pressed on, trying to cover up his gaff by making it seem as if he was interested in the alchemist rather than just the sizeof her breasts. "It wasn't Jacob or Joshua, was it?"
"No," Roselyn assured him, frowning slightly. "It was a girl up on the third floor — Heather Freeman. Why? Are you looking to see if she can help you change yours back?"
"Maybe later," Alex lied, feeling as if he was clutching onto a lifeline! Truthfully, he was just checking to see why a Diamondcrest had such big knockers — from what he recalled when he met the family last, her mother had *chosen* to shrink hers to stop them from interfering with her weapon style — but if Roselyn thought it was for that reason, he certainly wasn't going to tell her differently! "Right now, there's not much point to getting rid of them. At least, not until I make arrangements to start living elsewhere."
"I… I understand," Roselyn assured him, before tactfully changing the subject. "I noticed you checking out the various lotions and such when I came in. Should I help you apply them and tell you what each is, and is for?"
"Umm… Sure," Alex agreed, accepting the olive branch, and easing out of the pool to go sit over on the bench near the mirrors.
Smiling feebly, Roselyn stood and followed, picking up the tray with all the lotions in it and carrying it over to kneel behind him. "Lay back on the bench," she commanded quietly, "and I'll help rub you down."
Too embarrassed to refuse, Alex silently obeyed her orders, while letting his mind wander guiltily once again.
**************************************************
"Let's get on out of here," Alex groaned, as he finally forced himself back up off from the bench. "I think we're probably already late again," Alex sighed regretfully as he slowly worked his way over towards the entrance Roselyn had used when she came into the bath.
"Late? Late for what," Roselyn asked, as she hurriedly tried to brush out her long red hair in front of the mirror.
"We've got to go meet my brother," Alex informed her, as a small smirk twitched across the corners of his mouth as he gathered up Roselyn's clothes that she'd worn into the changing room. "Then we've got a lot of stuff to do today, while we still can."
"Umm… That's mine," Roselyn asserted quietly, as Alex slid into the long silken blue and white dress that she had been wearing. "And what stuff," she asked, softly.
"I'm going to wear this today," Alex chuckled lightly, obviously amused by her reaction. "We're about the same size, so you can wear my old clothes today. They're over in that corner," Alex offered helpfully, pointing back to the other side of the room.
"Umm… Sure," Roselyn answered hesitantly, as Alex casually sat down and started lacing her sandals up, fully intent to wear them as well. With no other choice, Roselyn slowly walked over and got dressed in Alex's tiny old skirt and top.
Smiling guiltily behind her back, Alex couldn't help but regret enslaving her earlier — but, regret or not, he still knew that setting a precedence for the order of command was of highest priority at the moment.
If he didn't step in and firmly take control *now*, then there'd always be a problem between their statuses later.