As she expected he would be, Théadan was drawn to the idea of her sharing a story with him. Smiling and nodding her agreement he was going to be spoiled by her, Navia took the time to watch the way the waterline lowered across Théadan’s body, slowly revealing his abdomen until the water lapped at his hips. How sweet it was that he felt spoiled by such simple actions; it was something about him she treasured. Despite his princely upbringing, Théadan was humble and simple in his desires. It was always refreshing to her that he was not caught up in the materialism that befell many royals, even herself to a point. She said nothing of it however, it was likely to be a topic of conversation when they reached Mandira and he got a taste of what it was like to be a Khluri royal, and instead waited patiently while he moved to sit in front of her.<br/><br/>Navia was careful to shift her legs so Théadan could get comfortable, her hands naturally falling to rest on his shoulders while he settled. She liked having him lean against her like that, his arms over her knees and his hands drifting over her lower legs under the water. She scooted a bit closer to the edge of her seat so he could lean his head back to rest against her abdomen if he wanted, her dark eyes taking in the angle of which she could look upon him. She had a good view of the top of his head, of his wet hair and a bit of his nose curving out from his face. Smiling to herself, Navia reached down in front of his chest to cup her hand and draw some water up to slowly trickle over his shoulders while he questioned the story she would be sharing. “It’s a myth, though many Khluri will swear to you it is true, so I supposed it will be up to you to decide whether you believe it,” she answered airily, before reaching for more water to drip down his back as well, “And it is one of love and a bit of adventure.”<br/><br/>Small hands went to begin massaging scarred shoulders, her movements slow and methodical, just as they had been when she’d massaged him in Terlingua. “Now that we are in Khlurios, it is important you know a bit of our religion so you can understand the art you will see. I’ve told you we worship a pantheon of five and you know of Marut and Akhevan, of Sura, Izvari, and Equos, but each has a sacred animal they are associated with. In Equos’s case, he has the head of a horse, so the horse is most sacred. The others are said to take the form of their animals to watch over the Khluri nation. Sura is the eagle, proud and mighty, flying over our lands to bring us the seasons and life. Izvari, goddess of our<i>samavas</i>and the love and beauty of this world, is the peacock. But this story is of the tiger and the elephant.”<br/><br/>She had no oil, and was not used to massaging someone without it, so while Navia spoke, she periodically dipped her hands in the water to bring up to Théadan’s shoulders and use that to smooth over his skin. Her thumbs applied the most pressure in slow, small circles, following the natural curves of the musculature beneath them. While she gradually worked her way out to his arms and down them some to massage the muscles there, Navia went on. “We call the story the<i>Adiratna</i>, or The Jewels’ Beginning<i>.</i>It starts long before our time, before my family’s rule began, before there were any kings of the land and at the dawn of Sura’s creation of humans. The gods were young then, learning their places in this world. Akhevan, the mighty tiger, prowled the jungle to practice becoming the master of hunting he would be known to be, when he came across Marut bathing in a river.” Navia paused with a smirk, pressing an absent to kiss to the top of her lover’s head, “Now Izvari is thought to be the greatest beauty Khlurios has ever known, but there was Marut, also beautiful, naked and glistening in the sun as she poured water from a pitcher over her head. Would you like to venture a guess what Akhevan did?”