Chapter 6

Here we continue the hunt for treasure. Some bad weather delays the team a bit, but they are able to pass the time without much issue. They also encounter a trapped puzzle; the answer is easy enough to work out, but can you solve it before they do?

Sadly, the remainder of the week was highly discouraging. Empty, or in some cases ruined, shelters, already raided treasure spots (save for one with a small purse of a few gold coins), and even a cave-in at their first purple dot that left them wondering what in the world they might have found there. To cap things off, as they reached their next hub location it started to rain, a lot, and there was no sign of it letting up.

They had no choice but to wait things out, so once the horses were looked after they did their best to entertain themselves inside the caravan. Thankfully they had brought along a healthy supply of books and games to help pass the time while on the road between destinations.

Cassandra was teaching the girls how to play chess in their room when they heard an uncomfortably familiar noise coming from the other room. All three looked at each other and blushed, though the older woman was the first to react. “Oh, come on!” she said as she marched over to the door separating the two rooms and pounded it with her fist. “Really, you two? It’s the middle of the day!”

“It’s not ... we’re not...,” Rapunzel called back, a little tongue tied. “It’s just a massage!”

“Nothing inappropriate happening over here,” Eugene added, though the way he said it made him sound somewhat guilty.

“Oh really?” Cassandra asked, sceptical.

“Yes,” he replied. “You know from personal experience how pleasant my massages can be, Cass. Can you blame Rapunzel for being a little ... vocal?”

“Yeah, no,” she said bluntly. “I’ve never made that kind of noise when you massaged me.”

“Well, you were still recovering so I spared you ‘the full experience’. Though come to think of it, now that you’re back to normal...” The teasing in his voice was obvious, even to the girls.

“I’ll pass, thanks,” Cass said, turning down the proposal.

“I’ll take it!” Kiera called out. “If Cassandra doesn’t want a massage, I’ll take it.”

“Me too?” Catalina asked. “I’ve never actually had one before.”

Rapunzel and Eugene began talking to each other, but it was too quiet for the others to make anything out. The two teens moved up next to Cassandra to try and hear what was being said but then a moment later Rapunzel called out, “Sure, Eugene will give you girls a massage if you want. Come on over in a minute to-”

Kiera stopped listening at ‘Come on over’ and immediately opened the door, swiftly entering the other room with Catalina right behind her.

“-give us a chance to get ready,” Rapunzel finished.

Both girls blushed at what they saw. Rapunzel was totally naked, laying on her stomach on the bed, with Eugene, fully clothed, standing on the other side of the bed with his hands on her inner thigh.

“Sorry!” they stammered and quickly darted back out the room, slamming the door behind them.

“What’s wrong?” Cassandra asked.

“They’re, uh, not quite ready for visitors,” Kiera said, still red in the face.

“Ah,” Cass nodded in understanding. “Please tell me Eugene was at least wearing clothes.”

“Yeah,” they both answered, the blush deepening slightly.

A minute later the door opened and Rapunzel and Eugene stepped in, both fully dressed.

“Sorry about earlier,” Rapunzel said. “I hope we didn’t make you girls feel uncomfortable.”

Kiera and Catalina both shook their heads no, though they were still a little red.

“If you’re wondering why I wasn’t wearing anything, it’s not because we were doing something ... naughty,” she continued. “It’s only because Eugene can do a better job when there’s nothing in the way.”

“We, we don’t have to do that, do we?” Catalina asked shyly.

Eugene raised his hand up in front of him in a stopping gesture. “No, no, of course not. In fact, I insist you keep your clothes on. Though you might want to ditch the shoulder guards, Kiera.” Kiera was wearing her standard outfit, which consisted of loose fitting shirt and pants, a sash, sandals, and most notably, a pair of samurai-inspired pauldrons, which definitely would get in the way of a massage.

“While skin on skin is more effective, it’s entirely optional,” he continued. “But keep in mind, the more layers you wear the less you’ll feel. I recommend just one layer, but if you’re uncomfortable with that, then two or even three shouldn’t stop you from enjoying it.”

“What did you do?” Kiera asked Casandra, who looked at her, puzzled. “You know, when Eugene gave you a massage, how many layers did you wear?”

“Oh! Um ... zero.” Cassandra couldn’t help but get a little hot under the collar at the admission.

The girls were shocked. “Zero?”

“Well, the first time I was all stitched up and it was too uncomfortable to wear a shirt,” she quickly said, trying to justify her actions. “I was on my stomach the whole time, and I still had pants on, so it’s not like he saw anything.”

“But after the stitches were gone?” asked Catalina.

“After, well ... He’d already massaged my bare skin, so why settle for a hotdog when steak is available, you know?”

“I like steak too, but not enough to take my clothes off for it,” Kiera said. grinning.

“It wasn’t like that! I show more skin when I go swimming, for crying out loud.”

“Okay, enough,” smiled Rapunzel. “I don’t think we need to tease Cassandra any further. Now, which of you girls was going first?”

Since Kiera had been the first to ask, she got to go first. She removed only her pauldrons and shoes before taking her place on the bed. “You’re, um, you’re not going to touch me somewhere weird, are you?” she asked Eugene, remembering where his hands had been when she barged in earlier.

Eugene shook his head no. “Definitely not. I was only doing that with Rapunzel because, well, we’re married, and it’s more intimate. I’m pretty sure that’s not what you are going for, right?”

“Right,” she agreed, blushing slightly.

Eugene stood beside the bed and explained both to Kiera and their little audience that he was going to start by rubbing her shoulders, then work his way down each arm, before going back to her neck and head. After that he’d work on her back, going no lower than her waist, and then skip down to her legs and feet. At any point she could ask him to skip something or stop altogether if she’d had enough.

The option to stop was definitely not needed. Over the next half hour Kiera was treated to one of the most enjoyable experiences of her young life. While understandably nervous at first, she quickly relaxed and soon became very pleased with what Eugene was doing, indicated by many sighs and moans of approval. She honestly wished the experience would go on forever. Unfortunately it had to end, and she very slowly and reluctantly got off the bed to make room for her sister.

Catalina, meanwhile, had brought over the chessboard and was practising with Cassandra to help pass the time, though kept glancing at the sights and sounds coming from the other side of the room. When she saw it was her turn she took a deep breath to steel her nerves then began to undress. She removed her boots, socks, gloves, and most of her outerwear, leaving her in just an undershirt and pants.

Eugene raised an eyebrow both in surprise and in question, but the young teen simply nodded, more to herself than to him, and laid down on the bed. While she was still much less developed than either Rapunzel or Cassandra, in her state of dress it was obvious she was no longer the child they had met years ago, as the not-insignificant curves of her body were no longer hidden by layers of loose or bulky clothes. Like Kiera, she was quite nervous before they began, but as Eugene started to work the tension out of her shoulders she relaxed and let the man do what he was obviously good at.

Another half hour ticked by, and at the end of the massage Catalina was even more appreciative of Eugene’s talents than Kiera. It certainly seemed to be true that less clothes meant you could feel it better, and her entire body was a puddle of relaxed muscles and satisfied feelings. Not once did it even enter her mind to ask him to stop, and in truth she probably wouldn’t have protested had his hands found their way under her shirt to massage her bare skin. But like all good things, this too came to an end. Catalina sighed in disappointment as Eugene backed away and declared his job complete.

“Thank you,” she said, sitting up. “That was, really nice.”

“It was my pleasure,” Eugene replied. “And if any of you ladies would like more just ask.” Kiera’s hand shot up immediately and everyone chuckled. “But not now. My hands are actually kind of tired. Though keep in mind that since Rapunzel is my wife she takes priority, so she comes before anyone else.”

As Catalina turned to get off the bed, Rapunzel noticed something and quickly glanced towards Eugene, who had his back to the group as he towelled off his hands. “Catalina, could I talk to you for a moment?” she asked.

“Uh, sure.”

Rapunzel picked up Catalina’s discarded jacket then headed through the door to the other room, with the teenager following behind. What Rapunzel wanted to say wasn’t necessarily secret so she didn’t bother to close the door, though she did lead them to the far side of the room and made sure Catalina’s back was to the door.

“So,” she began and held out the jacket, “I take it you liked Eugene’s massage?”

Catalina took the jacket but didn’t bother putting it back on just now. “Yeah. I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was really ... pleasant. You’re really lucky to get that on the regular.”

“I am,” Rapunzel smiled. “Maybe we could get Eugene to teach you and Kiera how to perform a massage so you can do each other once you’re back home.”

“I think I’d like that,” Catalina grinned in return, but then dropped the smile. “But that’s not why you called me over here is it? Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing wrong. I just, um, just wanted to make sure you were ... aware that it looks like you REALLY enjoyed that massage.” As Rapunzel finished talking she glanced down at Catalina’s chest.

The other girl looked down and gasped. Without her noticing it, her nipples had become hard and were very prominent, sticking out against the thin undershirt. Looking close, she could even make out the outline of her areolae. She blushed and immediately covered her chest with her jacket. Glancing back towards the door, she quietly asked, “Did anyone else...?”

“I don’t think so.”

“I don’t understand,” Catalina whispered, confused. She wasn’t aroused in the slightest, but the only times she could recall where her nipples got hard like this were when she was imagining... “I mean, I’m not ... Eugene didn’t ... I wasn’t thinking anything bad!”

“Bad? I think you mean hot,” Rapunzel teased.

Catalina’s blush deepened and she vigorously shook her head no.

“It’s okay if you do, you know. Even when I was locked in my tower, I had those kinds of thoughts sometimes, but with Mother Gothel keeping me ignorant of anything related to sex or men my imagination was ... limited. But seriously,” Rapunzel continued, “stimulation can happen from more than just your imagination, and doesn’t have to involve arousal. This was probably caused by your chest rubbing against the bed while Eugene massaged you. I’m sure they’ll go back to normal in a few minutes, but in the meantime, if you don’t want to give the others a show, you might want to cover up a bit more.”

Catalina threw on her jacket immediately. It had no buttons so couldn’t actually be closed tight, and it would be out of character for her even if she did, which would just make someone ask why. But thankfully with it being worn normally it still covered up everything that needed to be covered.

The two girls returned to the other side of the caravan and Catalina gathered the rest of her things. The others never noticed her issue as she redressed and thankfully, as Rapunzel had predicted, Catalina could feel the bumps fade after a minute or two. There were no further incidents and the rest of the evening was spent playing games together before they all turned in for the night with the gentle sound of rain lulling them to sleep.

Jackpot! It took nearly a full week before they found anything of significance, but when they located what lay at the final purple dot on their map, it more than made up for the lack of excitement up until then. They were actually starting to worry the whole expedition would be a bust, though they had found enough money and gems to come out ahead financially.

It started with what looked like a normal cave with rocky walls and a floor covered in sand and dirt, but thanks to the map they knew something else must be there. Between the three expert ex-thieves that were Eugene, Kiera, and Catalina, they quickly found a small part of the cave wall had a slight bit of give when pushed. Nothing actually happened when anyone tried, no matter how hard someone pushed.

“Maybe it’s a multi-stage lock,” suggested Catalina.

“What’s that?” asked Rapunzel.

“What I think she means is that this device, if it is indeed some kind of mechanism, needs us to do something else first before this part unlocks,” Eugene said. Catalina nodded in agreement.

Another minute of searching revealed another rock that could be pressed, a little less than an arm’s length to the right of the previous ‘button’, but this one sank a full two inches into the wall before stopping. It popped back out if it wasn’t held down, and didn’t seem to do anything when pressed in.

“Okay, let’s see if this works,” Eugene said as he stepped up to the wall. He pressed in the newly discovered button, then reached over and tried to press the first button. It moved! This button now sunk into the wall just as easily as the other one. There was a quiet but audible clunk from behind the wall. Everyone held their breath for a few seconds, but nothing happened. Puzzled, Eugene placed his ear to the wall, trying to listen for any other sound. He wasn’t sure at first but as he listened he thought he could hear a soft ticking sound, then about ten seconds later the ticking suddenly stopped.

Experience and instinct screamed ‘trap!’ and Eugene jumped away from the wall as fast as he could. “Get back!” he called as he dove into a roll. No sooner had he moved than a small hole opened up in the wall where he had been standing and a huge blast of fire came shooting out. Had he not moved it would have hit him square in the chest. The others, well outside of the danger zone, still had to shield their faces from the heat. The flames lasted only a few seconds, then went out and the hole resealed itself.