The castle door labors to open; it is hung on giant pins that give off a tortured moaning of years of rust. Musty dank odor clings to the walls in the dimly lit entrance. The guards waste no time in completing their task,shuffling me up the winding, roughly hewn stone stairs to the large,ornately carved doors at the end of a long hallway. A knocker is lifted, slammed down and a loud hollow echo crashes back. Without assistance the door opens on a creaky note, slowly and effortlessly.
I am whisked to the inside and left in a heap on the cold slate floor. My hands grasp my tatters and pull the pieces up to cover my trembling breasts. "LEAVE IT!" a booming voice commands from the shadows. Startled, I unconsciously drop the remnants of the cloth; it falls to my lap. Whispering fills the corner and a waif-like figure appears with garments, towels, and an assortment of bottles.
As the figure draws closer, I see it is a woman; a mere child. She pulls at me and points to a room off the side of the master's chamber and tells me to go there. She follows close on my heels, and I emerge upon a lavishly decorated room with velvet and silk curtains and a large pool in the middle, surrounded by four giant columns. A large gold orb in the middle of the tub spews forth fresh water which falls into it, below. Without warning, the girl rips the remaining cloth from my body, leaving me standing naked. Taking me by the hand, she urges me to step into the tub. I gladly do, for I really need a proper bath. The girl pours fragrant potions from the collection of bottles and pulls forth a brush from under the towel she was carrying.
Like a woman possessed, she works. It feels like she is scrubbing most of my skin off in the attempt to hurry in her task.
Afterwards, she abruptly leaves me and disappears out of the room though a small passage behind a taffeta curtain. Then appears. I see two, tall, male figures that come and snatch me naked, out of the water. I protest, but they ignore my cries. Taking me to a gilded table of gilded gold with a soft layer of feathered pillows, they dump me face down. I feel warm liquid being drizzled over my body while the strong hands of the two males massage and rub in the musk oils and spikenard. Precious oils of the orient, my mind says and can only wonder at why I am being prepared like the fatted calf for a sacrifice. Soon the ritual is over, and again the girl comes back; she hands me a diaphanous garment to slip into.