With Gyllen's - or the Gold One as the crone still insisted on referring him in spite of his explicit clarification to the contrary - consent to the task ahead confirmed, there was cause for great celebration amongst the community. Whilst fires were being lit all around the village as nightfall fast approached and foodstuffs were being gathered from their stores, the prince was guided towards a secluded hut by the matriarch and a small entourage of three younger girls a couple years older and little bit taller than he for what he was only informed would be private preparations on his part. The blond believed the single-room structure belonged to the wise woman once he was brought inside judging by all the shamanistic paraphernalia that decorated the walls, floor and ceiling, some of which escaped his explanation as to what purpose they potentially held: bowls, jars and bones were strewn about the space and upon shelves; splayed husks of birds pinned by their pinions upon the walls; and a mobile hanging overhead constructed from wood and twine from which tiny, intricately carved figures and faces leisurely twirled were just a few amongst the present curios which Gyllen could have gave a lexical description of. It really said something when the chairs and the bed appeared the most out-of-place of all objects within the room.
The door was closed over and the prince was requested to stand in the centre of the room, which he did so. The crone then asked something (that Gyllen did not understand) of her assistants, which they immediately set about to accomplish: one began fetching the elder a shallow bowl as well as various jugs and bottles; another took a bowl of her own and dispensed into it a few fistfuls of red dirt and small amount of water before mixing it up with the pestle; and the remaining girl approached Gyllen, situating herself uncomfortably close in the prince's personal space, made all the more awkward from the blond by her lack of clothing that would conceal her breasts as they nearly brushed against his body.
So suddenly had the latter mentioned attendant came upon Gyllen that the boy was hardly even able to take a step back before she seized him by his shoulders like a shot. She then said something to him in her language, but of course he had no idea what her meaning until he felt her begin to tug, rather roughly, at the fabric of his shirt that he had an inkling of her aim, although it seemed as though she were not quite sure on how to go about removing it compared to the modest wrappings the people of her village wore. Before Gyllen could interpose, the sound of ripping textile reached his ears as the stitching on both his sleeves was torn away from his shirt in an impressive showcase of physical strength, but the prince himself was anything but impressed when he felt his arms suddenly bare and seeing the attendant holding the two disconnected pieces in her hands with visible confusion.
"Wh-what was that for!?" Gyllen demanded for an answer, peering to the side of the one who had done it to address the elder directly in his agitation.
"Thou must be unclothed for part of ceremony." The old woman responded in a far calmer tone, though not bothering to elaborate any further to that point. The prince could see that she was now knelt down, pouring various contents of the various containers into the bowl in small, measured amounts alongside her assistant.
"Well, I can undress myself just fine, thank you very much..." The prince huffed, making a start on removing what was left of his expensive top without much further prompt, but even still his face was somewhat tinged with flush at the prospect of undressing in front of these four females, doubting he would ever be fully comfortable with the idea of disrobing before strangers. However, just as he was pulling his shirt over his head, the same woman who had wrecked it was already set to work on removing his jodhpurs, making Gyllen start to squirm where he stood in an attempt to shake her off, but she was able to yank them all the way down to his boots without damaging them just as he pulled his blond head free from his upper garment, but in that same moment he heard the sound of three separate gasps all occurring in unison as each pair of eyes on the trio of younger women present widened exponentially when they first laid eyes upon the evidence of feminine stranger's masculine anatomy.
Gyllen stood in place with his shredded shirt still hanging in his hand, utterly nude unless one counted his footwear and the trews currently scrunched flat close to his ankles, his face positively nonplussed as he observed the reactions of each of the females in his present company, three of which wore expressions of equal parts awe and bewilderment for reasons that initially eluded him when he admittedly should have otherwise figured out on his own straight away.
The crone snapped something in her native tongue which instantly brought the younger ones out of their amazement and they quickly resumed their tasks, with the one charged with denuding the blond gathering up his relinquished clothes into a bundle before scurrying off to the side to assist her clan-sister in preparing the red pigments.