Acceptance

You receive this scolding from Adah and mumble an apology. You realize that your actions had been too bold. The rules in this house were different from anything you were accustomed to in the world outside, and you resolve not to make the same mistake with any of the other women.

"You are forgiven this time," Adah assures you. She dips her hand again in the jar of scented oil and resumes her work, but she seems colder towards you than she was before.

She rubs oil onto your stomach, chest, back, shoulders and neck. Then she picks up a curved implement of carved ivory and begins scraping the oil off of your skin starting at the neck and working her way downward. The warm oil slops against the floor in an ugly puddle beneath the bench, but your skin is left clean and gleaming. When the last of the oil has been removed from the tops of your feet Adah adds more boiling water to the bath and gestures for you to enter.

Adah washes the oil off of her own hands and arms, and turns her back on you to dress. It seems she had only taken off her own gown to keep it from getting soiled while she assisted you.

She turns back and speaks, "Don't neglect to wash your hair." She points to bottle on the table beside you within easy reach. "Your new clothes are there, and a comb. I will send a boy to fetch you when the master is ready to receive you. I have other duties to attend to now, but I will see you again soon."

You wash your hair as instructed, and dress in the clothing left for you. It is a short tunic that leaves your legs bare and half of your chest uncovered. You were not left britches of any kind, and you realize quickly that this probably was not an oversight, but an intentional omission from your wardrobe. You would have to get used to walking around with your legs uncovered and only the thin fabric of the tunic to cover your modesty.