Scatha wrote: "Meilin... that's a pretty name," Scatha said with a smile. She followed the girl as she showed her around the bathing areas, absorbing all of the sights and scents and sounds of her surroundings. She grinned as Meilin stumbled over her words in the washing area; "You mean I have to get clean before I can get in the pool?" She glanced at the cool, clear water, and then at her hands and fingernails, which still contained traces of grime from Dort. "It's probably a good idea." With that, Scatha sat down on the floor, tugged her boots off, and wriggled out of her tight leather trousers before scrambling back on to her feet. "Just the blouse to go," she said cheerfully, and pulled it over her head before dropped it on the floor. She grinned at Meilin, quite naked, and suddenly felt something sticking out of her hair; it was the tiara, now dnagling precariously. Scatha burst out laughing, and pulled it free; "All jewellry and no knickers, as my aunt Flossie would say," she said, handing it to Meilin.
She considered the girl's questions; "The Rafao? Oh, the Duke of Dort sent me here to look after Barrett - thats the man I came here with - and make sure he didn't get into any trouble. You know what boys are like, always getting lost and embarrassing themselves in front of polite society," she said dismissively. "Now, about this cleaning... what happens next?"
Meilin accepted the garments, carefully folding them and setting them aside, though a wistful fingertip ran along the trousers when she thought Scatha wasn't looking. She seemed used to nakedness, and did not even seem distracted by the other's pale skin. When handed the Tiara, the young slave asked, "Are you a princess lady?" and gently set the glittering object down atop the clothes.
Meilin nodded in shy agreement to the comment about boys, and gestured to the stool by the countertop of flowing water. She retrieved an ornate bowl large enough for Scatha's feet, dipped it into the warm water, and sprinkled several salts in it before setting it on the pale tile at the Dort woman's toes. "You need only to wash hands and feet, Lady... before entering the pool... but you may bathe as much more as you wish. Avelina requested I show you every courtesy...." The tile on the floor was small, but lacking in the decoration that the rest of the room had, it was also slightly inclined, so that all spilled water slipped its way towards a small drain.
"May I?" The slave knelt next to Scatha, and while the 'Lady' soaked her feet, Meilin proceeded to scrub her hands with a slightly rough soap that left her skin fresh and smooth. After several minutes of massaging, tracing a relaxing pattern along each muscle and joint, Meilin motioned for Scatha to rinse her hands, and then followed this with a gentle lotion-like soap, using a small brush to cleanse the nails.
Tentative, as if afraid Scatha might still berate her for the familiarity, she asked, "Aunt Flossie? You seem too grown up to have to worry about aunts... Where is Dort.. is it nice?" As she listened, the girl began to repeat the process on Scatha's feet, taking more time to massage the muscles as if wishing to prolong any relaxed talkativeness the foreigner might be feeling.
"Have you seen the palace at all? I have never been to the archives... they never let slaves like me there... the Archivist is very protective of his papers... But the Golden Palace has many more fun things to see than a stuffy room like that... there are the gardens... and the bestery.. beastiry? beastiary.. I always forget their fancy word for it... and the kitchens..." She glanced at Scatha, ducking her head in embarrassment and mumbling. "Sorry Lady, you probably are not likely to be interested in the kitchens..."
Once hands and feet where scoured, softened and massaged, Meilin would either aid Scatha is soaping up the rest of herself (taking care of the Dort woman's back) and helping her to rinse by pouring a hefty bucket of water over her. Meilin was also prepared to help Scatha wash her hair, but at any point Scatha was ready to dive into the pool, she was now free to enter it.
The water was slightly cool, now that she had felt the warm water of washing, and though it was certainly smaller than a lake - it was not an insubstantial size by any means. Although the bathing pool was in a semi-circular shape, it could easily have contained her bedroom in it's largest curve. There was one entrance of descending steps, at one point of the quarter-moon shape, the rest of the pool was surrounded by hanging vines and large leafy potted plants. It gave the air an earthy, tropical scent, refreshingly free of the spicy tang that normally hovered in the air.
Scatha would find ample space to swim, but there were niches in which she could sit and relax along the side of the pool, and yet still remain in the water. The smooth stone that surfaced the area was gentle on hands and bare skin, lacking the roughness of most rock.