The ritual began with every inch of her skin being scrubbed and exfoliated until it was pink and almost raw. Standing naked in front of a bunch of women was disconcerting and there had been many giggles at her shy blushes and attempts to conceal her body. But there was no way to avoid the ministrations and she’d told herself it was no more embarrassing than getting waxed by a Beauty Therapist.
Then she had been lathered in a thick mud and led to a stone bench in a small room, where they had gestured for her to lie down. The stone was surprisingly warm. Metal bowls surrounding the bench were filled with boiling hot water, until the room became a sauna. Beneath the mud Emilia had felt her skin baking. She’d closed her eyes as her body sweated out all its impurities.
After a while she
