This had to be the correct direction, I kept thinking. The hall was wide and obviously well used. There were many torches Lighting the way, but most of them were burned out at this time of day. The air itself was wet and muggy, definitely a good sign.

The hall ended and I was shocked. We were in an enormous cave. The ceiling was low, but the "room" went on forever it seemed. I couldn't see the other side, it was swallowed in darkness. Steps had been carved into the rock and went directly into the massive pool of steaming, swirling water. The large pool was mostly unlighted, but it was awe inspiring.

Rose walked to the right and I followed her. Men's shirts and pants were drying on a line. The wall behind them was billowing heat from a low fire. It appeared fans pushed the warmth over the clothing to dry them.

Past that area was a stream running down into the main body of water. Neatly stacked to the side were what I would have called washboards in English. Rose remembered the Paterian word and we practiced it as we inspected them. There was a large tub of stuff that felt slick and little bars that smelled like soap.

Well, we guessed we knew where we washed our clothing now.

Rose and I walked back to the main area and stripped. We found a bucket of more bars of soap and rags laid out neatly. We each took one of each and ventured into the water.

The steps were slimy, so we were careful, but once we were in the water it was heavenly.

“It's so warm!" Rose said as she stood staring at me.

It moved against my legs and seemed to be traveling through this area. It was a natural widening of what must be a stream. I assumed the warmth was from the rocks underneath.

I started to wash myself. Rose just stood in the waist deep water and stared at me.

"Well?" I asked Laughing at her. "Do you want to wash or not?" Her concerned Look made me stop and I realized this was a serious step for her.

“I have not touched my own body since..." she trailed off.

“Even after they freed me Basin and his Brothers always did it. It feels Like I should not touch myself."

This must have been what they meant by retraining. I'd been a slave for only a short time and had already regained bits of my independence on my own. Rose and Fuji had never done the things I did. My friends still followed the old directives unfailingly.

“Perhaps," I said seriously, “you start with your hands and arms."

It took a long time for Rose to wash herself. She cried when she had to wash between her legs. She had not touched herself there in a very long time. I suddenly realized she probably had not even wiped herself in the bathroom.

“We'll wash your underthings before we leave," I promised her once she was done.

Washing clothes was something Rose had to teach me to do. I'd never used a washboard on Earth. Once in an antique store I'd seen one, but that didn't mean I knew what to do with it.

Being the one to give directions seemed to solidify Rose's determination. She'd used washboards with her grandmother. She took the lead and we washed our underthings together.

The dryers seemed powerful, so we just waited for them to dry the thin fabric of our underwear. We'd both put our skirts and shirts back on as we sat talking.

Seeing men emerge from the water startled us both and we shrieked. It had seemed we were alone, but we had been watched this entire time.

“Relax, Sister," Kein said amicably, shaking off the water, "we only need to get our clothing."