Excerpt: Truwesa

In this scene, the storyteller is undergoing a 'cleansing ritual' before his trial and supposedly predicted execution. The two guards (brothers) given the task of making sure he doesn't escape wind up going through the same ritual. Currently they are in a 'steam hut'

"Can anyone tell me again the point of us all three sitting inside this hut?" Conald asked as another drop of sweat came off of his nose and dropped onto his lap. Smoke drifted through the hut from a piece of rope that was lit on one end and set on the hearth. There was a heady aroma of herbs steeping in a pot on the coals of the stove and occasionally, as instructed, Tonalv would scoop water from the bucket by the door and drop some on the coals.

"I don't know about you, Conald, but this actually feels great," Tonalv sat cross legged on a pile of cloth on the floor. Conald had the only chair and Hain was sitting on the bed. "My head hasn't felt this clear since the week we spent on the beaches of the southern province while father and I were fixing our fishing boat. You remember that time? You fished a lot and we slept under the stars."

Conald nodded, "Yeah those were the days. How come we don't do that kind of thing anymore?"

"Because Renalv told us to help him find a guy and now we have to guard him. Ya know, as soon as this is over, let's go south and live on the beach again. We could do that, right?" Tonalv looked over at Hain and said, "You could come too, if they let you live and all, of course."

Hain was half asleep, and would have drifted off completely if not for the uncomfortable feeling he got every time sweat dripped off his back. They'd been sitting inside the hut doing some kind of sweat cleansing for about half an hour now. Any more time in here and he'd know what a roast rabbit felt like.

Hain took a long drink of the spring water and nodded to the two brothers. "You know, if you weren't guarding me right now, I mean if we'd met under other circumstances, I think we'd be great friends at this point in time. Too bad I'm your prisoner." He tried crossing his arms, but the wrists chains got in the way. He let his hands go limp by his sides and he went back to staring at the long crack in one of the rafters.

Conald shrugged, "So why are all three of us sitting in here, Tonalv? We're not on trial and having to get that cleansing thing going for the sake of no fleas and cleaned out entrails and all that. You know?"

Tonalv shook his head, "You can leave if you want to. We don't both have to be in the hut while Hain gets this sweat and head cleansing. I mean, he's still hooked up with chains and we both know he is NOT going anywhere. Shoot, did you see him put the chains back on himself before Renalv caught us not guarding him?" Tonalv turned to Hain again. "You're an alright guy, Hain. You need to come fishing with us later." Tonalv thought vaguely about reaching over and patting Hain on his knee and then decided it wasn't something he should try. He might fall down if he tried to stand up.

Conald said, "So what do we say to Renalv when he comes back in and sees the three of us sitting in here with shirts off and smelling like flowers. What's that stuff that woman put in the pot? Do you think that piece of rope is supposed to be on fire?"

Hain shook his head and breathed in deeply, "I don't know, but I feel really, really, really......really good right now. Other than feeling hot, this is great." He took another long drink from the spring water flask and passed it over to Tonalv. "Here, she did say you should drink a lot of water. Helps with staying cool because you sweat more. That sounds dumb, do you think it sounds dumb?"

Tonalv took a drink. "I'm getting really hungry. Do you think we can have some of those pears now?"

Conald leaned his head back and breathed in deeply. "I like fishing."

Kay rapped on the door and said, "Ok, I guess you have done enough sweating now. Pour water on the fire to put it out and open the window a little. You need to cool down now, but slowly."

Tonalv said, "Hey I heard some people go out of their steam huts and go directly into a snow bank and lie down. Can we do that?"

Kay looked around at the bare ground outside the hut. "If we had snow, sure you could do that. Probably just cooling down slowly would be just as good. There's a bucket of cool water here to wash up with. There are cloths on the floor you can use to dry off.

Tonalv looked around and then asked Conald, "Do you see the pile of cloth she's talking about?"

Conald shook his head and looked over at Hain. "Do you like to fish? Let's go fishing."