The Empire in the Eastern Sky

Chapter 6

I eyed my reflection on the still water of a large clay vessel. The bath house was large and communal but we are the only one using it. I was sitting on a low stool while Ria was standing behind me, seemingly comfortable in her own routine. There was no roof and the are was fenced barely over my head. The sky was dark blue and stars sprinkled peeking through the great canopy that shielded the area. It was deathly cold out here but Ria had insisted and I know better not to say now. Ria had a pair of iron shears and was working on the damage the fire did to my hair. It was now much shorter than I'm used to. 

"Your hair are growing back," Ria noted and felt around the area of the scalp which was burned and healing. 

"I can still smell the burn," I said absently.

"We didn't wash your hair when you're healing. Hard to do anything with an uncooperative patient."

"You drugged me."

"It was necessary. You would have torn apart those healing flesh of yours." She sniped until the metal edge touched my ears. Then she put the shears at a makeshift cabinet and now she held a wooden gayung made of coconut shell and a long thick rattan handle.

I shivered when she ladled water filled with herbs and splashed it around my back. It was icy cold and I shivered uncontrollably. The batik I'm wearing was soaked through and the cleansing water wash off the remaining strays of hairs and dirt away.  from my body. I could feel myself reenergized and relaxed as Hari's mother began to mutter incantations. A prayer to speed up the healing process and also to wash off bad luck. Fresh flowers spilled over me and I gathered one in my hand and inhaled its scent. 

I used to thought that people did these Mandi Bunga for weddings but Ria assured me that it was beneficial for general wellness and health and I played along with it. I chuckled sadly at the thought of my grandmother who would have disapproved of their ways of doing thing. I had spent my whole life being an ungrateful granddaughter to her and here I am, alive with a missing sister. She would have berated me over and over about how inept I was in everything I do. To that, I agree. I tried to save my sister and in turn I lost her in the woods. Nobody except Hari was optimistic about finding Maya alive. I was dying next to a river and whoever I saw was hallucinations. Just as the thought of seeing a tiger. I never seen one up close and curiously enough it look familiar.

Ria was silent now and was carefully peeling off the leaf bandages around my wound. I haven't looked at it since they don't have a mirror and apparently of all the tributes the Nenek Kebayan received, nobody thought a mirror was a necessity.

"It look well, child." Ria murmured.

"Does it look ugly?" I dimly aware of saying that and I felt a calming hand over my shoulder.

"You survived a horrible death defying incident. You should be proud of carrying the scars that made you a survivor. Remember that, Bayu."

I'm not completely convinced about that but I relaxed under her careful administration. I stood up from the stool and tugged the wet batik and Ria held up a fresh one. I let it loose as Ria began to slather a very thick ointment on my back and a makeshift cloth bandages made from worn old batik. 

"If the Gods wills it, it will heal well in due time. Try not to scratch the healing scabs especially when it itches terribly."

At her words, I began to feel prickling underneath the tight bindings. 

"I guess that will do. Are you sure you want to disguise as a boy? Aren't you afraid of getting caught?"

"I have Hari with me."

"Oh, don't remind me of that. That boy was ever so reckless."

I remembered the heated argument earlier and turned to Ria. "Are you sure you're all right about everything?"