When Blue Diamond called to speak to me, I had just finished cleaning in her library. Every rotation, I would sweep the hallways, wipe the windows, and tend to her enormous room of old books from which I could hear her weeping. Her own Pearl came and told me that our Diamond wished to see me.
She moved her hands from her eyes as I approached. "Pearl," of course, she began with her shaking voice, and made her descent downward, leaning toward me.
I don't think she realized how overwhelming she was. Or maybe she did; that's probably why she did it.
Blue Diamond came close enough to eat me and continued speaking. "There's a gem in Yellow's court who needs a Pearl. She was meant to serve Pink as well, but emerged after her shattering." A fat tear trailed along her cheek, but she seemed not to notice. Her expression hardly changed at all, and yet, she paused. "We're running low on resources, and rather than making another Pearl, Yellow and I thought it would be best…" She stopped there, and I bowed.
Dipping back up with my arms still crossed over my chest, I said, "My Diamond, I will gladly serve her, if that is what you intend for me."
Blue sat back up, leaning most of her weight upon her cushion and sniffed. She wiped around her lashes again, chafing her skin. "Perhaps you can do well under her. It's not exactly serving Pink, but it's at least a little closer to your purpose. I'm sure she'll be happy to have you."
I said nothing, and bowed again, holding my position until Blue started talking.
"Yellow has asked that you go and speak to her first. She has more information than I do about this gem. I believe she's a Morganite." She took another few seconds as she gasped in a breath. "She will brief you before you begin working under her."
"Understood, My Diamond."
Another obese tear fell and crashed upon the floor. She always became so dramatic whenever Pink came up, and with her quivering voice said, "Goodbye, Pearl." I wouldn't have to clean another tear like that for a while.
"Goodbye, My Diamond. Thank you for keeping me for as long as you did."
Blue didn't reply, but dismissed me, regardless. I caught her Pearl at the door, who raised her hand to see me off as her Diamond continued to cry. I nodded to her in response; it would have been inappropriate to wave.
The distance between Yellow and Blue Diamond's chambers was negligible when warping. I switched from one court to another in a flash of bright light. That's how fast your fate can be decided—a flash or a snap, depending on who you serve; depending on who you believe in.
It required such little time for me to end up in Yellow's control room that I nearly tripped from the warp pad. Saluting her, I could have landed flat on my face and spilled all my respect on the floor, but it wouldn't have mattered. Even her Pearl, nose in the air, noticed me before Yellow Diamond even flicked her gaze from her screen. I watched, finding a decent pose, as she leaned forward to address a message, entered strings of words via the keypad, and leaned back again before finally addressing me.
"Pearl," she said, "Come here."
I went to stand before her, with her attention on me like the crosshairs of a gun. That's what everyone had always said about her.
"I suppose Blue has told you about your reassignment."
"She has, My Diamond."
Yellow leaned back and pressed a button on her control pad. Her screen turned toward me and projected a picture, a gem tinted orange under the influence of the light, with the biggest goddamn eyebrows I have ever seen. In the picture, she smiled a bit with her chubby lips, even though they tell you not to smile. She still managed to grin by the eastern and westernmost borders of her mouth, taking what she could get away with. The photograph was definitely cheerful, while Yellow Diamond stared down at me without so much as a kink in her practiced frown.
"This is Morganite," she said.
Lady Morganite to me.
"It's about time she had a Pearl, but," she hesitated. Not because she couldn't decide on what to say, but to search through my eyes, as if she could access my mind through them.
As if.
"I'd like you to keep an eye on her."
I wanted to ask her for what, exactly, but it wasn't my place and Yellow had already moved on.
"There are rumors about her, but as of right now, no evidence. Your job beneath her will be simple. Do what she asks of you, clean up after her, and if she has a vision, you're to call her bodyguard."
I had leaned forward, unintentionally, and furrowed my brows.
"I've enhanced her powers," Yellow Diamond said around a sigh, "and because of that, she sometimes has what the other Beryls call a 'vision.' It would be too dangerous for you to help her. Her limbs might begin to flail, or she might dissipate her own form, so you're to call her bodyguard, who will hold her still until it passes. Is that clear?"
"Yes, My Diamond."
"Good," she sent Morganite's picture from the screen and turned it toward her. Even from the cloudy backside, new messages appeared at the top of the feed. They arrived every couple of seconds and she began typing while still addressing me, "Let me know if you witness anything suspicious, and make sure she doesn't touch you. She'll be able to read your thoughts. Have I made myself clear?"
I'm sure my brows furrowed even further, but without much hesitation, I said, "You have, My Diamond."
"Excellent. That will be all."
That was how I came to work for Morganite in a snap of the fingers, or in this case, a clap of the hands, and after a flash of light.