The next few days were the hardest for Ruby. Without Lapis there, her workload was tremendous. She had to cook, clean and tend to Lord Peridot's every last command which was a twenty-four hour job. Her legs grew heavy as she walked to the formal dining room to serve dinner. Peridot gave her no mind as she was reading over some papers and keeping herself busy. On the other hand, Sapphire, who sat all the way on the other side of the long table, gave Ruby her full attention and a hushed thanks for the food.
That kind of thing always made Ruby's day. It made her feel appreciated, though she was sure the lady had probably done this for Lapis and any other servants. Sapphire was an angel in a harsh world and Ruby wondered how she stayed so sweet and how long it would last until the world corrupted her.
As soon as Ruby exited the room, she slumped down against a wall, not being physically able to stand anymore. She heaved a loud sigh and tried to relax for a minute before she remembered about her list of work. Hobbling up onto her feet, she walked back down to the kitchen to clean up for the day unless, of course, Lord Peridot wanted to indulge in an extra meal later.
Ruby scrubbed at a pot, languidly as she did her best to count the minutes before she would have to return to the dining room to pick up the finished plates and such. After she had finished most of the dishes, Ruby took a moment to fix her appearance in a small, dirty mirror that hung in the corner. Even the dim light of the kitchen couldn't hide how horribly exhausted and sad she was and any primping she did had no effect.
Suddenly, Ruby heard footsteps coming the stairs. She flinched and moved to go do something productive. Had she overestimated the amount of time she had stayed down here? Was Peridot coming to reprimand her for not clearing the table soon enough?
Ruby tensed up as she heard the steps get louder. But instead of a large, imposing woman, a much smaller silhouette came into the room. Turning a deep shade of red, Ruby stood at attention.
"L-lady Sapphire!" she sputtered as she bowed quickly which made her a bit dizzy.
Sapphire gracefully stepped forward and the other saw she was carrying the dishes from dinner.
"I-I apologize, ma'am! I was just about to head up to get them!"
"It was not bothersome," she answered quietly, placing the plates on the table in the middle of the small kitchen.
"T-thank you," Ruby muttered, while bowing her head in embarrassment.
Ruby expected the other to leave right away as she always did when they ended up having some sort of interaction, but this time Sapphire remained standing there. Nervous as ever, Ruby moved to pick up the dirty dishes and brought them over to the sink. She could feel being watched as she continued working. It was odd to have company, but as long as it wasn't Peridot, she felt okay with being watched. Maybe the Lord had sent Sapphire here to spy because of slacking off.
As Ruby went to place a wet, clean plate on the rack, a hand reached out to take it. Sapphire smiled softly as she carefully put the plate up to dry. Taking a huge gulp, Ruby stared for a moment at other and tried to understand the situation, but to no avail. She hurriedly turned back to the sink and continued to wash the dishes while Sapphire continued to take them when she was done.
Why was Sapphire being so sweet? Ruby knew despite a Lady's privileges, they still had many duties and education to fulfill. Why was she wasting time helping a lowly servant? But before Ruby could get up the courage to ask, Sapphire had stacked the last dish and she made a quick exit without a proper farewell which was customary for her.
Sapphire sped down the hall completely frazzled. She couldn't believe she had just done that! She had been taught all her life to be a proper lady and not do things like talk to peasants and servants. It was so distasteful that she had let her emotions get the better of her lately.
She had always been compassionate and did her best to not make others have a hard time. It was just the way she was, but when it came to Ruby things were different. There was a definite first attraction, but she had willed it away. Then, things got worse the more she got to know Ruby- not that they talked or anything because that would be improper. Sapphire had actually spend a lot of time spying on Ruby when she was still in her training month. Ruby's conversations with Lapis were so intriguing to her and she had to hold herself back from joining in.
Today, though, she had slipped up. First, she had convinced herself that bringing the dishes down to the kitchen was simply a normal exercise in manners, but then when she found herself in front of Ruby her brain just stopped working. Despite Ruby's outward strength and pride in her work, Sapphire could see it was all a facade. The peasant was overextended and weak. That made Sapphire's heart throb in pain. She couldn't stand to see anyone in this condition, but she knew she couldn't do much of anything in her position.
That night she had laid sleepless in her bed for quite awhile until she could no longer stay still. She got up in a huff and walked out onto her small balcony. The crisp air managed to calm her slightly as she leaned against the railing. In an effort to clear her mind, Sapphire quietly started to sing a ballad that she had recently learned. Singing always brought her tranquility.
As Sapphire was finally calming down, Ruby, on the other hand, was just getting frustrated. She was in Lord Peridot's study trying to organize things which was hard enough with her not being totally literate, but also the fact she only had a candle to do it by. When she pulled out a stack of old books, Ruby started to gag when dust filled the air. She gripped her throat and coughed violently, but the entire room was already full of thick, dirty air. Looking around quickly, Ruby ran over to the windows and threw them open in desperation to breathe.
She hacked marginally into the cold, night air. It didn't take her too long to regain her composure and was about to turn back to her work when she heard something from outside. She gazed across the gardens outside the window, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The noise gradually got louder and Ruby realized it was someone singing. It was coming from her left.
Looking over, her eyes widened when she saw Sapphire upon one of balconies that jutted out from the castle walls a few yards away. She was singing a soothing melody that made Ruby go absolutely weak in the knees. As she listened, she took a deep, relaxed sigh which turned out to be quite a bad thing. The large amount of air tickled the remaining bits of dust still caught in her throat and Ruby choked out loudly and began to have a coughing fit. When she finally finished, she cringed at the silence that followed and nervously peered over to the balcony.
Sapphire had stopped singing and was staring directly at her. Ruby flushed red and stuttered a fast and loud apology before she ducked back into the room and slammed the windows closed with her. She was utterly embarrassed at being caught looking like a stalker.
But, unbeknownst to Ruby, Sapphire found it strangely charming to think the other had been listening to her song. Her next thought was worry for Ruby. The coughing fit she had witnessed seemed to be horribly unpleasant. She quickly made this an excuse to go see the servant. If she was in peril of choking to death, Peridot would certainly not like that.
She softly knocked on the study's door before entering. Ruby was bent over several books, looking at them incredulously. The servant jumped slightly when she saw she wasn't alone.
Sapphire closed the door behind her and took a few steps closer to the other, "Are you well?"
"W-what?" Ruby stammered.
"Your coughing," she explained, moving to stand in front of Ruby.
"Oh! I'm well…it was just dust."
"Mmm," she nodded in reply.
They both stupidly stood there in silence, neither of them knowing what to say.
Suddenly, there were loud footsteps coming from outside in the hall. Ruby's face fell.
"Crap, I was supposed to finish organizing all of this before she came back!" she loudly whispered to herself as she cringed in thought about the possible violence that would most likely ensue.
Sapphire saw the terror in the others eyes. She wanted to help and as the footsteps got louder she knew there was only one place Ruby would be able to hide. Reaching down, Sapphire grabbed the bottom hem of her hoop skirt and pulled it up to knee height.
"Get underneath," she whispered briefly.
Ruby was flustered beyond words at the proposition. But as she could hear Peridot reaching the door, her fear took over and she ducked under the fabric.
Lord Peridot opened the door and a scowl forced it's way on her face. The scene of a messy study, no Ruby and Sapphire standing there was confusing and aggravating.
"What, is going on?" she growled in annoyance.
Being used to the angry temper, Sapphire bowed, crushing Ruby slightly, and then calmly replied, "I wanted something to drink, so I made Ruby get it for me. I apologize for the delay in the cleaning of your study, my Lord."
Peridot grimaced, "You are very lucky I'm not in the mood to punish you."
With that she spun around and left.
The two collectively sighed in relief. The calm didn't last long for Ruby though when she remembered where she was. During Sapphire's bow, she had been forced to angle herself to face the other's legs. And now that her eyes had adjusted to the complete darkness, she saw a very provocative sight. Normally, ladies were meant to be dressed in a thick pair of bloomers to cover herself, but Sapphire was only clad in a small pair of underwear. It hardly left anything to the imagination and it provoked Ruby fiercely at that moment.
Without thinking, she reached out and touched the panties. Sapphire jumped and instinctively thought that Ruby was just moving to get up. But then the next touch she received could no longer be interpreted as an accident. She felt Ruby slide a hand between her thighs and grab at her fully.
Sapphire gasped and shivered. The suddenness of all of this turned her on instantly, but as quick as the touch came, it was gone. Sapphire then remembered that Ruby was cut off from her by the fabric of the dress and probably had no idea that she had actually liked the attention. She preceded to jut forward a bit and shimmy her hips in arousal. It wasn't a second later that Sapphire received two hands on her hips pulling down her underwear.
Then, Sapphire comprehended why Ruby had come onto her like this. She had forgotten to put on her bloomers before heading over here. There was no doubt that so much skin was enticing. And now Ruby's constant social awkwardness suddenly made sense. The peasant really liked her and she was currently showing it.
Sapphire felt fingers exploring her nether regions, then a very energetic tongue. She was left a gasping, moaning and very satisfied mess within minutes.
After hearing Sapphire reach a very vocal peak, Ruby sheepishly let herself out from underneath the skirt. She was, of course, very excited about the other accepting her advances, but she didn't understand to what extent the other enjoyed her actions until she saw her face.
In the dim moonlight, Sapphire's face was flushed a deep red and her lips were curved up in a content smile. Her eyes were glazed over in a waning lust. Ruby was overwhelmed by the sight and launched herself at Sapphire. Their lips met haphazardly as they both stumbled on a stack of books on the floor, making them both fall. Neither of them cared much though as they wrapped their arms around each other and continued to kiss.