She had emerged in the village of the Coals, well into the desert where volcanoes had formed. The rock face from which she came held numerous other holes, each more shallow than hers.
Five gems came to find her. Their skin held darker pigments and their long, slender bodies stood shorter. The group examined her with careful hands; their fingers touched her delicately, but firmly enough, while their curious charcoal eyes rolled over every square inch of her.
She looked a little like them, but not quite enough.
"What kind of gem are you?"
They felt her long, voluminous locks and compared it with their own. Some of their tresses stretched past their waists, but some had tied their hair back or cut sections off. They resembled a group of siblings, having found a cute animal to play with.
"Look at her stone…"
"You should come back with us."
"You can come live in the village too."
So, she followed the group of five; two had taken one of each of her hands while the other three led the way. She turned to look at all of the holes before wandering too far to see them anymore. The cut-outs made an even pattern as if someone had placed them by design, with the heads and feet lined up in rows, so that a perfectly straight line would connect one hole to the next.
But her imprint was directly in the center. It broke the pattern in size and location. Neither the silhouette of her feet nor indentation of her head lined up with anyone else's. Her outline stood strangely alone, surrounded by a sea of consistent Coals.
She found the rest of them in the village. Each wore different outfits and unique hairstyles and spoke with different mannerisms, despite the same tall, lanky base. Gems manifested all across their bodies—on their faces, arms and legs, stomachs, backs; anywhere. None showed any qualities of aging, all appearing fresh and young.
Every single one of them came to stare at the new arrival. The village elders pushed their way to the front to get a good look at this stranger, who nearly resembled a Coal, but didn't come close enough.
The elders, having dressed in fine robes and gold paint, followed the same procedure the first five had upon finding her. With identical fingers, they poked and pinched at her, nearly burning a hole with the force of their collective stare against her gem. In hushed tones, they whispered.
The crowd only grew quieter and quieter.
"Do you truly think…"
"Look at the way she sparkles—"
"Could she really be?"
"A Diamond?"
Someone, perhaps all of them, gasped and the crowd went silent. The only sound came from the wind whipping through that desert town, past the small houses and through the central market where they stood.
"If she's a Diamond," the blacksmith spoke up, "her gem should be able to withstand the cut of any blade."
A sea of whispers flooded the town center.
The new gem's legs went weak. "You won't cut me, will you?"
None of the elders answered and the voices increased to yelling.
"Let's try it!"
"Do it with a dull blade at first, just in case!"
"Try my knife!"
"Try my sword!"
"Enough!" One of the elders shouted over the noise, but it required several minutes for the Coals to settle down. The one who had spoken wore several layers of silk and even more jewelry. From one of her many pockets she procured a knife no larger than her longest finger, but gleaming with sinister implication.
The Coal released a hard sigh and paused a time before she spoke, "I'm not going to let you get hurt, but we need to know whether or not you're a Diamond. Will you permit me to test your gem? I'll call my healers and have them stand by, in case something goes wrong. I promise I won't let you die."
The new gem rolled her lips and suffocated, but somehow remained standing. Coals surrounded all of them from every angle, she and that elder drowning in gold. Clouds passed overhead, slowly, bathing them in shadows, and she counted every time her body expanded and contracted.
Finally, she said, "Alright."
The elder nodded and called over her healers with the motion of her hand. They came, in matching tan outfits, while the elder dropped to her knees to face the stone in question. Her jewelry jangled with her fall and she hesitated only a moment before slipping the blade across the gem. Black shut her eyes and tossed her head to the side, as if to look away. Her legs shook and her arms quivered, until eventually, she asked, "Have you done it yet?"
"I've done it several times." The elder stood. "Bring me another blade!"
The crowd produced another. This time she turned her face forward, but still didn't watch as the elder drew the tip of a different knife across the face of her gem.
"Bring me another!"
She opened her eyes.
The sword didn't cut her.
The axe didn't cut her.
Neither did the spear.
With every failure, they handed a new weapon to the front, sharper and more savage than the last, but none of them left a scratch. Her gem remained exactly as flawless as the moment she burst from the mountain.
The afternoon expired to evening with every blade in the village exhausted. Each Coal stood and stared beneath the veil of a heavy silence. In the orange and purple glow of sunset, the elder's onyx eyes met with those of her new queen's.
"My Diamond." Her voice came out breathlessly before she bowed low.
Every other gem in attendance followed suit. The Coals, regardless of the splendor of her clothing or the amount of dirt on her skin, pushed herself upon the ground.
Black Diamond just stood there, stiller than when her people had tried to cut her. She didn't raise her voice to her hundreds of subjects; her body remained in one place like the statue of a dead goddess. Even the wind didn't move her.
The next day they began building her a palace. It sprung up toward the center of town, but near enough to the outskirts. They needed a stretch of land large enough for their queen, without placing her in the middle of nowhere.
Every Coal in town came to assist in building the palace. The worker women set down the foundation for a three-story home, while the carpenter built her a throne. The artists painted her image upon enormous canvases and the elders sent off the traders to procure a Pearl. They left with rolled up sketches to show to the gemologist and every single one of them insisted that their Diamond sit and watch.
The same elder that attempted to cut her the day before brought a chalice of iced tea today, with orange slices and rare ice floating inside it.
Black Diamond took a long sip.
"I apologize for yesterday." She wore bangles that chimed like bells every time she moved her arm and had a habit of stroking her braid. They sounded frequently. "We needed to be certain you were a Diamond, but we're happy you're here."
Black caught a group of Coals carrying a long plank of wood. "I'm happy to be here. Is there anything I can help with?"
"Not yet, but once you've settled in, you'll help govern us." She made a shallow breath. "I never believed we would have a Diamond. For hundreds of years, there have been nothing but Coals, yet here you are."
"Are there others?"
"There is one other, but she lives far away. I've heard she's quite ruthless and burst out of the ground barking orders, but I don't know much more than that."
"That's quite alright. Perhaps I'll meet her one day."
"I'm sure you will."
While Black sat and drank her tea, she considered the possibility of another Diamond, but it wasn't long before the eldest Coal insisted on showing her around.
Their village consisted of the marketplace in the center, the mines on the outskirts, and an odd forest of black trees that grew from the grains of desert sand. Those bizarre plants stood before the volcano and posed like stiff shadows. None of them displayed any leaves, just thick, dark branches that the wind could never shake.
"We print these trees on our money," the elder told her. "They make a rich syrup you can use for potions or even as a sweetener. They really aren't good for much else. Their wood doesn't burn well, but they do blossom in the spring."
"That sounds lovely."
"We have a festival every year when they start to flower. Everyone gets drunk." She paused for a moment too long. "I suppose it's a fun time, if you're young."
At that point, the sun moved further overhead and shortened the shadows of the trees, who stood in orderly rows.
The light brought out the shine of all of the eldest Coal's gold, and she began to finger the end of her braid. A few of her hairs appeared silver. "I wonder what sort of powers you have. I hope that one of them will be making this village worth living in."
Black Diamond bent her brows. "Are you saying it's not worth living in now? I love it here already."
"You might feel differently if you go anywhere else."
The shadows disappeared entirely as the overhead sun baked into the dark wood of the trees. The eldest Coal turned to face the rest of the village, which only required a short walk back.
"Shall we return?"
"Certainly, Coal. As you please."
Days passed as the villagers completed the outside of the palace. They had built her throne and set it inside on the first floor, which they had started to tile. The artists submitted to her the rough draft of a coin with her profile on one side and a flowering syrup tree on the back, which Black Diamond approved immediately. The traders too, had finally returned and came before her.
"My Diamond—" the two of them bowed with a veiled figure whose little feet coiled up. They poked out from beneath the fabric, appearing in grey.
Black couldn't help but grin.
"We've brought you a Pearl." They took the cover away to reveal a smaller gem with a pointed nose, round eyes and short black hair. Before her queen, she wove her slender fingers together and looked bashfully onward. The veil had left her bangs a little messy and her lips twisted as she quivered.
Her Diamond smiled. "Hello, Pearl. It's nice to meet you."
"Thank you, Madame." Her cheeks darkened like twilight turning to night. "It's nice to meet you too." Her forehead and even her chest had started to blush. She gulped visibly.
"Come a little closer, won't you?"
"Yes, Ma'am." She hurried forward while both of the traders held onto one another behind her. Formality kept them bolted to the spot with the veneer of a calm expression.
Black Diamond placed her hands at either side of Pearl's face and kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you," she addressed the traders as her servant died in her arms, and grinned back when both of them flashed every tooth in their mouths.
Somehow, Pearl came back to life and followed her mistress wherever she went, quietly, and always a few steps behind. They would go to the elders' meetings together, to the mines, to the syrup tree field, and each morning, Pearl helped her lady dress. She tied back that mass of dark hair and placed the crown upon her head, along with the veil that went underneath it. Black would often paint the gold onto her eyelids herself, but Pearl insisted upon placing the tiny dots around her cheeks and over her brows. She always made them exactly the same, like the clear stars in the night sky, and every night, Pearl would fill Black Diamond's tub with hot water and wash them from her face.
Sometimes they made eye contact a little too long. Black caught Pearl staring into her nighttime irises and squared pupils frequently, and she would always look back as the edges of her lips came up.
One day, they stood by the syrup trees together, watching as the workers drilled with their spouts into the hard-crystalline bark and placed their buckets underneath. Each dressed in loose-fitting fabrics of gentle pink and at least occasionally adjusted her headscarf, decorated in a fuchsia flower print.
"Pearl…"
The servant stood a few steps behind her mistress when she answered. "Yes, My Diamond?"
"You can come a little closer. You don't have to stand all the way back there." Black sparkled like a goddess between her embellishments and gem.
"Yes, Ma'am." She took a few steps closer, but still stood behind her Diamond, who laughed. "I want you to stand next to me, Pearl."
"Oh." With something of a little leap forward, Pearl landed gracefully at her lady's side, who reached down and patted her head.
"You know, you don't need to be so formal all the time."
She didn't reply.
"Are you afraid I'll be angry with you?"
"No, My Diamond. You're very reasonable and kind, but I want to show the proper respect."
"Well, I don't think it would be disrespectful if you stood next to me, or even shared your thoughts sometimes. You always look a little like you're ready to combust. It worries me that you're putting so much pressure on yourself when you're doing a great job."
Pearl died a second time. "Do you really think so, Madame?"
"Of course."
The black birds circled overhead and cried out. Some of the Coals in the field imitated them and giggled when one called back. Black Diamond and Pearl laughed.
"May I speak freely for a moment, My Diamond?"
"Certainly, Pearl."
Still, she paused. "Before I came here, the gem who created me told me that I had better be on my best behavior at all times, if I was truly to serve a Diamond. She said you might shatter me if I was out of line. You seemed content, but…"
For a moment, Black looked over top of the dark trees that had yet to bloom. The crows cried. "Shatter you? I can't imagine a situation severe enough where I would shatter you. Why did she tell you such a thing?"
"I'm not sure, Madame. Perhaps Diamonds are usually frightening or cruel?"
"My stars, had she ever met one?"
"I don't know, My Lady. It's possible, but she never mentioned if she had."
"Well, I'm not going to do that to you, Pearl." Black released a hard gasp of air and set her attention to the faraway volcano that cast a long shadow in the distance.
"You're not upset with me, are you, My Diamond?"
"Not at all." Black touched her shoulder. "I just can't believe you thought I would shatter you. Over what? You serving my tea too cold?"
Pearl took in a breath to regain her composure. "Was it too cold, My Diamond?"
"No, it was just fine—"
At that very moment came a hard knock and an abrupt holler as one of the crows crashed into the trees and fell upon the ground. Black Diamond and Pearl jumped and one of the Coals came around to see what had happened.
"Oh Lord, not again." She bowed, and continued in her raspy voice, "My apologies, My Diamond. This happens sometimes. I'm sorry if the noise frightened you."
"That's quite alright."
"I think the smell might intoxicate them a little," she laughed. "It's very sweet. I'm having one of the girls make you an elixir so you can try some fresh if you haven't already. You can't beat right out of the tree!"
"Thank you. I'm looking forward to it."
The worker smiled and went away while Black approached the fallen crow. It lay unconscious on its back with a bloody and broken wing. She gasped, "Poor thing."
Pearl trailed behind and looked around her Diamond, wincing at the sight of the creature. She watched as Black leaned over and placed her palms beneath it.
"My Lady—"
Black Diamond held the crow and stood still a long time. A kind of focus descended upon her like a sugary fog and her skin grew warmer, though she didn't move. The unconscious crow's wing mended. The bone set itself into place and the blood dried while the wound sealed.
Just as Black and Pearl released a unanimous gasp, the bird's eyes snapped open, and with yelling from all parties, hopped onto its feet and flew away. The commotion left a few black feathers in Black's hands, and she and Pearl stared at one another, both hoping for an explanation neither had.
"My Diamond, did you heal that crow?" One of the workers asked. She sat at one of the nearby trees, replacing a full bucket of syrup with an empty one.
"I believe so." Black still had a few fluffy feathers inside her open palms.
"Wow! That's amazing, Madame. Congratulations."
"Thank you."
The same Coal from earlier approached, this time carrying a wide-lipped glass of dark and bubbly fluid. "You healed that crow, My Diamond?" The beverage changed hands and the worker placed her hands on her hips. "Sorry, it might still be kind of hot, but that's really amazing. You know, you struck me as a healer from the moment I saw you. Can't say I'm surprised."
"Oh, whatever," the other Coal replied, walking past with another full bucket. Its weight caused her to hunch over, even though she carried it with both hands. Despite the burden, she laughed.
"What? You can tell just by looking at her." The one speaking turned to the Coal with the bucket as she passed. "She's just got that look to her, don't you think?"
"She definitely does," she continued to giggle. "She's all flowy and beautiful."
"Exactly!" She turned back to address her Diamond, beaming, hands still on her hips. "Oh, have you tried some yet? I'm sorry, I was looking at that idiot over there."
"Speak for yourself, syrup-for-brains!"
"I heard that!"
Black Diamond grinned and took a sip. The taste of thick sugar overwhelmed her tongue as the bubbles fizzed in her throat. "It's delicious."
"I'm glad you think so! I knew you would like it," she gave a hearty laugh again. "You let me know if you want anymore, My Diamond. We have a whole pitcher ready."
"In that case, may I request a glass for Pearl?"
"Oh!" She leaned over to look at the servant, who disappeared beneath her mistress's shadow. "Of course! I suppose you want some too, don't you? I'll be back in just a second." She turned away to fetch another cup.
"Thank you, My Diamond."
"Certainly. You should try some too, don't you think?"
Pearl grinned at her lady, showing only a few teeth. Despite the shadow, Black watched her cheeks darken and smiled back to her. She didn't drink again until they both had cups.
Shortly after that, they left to attend to other matters, but not before the Coals in the field settled them with ten bottles of syrup and detailed instructions for making elixirs.
That night, Pearl drew a bath for Black Diamond and waited outside as her lady undressed and entered the water.
"Pearl, you can come in now!"
"Yes, My Diamond!"
She entered that room full of candlelight, following the gold that still sparkled upon Black's face. Even in the mild darkness, it shimmered, and Pearl began by erasing the stars on her cheeks. Her Diamond's eyes closed and remained that way for the most part, but sometimes, her long lashes brushed against some part of Pearl's hand.
Her breathing came out so quietly.
"My Diamond, may I ask you something?"
"Certainly, Pearl."
"How do you feel?"
The larger of the pair didn't respond, and Pearl continued to steal her gold with the washcloth. Her voice was warm and gentle in the peace of the candlelight and darkness. "I suppose I'm surprised. I didn't intend on healing that crow today, but it just happened. Now I'm wondering what other powers I have, if any."
"I'm sure you have a lot of powers, My Diamond."
"Perhaps, but I wonder what this means for the future."
Pearl had stolen the gold from one of her eyes and held the cloth close to her chest. From it, she squeezed a little water that ended up back in the tub. "It's a good thing, isn't it?"
"It should be."
Pearl took the other eyelid's worth of gold and her mistress's lashes parted so they could look at one another. Black Diamond offered a grin and cast her attention into the water, which shimmered with her make-up.
"My Diamond, should I wash your hair?"
"Please."
Pearl began wetting her long locks and throughout the process, Black Diamond watched as the water stilled and shook and glittered with bits of gold. Sometimes the surface settled while Pearl applied the shampoo, and the sparkling pieces shone against the dark background of the water. Black Diamond sat there, connecting the dots and trying to make constellations before Pearl, or even her own movements, sent them shooting away again. They would end up somewhere else, or even dissolve and disappear forever.
Black Diamond went to bed after her bath and faded into a dreamless sleep.