They arrived to a guest room larger than Black Diamond's old chamber. The enormous windows poured in the day's dying light and its glorious colors through its billowing curtains. Pastoral tapestries hung from the walls, and a large bed awaited them in the center of the room, plush and plump with perfectly white sheets. In one of the corners, they set down their possessions.
"Here we are, Madame." White Diamond's Pearl bowed. "Do you require anything else?"
"No, Pearl. Thank you. Please tell White that I won't be coming to any feast she plans on putting on. Thank you."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll tell her immediately." She bowed again and left.
Before Pearl could even snap her fingers, Black Diamond had lain down on one side of the bed and covered herself in the frothy sheets. Her long hair hung out from the open end, obscuring her face.
"My Lady—" Pearl approached and gently set her hand upon Black's head. "Are you sure you don't want to have dinner with her?"
Black kept her quiet.
With nothing to respond to, so did Pearl.
"I can't bear to look at her right now. I'm not even sure where we can go from here. She owns everything. Soon enough word will spread and everyone will know."
Pearl furrowed her brows and sat upon the little free space at the edge of the mattress. "I'm sorry you're upset, Madame." She wove a few grey fingers into that magical, midnight hair. With a little coaxing, Pearl found Black Diamond's eyes and opened a space through her tresses so they could look at one another.
"Aren't you upset?"
"Not really. I'm surprised no one else found out sooner." Her prints smoothed along Black's strands that somehow never tangled. "But I'm happy as long as I'm by your side. You don't have to worry about me."
"Oh, Pearl." Black Diamond sighed. "Thank you."
"Of course," Pearl laughed. "I'm really glad Luna didn't eat you. I…kind of can't believe we're here, actually. White Diamond sure is rich, isn't she?"
"It's too much."
"I agree. This room is ugly."
"The architecture is so gauche."
"Did you see the color of the walls?" Pearl leaned forward. "Did she even bother changing them since last century?"
"And those tapestries? Tacky."
"How many damn Pearls does one gem need?"
Black Diamond laughed and closed her eyes as Pearl set a hand upon her shoulder. Neither moved while Black breathed in and out slowly and Pearl watched the sky darken from pastel pink to serious purple.
"I'm sorry, Pearl. I'm going to sleep. Today took so much of my energy."
"I understand."
"You're welcome to do as you like. I'm sure you're hungry…"
"I am, but if that one Pearl comes back I'll ask her about what I can do."
Black Diamond took a moment. Her consciousness nearly fled on an exhale. "I really ran you around today. I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Pearl leaned over and kissed her cheek, which her long hair still obscured.
"You're so tough. I love you."
"I love you too, Madame." Pearl covered up Black Diamond's eye and left her mistress to sleep.
At first, Pearl sat in the somber evening lights as that royal purple changed to dignified blue. Opening the gauche curtains, she looked at the stars that seemed to burn brighter from the vantage point of the hill, where the moon came up full and displayed its glow.
A gentle breeze blew through Pearl's hair before a soft knocking interrupted the silence. She came to the door, and outside it stood another servant holding a candle in her ghostly hands.
"Hello. I've come back to check on your mistress. Is everything alright?"
"Everything is just fine, but my mistress did request something to eat. She really enjoyed those cherries from earlier, and she said she would like some bread as well."
White Diamond's Pearl gave her a look. Her eyebrows raised and her lips twisted, but she spoke normally, "Does your mistress desire anything else?"
"Oh, anything else would be fine. She's not very picky."
"Understood."
She tried to go, but Pearl called out, "Wait! Would it be alright if I explore a little bit? I'd like a bath before I go to bed, if possible."
"You're a guest here. You're welcome to do as you please. I'll alert the kitchen of your mistress's order. If you'd like to bathe in the meantime, the bathhouse is just over that way." She pointed to the right, indicating an enormous hall lit by hundreds of candles. "You can't miss it if you continue in that direction."
"Thank you."
She had already began walking away, so Pearl sighed and left.
On her way to the bathhouse, Pearl observed several other servants passing by. Almost all of White Diamond's Pearls had iridescent gems upon their foreheads and shared the same slender frame, wrapped in delicate fabric. They flitted around like pixies on missions, hurrying from one destination to the next, carrying on in austere silence as if tasked with a spiritual duty.
The dull candlelight made them look as though they had been constructed from marble, but for Black's Pearl, it brought out the shadows, dips, and scratches on her muscles made walking through the mountains with her heavy pack.
Sometimes they stared at her in passing, but she made it to the bathhouse regardless.
The area contained two different rooms, one with cubbies and the other containing the bath itself. Gems of all types walked between one room and the next, naked save for a towel they may have wrapped around their heads. Most anyone who came in set their attention upon Pearl, which sometimes manifested only as a glance and other times a lingering stare.
Pearl removed her clothes, which the aristocratic gems of White's palace would call rags, and the other gems undressed her further than that. They analyzed every speck of dirt and every sinew of her physique.
Blush painting her cheeks, she made it to the bath and entered the water, receiving brief glances again from those inside. Many of them sat in pairs, wading shoulder deep in the bath and laughing about something or other.
Two such ladies sat directly across from her, looking with baby doll eyes as one washed the other's long, pink hair. Each held a gem upon her forehead, and the little, misplaced Pearl couldn't help but stare back at those tall, curvy ladies who giggled and covered their plump lips with feminine fingers.
Through the rising steam, the one having her hair washed waved Pearl over with a pale hand. When she didn't come immediately, both of them laughed and beckoned her again. Pearl knit her brows and waded over to the pair, who nodded and smiled as she continued closer.
"What's your name?"
"Are you a Pearl?" Their voices were soft and curious.
She gulped before answering. "I am."
"Wow…Look at your arms. You're in such good shape."
"I've never seen a black Pearl before." One of her pale and powder pink hands took Pearl delicately beneath the chin. Only her fingerprints made contact.
"Who do you belong to, anyway?"
"Black Diamond."
Both of them gasped and clapped their hands together. "Black Diamond is here?"
"Lady White must be ecstatic."
"No wonder she's been so rough with us lately."
"She must have been excited to have her friend come over. The anticipation likely killed her!"
Both released musical laughter and leaned against one another.
"Well, actually, we weren't really invited over. My Diamond and I came here once we found out White spread our secret. My Lady was pretty upset." Pearl made a few short, hard laughs herself.
"Oh, well that's odd."
"I wonder why she's been so passionate lately then."
"She bit me so hard this morning."
Pearl's eyes widened. "White Diamond bit you?"
"Oh yes! She bites us all the time! She really left me with a bruise. You see?" She turned her shoulder, so Pearl could view the terrible purple mark near her neck.
"Oh, Poudretteite—" the one sitting behind her grabbed her by the breasts and spoke into her ear. "I need you—"
The one with the bruise screamed as the other pretended to bite her, and both grew intoxicated in their mirth.
"Oh," said Pearl.
The Poudretteites calmed. "Do you have soap?"
"You didn't look like you had any."
"That's why we called you over."
"I don't." Her face grew nearly as dark as her hair. "I completely forgot, to tell you the truth."
"Well, you can have some of ours."
"Why don't you come a little closer?"
"Oh, you don't have to—"
But both of them had already lathered up their palms and drew Pearl close. With great ease, they spread their soap across nearly every stretch of her skin. Their lovely hands smoothed over her arms and across her legs and back. They worked carefully between her little breasts and took care with her gem. One even produced a cloth to polish it, and spilling hot water over her, they washed her hair. Their long, gentle fingers ran through it numerous times to draw out the dirt, making Pearl smell of flowers and causing her body to steam.
"She's so cute."
"I hope she sticks around."
"I suppose that depends on her Diamond."
"How long will you and Black Diamond stay, Pearl?"
"Oh," they had set her aside, and Pearl sat in the bath, head swimming. "I'm not sure. I don't imagine we'll stay too long."
"That's a shame."
"I'd really like to meet Madame Black Diamond."
"I wonder what she's like."
"She's very kind." Pearl practically floated away. "She's definitely never bit me or anyone else, for that matter."
The Poudretteites laughed and one patted Pearl upon the head. "White Diamond is kind too."
"When she doesn't feel like biting."
"Or hair-pulling."
"Or spanking."
They giggled again, and the smallest of the three did too, until she released an enormous yawn that sank her further into the pool.
"You look awfully tired." A few fingers stroked her dark grey cheek.
"You should get some rest, Pearl."
"It's dangerous to be drowsy in the hot water."
"I think I will get some rest…" She stood a little too fast and one of those lovely gems supported her with an elegant hand. "Thank you for letting me use some of your soap."
"Of course."
"Anytime."
With that, Pearl took the long walk back to her cubby, put on her dusty clothes and exited the bathhouse, collecting just as many stares as the last time.
Pearl returned to a small buffet of food that someone had set out in her absence. Black Diamond still slept beneath her veil of hair at the other side of the chamber, and once Pearl had filled her stomach with cherries, bread, and butter, she climbed in next to her.
The moment her head hit the pillow, the drowsiness blurred reality's lines, but that didn't stop her from touching her Diamond's shoulder blade. Black rolled over and set an unconscious and heavy arm around her while expelling a sigh. Both faded into a still and silent sleep.