Ruby

Ruby awoke to the sound of running water and the smell of flowers. When she sat up, she saw Argos filling the tub with water and flower petals. He turned to smile at her as he tossed in the last petals.

“I am glad you’re awake,” he said kindly. “Mistress Vara told me to run your bath and waken you for breakfast.” He approached the bed and pulled the covers off her, folding them down to release her from their warmth and comfort. “I was instructed to help you with your morning routine.”

Blushing slightly at being seen in such lightweight sleep clothes, Ruby quickly rose and slipped past him to the bath. He followed her. When she stood beside the tub, looking over her shoulder at him, he reached for the hem of her nightdress and pulled it upward. She gasped as he exposed her, but he immediately carried the garment away and placed it on table. She scurried out of her undergarments and splashed into the tub up to her neck before he turned around. He smiled as he returned.

“How’s the temperature?”

Blushing to her hairline, she nodded in answer. She did not trust herself to speak.

Argos pulled a stool out from a niche in the wall and seated himself beside the tub. Ruby stared at him with wide eyes while he reached for a cleansing cloth and lathered it with sweet soap. He reached into the water and softly grasped her arm, but she jerked away from him.

“What are you doing?” She knew her voice sounded hysterical, but she could not keep the shrill note of panic out of it.

Argos, though, was patient. “I was instructed to bathe you, Mistress. I assure you I am gifted at my craft. I will not hurt you.”

Ruby’s eyes were so wide now, she feared they might fall out of her head. “No … I can’t … I’m quite …” Her voice faded to a whisper, “I’m naked.”

His smile became a smirk of amusement. “Of course, you are naked, Mistress. How else should you be bathed?” He reached again for her arm, but she slid it away from him. In fact, she slid her entire self away from him, to the other side of the tub.

His voice lost its amused edge, and he spoke a little bit sternly, “Mistress Vara does not like to be kept waiting for her breakfast. I was instructed to complete this task, and I assure you I intend to do so. But I will not pursue you, Mistress. Please come here and allow me to serve you.” It sounded less like a request than a command. But Ruby only shook her head.

Argos sighed. Laying aside the lathered cloth, he rose to his feet. He turned and exited the room. As soon as she was sure he was gone, Ruby grabbed the cloth and began a vigorous scrub of her body. She was relieved he had left her to complete the task herself. She scrubbed her arms, legs, and nearly completed the more private areas of her body when Vara sauntered in with Argos on her heels. Again, Ruby ducked herself under the water to her chin.

Vara wore an icy blue blouse today in heavy sheers. There was enough opacity that her breasts were not visible, but enough transparency that their shape was evident. She wore tight white trousers that clung to her body indecently, and ended a few inches above her ankle. Her black hair was pulled back from her face with an icy-blue sheer tie that exactly matched her blouse. She wore shimmering silvery makeup above her eyes and on her cheeks. The effect would have been lovely if her face had been smiling. But since her eyes were narrowed and her brows lowered, the sliver makeup only enhanced her iciness.

“Do you need a spanking?” Vara asked in a stern voice as she looked down at Ruby.

Ruby blushed at the idea and spluttered, “What? No! I…”

Vara cut across her. “Are you refusing to allow Argos to get you ready for the day?”

Ruby gave a scandalized cry. “He wanted to bathe me!”

Vara sat down on the stool Argos vacated when he went to tattle to his mistress. She leaned closer to Ruby’s face.

“He was doing what I ordered him to do,” the woman explained in a no-nonsense tone that reminded Ruby uncomfortably of her mother’s sternest voice. “By refusing his service, you are disobeying me. Wards of my temple do not disobey their temple keeper.”

Ruby could not find different words to explain her concern, “But … he wanted to bathe me.”

“Yes,” Vara replied sharply. “And while I usually expect my slaves to respect the refusal of personal services, I have given Argos the instruction that he may not accept your refusal this morning. I know you are new to my temple and to e’Silea, but I cannot allow you to continue to believe you are unworthy of service. You are a child, and children in e’Silea are bathed, dressed, and served by slaves.”

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Ruby’s face flamed again, and she argued, “But, I’m naked!”

Vara smiled, though her eyes did not lose their hard edge. “What difference is that meant to make, sweets? Argos knows what a feminine body looks like. He has been bathing young women all his life.”

Ruby’s eyes began to fill with tears. She whispered, “Mother taught to me guard my nudity from men.”

Vara’s eyes hardened some more, but when she spoke it was with more gentility. “I understand. You have been living in the world of wild men, who have unseemly appetites and no willpower.” She reached out a hand and stroked Argos’ arm with gentle finger. “I promise you, Argos is well-trained. He is respectful. He will not stare at you or touch you inappropriately. You are safe with him.” She leaned over the bath again, and this time she stroked Ruby’s face. “You are safe here in e’Silea, my sweet.”

She stepped back after a moment, relinquishing the stool. “I will stay with you, though, while he gets you ready for the day. I do not want you to be uncomfortable.”

Ruby glared at her. “More people in the room looking at me when I’m naked is not going to make me more comfortable.”

Vara raised a stern brow. “I am livid that you were taught to hide your body, as if it is something unseemly. The only way I know how to help you unlearn that lesson is to teach you the e’Silean way: all bodies are beautiful. And we do not cover up beautiful things!” She snapped her fingers and ordered, “Argos, bathe this child!”

He seated himself once more on the stool and reached for her arm. Ruby, under her aunt’s glare, allowed him to take it. Vara leaned back against the opposite wall and watched the ritual with stern eyes. Ruby, though embarrassed, allowed Argos to complete his task, adjusting as he requested. When she was able to ignore the idea that she was surrounded by people while she bathed, it was really rather pleasant. He was gentle and self-assured. He knew exactly what he was doing. When he washed her hair, it was one of the best experiences of her life. Or, it would have been, if Aunt Vara was not staring her down the entire time, preaching.

“It will be impossible to teach you everything you ought to know in a matter of days or hours, but I intend to make a proper start of it immediately. The trouble is: you were raised with certain ideas and values about life that are no longer appropriate for your new circumstances. You are not some little beggar who can be tossed into the street if you displease me, Ruby. Neither can you misbehave enough to make me regret taking you in. Let me be perfectly clear: you belong to me. In fact, you have always belonged to me, and I consider myself cheated out of fourteen years of your life. If you lived here all of those fourteen years, you would never have been taught that your body should be hidden. You would not have learned shame about Argos bathing you, because you would have received this service every day of your life. It would not feel strange or unnatural; it would feel right.

“That’s the difficulty I now have in instructing you: I must teach you things are right that you should never have even questioned. You should never have had to worry that you would not be accepted here. You should never have been told to be quiet and not make trouble. Or, rather, you should never have thought my acceptance or love would be dependent on your silence and studiousness. The fact is, you could slap my face, and scream at me until the windows shattered, and it would not change anything. I would still keep you here and love you, and teach what is right.”

Ruby looked at Vara with hope and doubt in her mind. Hope, because she sincerely wanted to believe she was wanted here. Doubt, because her life experiences, especially since her mother’s death, had taught her that no kindness was free.

Somewhat defiantly, Ruby asked, “You would let me slap you and scream at you? Without throwing me and Isla out into the street? I doubt it.”

Vara squatted beside the tub and tapped Ruby on the underside of the chin, catching her eye. She looked firm, but also seemed to be hiding amusement deep in her eyes. “Listen to me, Ruby of Vara, there is nothing you can do that will make me kick you out. You belong to me.” She backed away and smiled down at Ruby from her height. “But, of course, I would not let you slap me and throw a tantrum. I would discipline that nonsense, because I will have peace in my temple.”

That sounded ominous, and Ruby studied her aunt’s face to be sure she was serious.

Vara continued, “I punish disobedience and disrespect thoroughly. In fact, if you will not allow Argos to complete his services, I will punish you for it because I mean it when I say I intend to teach you your rights and responsibilities in e’Silea.” She pulled her gaze away from Ruby then, and turned to look at her slave. “Argos, finish bathing her, then I want you to dry her, and dress her in the clothing I laid out. Do her hair up so she can run and play without it getting in her way. Then bring her to breakfast. I am needed across the hall.”

Ruby strained to hear if there was commotion across the hall. There surely would be, if Vara sent a slave in to bathe Isla. Ruby knew Isla would not take to this service even as well as Ruby had—and Ruby was still blushing to her hairline and trying to hide herself from Argos’ view. The man continued with his task diligently, however, as if Ruby was not resisting him with every move she made.

At last, he grasped a towel and held it up. “I shall look away, Mistress, if it will make it easier for you to step out of the tub,” he conceded when Ruby resolutely refused to leave the cover of the water. He looked away as he spoke, staring at the wall with a mildly harassed look on his face. Ruby dashed from the water and into the waiting towel. He wrapped it around her without looking her direction. He grasped another towel and wrapped it around her hair with expert precision.

“Okay,” he said. “Into the bedroom, if you please. If you sit at the vanity, I will first do your hair. That will give your body a chance to dry a little.” Ruby recognized his kindness. He was trying to make this easier for her, though he clearly intended to follow his Mistress’ orders completely, no matter what type of protest Ruby gave.