"Prepare my bath, slave girl!" Demanded Lutiera as she threw her dirty napkin at her, "And don't forget to check the temperature this time. Last time, you made the water too hot."
"Yes, Madam Ferdim." Nodded Caspery as she failed to catch the crumpled napkin, causing it to fall onto the ground.
Lutiera pointed to the napkin, "Pick that up!" She then turned around and walked away as Caspery picked it up off the floor.
The slave turned around and headed to the laundry room. It took a few minutes for Caspery to carefully search through the numerous piles of folded clothes to find Lutiera's favorite nighttime apparel. After finding her silky pink nightgown and a few beige linen towels, Caspery left for the bathroom. On her way, she saw Saphrin's door. *He's so odd.* She thought as she passed her room. *He has been here for almost a month now and he only leaves his room when he's out running errands with Madam Ferdim. The family seems to adore him very much, yet, he hardly socializes with anyone.*
She approached the bathroom door and saw the light on with some steam exiting the room. *I guess someone did my task for me.* She peaked into the room and noticed that the shower curtain was drawn. *Looks like she beat me here.* She still needs her fresh clothes. Caspery carefully entered the room and placed the items from the laundry room onto the sink counter.
Saphrin lifted her hands to her face and noticed how wrinkly they've gotten. *I've been sitting here for too long.* She thought right before she stood up from the tub.
Caspery heard the sound of Saphrin getting up as she slowly closed the bathroom door. *I hope Lutiera is not mad at me for bringing her clothes so late.* She then noticed a towel on the rack but no dirty clothes anywhere in the room. *That's strange.* She thought. *Where are her previous clothes? I need to bring those into the laundry room soon.*
The lass, not realizing that she's not alone, opened the curtain. Caspery looked over and gasped in shock as Saphrin did the same. It was only for a second, but she could see everything! Her wet muscles, the scars under her pecs, her wet hair and something below her waist that really caught Caspery's attention.
"You...," Caspery said quietly, "You have a-".
*Oh no!* Saphrin panicked internally but seemed calm on the outside. She kept eye contact with her as she stepped out of the tub. She glared at her intensely as she grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her hips. Caspery was frozen in fear and was quickly cornered against the wall as she approached her. Saphrin stood a foot in front of her and slammed her hand against the wall above her, still looking down at her sternly.
"Listen," she said in a quiet, yet, assertive tone, "Nobody must know about my true gender. Therefore, you didn't see anything! Understand?"
Caspery looked at her with nothing but fear in her eyes. She gulped as she nodded in compliance.
Saphrin then removed her hand from the wall and took a step back, "Oh it doesn't matter," she sighed in frustration, "It's not like anyone is going to care about anything you have to say. You're just a pathetic slave girl," she said as she turned around and removed her towel from her hips, "Nobody cares about you to begin with which is probably why you're here." She dried her hair with the towel.
Her harsh words reminded Caspery of her treatment from the family. This, coming from a knight, struck her deeply. She leaned against the wall and began to sob as she covered her face with her hands. Saphrin heard her sniffling and turned around. Caspery's crying was enough to snap Saphrin out of her rage and her intense glare softened into a sympathetic frown.
She quickly walked over to her, "No no no," she said in a soft tone, "Please don't cry. I didn't mean to hurt you."
This was to no avail as the slave girl kept weeping.
The lass sighed, "Oh no," she shook her head as she grabbed the other towel, "Please don't cry." She begged as she attempted to wipe away Caspery's tears. "I am very sorry about that, my dear. Please forgive me."
Caspery slapped her hand away. "No!" she yelled as she quickly stood up, "Get away from me!" She then stormed out of the room.
"Wait!" The lass tried to reach out to her but stopped once she realized that it wouldn't work.
*I can't believe this.* Saphrin thought, angry at herself. *I'm a monster!*