AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE
"Only one more week to go." Lizzy crowed, jiggling her intended by his upper arm. "Oh Ciel, darling, I'm so excited! Aren't you? Aren't you excited too?" Lizzy still bounced and giggled in spite of her nineteen years of stern lessons on self-control, courtesy of the Marchioness. Not in front of her mother, of course, she'd learned that much. But here, she and Ciel were alone…mostly, so her happy mood translated into movement and her eyes and her thoughts were only for her beloved fiancée.
And Ciel? He turned helpless eyes across the garden, behind the gazebo, to where Sebastian was standing, acting as chaperone. They had just sent Paula in to fetch Elizabeth a stole for her shoulders—even in May the south of England can be chilly, especially as the sun begins to dip below the horizon as it was just about to, and the blue shadows begin to creep stealthily over the landscape. The sun had already hidden its bright face behind the thick belt of trees surrounding the estate and the sounds of night were beginning to overtake the cheerful birdsong of the day.
Bats careened overhead. And owl swooped down right into the garden and there was a tiny shriek that made the young blonde jerk in surprise and turn her face away. The boy signalled with his eyes. It was time. A chill finger seemed to slide down young Elizabeth's back as she looked up and saw the butler had silently joined them in the gazebo. Suddenly there was something in the air Lizzy didn't like.
Not at all.
"Meat," Ciel said, seemingly apropos of nothing in particular.
"What?"
"That is what we reduced him to."
"What?" Lizzy stared. "Who?"
"The last underworld criminal the master and I were asked to run to ground and eliminate by order of the queen." The butler added. His back was to the setting sun and his face was completely lost in shadow. Unobserved by the two young people the butler gestured toward the house. A small burst of power left him as he assured the ladies' maid, Paula, would not be leaving Miss Elizabeth's room until the young master had had his say.
"And right here," the young master continued, "right where you're sitting now, Sebastian ripped the head off an assassin sent to kill us both from the Italian Mafia. Again."
"Third time this month," the butler remarked. "Most tiresome." Even in the gathering twilight both the butler and master could see the young lady's face pale. She looked down at the ground, searching for evidence of their tale being the truth.
"They certainly are persistent," Ciel added, as the butler busied himself snugging his gloves while thinking back on what a satisfying evening that had been.
"There were three of them," Sebastian continued, "each with a helper, six in all, and they came from three different directions. The master shot one pair dead in his bedroom, They fell right over his legs and bled all over the mattress. I tore the others apart right out here. If you stand, Miss Elizabeth and look where you were sitting, you will see the stains and scuffs are still there on the woodwork. We've not had time for Finny to repaint yet. Of course it shall be done before your ceremony out here is conducted next week," Sebastian assured with a sinister smile. "And of course we've hired extra assassins of our own to fill the woods in case anyone is idiot enough to attempt to interrupt your special day with blood and mayhem." The young lady stared with her mouth open. "We certainly cannot have heads and limbs flying through the air during the service now can we?"
"Sebastian especially likes to tear them apart when he catches them," the young earl said with a smile and a congenial pat to the arm of his right-hand 'man'.
The butler smiled warmly. "Yes, they make excellent snacks and as a bonus, when composted properly the leftovers make excellent fertiliser for the roses." Both looked at each other and grinned ear to ear. They looked like they were sharing an inside joke Lizzy was not a part of.
The young woman took a step back. "That's right," the young master grinned and leaned in closer to his cousin and fiancée. "You see the truth is…" and here Ciel lowered his voice so only the young lady (and the lurking demon) could hear, "he's not actually… entirely… well, human."
"What?!"
"Well just look at him!" Ciel whispered. And right on cue Sebastian favoured the young lady with a rare show: the fearsome appearance he generally reserved for thugs, thieves and assassins right before e killed them and hapless souls he intended to swallow. It included fiery eyes and a visible aura of darkest smoke that began to spread out, whipping and twisting around his lithe body like his own private wind storm. "You see, Lizzy, I've sold my soul to him. He's a demon, my demon." The young man said, smiling warmly. "And since Sebastian here will be devouring my soul not too long from now and leaving you a very young widow, we thought you really ought to know."
"C-ciel, what— what are you saying?"
"I'm saying he's a devil, I'm damned and we like it this way." The young man slung his arm around the butler's neck and gave him a far warmer embrace than young Lizzy had ever received from the earl. The young man laughed and smiled at his intended. "Why did you think I insisted on a wedding out here in the garden instead of the church?" the boy laughed. "Of course you won't be able to tell anyone, Sebastian will see to that."
"Don't be ridiculous!" the girl shouted and the demon's eyes flared. "I cert—erq" The young woman gagged, grasped her throat and writhed, unable to draw breath. After a moment's struggle she went rather rigid, her back arched and she nearly toppled over backwards. It would have been a terrible, possibly fatal accident if Sebastian hadn't caught her right before her head slammed into the gazebo seat.
"Careful Miss Lizzy," the demon whispered into her ear, as his hands slid over her body in ways she'd always dreamed she'd be touched by Ciel one day—but this was not Ciel. The demon's breath ghosted across her throat raising all the hair on the girl's body. "You wouldn't want to crack that pretty skull of yours wide open. Now calm yourself," he said softly, and the words seemed to have a power behind them the young woman could not deny. "You'll soon see you'll be able to breathe just fine so long as you harbour no intent to tell anyone what we've just revealed to you. Do you understand?" His last three words seemed to ring with special significance in her head, a promise and a warning.
Sebastian then smiled and returned her to a standing position. Immediately she twisted out of his grip, stumbled backwards out of the gazebo and off into the gathering night.
Sebastian stood looking out into the darkness, arms crossed across his chest and with a wry smile on his face. His master joined him at his side.
"Huh," the boy mused. Off in the darkness they both listened to the unmistakable sound of someone coughing up roast pheasant, spring greens and cabinet pudding, followed by feet running on gravel that faded off into the distance.
"Do you suppose it was something we said, my Lord?" quipped the demon with a smirk.
Three days later they were informed by letter the wedding was off.