The Queen's Black Cat
Prologue: Ciel
The carriage rattles as the wind and rain pelts against the sides. The darkness that had once scared me as a child now doesn't; now... with Sebastion by my side nothing scares me anymore. For he is a being, a demon-being in a human vessel that could rattle the teeth of any rabid beast that crossed our path. My own butler could kill me with a flick of the wrist, yet he chooses not to so that he can feast upon my very soul that lays dormant in my body. The same body that travels all around with this demon. The exact body that trusts the life with a messenger from the devil. Sebastian protects me, but he is not at all to be trusted. Demons should never be truly trusted, while my contract with Sebastian is strict, he is still a demon and a demon is he. While some believers of religion think they know that all evil is pure, there is always a grey area. Depending on who you trust, the truth of the situation will reveal itself.
I watch the rain collide with the windows and think about our last case; the mysterious disappearances in the London smugglers ring. It was a winding road that my butler and I had to follow; nevertheless in the end we reached the conclusion, closing the case. As the Queen's guard dog, I must protect her nation in all of its glory, even the underworld that many despise as well. While I may be no sleuth, Sebastian and his odd powers really do help in my cases that the Queen sends me. From a list of 400 possible suspects, he can find the alibis and motives of each in a short ten minutes. This has greatly sped up the investigations, leaving most of the time to catching the guilty party. The Phantomhive family has always owned a toy company, but sleuthing is in our blood. My father, grandfather, and even my great-grandfather have all aided the Queen and her predecessors in their most questionable mysteries that not even the great Sherlock Holmes could solve.
The Phantomhive Toy Company head, myself, usually only deals with matters about trading or selling the toys, but today I am headed to the leader of the Taylor Perfumes and Fragrances home. Sebastian had handed me a letter from the Queen instructing me to spend a weekend at the Taylor's mansion on the coast near the channel. The letter seemed like any other the Queen would send when a new case came up, except this letter was about a spring ball. A ball that the Taylors were holding in honor of our new "partnership". But I have no recollection of ever having any meeting with any of the Taylor household members. I know for a fact that my father never had a meeting with any Taylor. Tanaka had written down every meeting my father had before he died.
When Sebastian and I returned to the manor, after the fire, we went through all the records that Sebastian could find that were readable. And what few were left, they said nothing about a Taylor family agreement.
Sebastian had not told me anything about the family head. It never really made me wonder what the greatest, largest perfume trader and manufacturer to come out of England should look like. Is he a pompous bastard like most greedy nobles or is actually kindhearted much like Lizzy's parents? Now that the Queen wishes for me to meet the man, his mysteriously blank face is bumping around around in my head as Sebastian carries us to his house.
Slowly I close my left eye. My other eye, the own with my contract mark, can still see perfectly clear. Sometimes I wonder if I could go near sighted in one eye, while the other stayed perfectly fine. On days when the paper work is easy and the mansion is quiet, I take off my eye patch and wonder, what would people think if I did not wear this? Would they be revolted? Would they question me? Or would they know right off the bat about my contract with Sebastian? Could they possibly accept the encryption on the eye? But always after a few minutes I would replace the eye patch, put on a face, call Sebastian for tea, and continue with work. The idea of doing something such as that never got as far as my lonely, quiet study.
As the carriage passed over another hole it felt as if my mother was rocking me to sleep like when I was a little boy. While the darkness might scare most, I find it to be like a warm blanket that protects only a chosen few.
...
Sebastian shakes me awake around mid morning. His gleaming pale skin blinds me at first, but as my eye adjusts to the light my eye focuses on my demon butler in all of his glory.
"Good Morning my Lord." Sebastian holds out his hand waiting for me to leave the carriage.
"When did we arrive last night?" I could tell around midnight that we had gone over the same hole at least three times.
I watched Sebastian's lips curl into a smile, "We arrived around ten o'clock."
The gravel cracks under my shoes as we walk the path to the immense front door. I look up at the white palace. It seems like the house stretches for over a mile. I examine the palace as Sebastian unloads our luggage from the top of the carriage. On the western side a large glass dome that connects to the rest of the house, there seems to a large amount of verdant greenery in there. In the middle, much like the cap on the congressional building in the states, a smaller matching copula rests on the smaller middle portion. The eastern end must end somehow, however a large willow blocks the view.
After I finish examining the palace, Sebastian and I walk over to what seems to be the front door.
"Why did we not stop Sebastian?"
He knocks on the door and steps back.
"We were not to be expected until today."
A minute passes.
"Then why did we leave yesterday?"
Another passes.
And another.
Then on the fourth minute the deep black door begins to open. A tall woman dressed in a long maid uniform looks down at me, then to Sebastian. Her ivory skin seems to sparkle in the light as her onyx hair blew in the late spring ocean breeze. Her piercing green eyes peered into me like I was her prey. Like cat is to mouse.
She smiles slightly and speaks in a strange dialect that catches me by surprise a bit. Not a southern accent, but a Londoner's accent.
"You must be the Earl Ciel Phantomhive. We have been expecting you. Please come in."
The maid bows her head as we enter the house. As I step in the small foyer a deep mahogany wood room holds us together. Sebastian instantly begins to help me out of my rain coat and hands it to the maid. Before he could take off his coat I walk forward.
The small foyer transforms into a wide and airy room with a grand staircase right in front of me. The room has vines trickling down from the second floor that overlooks from a balcony. Oriental pots with tall bamboo sprigs lay next to the large bay windows overlooking the coastal view and drive way up to the front of the house, where my carriage still lays.
"I see you're admiring the plants." I turn around expecting to see the master of the house, but an elderly looking butler instead. "I am Alaster, the Taylor's butler."
The butler resembled Tanaka very much. Such a surprising resemblance really. "The vines are very beautiful. I would have never of thought to do that in my own home."
"Her ladyship admires plants just as much as her mother."
"Ladyship?" Ladyship? Like as in a woman? Does that mean I am meeting with ... a woman?
"You two must be tired after your long journey down here. Alaster show the Earl to his room while I take his man to the servants hall." The maid suddenly taking charge of the conversation like she is in charge around the manor. Odd. A maid having more power than the butler. Odd. But then again the Taylor company does deal with a lot with the Americans, maybe they picked her up from over there. Still it is very odd.
...
Alaster showed me to my room and told me that 'Estelle' will bring up my luggage later. He left and that was some half an hour ago. But in that time I inspected the room. It was dressed in rope and nautical decorations. Two large windows look out into the backyard. The misty air hid most of the maze but I could tell it continued for awhile. The yard seemed to mix into a large pasture where sheep picked at the grass in the distance.
While the room was interesting and all, the room was beginning to bore me. I left the room and began to walk down the hall. Red silk wallpaper follows me down the hall as I venture, in which direction I do not know, but I continue anyway.
After some time the rooms end and the hall stops. A circular room closes out the hall. Sighing I turn around and head in the opposite direction. This house is so boring. While I never care about what I do, I just hate waiting for parties to happen. And I hate parties in general. They are boring social greetings that could just be settled over a simple dinner meeting. The red wall never seem to stop and I, for some reason, don't stop trying either. My legs seem to move on their own. As if they know something is at the end of this extensive hall.
I pass the front hall, and slow my pace in order to know which direction I was headed. West. Towards the glass dome.
When I finally reach the end of the red hall a tall wall of glass lay in front of me. A wooden door stood between me and the dome. Slowly I move forward. Beads of sweat begin to pool on my forehead as the temperature rises. I reach forward and grip the handle. Pushing the door with a bit of strength, the heat billows out and reveals a small white spiral staircase the leads into a replica of the Amazon Rain forest.
The temperature rises twenty degrees with each step. My shoes click on the metal stairs as I descend into the dark canopy of leaves, flowers, and shrubs. The tropical plants' bright colors shine against the dark green leaves. The sound of water falling in the background seemed to slow down each step I took down the metal staircase.
Making my way through the jungle, a clearing opened up and light poured into my eye. Pushing past the final tree a small tea table set was placed in the middle of the clearing. A young girl with her back straight and delicate cherry blossoms resting in her hair, sits drinking tea. Her cream white dress with lace trim that matches the color of her soft cherry blossoms drapes over her chair. Slowly I make my way over to her.
I take the seat across from her. The girl looks up at me from her tea, soft violet eyes stare back at me. Almost white blonde hair hangs over her forehead and curls at the bottom. Her bun tucked neatly into itself. Her porcelain skin shining a bit in the glassy morning light, a small touch of blush tickled her cheeks as her lips form a small smile. Her head tilts a bit to the left and she bats her long blonde eyelashes.
"Are you the Earl Phantomhive?"
"Yes, I am Earl Ciel Phantomhive. And you are the mistress of the household I presume?"
Giggling to herself, she raises her gloved hand over her tea. "I am Countess Florence May Taylor, mistress of this manor and heiress to the Taylor Perfumes and Fragrances Empire. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
I take her hand and smile,"Pleased to meet you your Ladyship."
Hello Everyone! This is my first time writing a Black Butler Fanfiction. A little on the rocks with most of this series, because I literally just finished the second season like a day ago. However not to fear! My best friend whose obsessed with Black butler and Sebastian is helping me and all my British needs. Thanks for reading! Review! See you next Chapter!
~Karisma Jestler!