Doubt
"It will be dangerous," Sebastian warns. He slips the blue coat from Ciel's shoulders and slips it onto a hanger. He places it next to the small collection of fine coats hanging in the wardrobe.
"The queen demands it," Ciel says. He stands calmly with his arms held out to make Sebastian's job a little easier tonight. Sebastian's gloved fingers begin to unbutton the fine linen shirt. His fingers pause on the next pearly button.
"The queen demands that you resolve the issue, not throw yourself into the underbelly of society to do so." Dark eyes glance up from his kneeling position. Ciel turns his head and points his nose downward while his eyes see something not printed in the patterned rug.
"It's where I find the best contacts. It's part of the job." His jaw squares beneath pale skin. Sebastian finishes undoing the last button and pulls off the garment. He is careful not to touch his master's skin. He places it in a basket to be carried down to Maylene later before selecting a nightgown from a drawer. His gaze drifts to the closed shelf above it and he pictures the frilly cravats inside.
"You will be expected to participate in the season," he says matter-of-factly.
"And what would I do at a marriage market? Am I supposed to sit with the gentlemen after dinner for cigars and port?" A slight scowl marred his last sentence. The squared jaw was back.
Sebastian was quiet. He shaped the garment into a loop from bottom to collar. "You prefer the company of sewer rats?"
"Of course not!" Ciel snapped. "But the job requires it. My..." Ciel paused. A wrinkle forms betweenhis eyebrows. Ciel lowers his gaze. "My queen demands it," he says more quietly.
"Your queen demands your loyalty. How you choose to express it is your choice." Sebastian carefully pulls the fabric over the neatly combed blue-gray locks. Ciel tilts his head and the edge caught on his ear pulls free. He pushes his hands through the sleeves and allows the material to settle around him.
"I am a Peer of this realm and I will not be talked down to by a servant," Ciel says icily. Sebastian lowered his eyes and quietly began tying the strings at the collar into a neat bow.
"You are a Peer of this realm who has not accepted a single invitation into the world you were born into... Master. People will begin to talk. Funtom Company already has them buzzing." Sebastian pulls the bow tight and lets the strings fall.
"The less I get involved with society the less complicated it will be when..." Sebastian narrows his eyes and Ciel's words die on his lips.
"It is dangerous when one man lies to another and more dangerous still when a man lies to himself."
Ciel turns away and crawls into the large bed. He tucks his own blankets around himself for once and turns his back to Sebastian. Sebastian's eyes slide down his master's back, to a corner where a round scar still burns.
"We're leaving in the morning," Ciel says. Sebastian waits for the argument, for the rebuttal to his accusations. He holds his hands at his side, patiently standing next to his master's bed.
Ciel shifts beneath the covers, burrowing deeper into their shelter. The line of pale neck above the white collar is exposed as Ciel curls his body into a ball. Sebastian's eyes narrow, the pupils almost catlike. His lips press into a firm line. Taking a step towards the small figure on the bed, he opens his mouth to speak.
"Yes, my lord."