Judith, Chapter One
The young Earl Phantomhive sat leaning in a plush wing-backed chair, elbow on the scrolled armrest and chin in his hand, staring out of the warped windows of his office at nothing in particular. His attention was drawn to the youthful blonde haired gardener, Finnian, who was in a panic as he scrambled about the large maple tree that he had torn up by the roots. Beside him stood a young man in a tailcoat, silver hair shifting in the breeze and a large snake coiled loosely around his neck. The boy's face, lightly scattered with gleaming reptilian scales, was plastered with complete indifference to Finnian's tears and frantic wailing. The manicured garden was obscured by the ominous presence of billowing black smoke, undoubtedly belching from the kitchen windows, which had likely been thrown open when one of chef Bardroy's culinary experiments had come to some sort of fiery, catastrophic end. The young lord rolled his eyes.
"Damn them. With these idiots running around, it's a wonder I still have a mansion at all."
"Ciel?" An obnoxiously cheerful voice chirped his name, moving his gaze away from the window and to the finely dressed girl sitting across from him. "It's your move!" she sang, donning a smile and tilting her head, large blonde curls bouncing around her neck and face.
His eyes fell to the elegant chessboard sitting on the small table between them. The board had been essentially stripped of the girl's black pieces, leaving the squares populated largely with his own pieces, carved elegantly from Indian ivory.
"I must give her credit for being persistent," he mumbled lowly. Clearing his throat he spoke, "Elizabeth, this is the twelfth game we have played; don't you find this to be becoming quite tiresome? Shall I call Sebastian for tea?"
Her retaliation was silenced by a prompt knock on the door. The door swung open and an elegant man in a black tailcoat came sweeping gracefully into the mahogany room. "You called, bocchan? Would the lady like some tea?" He turned to the girl and flashed an effortlessly forced smile, every word sliding smoothly between his lips like honey. He stood awaiting instruction from his master, his tall, lean frame silently occupying the open space of the doorway. After receiving an order for tea and cakes, he placed a gloved hand over his heart and gave a shallow bow before excusing himself to fulfill his master's wishes.
Striding silently down the carpeted hallway, he glanced out the tall windows to his right, attempting to make a prompt assessment of the various calamities that had befallen the manor so far that day. Releasing an exasperated sigh, Sebastian clicked open a silver pocket watch, its chain swaying like a metronome with each long step.
"All of this foolishness and it is only two o'clock," the demon butler huffed in an aggravated mumble. "The young master is lucky that I am what I am, otherwise this mansion would be in shambles and there would be no none capable of satisfying all of his petty demands. He can be truly childish at times."
Leaning his shoulder into the swinging kitchen door, he froze as a subtle sound caught his sensitive ears. A clink of dishes, nearly imperceptible to anyone else, alerted him to an impending calamity at the hands of the maid, who was wobbling down the hall with a tall, overly ambitious stack of plates. Sebastian knew, despite her face being concealed by the teetering tower, that her eyebrows were knitted tightly in concentration and her face was scrunched in an attempt to keep her large glasses from sliding down the bridge of her nose. He waited silently for her inevitable stumble, her scuffling feet catching the only small bump in the rug. Moving effortlessly, a strong arm looped around her waist, the other catching the deluge of tumbling china on the tips of lithe fingers. Yelping, the auburn-haired girl looked up at the suave butler and, realizing that her fingers were latched to the front of his tailcoat, pulled away as a violent surge of color rose on her cheeks.
She nervously wrung her hands, attempting to look at anything but her savior. "Mister Sebastian, I'm so sorry, I am!" Her voice was shrill and dripping with embarrassment. "You see, well, we… Bardo, Finny, and me thought we might do somethin' fancy for the young master, we did. So I went to get some of the pretty china and Bardo said he'd fix up a nice supper for the young master and Lady Elizabeth."
Sebastian sighed and shook his head lightly, silken ebony hair falling in front of his face. Composing himself, he turned back to the trembling girl before him, who was now twisting her white apron in anticipation of the oncoming reprimand. "Mey-Rin," he began, "I'm sure that the young master will appreciate the gesture, but I believe that he would be even more pleased if his manor was still intact by the end of the day. Don't you agree?"
Though he was smiling, the girl could sense looming, genuine murderous intent as he towered over her. Opting to refrain from continuing to dig her own grave, Mey-Rin remained silent, her only response being an extremely vigorous nod. Tilting his head slightly and maintaining his ominous grin, Sebastian turned away, pushing through the door into the kitchen and attempting to return to his work. He did his best to ignore the chef, Bardroy, who was fanning wildly at the oven, cigarette clenched in his teeth and blond hair turned black from the explosion. Placing the dishes in a place where they would be out of harm's way, he began a kettle of boiling water before arranging an elegant display of petit-fours in pastel blues, greens, and pinks. Assessing his work, he removed the hissing kettle before adding a few of the master's favorite chocolate truffles to the platter for good measure. As the butler stood before a cabinet filled with numerous tin boxes filled with aromatic tea leaves, he was jolted by a piercing scream echoing through the manor.
Sebastian quickly abandoned his task and sprinted through the halls before bursting into the Earl's mahogany clad study. He found Ciel and Elizabeth staring at the large window overlooking the grounds, their attention drawn by a blonde man, dressed in elegant white, happily tapping on the glass and waving a wax sealed letter.
"H-how?!" Elizabeth interrogated, her gaze shifting between her fiancé, the butler in black, and the strange character perched outside the window. "This is the second floor!"
Upon recognizing who the figure was, Sebastian and his master released heavy, irritated sighs. "Not to worry Elizabeth, Charles is simply a messenger from the Queen. He and his comrade must have come to deliver orders from Her Majesty, as well as to cause a commotion in my household," the young lord huffed angrily. "Sebastian, go fetch that fool and ready our tea."
"Of course, bocchan," he replied, once again bowing slightly. "Young master, would you and the young lady prefer to take your tea in the garden or in the drawing room?"
Ciel glanced once more through the warped panes of the window; black smoke was still swirling among the number of fallen trees, unfortunate casualties of Finnian's unnatural strength. He whipped an incredulous glare towards the butler, who nodded in understanding. "The drawing room it is, sir," a smirk teasing the corners of his mouth as he bowed and took his leave.
Ciel sat, bored, in a large chair across from his blonde-haired fiancée, who was chattering wildly about the upcoming social season, when the aristocracy would all converge on London in order to attend parties and pretend to enjoy each other's company. She was rambling about which gatherings he should attend and to whom he should send his regards. Though the girl knew that he despised the majority of social interactions, and especially hated pretending to be fond of people whom he felt were nuisances, that did not stop her from plotting his itinerary for the season. Elizabeth's inconsequential prattling was conveniently cut off by a knock on the door as Sebastian entered with a silver platter of tea and petit-fours, and accompanied by the wax sealed letter. HHHhm mHe handed the letter to his young master and set the tray on a small table, before placing the small cakes on fine plates and pouring the tea.
"This afternoon's blend is a Hsinchu oolong from northwestern Taiwan, served with a touch of honey," Sebastian said smoothly, placing the saucers on the table with scarcely a sound. Ciel began sipping his tea indifferently as he opened the letter and began to read, easily ignoring Elizabeth's resumption of her pointless rambling.
29 April
My darling boy,
I trust that you have been doing well, and are readying yourself for the upcoming social season. I believe that this will be a fine summer, and I hope to hear from you when you come to London. But now for the true purpose of this letter. There has been a string of gruesome murders taking place here in the capital, and I find these to be most unsettling and bizarre. The victims do not appear to have any connection other than their appearances. All of the men were young, in their middle twenties, had handsome features, blonde hair and blue eyes. Their bodies were found decapitated, their heads later discovered in woven baskets that were placed on the altars of nearby churches. I implore you, my darling boy, to discover the culprit behind these horrifying tragedies, so that I no longer have to fret over the safety of my people.
God speed,
Victoria
The young Earl sighed, carefully folding the letter and placing it inside of his navy coat before turning to his butler. "Prepare the carriage, we will be departing for London this evening. We have been given a new assignment by Her Majesty." Sebastian nodded, placing a gloved hand over his heart and excused himself from the room. "And Sebastian," Ciel said as the tall man in black was halfway through the door, "tell the servants that if they hurry to clean up their messes before five o'clock, they may accompany us to the city house. I believe that there is a May Day festival on the day after next."
The elegant butler smirked. "How generous of you, sir," he stated before bowing and turning, once again, to leave.