Prologue Part II: Her Lady, Making an Entrance
"Hurry, milady!"
"Amber, wait up!"
"You don't want to be more late than you already are, do you?"
"No, but-" I stopped to look at my young girl. Lady Scarlet was looking a bit stressed. Her small hands were in fists, and her thin brows were furrowed under the brim of her hat. "I don't know how on earth we are going to get there in decent time, Amber. Taking the carriage would be an awful long time, don't you think?"
"I believe that you're right, but if we don't take a carriage, then we will have to ride on horseback…"
"Really?" she inquired with a small grin, the worry from her face melted away. "That would certainly be faster."
"Shall we then?" I said returning the smile. My Lady is always up for small adventures, this is perhaps what I like about serving her the most. What more could a servant ask for in such a young master?
"Jenkins!" She called
"Yes, Lady Scarlet?" Jenkins said from afar.
"Could you fetch me a horse, please?"
"But Milady, the carriage is ready for you in the front. Also, it would be very unbecoming for a lady to ride horseback…"
I couldn't be bothered with listening to the silly things that Jenkins had to say. This life is always limiting young ladies in almost the same way that it limits blacks. But I've learned that there are times when blacks and ladies can turn the tables on the cards that they are dealt and defy the odds. I've learned from experience, because after all, I was and am a black woman myself.
Ladies can do whatever they please. Riding a horse certainly wasn't going to kill her. While Jenkins was scolding my master, I picked up my skirts and ran to the stables. We don't have time for your long-winded lectures, Jenkins. I hurried through the stables till I came across a stall that held a beautiful chocolate colored horse in it. A servant was feeding it hay when I swung the door open on the stall.
"My word, Amber! You startled me!" the alarm in his voice caused the horse to knock the bucket of hay out of his hands.
I moved past him and grabbed hold of the reigns in front of me. "Excuse me sweetheart, but I need you for right now."
"What are you doing? Isn't the carriage ready for you and the young lady out front?" he asked, picking up the bucket from the ground.
"Change of plans. She has had enough food hasn't she?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Great! That's all I needed to hear." I hoisted myself utop the steed and had it trot to where I left Lady Scarlet. I heard the servant calling behind me to come back, but of course I decided to ignore him. The only one I who I ever decided to obey was Lady Scarlet.
"Lady Scarlet! We depart now!" I held a hand to my master as she ran to meet me.
"Amber! You know you shouldn't be doing this!" Shouted Jenkins.
"I only carry out the wishes of Lady Scarlet."
"Young Master! Your mother will be hearing about this!" he pleaded in a last ditch effort to stop her.
"You're right, she will hear all about this, Jenkins. Just as soon as we reach the Phantomhive manor, I'll be telling my mother everything." She took my hand and she seated herself very snug behind me. "Let's leave now, Amber. I don't like being this tardy."
"See you soon Jenkins!"
A few miles after we had left an angry, grumbling Jenkins in the dust of our ride, Lady Scarlet asked, "Why did you say that to him?" Her tone was sad and lofty.
"Say what?"
"See you soon?"
"Do you not want to see him soon, milady?"
"Sometimes, I don't ever want to see him or that place again, Amber."
I didn't say anything to my master for a while. I just let the clatter of the horse's gallop and the rush of the wind in our ears fill the silence between us. I knew that she did not like to stay in the manor. I knew that I was her favorite servant, because I was more or less her only friend besides her older cousin. Lady Scarlet's life certainly hadn't been hard up until that point, but even so, noble girls like her can become quite lonely after sometime. She and I both knew that the world was so much bigger than Europe and she wanted to explore it with many friends by her side.
Luckily for my master, and dear friend, time was on her side. At the age of nine, Lady Scarlett had her whole life ahead of her, and she would never have to worry about being alone because I would always be at her side.
"How about we just look forward to the time that we will be able to spend with your lovely cousin?" I said finally.
"You're right, Amber. And I bet the Phantomhives have a wonderful manor. Don't you think?"
"I'm sure it's splendid, milady."
"You know you don't need to call me that when nobody's around, Amber."
"Of course," I said with a smile on my lips. "Well then, as a friend of yours, Scarlet, I will say that I think you worry too much; let's have some fun at this manor, alright?"
"Yes..."
As expected, the ride to the Phantomhive manor seemed shorter than expected if we would have went by coach. When we arrived, a chipper boy wearing a homely straw hat greeted us. He must be the gardener, how cute, I thought to myself.
"Hello!" He said with a grand smile. "Who are you? Could you be the guests that Lady Elizabeth is expecting?"
"So my cousin is here," said Scarlett. "good! My name is Scarlett, nice to meet you, sir."
"I'm Finny! I'm sorry, but I wasn't expecting a noble lady to be arriving on horseback…"
"Would you mind assisting my master, Finny?"
"Of course! Please take my hand, Lady Scarlet." the boy extended his arms to her, and effortlessly swept her off the horse and placed her neatly on the ground.
I dismounted by myself and handed the reins to him. "Excuse me, on normal circumstances, I would take care of this myself, but we are running late, and I would like to get my master to her destination as soon as possible. Could you take our horse for me?"
"Yes! My master is having tea with Lady Elizabeth now in the garden! Tanaka will take you to them right away!" Finny motioned to an old butler who was standing by the stairway leading to the front doors of the manor.
"Thank you, Finny." I gave him the smallest curtsy and followed Scarlet to meet Tanaka.
The inside of the manor was certainly extravagant, full of beautiful rugs, polished ornaments, pricey furniture, and all of it very clean and well kept. It was everything that a noble's home should have been: stunning.
These people must have one hell of a butler, I thought.
"This way too the garden…" Tanaka said.
"Wait, sir," Scarlet took his hand suddenly, and he stopped in his tracks and looked at her.
"What is it, young miss?" he asked kindly.
"It's just a little ways down there, isn't it? If so, You don't have to see us down there. I would like to surprise my cousin since I haven't seen her in a while. I want to make my own entrance if that's okay with you Mr. Tanaka?"
The old man looked at her a bit surprised and then he looked at me and made brief eye contact. I shrugged as if to say: I follow my master's orders.
"Of course, miss." He said. He gave a slight bow and said, "If you should need anything from me during your stay, do not hesitate to call for me."
"Thank you, Tanaka," she smiled and then looked at me and said, "carry me on your shoulder would you? I want you to run to them as fast as you can!"
My young master was so excited to see her cousin that day, I could tell because she hardly ever asked me to carry her those days. I was a bit surprised by the request, but still I swept her up, and places her on my left shoulder. I held her steady by her legs and ran to finally meet her cousin.
As I ran through the flowers we could make out the figures that were once in the far distance and see that Lady Sophie was there along with Lady Elizabeth and a few others within a gazebo.
"Run faster, Amber! I see her!" Scarlet was starting to get more excited. "Should I call out to her?"
"It all depends on if you would like the Phantomhive's first impression of you to be lady-like or not."
"Oh, I forgot about that…" I could tell she was a little embarrassed, and she decided not to say anything.
We quickly approached the white gazebo; a clumsy looking maid was walking up the steps with a tray neatly arranged with sweets on it. The dishes clattered under the influence of her clamouring hands and unstable steps. We were right behind her when Lady Elizabeth saw us and immediately shot up from her seat.
"Scarlet! Is that you?" She exclaimed vibrantly.
Unfortunately, the loud shout from Lady Elizabeth startled the maid to the point where she lost her grip of the silver tray she carried.
Before Scarlet could say anything, I acted quickly and took large strides to place myself next to the maid.
"Amber!" without saying anything more, Scarlet ordered me to catch the tray, and that is what I did.
I let go of my master's legs and with one hand I gripped the a pillar of the gazebo, and with the other I extended freely. Scarlet wrapped one of her arms around me to keep her position on my shoulder, and I used the pillar as an anchor as I swung my body closer to the tray. My empty hand was able to catch it, thankfully.
There we were, and there I was, in the entryway of this stranger's gazebo: with my master on my shoulder, a tray in one hand and the grip on a pillar in the other. I had noticed that the butler present had moved from his initial position, away from his master to do the job that I had just done, assumedly. But instead of holding the tray like I was, he was standing just a few feet in front of me. It had all happened so quickly, that it took the maid a few seconds to realize what had happened before she apologized.
"Oh my! I am s-so sorry! I cannot believe I did something like that! And in front of the young master's guests!" the more she stammered on, the more red her face began to grow. "Please forgive me!"
"Don't apologize, I was just following orders," I said.
"That's right," agreed Scarlet. "It's alright, Amber will carry this to the table for you."
"Was this the kind of entrance you were wanting?" I joked. I let go of the pillar and took a few steps forward until the a cold voice stopped me in my tracks.
"Mey-Rin!" the man in front of us said to the maid. "Go help Baldroy in the kitchen for dinner preparations."
I knew that he was talking to his fellow servant, but for some reason the chill in his tone made me want to tread lightly around him. I felt very careful near this man...
"Yes, Sebastian." she bowed and left our presence in a hurry.
"Please, let me take that from you. Our guests should not be doing these kinds of things. It is unbecoming to the Phantomhive name." The dark red eyes of the butler met mine and the forbidding vibe he emitted told me that I should let him have the tray...
I looked at the woman with the child on her shoulder. She had performed rather gracefully in saving the food that our useless maid was about to ruin. For a split second I wondered who the woman could have been. With the light blue gown she was wearing, she certainly didn't look like an average maid.
But then again, with her ebony-like skin and amber shaded eyes, she didn't look like the average English citizen either.
"Don't apologize," she said "I was just following orders."
No, that clumsy Mey-Rin needs to apologize, or else we can hire a new maid….
So she is a maid. This was the maid that Sophie had chosen to leave her child with. Maybe this woman wasn't as simple-minded as her young niece to leave her daughter with this able-bodied woman. What was more interesting was that this woman had prevented Mey-Rin's accident before I could fully react.
"Please, let me take that from you. Our guests should not be doing these kinds of things. It is unbecoming to the Phantomhive name."
I looked into her eyes; she couldn't possibly be a demon too… No, this woman was human-I could smell the blood running through her. But even so, there was something too peculiar about her amber eyes that ever so slightly sparked the interest of this demon.