Chapter 2: A Surprising Birthday (Part 1)

When I arrived at the library to the secluded corner of the library where my studies were conducted; I found that my teacher, Ms. Bishop, had not yet arrived yet. Well, I guess I could draw to amuse myself until she arrives, I mused to myself while I pulled a blank piece of parchment in front of me as well as pull the ink and pen closer to myself to draw whatever came to mind.

"Sorry I'm late Lady Ariel," Ms. Bishop, my history and geography teacher, gasped as she tried to catch her breath. "My carriage was having difficulties on the way here."

"It's alright," I replied automatically without taking my attention or focus from whomever I was drawing.

"Who are you drawing?" she asked while looking over my shoulder. I was about to answer with an 'I don't know' when I recognized the familiar face of Sebastian.

"No one," I assured her with a dark blush on my cheeks as I covered the picture the best I could with my hands. "Just some random doodles of nameless people."

"Ah, well in the spirit of this hot weather I have decided that our subject today and the next few is going to be India."

"India?" I echoed in awe. I have always heard of its beautiful land and vibrant culture, but no one has given me much more than a vague explanation of the foreign country. Ms. Bishop then went on to talk about the geography, religion, history, and climate. It was when she began talking about its government that I was deeply interested.

"India currently has a monarchy for its government," she explained. "The king is called the Rajah with twenty-six children. The first born is the crown prince while the other children fall in line of succession in when they were born. Not much is known about the first twenty-five children, but there is much talk of the youngest son Prince Soma Ashad Kamar. It is said that he rescued a man from hanging and took him on as his personal servant."

"Wow," I breathed.

"Now that we have our place, and people out of the way, I'd like to touch up on their culture which will take the rest of our class time as well as the next few lessons. First, we will learn the language of India which is Hindi. To say hello you would say 'Namaste`."

"Namaste` Ms. Bishop," I giggled.

"Good now we will move onto some more basic phrases and such." The rest of my lesson was dedicated to the learning of the Hindi language until Ms. Bishop was replace with Frl. Wagner, my German teacher.

"Guten morgen Lady Ariel."

"Guten morgen Frl. Wagner," I chirped. Since she was not one to be big on bubbly attitude so she simply gave me a smile as happy birthday before she launched into our lesson.

"Wie geht es Ihnen? (How are you doing)?" she asked.

"Es geht mir gut. Wie steht es mit dir?(I'm fine. What about you?)" I returned easily.

"Ich bin gut. Nun, lasst uns auf Objekte bewegen.(I am good. Now, let us move onto objects.)" she said as she moved over to my desk to point to the desk.

"Schreibtisch."

She then pointed to the paper.

"Papier."

Next was the pen and ink.

"Feder und Tinte."

That was followed by her touching her hair.

"Haar."

Then her eyes.

"Augen."

Her nose.

"Nase."

Her mouth

"Freundi."

After an hour, my stomach started rumbling to let me know that it was time for lunch. An amused smirk played on her lips when my stomach decided to let out a particularly loud growl.

"Mein Gott (My God)" chuckled Herr Wagner. "Are you zat hungry?"

"I have a big stomach," I told her sheepishly.

"Verry vell, I dismiss you."

"Danke Frl. Wagner (Thank you Miss. Wagner)" I exclaimed as I jumped from my seat to run to the dining room. I could hear laugh faintly behind me and before I knew it I was in the dining room where I was seated beside my brother.

"How were your studies?" Ciel asked.

"They are going well," I replied at once, mindful to leave out any mention of my early morning training with Sebastian. I had started training under Sebastian when I had turned ten because I had learned of the various people who were sent to kill my brother and I felt bad that I could only sit in a corner and cower instead of protect my older brother. I know, I know, Ciel should be protecting me, but if I could live for six months without eating and survive I don't really care about my welfare. Much to Ciel's disdain, I continued to train with Sebastian despite Ciel's numerous orders to stop.

"So," I began while we both waited for our lunch to arrive. "What did you get me for my birthday?"

"Now Ariel, why would I tell you that?" I laughed at my brother's humor just as Sebastian began to place our food in front of us.

"What kind of tea would you like for lunch Young Mistress?" Sebastian asked as he poured a cup of Earl Gray tea for my brother. "Earl Gray or Blackberry?"

"Blackberry please." He poured me my tea for me and I couldn't help but look up through my lashes at him. I so wish that he could come to love me instead of seeing me as the annoying little sister of his master. After filling my cup he retreated to the side of the room to await any other requests we might have had for him. My appreciation of Sebastian's fine food was short lived when I saw that I only had five minutes until my next lesson started. I sighed and quickly stood to kiss my brother's cheek.

"I love you Ciel and I'll see you later."

"I love you too Ariel," he returned before I dashed off for the library.

"Alright Lady Ariel, let us work on your piano today," Ms. Larknell, my music teacher, announced right when I slid into my desk chair which meant that I had barely made it. I took a moment to catch my breath before I nodded and stood to walk over to the grand piano that sat to the side of the little study area. While Ms. Larknell crossed the room I ran my fingers along the cool ivory keys in fond remembrance then placed my fingers at the ready to play. "First the scales." I flexed my fingers one by one to stretch out my muscles before I expertly flew through the scales. "Very good Lady Ariel. Because you played the scales perfectly, we will move on to your concert piece." The metronome was set to keep my pace and I graced through the song, thinking about how Ciel and hopefully Sebastian would be pleased to hear this. From time to time I needed direction but then I quickly fixed my mistake and swept back into the music.

"You have come along beautifully," praised Ms. Larknell as I turned around in the bench. "Soon you'll play so well that you won't need me anymore." A sad smile graced her lips then she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"It is only because of you that I play so well," I told her affectionately. She squeezed my hand I had placed over hers before she left only to be replaced by my etiquette and dance teacher, Ms. West.

"Good afternoon Lady Ariel and happy birthday."

"Good afternoon and thank you Ms. West," I humbly replied.

"Let us work on your small talk and mingling," she ordered, leaving no room for argument.

"Yes, Ms. West." Out of all of my tutors, Ms. West was the meanest and the strictest. When I had first started my instruction under her, she had made me cry on numerous occasions until I could eventually stand her brisk attitude without taking it to heart.


After an hour of working on my mannerisms, Ms. West called for Sebastian to help with my dancing.

"A lady must have her dancing down to perfection and instinct," were one of Ms. West's many, many mottos. As usual, Sebastian had a fake smile upon his face when he placed a hand on my waist while I placed a hand upon his strong shoulder with our other hands holding the others.

"Begin," announced Ms. West as the music to a waltz filled the library. At once both Sebastian and I leapt into action, the both of us moving in perfect harmony. The music quickly changed to that of a mazourka, and we quickly adapted. We switch through four more songs before Ms. West deemed us finished.

"Thank you Sebastian," I said as I looked up into his wine colored eyes. Whatever I was going to say next flew from my mind as the world around me faded until it was only Sebastian and myself. His usual emotionless eyes now held such a tender expression as he held me close. Is the emotion in his eyes real, or is that only because he really likes dancing?

"Excellent!" exclaimed Ms. West, breaking my distant world. "You are dismissed Lady Ariel." I reluctantly removed my hands from Sebastian and turned to my tutor.

"I wish you a good day Ms. West."

"And to you as well Lady Ariel," she returned as she left the room.

"Master requests your presence in the dining room," Sebastian told me with his ever prim and proper tone. So that expression must just have been for the action of dancing, I realized glumly as I followed behind him.