She'd lost it. Something had snapped and, so suddenly, the woman had turned on him. She'd lashed out at him, out of the blue, across their chess match. What he'd said to drive her to strike his cheek so hard he wasn't sure - their conversation had turned sombre, serious, morbid at some point as they played, eventually fixing on his mother and father.
A touchy subject for the both of them, it seemed. And, as Ciel reeled from the sudden blow, the woman shoved the table and chess board aside, driving her small nephew to practically fling himself from his chair, away from her grasp, away from the deadly hands of the surgeon.
She was screeching at him. Screaming something. But the boy's ears had shut the words out, mind instantly flying to whatever survival instincts he had. Scrambling to his feet, the boy bolted out of arms reach, blue eye darting about the room in search of anything he could use to his advantage. Twisting to look over his shoulder, the boy bit back a yelp at the flash of silver that he just managed to duck, scrambling away.
He needed something, anything to defend himself with. A candelabrum, left by Sebastian, caught his attention, and he dove for it, whirling around with the metal item only to have pain flare across his torso as the woman's knife drove into his chest. Toppling over beneath the woman's weight, the little Earl's entire being reeled from the attack, and as she yanked it back, free from his ribs, instinct took over.
Grip tightening on the elegantly crafted metal, he swung his arm up, feeling the strike jolt his arm as it hit it's mark and the dead weight of his unconscious Aunt crumble atop him, making breathing all the harder. Hacking and choking as blood started to pool in his lungs, the child shoved at the body, wiggling and squirming until he managed to get free.
He didn't even register his butler's entrance into the room, his eyes fixed on his Aunt Ann as the last breath faded from her body.