Until the very End
Chapter 11:
His Master buys a present for Elizabeth
"It is time to get up" woke me, to my astonishment, not the voice of my butler.
To make sure the person who had spoken to me really wasn't Sebastian, I raised my head und looked aside.
I was right. In front of the bed didn't stand Sebastian, but Agni, who bowed several times with a "Namaste"[1].
"Err...good...morning?" I stuttered confusedly, while rapidly taking on my medical eyepatch that lay on my nightstand.
Where the hell was Sebastian?
"You wouldn't believe how many worries you gave us yesterday, Ciel Sir. Soma was so exasperated, because you had gone past him without even greeting him in the hallway. He looked for you later, but simply couldn't find you. Therefore I'm very relieved to see that you're fine" Agni said with a smile on his lips.
"Where is Sebastian?" I expressed straight the question that was repeating itself in my mind.
Agni stared blankly at me as if I had spoken in Chinese. Then his eyes cleared and his smile returned. "I don't know exactly where Mr. Sebastian actually is located. Yesterday he requested me to spend the day with you. He even left a bit pocket money, because you wanted to buy your fiancé a present."
Pocket money?
I tried to suppress my anger, unfortunately I didn't succeeded it. Instead I jumped out of the bed, ignoring the pain in my stomach.
"This bastard! He said, we would care about the case today and now he just disappeared? This bloody liar!" I screamed, while realising that my voice was strident and a bit hoarse.
Agni seemed not to know what to do, wherefore he murmured a small "My apologise" and looked to the floor. However, I assured him that it wasn't his fault and that he didn't have to bother himself about this.
Afterwards, Agni helped me getting dressed and even handed me a lukewarm cup of Assam tea. During breakfast at the hotel's own dining area, Soma accompanied us who almost immediately started a conversation about unimportant stuff.
As dish we got something named Idli. Agni explained that this was a traditional breakfast of the South Indian cuisine. Idli was some kind of steamed rice cake filled with for example lenses. They went along with different sauces. A sweet sour dip, that was named Chutney and one sauce based on lenses with different kinds of vegetables that was known as Sambar.
After breakfast, we headed to the centre of the metropolis. Thereby were two other Indians with us. Soma introduced them as Amar Singh[2] and Ghola Singh. Both wore a turban around their heads.
"They come from the Province Punjub[3]" Agni explained by the way.
Due to their odd headdresses I asked if there are Muslims, but I got immediately sceptically eyed. Therefore I regretted my question.
Agni bent over to me and expounded me that their headdresses were Dastars, which was a symbol for their religious affiliation - the Sikhism.
To not drop another clanger, I stood the rest of the path silent.
For a while we just went down the crowded road, whereby we had luck that the weather has calmed down. But it was still unbearably hot.
I asked myself what Soma and the others were speaking about, since I didn't understand their language.
Later we stopped by a tailor shop. In the display window were different colourful fabrics, but I couldn't imagine Lizzy wearing any of them.
The shop seemed bigger from the outside than from the inside.
On both sides were shelves with several valuably processed clothes. Next to a little desk, on which was the checkout, stood a few tailor dolls with various clothes.
Only after a couple of minutes, a small, but strongly-built woman greeted us. She looked very friendly. She even smiled, although I obviously wasn't an Indian.
The seamstress seemed to be over the hill since a long time. As a young woman she certainly had been very pretty. But even now she had a special charm. The long, black hair had been braided around the back of her head. Moreover, she wore a green garment with orange and red ornaments. I also liked the golden piercing on the left side of her nose.
"Welcome to my shop. How may I assist you?" she asked in English, whereby there was a strong Indian accent in her voice.
"I would like to buy a present for my fiancé. She is impressed of the Indian garments." I addressed directly my matter.
The woman nodded, seemingly understanding what I was looking for.
"What kind of garments would your fiancé prefer? We have Saris with a bespoke Choli or does she rather appreciate a Salwar Kamiz? Or perhaps a Lehanga? We also have female Kurtas" she listed eagerly.
Since I didn't know any of these clothes and was very overwhelmed, I was completely dumbfounded. A single "err" passed my lips.
Agni put a hand on my shoulder, smiled and began to speak: "I think a Sari and a Choli would be perfect."
"Very well. For which price range?"
"The price doesn't matter to me. Money is extraneous. I'll pay every price" I assured.
Once again the woman nodded and leaded us to the shelf on the right side. Next she pulled out several fabrics so that I could choose one of them.
But even after the tenth cloth, I only sighed. "It's impossible. I can't imagine Lizzy in any of them." I sat down on a little stool that was aside a mirror in the back corner.
"How about you describe your sweetheart for me? Tell me what she looks like and how her character is" the seamstress suggested.
I thought about this. How should I describe Lizzy?
"Well, she has long, blonde hair, which is most of the time bound in two curled pigtails. Her pale, soft skin is incredibly smooth. Her big emerald eyes usually radiate joy as well as her rosy lips. She is one year older than I am and approximately 1.55 m tall. Her character is always cheerful, honest and overexcited. In addition, she possesses a strong will. When she sets her mind on doing something, then she never gives up until she achieves her goal. Still she is a wonderful friend and I can always rely on her."
A small smile put itself on my lips, while I thought about my best friend I know for ages. I shook my head to once again concentrate on the present. As I looked up, I saw to my astonishment, that Soma, Agni and even the seamstress had tears in their eyes.
"Ciel, that was..." Soma began, but his voice faded away and he rubbed his eyes with a sob at his sleeve.
"Ciel Sir, that was so romantic...but..." Agni commented, while bowing. It seemed that he wanted to add something, but I didn't know what. He even looked a bit nervous. Or was it only my imagination?
"A marvellous description. Even someone as old as I am is able to see how much you love this girl."
Wait, LOVE?
"Now I can absolutely imagine which pattern and colours would suit her. Do you have the body measurements of the lucky girl?"
She could visualise Lizzy due to my mere description?
I told her the measurements that Sebastian ascertained before. The old lady immediately started to choose a few fabrics. Then she assured that the garment would be finished by tomorrow morning.
We said good bye to the friendly lady, who was totally absorbed in her work, and wandered further through the city, where we bought something to eat. We even stopped at the British pub to clear my depts. At least a Phantomhive kept his word.
To be continued
[1] 'Good morning' in Hindi
[2] Singh is a name affix of male adherents of the Sikhism to express their affinity. Women of the Sikhism have the name affix Kaur.
[3] Until 1947 Punjub was a Province of British India. Then it has been split between India and Pakistan. The area in India is the state Punjub yet.
