He's a Lady!
By the Viscount Vampyre
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For a certain Victorian girl, and all those costume dramas we enjoyed
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Originally, I received the genesis of this idea in a list of prompts a friend had given me many years ago. After sitting on it for a while I eventually decided to give the few lines some attention and try to turn it into a short story.
Thank you very much for checking it out and I hope that you enjoy it.
Without any further ado,
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He's a Lady!
Chapter One
In the light filtering through flower motif curtains, a small form began rousing among the pillows, comforters, and warm bed at the centre of a noble bedchamber.
As the form woke, a weak and drowsy voice began to speak up from under the billowing sheets and into the room.
"Sebastian."
Having crawled to the surface from under the layers of thick sheeting, the owner of the voice began rubbing their eye with one hand while they extended the other instinctively for the nearby servant-bell's rope. Yet, in the still-dark room the searching hand struggled to find the thick rouge-coloured material which ought to have been hanging there.
Disgruntled by this trifle the owner of the voice blinked the sleep from their eyes and turned their head to the right to help locate the rope. Expecting to see the bedside table adorned with the small dart board, water coupe, and a small plant, a sudden feeling of confusion and brief surprise began to take hold. Rather than the small familiar bedside table with his darts and knickknacks, Ciel saw instead a large and elegant woman's boudoir.
After a beat of frozen confusion Ciel cleared his throat and thought aloud, "What bloody room am I in?"
Now more awake, he turned to look around the bedroom and quickly realised that he had never seen nor been in this particular chamber before; the room's windows were on the opposite side to his room, there was the woman's boudoir beside the bed, and there was a large ornate armoire which was composed of three connecting pieces running from under the window on the left of the room, along the wall opposite the bed.
The wallpaper was a striped pattern of light blue columns with pink bows and a flower motif circling the columns similar in composition to the thin curtains covering the windows. The complementing side panelling and crown moulding complemented the feminine blue with hints of ivory. In addition to the copious amount of flowery décor, there were dolls, stuffed bears, and other animals on almost every flat surface in the room.
The mounting evidence finally hit home and Ciel realised where he now found himself, and as quickly as his mind mad the deduction his tongue waggled,
"This, this is a lady's room!"
His voice quivered, half in shock and half in terror while more thoughts began to race through his mind, 'Where could I possibly be? Where am I? Whose home am I in!?'
Ciel threw the covers off and was about to jump out of bed when the bangs of his hair fell down and obscured his view.
Thick, blonde, bangs…
He looked at them in surprise and horror. Bringing his hand to brush the locks out of his eyes he realised that the hair on the sides of his head was also far heavier than ever before. So, slowly, in disbelief, he brought his hands up to either side of his head. As his fingers rose higher, long, thick, curly, hair seemingly wrapped itself around him.
Grabbing two handfuls of the locks he brought it from over his shoulders and into his lap, and thus into full view. As rays of sunlight came through the window, the locks shone and glittered a familiar, bright golden-blonde.
"What? What is this?" He managed to force out.
Raising his right hand through the hair Ciel felt to his scalp to tell if the hair had been fixed to him, like a wig, or glued as some kind of a joke. But as he pulled, it was immediately manifest that the gold locks were actually his; it hurt if he pulled it and it moved naturally if he turned or tilted his head.
'Good god…' Ciel swore under his breath.
When he was finished marvelling in horror at his new coiffure, he saw with shock, what his hands had been transformed into. They had shrunk in width, but extended in length. Taking on a more slender, effete and soft form.
Additionally, his nails had grown, and thickened considerably, now both as long and as daintily shaped as a lady's. His wrists felt tighter than before, and the forearms moved easier and smoother through the air. In fact, there was an unfamiliar strength and fluidity to nearly all his motions so far.
In addition to these changes, his pale and thin skin had been replaced by a lively, light rose colouring. This pigment lessened the further up his arm he gazed, until he reached his biceps and shoulder and realised what he was wearing. His usual thigh-height, plain bed shirt had been transmuted.
Now he wore a frilly, thin, woman's nightgown with a low cut, fashionable, vee-neck with a thin white string laced across the vee to contain his chest. And at this revelation his eyes grew wider still. His heart stopped and his pulse slowed inside his skull so coldly that he could hear it.
Ciel's eyes dried and he felt as if spiders were crawling up his skin as his hair stood on end. Then, meek, cracking, and uncontrollably, his voice sounded into the room,
"T-the… those… those are…"
His face contorted into an expression of world shattering dumbfounded-ness as he finally screeched out,
"Those are breasts!"
With a startling speed and strength, Ciel threw himself upwards and out of the bed, immediately turning towards the mirror on the nearby boudoir. To his unimaginable horror he saw a familiar face looking right back at him. Yet, to his growing and intolerable sense of dread, the face was not his own.
In the polished silver looking-glass, a small nose, bright emerald eyes, soft cheeks, and a curved feminine chin had taken the place of his features.
"God… my god…" Ciel whispered, frozen in place.
The face looking back at him in the mirror was none other than his intended fiancée's, the young noblewoman, Elizabeth Midford.
Ciel stood as still as a statue for what seemed like a full minute before becoming light headed and dizzy. In addition to the beautiful, feminine features, he saw that there was no contract seal over his eye, and he felt no supernatural presence or power reflected back at him.
It just wasn't there.
He stepped backwards and ran his hands down his cheeks and chin, feeling the pads of his fingers along the face which was staring back at him. Elizabeth's jaw started to chatter nervously in his hands as Ciel spoke aloud involuntarily,
"I… I can't believe it… I can't believe it!"
He whispered incomprehensible syllables to himself before finally collapsing backwards onto the circular carpet on the floor to the side of the bed. The body of a plush teddy-bear cushioned the fall and he shut his eyes while whispering a chant to himself;
'This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real!'
He hoped that this was simply some sort of a fantastical nightmare, a dream that'd he'd be waking up from at any moment…
But the feeling of the carpet's fibres under him, the soft lace of the gown, the air against his skin and the fading fatigue which remained in his body since waking…
It was all very real.
His ears were ringing with the ambient silence of the room and over his stressful breathing he could hear movement stirring in the great house. Servants were going to their work, lighting fires, opening the windows, waking the manor's family. That last thought splashed him sober as certainly as cold water,
'Oh God… Elizabeth's family! What the hell am I going to do!?' he brought a hand to cover his mouth, 'This must be a dream… this must be a dream!'
Outside the bedroom Ciel heard approaching footfalls along the thin runner carpet, moving with a swiftness and purposeful stride as only a servant seemed to have. Then, stopping at the door, Ciel listened with total dread, as the doorhandle turned and the thick portal opened.
He tried to move his head so that he'd be able to see. But all strength had left his body and his muscles dared not move or obey any command. So instead, he lay rigid and motionless, chattering and breathing rapidly as panic began to claw its icy grip around his chest.
'Good God. Sebastian,' he thought desperately, 'what am I going to do?'
The servant who had entered the room was none other than Elizabeth's familiar lady's maid Paula. She hummed to herself happily as she stepped inside the room, carrying a small silver serving tray with but a single item on its surface; a diminutively small, light-blue, china cup steaming with a morning beverage.
Paula carefully, and gracefully, made sure not to spill a drop as she pushed the bedroom door open and out of her way, then with a cheerful air to her she loudly announced her presence
"Good morning my lady!"
Her voice was jovial and pleasant, excited and filled with optimism. If he weren't panicking and preoccupied with his situation Ciel would have been disgusted were Sebastian to have ever greeted him that way in the morning.
While Paula took her slow steps into the bedroom, she raised her eyes from the tray in her hands and towards her ladyship's empty bed. Immediately puzzled Paula's eyes looked downwards and as soon as she saw Elizabeth's form sprawled on the floor she exclaimed in justified concern,
"Oh, heaven's no! My lady!"
Dropping to her knees Paula set the tray on the carpeted floor and rushed towards 'Elizabeth'. As the woman approached Ciel regained control of 'his' body and while Paula came to his side, he felt the need to bring his arms close to his chest as he began to shiver nervously.
"I'm f-fine!" he struggled to say.
But Paula, oblivious to the words grabbed hold of the edge of one of the blankets from the bed and pulled it downwards, quickly wrapping it around Ciel. Her face and eyes were pained and totally painted with concern.
"My lady! Did you fall? Did you have a nightmare and fall out of bed?"
Paula's eyes searched Ciel over for any signs of trauma and he continued to shiver and chatter from the panic.
"My goodness, my lady you're shivering!"
Pulling the blanket tighter Paula then wrapped her arms around Ciel and hugged, her voice cooing comfortingly as she pulled him tighter,
"It's okay my lady! I'm here for you! Come now, let's stand you up and get you dressed."
Ciel wanted to protest but his tongue did a loop and twist in his mouth and no words came out.
What could he have said?
As he was helped upwards and to his feet, Paula continue to voice encouragement and assurance, then she helped him backwards, directing and assisting Ciel to the edge of the bed to sit down on the plush mattress.
"Sit just here my lady, alright? You're alright now, no nightmares now milady, you're alright here with Paula! Here, I'll open the drapery and get some more light in here for us."
Once Ciel was sat and stable Paula sped towards the window and threw open the curtains. At once beautiful English sunlight poured in through the glass and the room's bright wallpaper reflected the light so well, and so much, that Ciel's eyes felt somewhat blinded by it.
Speaking again Paula's voice quivered as she tried to continue from the startling sight of her lady lying on the floor.
"This morning I've brought you some of the espresso your brother brought home from Italy!" She forced a chuckle, but still looked at Ciel with concern, as she continued, "It's already been making the rounds with us downstairs in the servant's hall, my lady you just have to try it!"
Ciel still shook quietly under the blanket and clutched at the edges of the sheet helplessly. He also realised this might just be the first time he'd ever addressed Elizabeth's lady's maid, but he had to…
"P-Paul-l-la." He eventually chattered out.
She furrowed her brow as she stepped closer to him.
"My lady you're still shivering?"
Extending her right-hand forwards, Paula pressed the back of it against Ciel's forehead.
"My goodness! You're as cold as ice and as clammy as a fish!" Paula recoiled her hand in distress, "You didn't sleep all night on the floor did you milady?"
Ciel shook his head and the blonde hair flew from side to side emphatically.
"N-no, I, no…"
Paula's features softened slightly and she sighed in relief, "That's well, but still! My lady you're as chill as can be!"
Ciel shook and sarcastically chattered; "You d-don't say…"
Turning back to the doorway, Paula bent down and retrieved the serving tray.
"Here, milady, I'm sure once you drink this espresso it'll help you warm up."
Ciel eyed the beverage with suspicion as his mind began to scream at him, 'What are we going to do Ciel? How are we getting out of this?'
Bringing a shaking hand out from the covers he slowly reached for and took hold of the small cup.
'Just take a moment… we'll get out of this… we'll think of something…'
Paula smiled and nodded in approval as Ciel took up the drink.
"We'll get this in you milady then get you dressed proper. Breakfast is most appetizing today I must say, Scotch eggs, fritters, orange and cinnamon porridge, and a selection fresh wild berry." The maid nodded happily, "Missis Atmore's fixing to make a jelly from them too."
Once again Paula's jovial nature made Ciel feel sour and his mind hissed another sarcastic response, 'As compared to what?'
"When the produce delivery arrived earlier this morning, Missis Atmore got herself a vision, like she often does, and declared right there and then she'll be making a delicious trifle for this evening. And I know you were keen on her, so you'll be pleased to know that little Poppy has become quite the culinary student under Missis Atmore, yes she has!"
Paula held the now empty silver tray close to her chest and let out a breath of relief as she watched 'Elizabeth' drink. Hoping her words were helping to soothe her mistress, Paula continued,
"I can safely say that the fruit trifle recipe sounds divine, and anything Missis Atmore makes that sounds divine will definitely taste divine when she's done!" then she nodded, "Especially if our young lady Elizabeth is coming down with a cold."
Listening to Paula, Ciel sipped the strange Italian drink gingerly and tried to calm himself down as his thoughts began to grow in terror, 'I've got to get out of here! I do not care about the Midford house… I, I have got to set this right!'
…