Author's Notes: For fellow ExT lovers out there. I thank the reviewers for being so kind, and I do hope you enjoy the second chapter. Oh, Lily sends her regards to you all.
Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura, Eriol, and Tomoyo belong to CLAMP.
The Courting of the Butterfly
by Bluefish
Chapter II: The Man Unmasked
Cheers of approval and awe quickly filled the room. Eriol couldn't believe what he just heard and the reactions coming from it. The Society had actually encouraged this auction! He looked at the Duke, who had suddenly become a stranger in his eyes, and felt his blood freeze. Who was this man who thought playing with a girl's life was entertaining? This was not the Lord Worthington he knew.
Where had the honorable man gone? He, for once, was robbed of answers. The lord of the Wordsworth manor had changed into one unscrupulous opportunist!
Eriol realized that his late father had never talked much about his friend, but he was shocked to find out the darker side of the Duke of Wordsworth himself. Whatever amount of respect he used to have for the older man vanished immediately. He decided that the whole disgracing event had to be stopped, even if he lost Lord Worthington's friendship as a result.
"My Lord, I don't think-," Eriol began before the Duke cut him short.
"Now, Eriol," he raised a finger to his lips, eyes twinkling, "Allow me to finish my speech." To his captivated audience the Duke spoke again at the top of his lungs, "Only the gentlemen may participate in this auction. The highest bidder shall have this treasure from the Far East. However, I must warn you that the stakes are very high."
"Pray tell, how high is it?" one of the guests asked.
"For a beauty such hers? Oh, quite substantial I dare say. After all, I also had her come from a very far place, Lord Gilbert. For those of you who are intimidated, I suggest you refrain yourselves from bidding." The last sentence was spoken with a sneer.
The crowd buzzed with excitement, and Eriol was outraged. The Duke had not only concocted the whole scene, but he was also fueling the emotions of the would-be participants. Who would back off after the challenge had been issued? Not these foolish, leering gentlemen. No.
The girl kept her silence throughout the announcement, but she felt that the atmosphere in the room had drastically changed. If previously she thought the foreigners were revolting, now she saw a gleam in their eyes that sent chills down her spine. She shuddered.
There was no kind face here, and she was alone.
Something inside her went terribly cold.
Help...
"Lord Worthington, this is not wise. Please, rethink your action."
The deep, calm voice drew her attention to a young man standing beside the loud foreigner with the bushy beard. The older man seemed quite startled hearing the firmness in the other's tone. The people around them had not taken the comment kindly, either. They bristled with displeasure. She noticed several people had come up front to talk to the young man.
It's him.
Their eyes had met for a brief moment, and for the first time since her ordeal started, she forgot her misery. She had never met anyone with such clear, blue eyes like his. She thought foreigners were supposed to look like the missionaries in her town, but this man didn't look like he belonged in this part of the world at all. In fact, he reminded her of home.
The girl held her breath. Was he giving her hope?
"Eriol, what part of my surprise you do not like?" the Duke huffed.
"My Lord, the whole thing is barbaric. The girl is not for barter or trade."
"I had bought the girl, fair and square. Her own people sold her to me, and now she's mine for the moment, that is, until someone comes out as the winner in the auction!"
"I believe that kind of thinking belongs to the Medieval Age," Eriol countered icily.
"Earl Hiiragizawa, that is enough!" reprimanded a middle-aged gentleman who also frequented White's.
"Careful, Earl. You're overstepping your boundaries there," said another.
"What will happen to the girl after the auction is over?" Eriol asked his host, fearing the answer.
The Duke snorted, and only said, "Aren't you a naive one?"
That simple answer meant so much more that just a mock. The living doll would become a property of the gentleman who outbid everyone in the auction tonight. Or worse, a plaything. Eriol had never felt so disgusted in his life. He glanced at the girl in the kimono, and sighed.
"If you do not agree with the auction, maybe you should leave," Lord Gilbert cut in hastily. He hated arguments.
"Yes, indeed. I am not forcing you to stay here, Earl Hiiragizawa." The Duke's voice was now full of animosity.
The guests murmured their agreement, and one lady voiced her opinion, "Earl, I do not think it's necessary for you to be so appalled. We are only trying to have a little of entertainment. I am certain this is considered civil for her people. The girl should be grateful she has our attention!" The statement was followed by chuckles and applause from her surrounding.
If the lady thought she had made a clever remark, she was regretting it soon after. Eriol Hiiragizawa suddenly stiffened, his expression dark. "Her people? You are forgetting whom you addressed, milady."
That silenced the crowd.
"The girl comes from my mother's homeland. I believe I know her people better than you do," he said with contempt.
The lady's face turned white-chalk pale. She stuttered excuses, but Eriol wanted to hear none of it. He was already walking towards the door leading out of the ballroom.
The girl saw him turn his back from the crowd, and how she wished to reach for him, telling him not to leave her there. But her voice was caught inside her throat, and she managed only a hoarse whisper.
"Tasukete kure..."
By an unknown miracle, the young man stopped.
Eriol could not believe what he had just heard. His ears had betrayed him for sure, because it had been such a long time since he heard that language.
"Tasukete..."
No, he heard her correctly.
Help, if you please.
She was asking for his help.
He didn't move, turn back, or say anything. Eriol was torn inside. He wanted to answer her plea, but a darker fear stepped in along with a secret of his own. He was not ready. With regrets, he resumed his steps and kept on walking, his back facing the girl whose face crumbled in despair.
The guests parted for the young earl while looking at him curiously. They had never seen him being emotional in public or making a scene like just now. Earl Hiiragizawa was an enigma and an antisocial, but he was never impolite. Tonight they saw him leave the party without a word to the host, who earlier he had just confronted over a mere slip of an eastern girl!
Tomorrow morning's headline had just been written, and the Society would have their opinions on the subject.
When he was out of the room, the whole place seemed to breathe again. The Duke muttered to one of his servants, and in a matter of minutes the man came back with several others, carrying something best described as a podium. They hoisted the girl up onto the block so that everybody, even the ones in the back, could see her. The doll of the Far East closed her eyes and tightened her lips, the last flicker of hope she thought the young man represented had just died when he left.
She had nobody.
And now the foreigners would have their way with her.
- - - - - -
The door closing behind him, Eriol Hiiragizawa felt like he had committed a great crime. He was angry at the people in that room for being so archaic and hypocritical, but he was angrier at himself for leaving the girl with them.
Suddenly being bored was the least thing in his mind. He couldn't just pretend the whole thing had not happened, but he doubted the conventional ways would help the girl. To imagine that the beautiful sprite would end up broken in the hands of a strange man made his blood boil. He didn't know why he developed a feeling of protectiveness to a girl he just met a while ago. They didn't even speak to each other.
Maybe it had been destiny. Maybe he had gone soft over the years. Maybe it had something to do with her origin.
It didn't matter why.
Eriol weighed the options and thought, I'm going to be in a very deep trouble.
But there was no other choice. He just had to outbid every single man in that room. Never mind that he had scorned the auction. Pride be damned, he didn't need it tonight. He needed to save her.
Or he won't be able to sleep for a long time.
- - - - - -
To be continued.
Author's Notes:
The story is set in the 1800s, England. I understand that the concept of human trade (in this case flesh auctions) might seem a bit old-fashioned or even surprising, but the practice itself has survived for centuries and will still exist, even today. I try to do my research, and of course the readers are welcome to point out errors I might have missed. If there are sources that you think might help me, please do not hesitate to mention them.
Tasukete kure—help, if you please.