Chapter 9

It was right at fifteen minutes when Lucienne made it downstairs. She was greeted by a smiling Mey-Rin. "Ah, Miss Lucy! We heard that you was feeling a bit under the weather, yes we did. I made some tea if you'd like some."

Lucienne was about to accept the offer, but Sebastian was already by her side. "There will be no need. She will be joining the young master for brunch, as we must finish some last-minute errands before we can head back to the mansion."

Mey-Rin gave them both a shaky smile. "Ah, of course. I understand."

Lucienne glared at the demon next to her before she stepped forward and took the other woman's hand. "Things have been so hectic since I joined this household. Perhaps we will have more time for such niceties once we are removed back to the countryside."

The maid gave her a bright smile. "Absolutely!"

Sebastian then called out, with no little irritation in his voice. "We need to be on our way."

Lucienne didn't bother responding verbally, though she did follow him into the other room where the Earl was already waiting with a frown. He looked up from his paper but didn't bother to comment. The rest of the meal was quiet and quick.

Once they were done with the meal, they quickly loaded into the carriage and were on their way further into the city. Lucienne was not bothered by the silence. At least not until she realized where they were going. No matter how long it had been, getting close to the palace and the Tower always made her uncomfortable. At least she was well versed in keeping her emotions concealed.

Both she and Sebastian were told to wait with the carriage while the Earl was escorted inside. It was an odd sight, but she had a feeling there was a reason for it. She wasn't going to complain. There were things that walked those halls that she had no desire to run into. Most people could not see them, so they could not interact with them, but cat's eyes were less of a myth than believed. If the 'others' knew you could see them, it was often not a pleasant experience. Present company included.

Ciel had been expected. Though this would have usually been conducted at the Yard, that was impossible given the circumstances. It would do very little good for the word to get out of who Jack the Ripper really was. That was the last thing the Queen needed.

Somehow, the young Earl managed to keep a bored expression on his face the whole time he was led into the depths of the building that were restricted to the public. The places were things were still kept hidden. It was some time before his escort finally stopped outside a heavy door, and a key was inserted into the lock. Once the door was open, the guard spoke gruffly. "The second cell on the right. Only one occupied. You got ten minutes."

Ciel didn't even bother to respond, nor did he react when the door slammed shut behind him. No matter their tactics, he had no need to fear in this place. He stopped outside the indicated cell and looked in to see a woman sitting with her shoulders straight. She was staring at nothing in particular. Though her bearing was still as regal as it had always been, he could tell something was missing. Some spark that had always lit her from inside.

It was more than a minute before the silence was broken. Madame Red finally turned to look at her nephew with a sad smile. "I never could beat you at chess."

Ciel did not respond right away. When he finally did, his voice was harder than he intended it to be. "Your execution is to be held in a week, though it will be kept private. You do not need to worry about your reputation."

The woman in the cell started laughing maniacally at his reassurance. It was several moments before she could respond. "Since when have I cared for my reputation. Just say it. You have won. Gloat all you want, it makes no difference anymore. I may still see him in you, but I never could hold him. He was never meant to be mine. What point is there?"

Ciel swallowed back bile before he stiffened once more. "I am not here to gloat. I asked, as your last living relative, to be the one to tell you. However, do not think that our connection will allow enough pity for you to escape justice."

Her laughter had finally settled into something that sounded more like sobs. "No, I doubt there is an ounce of pity left in you. This life made sure to drain it dry, did it not? You have taken up your father's mantle admirably."

She then looked up and caught his eye. Her's were burning with an intensity that caused him to take a step back. "Just make sure that you do not get caught in your own machinations. The path you have chosen will have less mercy than even you can imagine."

Ciel was struck dumb for several seconds. Even he could hear the discomfort in his tone when he answered. Not from her words, but from the things she hadn't said that he could see in her eyes. "I will leave instructions for the guards to make your last days as easy as possible. It is the least I can do."

He then turned to leave but paused before he had taken more than a few steps. His voice was barely above a whisper. "Though you never beat me, I will still miss our matches." He didn't wait for her response before he finished his walk to the door and banged on it with his cane.

A gruff voice came from the other side, telling him to hold his horses, but the door was opened soon enough. Even after it was closed once again and he was headed back into the daylight, he could still hear the quiet words that echoed behind him. "Me too."

The entire household had finally moved from the townhouse and was headed back to the mansion. However, Ciel had one more stop to make along the way. He had said little since they left the Tower of London, but as they drew near to a large church, he had Sebastian stop the carriage.

Lucienne was surprised that the butler looked shocked. She thought he knew everything. Perhaps this was something worth looking into. She was thankful that no one objected to her presence when she alit behind the two of them, though the Earl did insist that the other servants stay with their carriage.

She then followed the two of them behind the church and to a graveyard. There was only one person there next to a fresh grave. She shivered when she realized it must be a gravedigger or some such. She wasn't superstitious, but the idea of death and those that dealt in it was both alluring and revolting. She stopped far enough back that she wouldn't need to interact with the strange man, but still close enough that she could hear the conversation.

The Earl turned to the strange man with a blank face. "Undertaker, are you finished?"

"But, of course, see, I gave her a beautiful little burial." The strange man then gestured to the fresh grave.

Sebastian's eyes widened when he saw the name. "The last victim!"

Lucienne had to repress a shudder when the man called Undertaker cackled before he spoke. "It turned out she was a foreign immigrant. No one stepped forward to claim the corpse, so that's why our kind Earl here asked to give her a proper burial."

Ciel flinched under the man's grasp and frowned. "I'm not that kind. It is only that I came to realize why I could not save this woman's life. Had I made her life my priority, she would have survived. I put catching the killer first, and so she died."

The creepy man then gave him a curious look. "Do you regret it?"

"No, I do not. Jack the Ripper is no more, and Queen Victoria's melancholy has been put to rest." Ciel looked almost like a statue as he said that. Lucienne wondered how much pain the boy buried. She knew the trip to the tower had been no coincidence, even if there was no word spoken of why they went.

Her attention was drawn from her contemplation when the gravedigger made a disgusted noise. "Victoria, eh? Not a fan. She sits on her throne, so high above everyone else, and makes the Earl do her dirty work."

Ciel ignored his tone. "That has always been the fate of my family. It was passed on to me with this ring."

The stranger put a hand on the boy's shoulder and leaned in. "It seems more like a collar to me. Connecting you to the Queen with these chains of fate."

Ciel brushed the hand off. "The one that decided to wear this 'collar' around my neck was me."

Both Lucienne and Sebastian took a step forward when the stranger moved swiftly to grasp the Earl's chin and leaned in with a whisper. "I hope one day that collar chokes you. Otherwise, it's just boring." He then released the boy before anything else could be done. "Stop by the shop if anything else happens."

Lucienne shivered as he walked passed her. She ignored him as he paused next to her. She tried not to even breathe until he was gone. Though she did turn and look at his retreating form with a frown afterward. There was something strange about the way he smelled. Something she couldn't quite place. It was buried under the smell of the chemicals used for the grave, but she felt it was important.

She wasn't given long to consider it before her attention was drawn back to the Earl and his butler. Their conversation was so low that she could no longer hear it, but she could tell that the boy did not like what he was hearing. Sebastian was practically grinning, which made her want to go slap him. That look always had that effect on her.

Which made it all the sweeter when the young Earl seemed to gather himself and stared back up to the demon. This part she heard, though she wished she hadn't. "That is because it was your job. I thought that even if you died, you would come back to protect me. It is part of our contract. Until I reach my goals, you are to be there, to be my shield, and help me achieve my ends in exchange for my soul. Demons have no convictions or loyalties, just aesthetics. If I were killed, it would have ruined those, so even if I had remained silent, you would have come to my side. Or am I mistaken?"

Sebastian looked flummoxed for several seconds. That was a fact that made Lucienne nearly smile, though it was not to last. The demon turned back to the boy with a smile. "That's not it all, is it. In order to survive, the king must be able to successfully manipulate all the pieces, including the knight and the queen. Beneath the throne, the bodies of your pieces may pile up, but the king cannot be taken. You cannot afford to lose."

Ciel had stopped walking, but he did not turn to face the butler. "I will not stop. I will not regret. Therefore-" He then turned back around, and his voice took on a hard edge. "This is an order. You will never betray me. You will never leave my side. Not until the very end."

Lucienne gasped when Sebastian went to one knee and bowed. "Yes, my Lord." A shiver crawled up her spine at the exchange. There was far more between those two than she had anticipated. She watched as the young Earl walked back to the carriage with a frown, only turning to follow when she saw Sebastian coming as well. The last thing she wanted was to be near him at the moment.

She ended up spending the rest of the ride back thinking. Not about her position, or what the mansion would be like, but instead about the relationship between the two males she shared a carriage with. She already knew she was in trouble, she was only just beginning to see how much. She only hoped something would come to her before the day came that the demon decided he had waited long enough.

A/N: Hello again! I know it has been a while, but I have been preoccupied. Don't worry that I have forgotten this though. We have one more chapter after this before we get into the arc with Soma and Agni I hope you are looking forward to it! Cheers!