In the kitchen Sebastian started his own investigation into the new arrivals.
"May I ask what brings your young mistress and yourself to London?"
The maid paused slightly while fetching teacups from the cupboard and answered "We are searching for the last remaining relatives of a certain line in my mistress' family, among other things."
She watched calmly as he prepared the tea leaves, the scent of which calmed her, and gained another question from him "You're quite different from any maid I've encountered before."
He knew something was different about her. Something perhaps even inhuman, but she hid it well.
"Yes, and you are quite different from any butler I've been acquainted with as well." So she could sense it about him as well.
He smiled "Yes, you see, I am one hell of a butler"
She tilted her head and smiled back "Then I am one heavenly maid."
He looked her over once more she certainly had a bit of light to her, but judging from his previous dealings with angels, she was different. For one thing she didn't try to attack him the minute she learned what he was.
"And since we now know what each of us is I will tell you that we are here investigating rogue angels in this country.
He smirked "Well then, you have found the right household to be in contact with. The occult seems to follow us." He gave a wicked smirk and asked "Tell me, was it your mistress' decision to come here or yours?" Out of pure stereotypical prejudice he was moved to despise her. And she most likely hated him as well, but her answer surprised him.
"My mistress was at first interested in your young master's appearance. She is dreadfully curious and his eye patch was enough to intrigue her. I knew right away what you were and figured if anyone knew anything about fallen angels in this area it might be you. So I persuaded my mistress to call upon the household." She smiled and added as an afterthought "Discreetly persuaded of course."
He raised his eyebrows "You manipulated your mistress into coming here so you could talk with a demon?"
"Only in gaining information to eliminate rogue angels whom, I'm sure, are planning something already. Perhaps you would be willing to give me details on anything unusual going on around here that they might be behind."
"I'm sorry miss, but quite a bit of unusual activity happens in this country and you can be assured that we can handle any serious disturbances if need be," his smile could have been mistaken for a grimace.
"You can handle?" she looked suspicious of him
He smiled "My young master has been fittingly dubbed the Queen's watchdog. If anything upsets her it upsets my master, and he is quick to dispose of it."
She hummed in curiosity "Ah, I see. So he uses your contract to help get rid of threats to society? My, my, what an interesting twist of fate this is." She sounded almost joyful "Ami and I have been investigating and solving crimes dealing with the occult and supernatural in France. A few have all tied together and lead us here, but so far a dead end. It's as though they disappeared." She looked a bit withdrawn "Even though I know now where one is, the other has gone into hiding somewhere."
He looked on her in a pitiless fashion and commented "Perhaps the one has moved on in hopes of avoiding you while you focus on the other."
She shook her head and knitted her eyebrows. "These two are a special case and do not venture far from each other for very long. They are very much the same in appearance too."
He lightly disguised a laugh and asked "Aren't you all quite the same in looks?"
She sat on a stool by the counter fanning out her smooth apron on her knees. "I expect that you are very old and powerful therefore you must have had dealings with angels before."
He nodded calmly observing her mannerisms, her smooth speech, her dainty hands, and lithe frame. Her white hair looking more like pearl in the current lighting. It was pulled up neatly twisted and held in place with a silver pin decorated in white dove's feathers.
She was so much a cliché angel he wanted to laugh or perhaps be sick, he wasn't sure which instinct was stronger.
And what was worse, she was sweet. Not so sweet or innocent as his young lord's fiancé behaved, but definitely whimsical in the way she acted and spoke. He felt like he could touch her and she would vanish like a soap bubble.
What would be left behind, however, is what interested him about her. He sensed she wasn't complete.
Given what he was and what he did, he had ways of knowing things like this. She had a place in her heart where something was warring to exist. It was small now, but perhaps with the right nurturing it would come to fruition. He smirked at the thought of instilling his own will within this angel's soul.
"Yes I've come across a few of you before." He confirmed nonchalantly.
"Then tell me that I'm just like the ones you've met." She challenged.
He looked her over and chuckled "You do look very much like a stereotypical angel, light hair, light clothes, beautiful features, too pretty to truly belong to this earth." Then his smirk faded as he studied her eyes for the first time. Angels he had seen before were blessed with all the traits he had described, but they all had very different eyes depending on their personas. Hers were the color of flame. If a flame upon a candle could be depicted as a color that is...
Irises in a strange mix of orange, hints of red, splashes of yellow, and white creating a molten effect that would have paralyzed any mortal man, rested upon him in a fiery gaze.
He on the other hand, was not a mortal man and went about his duties as he responded "You are a unique one though for having such brilliant eyes. The fervor of your work lies deep within them."
She smiled kindly "Thank you, and your dedication to yours shows in your attention to detail."
He bowed slightly and picked up the tray to serve the young humans waiting in the drawing room. As he turned his back to her he felt her follow him and scowled at having to be constantly under watch of an angel. In his mind he'd already wondered how he could best be rid of her.
He heard her voice drift over his shoulder in pleasant tones "Don't worry it's only for a short time. I have no intention of working closely with you at all."
They re-entered the drawing room and as Sebastian set down the tray he noticed a mischievous glance from his master.
Amilé spoke up once Angelique was in her sight. "Oh Angelique it's absolutely wonderful! I've found him! This is my third cousin I was looking for! Oh we've never met before, but it's a wonderful happenstance to have found him so quickly."
Angel and demon exchanged looks of surprise before Ciel spoke "Having discovered our shared relation, being third cousins by marriage, and seeing as she has no proper dwellings in this area I've decided it would be fitting for her to stay with us here at the town house, until her business in London is finished."
This had become one of those situations where Sebastian's limits were tested, in how long he could keep smiling while wanting to kick the boy's chair over. It seemed from the way the maid hurriedly bent to whisper in her mistress' ear she wasn't fond of the arrangement either.
The young girl giggled and spoke aloud "I've already accepted his invitation and I'm sure it's no inconvenience at all."
Her maid curtsied politely "Very well my lady." Her eyes met Sebastian's with a fiery glare.
Upon re-entering the kitchen to prepare dinner the maid closed her eyes, breathing in deeply through her nose, and releasing it in a quiet sigh, before perking up and asking what she could do to help.
They both set to work in silence staying as far away from each other as possible.
"What information would help you best catch the ones you're after?" he asked fully wanting to help her now, if only to see her leave faster.
"If I knew the answer to that I would have asked you earlier, but since you have already told me that numerous mysteries dealing with the occult happen in this country, I'm not quite sure where to start."
He studied her as she worked. She certainly wasn't one to hide emotions while distracted. She had a look of concern about her, and when he inquired why she looked so disquieted, she responded. "I'm aware that you have formed a contract with that child and will protect him, but at the rate mysterious things happen to my mistress I worry for both their safety."
He was a bit irked at her underestimation of his abilities to watch over Ciel, but fake smiled anyway "And is that a lack of confidence in me, or in yourself? I'm sure I can keep my young master from harm."
She looked surprised for a second before exclaiming "Forgive me, that's not what I meant! I didn't mean to question your capability I just meant that these fallen angels have ways of manipulating people's minds and memories. I'm concerned that once they know we are in contact with your master they will try to damage him as well. The boy seems to have been through a lot already, and I don't want us to be the cause of more torment to him." Her face once again betrayed her emotions and he saw the pained look of genuine care for another person even though the boy was a stranger to her. Disgust churned in his stomach.
"I'm sure that will not be the case. You need not worry yourself over his fate. I would be honored however to assist you in any way I can. And your mistress will be treated with the upmost respect and courtesy while at the mansion." His fake show of generosity was seemingly rewarded.
She curtsied "Thank you. I…" she paused upon her words, a hesitant look upon her face. "I didn't expect a demon to be so kind to us, but then again I'm sure you have your reasons." Even though she spoke words that could be misread as an insult, her tone was light and happy.
The night fell and Sebastian dressed his young master for sleep. "What do you make of them Sebastian?" asked Ciel sitting on the edge of his bed.
"They are chasing after a pair of fallen angels in this country. And I'm sure they have no ulterior motive for being close to you other than the girl's relation to you. In fact the maid seems eager to be out of your house as soon as possible."
"Fallen angels you say? Then I take it the maid knows about your kind too?" Amilé had told Ciel about her line of investigations for her great uncle, a pretender to the French throne.
He nodded "Yes sir. In fact the maid isn't human either."
The young boy looked mildly surprised before nodding. "I suppose it's to be expected with all that they have investigated and accomplished in France." He paused a moment and inquired "What exactly is she? Another demon?"
"She is an angel sir." replied the black clad butler.
Ciel smirked "Does her being here pose a threat to anything?"
Sebastian smiled at the roundabout way the boy had asked the question. "No, she knows I am contracted to you, but she seems able to ignore it to accomplish her current goal." Ciel climbed into bed and bid goodnight to his butler.
As the demon said his good night the young aristocrat pondered on why his cousin had an angel attached to her. What did one have to go through to receive such a guardian? Indeed he had gone through hell and emerged with Sebastian at his side, what did Ami have that allowed her such a heavenly being to be her protector?