Chapter 14

Lying down on the couch in the Order's private jet I stared up at the ceiling as I absently pulled on my tie. Sebastian once again had to put up with having my legs as a seatbelt. It probably annoyed the proud demon to no end to have to bend to my whim, but that's just what he got seeing as he had decided to make a contract with yet another member of the Phantomhive family. Besides, he made a good footrest. Lavi looked like he was still having a hard time processing the strange relationship between me and Sebastian, especially since I wasn't giving him any help. Bookman was, well, he was being Bookman, quietly observing everything (i.e. me and Sebastian) from the side-lines. That old man really got on my nerves sometimes, the way he was always watching me with his cold, calculating gaze. I didn't understand him, and I still hadn't managed to figure out why everyone called him Bookman. Surely he had to have a proper name, but I wasn't about to give in and ask the man in question, since he probably wouldn't tell me anyway.

Planes weren't really my preferred method of transport. The altitude made the scar on my head throb, and heights just weren't really my thing. Scowling at the ceiling I pulled my tie off over my head before swinging my legs off the couch and planting my feet on the floor. Since we had gone straight to the airport from school I hadn't had the chance to ditch my school uniform. I hadn't wanted to drag it all the way to Greece with me, but it was far too late to complain now.

"Hey Sebastian, what did you tell Erica?" I had only just remembered the maid. We were always running off and leaving her in the dark.

"Please don't act like I'm stupid young mistress. I merely told her that she needed to make an excuse for your absence at school." The whole speech rolled off his tongue as though he had been practising it. He was a demon though; it was just his natural charisma, the charisma that made the older woman at the shops swoon.

"I'm definitely glad you can't lie to me." I may have been young at the time, but I still knew better than to let a demon on the loose without any restrictions or requirements. Lavi raised a curious eyebrow at my proclamation, which I skilfully ignored. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Pushing myself to my feet I grabbed the plastic bag with my work uniform in it and wandered off to the bathroom. I left the boots behind with Sebastian. However much I loved those shoes I just couldn't be bothered with them at the moment. I'd put them on before we landed, and that was all that mattered shoe wise in the long run. Stripping off my school uniform I put on my exorcist uniform: black pants, white shirt and a black jacket with the Order's insignia on it. I loved the uniform; it was so old-fashioned yet trendy at the same time. I had the female pants, which were rather tight-fitting, but at least it was better than the miniskirt I had seen Lenalee wearing.

Gathering my discarded uniform I shoved it into the now empty plastic bag and picked it up in my arms before unlocking the bathroom door and walking back over to the others. I dropped the bag of clothes on top of my duffel bag on the floor before collapsing back on the couch next to Sebastian, turning to lie down with my head in his lap to see what sort of reaction I would get from the others, mainly Lavi. Sebastian's red eyes peered curiously into mine, trying to find the answer to an unspoken question. Lavi tensed up, q stormy expression on his usually cheerful face. Bookman didn't move a muscle, not that I had expected anything from him. If I kept this up maybe the flight wouldn't be as boring as I thought it would be.

When we landed Sebastian gathered up all my things, except for my katana, which I strapped carefully to my waist underneath my jacket. We marched off the plane in single file to find that we had an escort to the palace. Apparently they didn't want us going on any detours along the way. Other than introducing themselves and stating their business they didn't say a word, although that could just mean that they didn't know very much English. Luckily the drive wasn't a particularly long one, because the silence was intense. I couldn't stand it, such an angry and intimidating silence. When we arrived at the palace I was the first one out of the car, breathing in the fresh air and taking in all the noise. I had known that Sebastian could be scary when he's quiet, but I never thought that would apply to Lavi too. One of the guards stepped forwards and bowed down to us.

"Welcome to Greece. My name is Ricardo. I am the captain of the Palace Guard and I have been instructed to bring you to the King and Queen." He straightened up and his face paled visibly as he looked at me. Unless he had seen the video he wouldn't know who I was, so maybe it was my katana that had him on edge.

"My name is Jasmine… Phantomhive." I hesitated when deciding which name I should use. "This is Lavi." I gestured to the red head standing next to me. "And that's Bookman." I pointed to the old man. Lavi gave me an odd look when I didn't make any mention of Sebastian in my introductions, but a quick look around would have told him that the demon was no longer present. Ricardo nodded slightly.

"Alright, then if you'll please all follow me." He turned around and started walking, leaving us no other choice but to hurry after him. Ricardo spoke almost perfect English, but I was willing to bet that most of the other guards couldn't. I could hear them whispering as they went about their work and I self-consciously pulled my hair forward over my eyes. Ignoring them was reasonably easy since I never spoke Greek any more, but it didn't stop me from speculating.

As we walked quickly through the corridors I found myself overwhelmed by a sudden case of reality. I was in an actual palace in my dad's homeland, and I was about to be introduced to the king and queen. The other thing that hit me was that the Order uniform I was wearing was far too hot for the Greek heat of summer. I tried to avoid eye contact with anyone who passed us in the hallway, because violet eyes were such a rarity and I didn't appreciate the stares and whispers they usually caused when I went to new places. Almost sooner than I would have liked we arrived in front of a large pair of double doors that had their own guards. Ricardo had a quick whispered conversation with one of them before they opened the doors for us. He then went in ahead of us, although that was perfectly understandable, since it was a palace and we were only guests. I kept my eyes glued to the ground as we walked into the throne room, bowing respectfully when Ricardo motioned for us to, making sure that Lavi did the same. Something gave me the impression that exorcists didn't always feel like they needed to show respect to others.

"These are the exorcists your majesties; Jasmine, Lavi and Bookman." I glanced up through my hair at the elderly occupants of the two thrones on the raised dais. There was a definite resemblance between my father and the king, but I managed to keep an emotionless expression when faced with that little confirmation that they really were my grandparents. It was hard though, when all I really wanted to do was go over and hug my grandmother. I caught the queen's gaze for a moment and a look of realisation flashed across her purple eyes. Breaking eye contact I stared at my boots, hoping that Ricardo wouldn't be able to put two and two together. It was a stupid wish. Purple eyes were extremely rare, and in this room alone there were two occupants with that particular gene.

"Welcome exorcists. I thank you for coming, even though it was an unusual request." I was almost surprised to hear English coming out of her mouth instead of Greek, but then reality came crashing down around me and I realised that it was only natural that the monarchs would be able to speak the language that most of their visitors spoke. She did still have a thick Greek accent though. Bookman was rambling on about something that sounded like it was work related and I zoned out a bit, not really interested in hearing what he had to say. A whisper of cold air tickled the back of my neck and I saw the King stiffen in his seat.

"Sebastian." I reprimanded emotionlessly under my breath without turning around.

He leaned in close and whispered "I apologise young mistress, for disappearing so suddenly before." Angling my arm I tried to elbow him in the gut, but he easily dodged it like I knew he would. Turning to face him I stared up into his red eyes.

"It's not the disappearing that annoys me; it's the time you chose to come back." His eyes flicked to the dais and its occupants before coming back to me.

"Another Phantomhive?" He asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't be stupid." I punched him in the arm, this time he didn't dodge it. "Does either of them look like Uncle Ciel?" His eyes were glowing with an inhuman sense of amusement and I glared angry purple daggers at him.

"Why don't you go back to my room and look for traps or something." Nodding he walked slowly out of the throne room. Ricardo cleared his throat awkwardly, causing me to turn back around.

"I think perhaps it is time for us to take our leave your majesties." He motioned discretely for us to leave, but the queen apparently had other ideas.

"Captain, you may escort the exorcists to their rooms, but I would like to speak with Jasmine in private." Ricardo froze in surprise and Lavi nudged me playfully, a grin on his face. The others were quickly ushered out of the room, leaving me alone with the two most powerful people in the country.

"What are you doing Thaleia?" Obviously she had neglected to inform him of our little emailing conversation. She waved her hand absently at him.

"Calm down Alexandros. She is Baltasar's daughter." He shifted his gaze to scrutinise me and I met his eyes, carefully shifting the stray strands of hair out of my eyes so that he could see them properly. His eyes flicked from me to grandmother to me again before he frowned and sank back into his throne.

"I see. Then I suppose she can tell us what happened to our son which caused him to cut off all contact over the last few years." He stared expectantly at me with his dark blue eyes. Walking towards the dais I knelt down cautiously on the first step, hand on the hilt of my katana. What I had to tell them was probably going to be hard for them to handle.

"Grandmother, Grandfather, Janis… umm, I mean Baltasar, he…" Clutching my side with one hand I shifted into a more comfortable sitting position. It was going to be difficult for me to find the right words to tell them.

"My father, he…" They waited patiently as I struggled to voice the thing that had been tormenting me for the last three years.

"Three years ago, my mother and father were murdered." Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes as all the pain I had been holding back since my rescue came flooding to the surface.

"My older brother Richard, he went missing that night. I haven't seen or heard from him since." The tears spilled over and I rubbed angrily at my eyes, scrubbing the tears away. Thaleia let out a grief stricken cry before climbing to her feet. She walked over and sat down next to me, putting a comforting arm around my shoulders and hugging me as she cried. Alexandros was quiet, but he was probably taking it even worse than Thaleia was.

"You poor thing." She whispered soothingly next to my ear, hugging me close as my own tears continued to flow silently down my cheeks.

When we had cried ourselves out and calmed down a bit we talked about some of the more trivial aspects of life. She told me stories about when Janis – I mean my father – was a little boy, and about how he used to play with his older brother Bakkhos (I mean wow, they had seriously strange names. I used to hate my name, but Jasmine was starting to look pretty good compared to some of these…).

If I had been paying attention I might have noticed the presence lurking behind one of the columns near the door, watching and listening to the talk of royalty.

A/N: Okay, so good news everyone, the story is going to get interesting again pretty soon. Admittedly in the storyline there's still a week before that happens, but we'll try and move through that quickly shall we? And yes, they all have stupid names, I got them off some random greek website...

Oh, I'm still looking for a name for that katana, so seriously, pm me if you have any ideas