On a roll... WHOOT!
TW starting this chapter for forced cross dressing if it's an issue tap out now.
xx
Everything went by in such a blur that before I knew it I was comfortably tucked into bed with a full belly and finally alone with my thoughts. It was the last thing I wanted at the moment.
All I could manage to think about was Sebastian and how he could just leave me here like he did. Did he do it because he didn't think he was good enough for me? Maybe he did it because this man claiming to be my father would eventually come looking for me himself and he was worried about what would happen if Vincent found us.
Or maybe he didn't care about me at all and everything he said were just empty words to gain an end to a means.
That thought hurt to the deepest part of my being worse then what my mother did to me. He wouldn't do that to me; would he? But why would he just leave me like that if it wasn't his intention?
I clutched the blankets to my chest tightly trying to fight off the heaviness that was trying to press down on me but it was a futile fight. The pain seared through my chest making me feel like I couldn't breathe causing me to gasp deeply.
The more I tried to breathe the worse it hurt until darkness began to play at the edges of my vision. I threw the blankets from my body and flew up into a sitting position. I couldn't breathe the air refused to fill my chest and I could do nothing but claw at my chest trying to remove this invisible weight pressing down on me.
Why couldn't I breathe? What was it? I needed help before I died here in this bed in a strange castle surrounded by people I didn't know.
"Help." I gasped barely getting the whispered word past my lips.
My head was spinning or was it the room was spinning around me? What was wrong with me? Was I dying? Did someone poison me because they wanted me out of the way and access to my father?
I sat on the edge of the bed and dropped my head between my knees in order to get up. The position stopped my head from spinning some but not enough as I continued to breathe rapidly. So I just stayed in that position hoping it would ease the pressure weighing down on me.
I figured if I calmed down some I'd be able to get some help before I fell to the floor and died. So I focused on my breathing slowing it down and trying to breathe normal. It took some effort but before long my breathing eased which in turn caused the pressure on my chest to lift and my head to clear.
I slowly sat up and felt the pressure of a headache building. Perhaps someone did in fact try to poison me to get me out of the way. Though I couldn't imagine why they would attack so soon especially since I didn't know anyone here and they certainly didn't know me. Even if the lord of this castle was my father that didn't mean anything.
Then again maybe they were just trying to get rid of me right away before I could make my mark here. I snorted at that, I didn't want to be here anymore than a prisoner in the dungeon. All I really wanted was to be with Sebastian away from here and finding somewhere for us to settle down.
Although Sebastian didn't seem the sort to settle down at all. From what I learned of him was that he was liked being out on the land roaming from place to place. Though part of me wondered if that was because he never had anywhere he wanted to settle down or if he was ever settled in the first place.
Sebastian was a mystery and whatever it was he was hiding from me was the answer to that mystery. I just wish I knew what it was he was hiding. Not that it would much matter now seeing as how I was in this castle with the man who was my father. Then again being with the people that were my real family it just might make it easier to escape here.
I was son of the Lord of the castle after all so that meant I had rights to give orders to the servants and guards. So I could decide I wanted to leave the castle grounds for awhile, with a personal guard or two, and when they're not looking make a run for it.
Now that sounded like a sound plan in my head but reality never went the way you imagined it to. How many times I tried to escape Sebastian thinking that my plan to run when he was reliving himself or off hunting or whatever only to quickly be caught.
Though this was a different situation and if I played things just right I could get away. All I had to do was act the part of the son happy to be returned to my father. Then before long I would have all the freedoms that came with being the son of Lord Vincent leaving me with an easy escape.
Yes that's exactly what I would do. Just bide my time until the complacency set in and make my escape.
With that plan set firmly in my head I returned to bed with a little less stress and a lot more hope.
xx
"Ah dear brother you finally found him."
I stared at the woman who was coming at me like a charging bore, arms wide, and a giant smile on her face. Before I could make a single move to get away she had me wrapped into a tight hug nearly smothering me into her bosom.
"Please sister let him go before you suffocate him." I heard my father from behind me.
The woman let me go with an annoyed sigh like she was really being put out. "Oh if you insist." She looked from him to me.
"Now that that's over with let me introduce you to your aunt Angelina Durless your mother's sister." My father placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"That woman isn't my sister." Angelina hissed. "No blood of mine would run off like that just to avoid her duties." She glared then suddenly smiled at me. "And you my dear can call me auntie or Madame Red if it would make you feel more comfortable."
"Okay." I nodded a little nervously.
"So," she clapped her hands together. "how soon until the wedding can take place?"
"I'd say by month's end." My father answered with a shrug and another light squeeze to my shoulder before letting me go. "I've already sent word this morning and the invitations will go out tomorrow."
"Wedding?" I questioned as I looked between the two.
"Ah well son that was one of the reasons I wanted you back." He smiled warmly at me. "You've been arranged to be married since birth and should have been wedded by now." He sighed. "However with your mother running off as she did it kind of put things on hold until I could get you back."
"I can't get married." I whispered in shock. "I don't know who I'm suppose to marry and I don't want to marry."
"It doesn't matter what you want." My aunt narrowed her eyes slightly upon me. "It was agreed that you would wed and it will happen whether you want it to or not."
"But." I tried.
"You have no say on the matter son." My father nodded at me. "You will wed and fulfill the contract your mother and I agreed to." He looked over at Angelina. "Now I will leave him in your capable hands to prepare and train him and if he should get out of hand punishment within reason will be acceptable."
"As you wish dear brother." She smiled at him.
"Good." He nodded at her then looked at me. "Now son be good and do as your aunt says." He messed up my hair with a rub to my head. "I'll leave you two to it then." With another nod at us he turned and left the room.
"Well shall we get started then?" Angelina drew my attention towards her.
"Start what?" I questioned getting worried that I wasn't going to be able to get away from these people before this wedding was suppose to take place.
"You'll see." She grinned an unnerving grin at me. "Follow me." She ordered then turned and left the room.
I reluctantly followed when what I really wanted to do was turn tail and run. However as it was I didn't know my way around here and didn't think I would get very far anyway. She led me into the sewing room drawing the women's attention her way.
"Ladies." She gave a small bow of her head.
"What can we do for you Madame Red?" The eldest of the women questioned.
Angelina grinned at them. "It's time." She nodded and turned to face me fully.
"But Madame this is a boy and your nephew." She pointed out with brows drawn deeply. "I thought you were talking about a young lady."
"No and a boy he may be," she nodded, moved to stand behind me, and ripped off my shirt. "but look those hips those are a woman's hips if I ever saw them." She snorted then jerked my pants down. "And just look at those legs those are not the legs of a man. He's a woman and from this day forth that is what he'll be."
"Angelina what are you doing?" I gasped and tried to cover myself from the eyes of the women staring at me.
"Be silent girl." She hissed and slapped my face. "You will call me auntie like a proper niece should." She glared then looked back at the women watching us. "I think pinks and purples will suit her nicely." She ordered as if everything was normal. "Now be a good girl and let them measure you for a proper fitting dress."
"I'm not a girl!" I hissed with my hand to my burning cheek.
She grabbed me by the hair jerking it roughly and leaned down so we were nose to nose. "You are whatever I say you are and your father agrees." She growled deadly. "You honestly think your father was looking for you because he wanted his son back? No," she snorted and released her hold upon me. "he was looking for you for a reason and in one month's time that reason will be made clear." She turned and made to exit the room. "Now if you can't behave I will be forced to take a switch to your little bottom so be a good girl and do as you are told."
With that she left me standing there wide eyed, cheek burning, and tears threatening to fall.
"Come dear let's get you measured."
I looked over at the elderly sewing maid and gave a small shake of my head. "Please no." I whispered.
"Ah don't fret yourself," another one appeared next to me. "you'll see that just doing as Madame Red says is better in the long run." She smiled warmly at me. "And your father will make sure your future husband is a good one."
"Husband?" I gasped.
"Oh Nelly don't be absurd." The third woman elbowed her away with a weary glance at the old woman still within ear shot. "And look you're frightening her." She pulled me closer to the window and grabbed her tape measure. "Don't mind Nelly Mistress Ciel she's just a gossip and a story teller."
"I am not!" Nelly hissed. "I'm only telling her what Lord Vincent told me yesterday."
"Alright that's enough." The old woman ordered. "We're not here to argue or gossip. Now let's get the young Mistress measured before someone sees her bared as the day she was born."
This couldn't be happening to me this had to be a nightmare and I was going to wake up soon. I wasn't a girl I was a boy no matter what my hips and legs looked like. "But I'm a boy." I nodded at the woman measuring the length of my left arm.
"I'm sorry Mistress but if your father and Madame Red says you're a girl then you are a girl." She smiled sadly at me. "In this house we all have to follow the rules given to us by our masters or face the consequences. I don't want a switched bottom anymore than you do."
"But…"
"Mistress Ciel don't fight it." The girl Nelly whispered from behind me. "This will be done no matter what you say and if you don't your father will force you." She leaned down close and pressed her lips to my ear. "I'll tell you this," she pressed closer and whispered even quieter. "escape if you can or you will find yourself in a position you can never escape."
My eyes snapped wide as I stared at the woman in front of me who was nodding sadly.
"In one month's time you will be wedded to increase your father's lands." Nelly continued on. "Your future husband knows you are a boy by birth and only agreed to the deal if you were made to look like a girl. This has been planned for a long time."
"He prefers the company of men but he's always wanted a little boy that looks, acts, sounds, and behaves like a girl." The woman in front of me whispered with a side glance at the elderly sewing maid on the other side of the room. "If you don't escape here the rest of your life will be spent playing as Lord Aleister Chamber of the North's wife."
"How?" I whispered wide eyed. "How can I get out of here?"
She shook her head at me. "I don't know. You'll have to find your way out on your own." She sighed sadly. "Anyone caught helping you will probably be tortured and executed so you'll be on your own."
"Girls!" The elderly maid hissed. "I said no gossiping!"
"Yes madam." They both answered in unison.
"We better hurry and get you measured and dressed for your father." Nelly ordered from behind me then began writing down the measurements the woman in front of me called out as she measured me.
xx
Poor poor Ciel maybe things will get better for him... or maybe not.