Chapter 11: Wine :Part Two:

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Disclaimer: I do not own these fabulous characters, k?

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The dimly lit torches cast shadows upon the brick walls, shifting as the flames flickered in the night. The hallways were quiet, like they had (according to Sebastian) always been. Ciel had often imagined that the king's castle would be full of chaos and riots- never did he fathom that it would be this silent, this eerie. The only sounds that he could hear were the cackling of the torch's flames, chasing away any lurking shadows. However, from the corner of his eyes, Ciel could see moving silhouettes. But when he turned, there was nothing there. Could he just be paranoid? Or was someone watching them?

"We're almost there." Sebastian announced as he suddenly felt Ciel's grasp tightening around his arm. He looked down but could spot no visible difference in his incubus' cool expression. Was he trying to hide his nervousness? Or was he simply scared of the eerie hallways? How precious. Sebastian held back a chuckle as he turned around the corner, heading towards the large oak door that was located at the end of the hallway.

The duo stopped inches away from the door as Sebastian raised his hand with the intention to knock. But before his knuckles made contact, a muffled female voice could be heard through the wooden barrier.

"You may come in."

Sebastian wasn't the least bit surprised at this, seemingly knowing the owner of the voice. Ciel, on the other hand was perturbed. There were others inside aside from the King? Who was it? It sounded awfully familiar though. The door creaked open, seemingly on its own. Ciel peeked through the opening but couldn't see anyone beyond the darkness. In normal circumstances, creatures of the dark, like him, wouldn't have any problems peering through the darkness. However, in the castle, he was unable to see beyond a metre in the shadows. Was this yet another one of the king's tricks?

An amused chuckle ringed out in the darkness and Ciel refrained from jumping. Could the king read his thoughts? The incubus shifted even closer to his master, if it were possible. Sebastian sighed. The king was obviously up to his old shenanigans again. He was glad that he was serving the king from a distance. Dealing with this kind of playfulness on a daily basis would be rather trying.

"My king, would you please remove the spell? As much fun as this might be for you, my pet is about to tear my arm off." Sebastian implored in the flattest of tones, ignoring an indignant "Hey!" from his side.

"Awww. But Sebastian! He's so cute! And so fun to tease~" A light cheery voice sounded from shadows. Seconds later, Ciel felt the distinct feeling of some sort of magical pulse passing by him. The spell on the room had been lifted and the incubus could feel the auras of three demons. No wait….it was two demons and a succubus! His eyes snapped to the left corner of the room as his eyes landed on a familiar figure.

"Aunt Hannah?" Ciel had near-shouted, not expecting to meet any more of his family members that evening. Hannah Anefeloz, a cousin of the king of incubi, was a user of ice just like he was. When he was young, he had learnt most of his tricks from her. She was in fact, one of his favourite relatives. He hadn't seen her for years and he often wondered why the identity of her master was kept secret all these years. And why his other relatives seemed hesitant to interact with her. Now he knew.

The succubus smiled at her nephew and shifted her gaze to her left, as if telling Ciel that his attention shouldn't be on her at that moment. Ciel turned his head to follow her gaze, his eyes widening when he finally laid his eyes on the king.

The demon king was the very opposite of how a demon king should look like. He was blond, had sparkling blue eyes that glittered like jewels and was just slightly bigger than Ciel was when he was still in his immature form. He was dressed in a royal purple suit, a colour befitting of a devil his status. He lay languidly upon his dark maroon throne, playing with a ball of blue fire that danced upon his palm. It was only then he realised that the flame was the only source of light within the room. Ciel watched, transfixed as the blue flame danced merrily towards the unlit torches that lined the walls. Ciel only snapped out of his trance when he spotted Sebastian bowing from the corner of his eyes. Hurriedly, Ciel followed his master's example as he cursed himself inwardly. As unexpected as the situation was, he had been quite rude.

From his position, Ciel heard the king giggle. "At ease. Now Ciel….raise your head so I can get a good look at you!" The incubus immediately righted his spine, looking rather uncertain as he made eye contact with the king of demons once again. This time, having been granted with a closer look, Ciel could see that this was without doubt, the demon king. As childish as his appearance was, his magical soul pulsed with darkness. It seemed weak…but Ciel knew better. The more powerful a demon was, the better its ability to conceal that power. The king's power was at least at a level ten times above his, if not more.

"Hmmm…." The king drawled as his eyes flickered over Ciel's delicate features. "You look alooooot like Vincey when he was young. A lot less controlled though….doesn't he, Hannah?" The king commented in a light-hearted tone.

"Yes, my king." Hannah bowed her head towards the child who sat on the throne. Ciel, on the other hand, was refraining from making a face at the odd nickname that had been bestowed upon his father. Vincey? And really… how old was this king of theirs?

"Ahhh~ Oh yes Ciel! I've been dying to ask you this!" The king leaned forward as he grinned toothily at the incubus prince. Ciel blinked, wondering what in the world could the king want from him.

"How is Sebastian in bed?"

Ciel blinked once, twice before the question registered in his head. WHAT? He flushed immediately as he looked towards the ground, unwilling to meet the king's eyes. As… unabashed as he was in the bedroom now, it was one thing for things to be kept behind doors and another to report his experience to his king.

"Your majesty, I believe that question might be a little…inappropriate to ask." Another voice came from Ciel's right, almost startling him. How could he have nearly forgotten the presence of another demon in the room? He turned to find a dark-haired figure standing on the other side of the elevated throne. A pair of golden-eyes shimmered, almost cackling in the stale air. Even though he was dressed in a dark black suit like many other male devils Ciel had seen tonight, his aura was all that was needed to tell Ciel that he was different from other devils.

A lightning user…echoed in Ciel's head. Even among demons, lightning users were incredibly rare. This demon had to be some sort of right-hand man to the king.

The king huffed. "Oh stuff it Claude. You're always ruining my fun. It's Sebastian's fault that he's always so uptight about things like this. Sureee…it adds to his charismatic appeal but now that I finally have the chance to get some juicy details from his incubus, you tell me no? What's the point of meeting like this then?"

A few things went through Ciel's head. First, was the king whining? Second, did the king invite him just so that he could answer that question? Third, how in the world did this king retain power all this while?

Sebastian coughed to get the others to direct their attention to him. "I do not like agreeing with my cousin but… I'll like to keep that particular secret behind closed doors, if I may, your majesty."

Cousin? Ciel nearly shouted once again. This is just ridiculous… just how many times had his heart stopped since he stepped into the room?

The king pouted and grumbled. "Fine…fine. Now then, let's get down to business shall we? After all, I still have to make an appearance at the party. Hannah dear, why don't you and your nephew catch up while I chat with Claude and Sebastian? You may take him to the back room." The child king waved to the back as a door creaked open on its own. Ciel was immediately perturbed. He didn't notice it when the king casted the fire spell earlier but usually, when a spell was cast, he would be able to sense the spark of magic. The king however, left no such trace of his own magical spells. Just who was this king? His brows furrowed- this called for some midnight reading when he returned to the fortress.

Hannah moved forward to pry her nephew off Sebastian, pulling him by gently by his hand. "Come Ciel, we have much to talk about." As Hannah dragged him along, Ciel turned to look at Sebastian. However, his master didn't even notice him as the devil's gaze was trained on the bored-looking king. For a moment, an irrational burst of jealousy twisted within him. Just how loyal was Sebastian to the king?

The door shut tight behind them and Ciel found himself in a room that seemed to function as some sort of common room, probably for the king's guests. "Would you like a glass of wine?" Hannah asked as she moved to the corner of the room where a silver trolley was stationed. Ciel shook his head, feeling a tad too jittery to enjoy any beverage. His aunt motioned for him to sit on the couch as she poured herself a glass, watching as Ciel's gaze kept turning towards the closed door.

"It's alright Ciel. Those devils will probably take a while. And the king is right; we do need to catch up. I trust your master has been treating you well? " Hannah asked as she moved to sit on the opposite couch.

"I should be asking that question Aunt Hannah…why didn't Father or you tell me that you were the succubus of the king of demons? " Ciel nearly shrieked. Like many other succubae, Hannah was a voluptuous beauty. Her lilac-coloured hair contrasted nicely with her dark skin. Dressed in an ivory-coloured bare back dress that flattered a figure a little tad too well, Ciel could see why she was highly desired by the devil community. Hannah giggled, "Ciel. It's for your own good. And really…I've been the king's succubus before you were even born. It's not something entirely new… But you see…our kind is quite the jealous sort. After making my contract with the king, I've been ostracised from the incubi community. It's common practice when any incubus is contracted to a devil with high power. It speaks volumes about our 'worth' as 'pets'. I didn't want to associate with you too much just in case other incubi shun you like they did me. But it's all for naught now…since you're contracted to Archduke Sebastian."

Ciel quirked a brow at that and Hannah giggled. "You'll understand what I mean soon. But I must say, you've grown up quite beautifully- it's no wonder even the infamous and stony fire demon couldn't keep his hands off you."

Ciel blushed prettily. "That isn't true!" Hannah rolled her eyes as her lips gave a little quirk. "Oh please…I can practically see his fire caressing your body. In fact, I would say it hadn't even been three hours since your last copulation. Where did you guys do it...in the stables?"

When her question was met with silence, she resisted from laughing out loud. "Ciel! I was joking!"

For the remainder of the time in the common room, Ciel and his aunt talked about how his ice magic had been improving and about the idiotic servants that serve Sebastian. Ciel wanted to ask Hannah about her life as the king's succubus, but figured it was information that he wasn't worthy of. But still…

"Aunt Hannah, please don't tell me you do it with the king while he is in that…." Hannah laughed once again. "No. It's just that the king prefers the form of a child because he has a rather playful nature. He has various other forms but…I'll leave that to your imagination."

Ciel gulped. It was lucky that he didn't exactly have the most vivid of imaginations. But there was still one more question he'll like to ask.

"Aunt Hannah? Who is that lightning devil? Is he really Sebastian's cousin?"

Hannah seemed slightly surprised at the question. For what reason, Ciel wouldn't know. She seemed to ponder for a moment before replying. "His name is Claude Faustus. Like your master, he's the other general who was responsible for bringing the king to power. However, instead of accepting the title of the archduke like Archduke Sebastian had, Claude chose to serve at the king's side as his advisor. I thought your master would have told you about him before coming here… but I guess not. It's hard to believe that they used to work together splendidly in the last war. Their relationship seems to have taken a turn for the worst since then."

Ciel soaked in this information and couldn't help but be curious about how the current demon king had emerged victorious. It was sure to tell him more about the relationship between the king and Sebastian. But wait...why was he so curious about that in particular?

A knock on the door broke his train of thoughts. Turning around, Ciel saw Sebastian peering through the door, searching the room till his eyes landed on Ciel. "It's time to go Ciel. The king wants to make his entrance at the party. The incubus nodded and started to move towards the exit. But before he was halfway across the floor, he suddenly turned, strode towards his aunt and hugged her midriff.

"It was nice to see you again Aunt Hannah. Stay well."

Hannah patted the top of her nephew's head and returned his embrace. "You too Ciel."

As they separated and Ciel moved forward to accept his master's arm, he completely missed the sad look that crossed Hannah's features as she watched her nephew leave the common room.

"Stay well."

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A/N: *Dust cobwebs* Uhhum…I hope you guys still remember my existence XD. This is going to be quite a long A/N so forgive me! Right now, I'm having a short weekend break after having multiple quizzes. Next week, I'll have to start revising for my exams that will take place the week after. After that, I'll probably update Sickly Sweet and Hellfire within 3-4 weeks from today. I still have this project to do during my summer break but it shouldn't interfere with fanficing too much. Also, I'm heading to Korea for 1 month of summer studying this july…but I should still be able to update my fics XD. But as you guys probably know by now, I only get the muse to write fics whenever I have a break from my studies. But man..I have way too many things I want to do once the semester is over.

Also, it was completely unintentional, but Hannah and Ciels' relationship in my fic seems to be pretty good. But oh well XD. Also, if you guys haven't figured it out by now, the king is Alois XD. Notice my penchant of NOT using OCs? o.o.

In other news, Seb is as hot as ever in chapter 68. Ciel is as cute as a button. I've also become quite a bit obsessed with t&b, no.6, kuroko no basuke and a myriad of other slashable stuff. On top of that, there's the legend of korra. Funny thing was I didn't exactly like aang. *hides from his fans* but I adore korra. Plus there's the new fire emblem game, rune factory four and omg my life is never complete without games or anime. I'm suck a geek XD.

Anyways R&R people! I always read the reviews, even though I don't reply to them. See you again in 3-4 weeks!