Ciel sat silently in the carriage toying with the large sapphire ring on his finger. The blue surfaces reflecting his mood. Sebastian, who sat next to him, remained silent. Ever since Kat had died in the explosion at Lizzie’s he had fallen back into his formal and stiff demeanor and if it was possible it was even worse. He no longer performed the ‘jokes’ he used to, deliberately misinterpreting an order, or causing his own brand of trouble.
Nothing.
He seemed to have fallen into a stupor or sorts and nothing would bring him out of it.
Nothing but brining her back. Her body had never been found, and for a while that had caused a slight change in Sebastian. He had searched the city for weeks, combing ever inch of the ton, before searching the countryside. When his efforts proved fruitless he had returned to the manor.
“My Lord Phantomhive, I realize that you are mourning the death of a servant at the moment, but the Queen felt that this case was something only her loyal watchdog could handle.” The Queen’s manservant said, drawing the Earl out of his reverie.
“Yes, what is it?” He replied tiredly. This was one of those days that made being the Queens Watchdog a pain in the bum.
The manservant frowned at the disrespectfulness of the tone but continued, “It has come to the Queen’s attention that there is someone in London that is collecting massive amounts of information on military and government secrets from neighboring countries. The Queen wants to know who this woman is, why she is doing it, and if it would be possible to…encourage her to share these secrets she has collected. Do you believe you can find her? I have a list here, of places the woman has been spotted.”
The Earl took the proffered envelope, and began searching through its contents, papers of shady descriptions and a few rough sketches stood out. “These aren’t much to work on. Is this the best you have?”
The man nodded, “Yes, my lord, the woman is exceedingly careful in not allowing her face to be seen. We only have the information that she has long dark hair, is average in height, maybe a little below. That is all we have been able to gather. The people of the city have begun to call her dame de la nuit, Lady of the Night.”
“Why would they give her a French name?”
The man shrugged, “Perhaps it is because she has an accent, this part is still under investigation.”
“Fine,” Ciel sighed, “Tell her Majesty that I will perform my duty as expected. She will have her Lady of the Night very soon.”
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The port of London town were filled to the brim with merchants hawking their wares and customers browbeating them for their steep prices. Ciel stood next to Sebastian in his peasant costume, a set of coarse black breeches, an oversized white shirt, and a plain leather eye patch. His butler was in a similar costume, though his were better fitting.
“Are you sure of this, my lord? Just because there are French merchants here does not mean that this Lady will be.”
Ciel scanned the crowd, looking for any women that looked suspicious, “It will work. This is the port, full of taverns and merchants both have very loose tongues when drunk or negotiating a deal.” A flash of red caught his eye as a young lady brushed passed the two of them.
Her dress was of fine red and black silk. A fine top hat, edged in ribbons and pink flowers covered her hair while a black lace shawl covered her shoulders. A dove fluttered by to settle on her shoulder, and began preening the ribbon that dangled from the hat.
“My lord?” The woman disappeared into the crowd, lost in the tumult.
The Earl looked up at Sebastian; the strangest look was on the butler’s face. “Yes, what is it?”
“No, it’s nothing. Forgive me; I just thought…that woman seemed familiar.”
A mournful cry caught their attention, directing it instead to a mourning dove that perched on the top of a street lamp. A note held firmly in its foot. It dropped the note before flying away in the direction of the lady in red.
Odd…
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The dancers in the hall caught each other and twirled in a line dance as Sebastian and Ciel watched from the edge of the room, looking for any flash of color that may give their prey away. The note that the dove had dropped had asked, in sweeping penmanship, them to attend a party this evening at one of the well to do merchants of the port.
Frankly Sebastian found it ridiculous to be here, he would much rather be back at the manner, doing anything else. He watched a young couple on the edge of the line dance twirling to their own tune, eyes holding nothing but the other.
A pang went through his chest at the sight of them. Why did it still have to hurt so much? That every time he heard music he wanted to take the instrument and beat the player bloody with his own tool. Why?
He glanced down at The Earl to see a similarly bored expression, and knew that the boy had no wish to be here either. If that note hadn’t told them otherwise they wouldn’t have even contemplated coming to this soiree.
“Ladies in gentlemen we are now going to introduce the main entertainment of the evening!” Announced the host, a round merchant with a vibrant red beard that reached down to rest on top of his ample girth, “For your entertainment we have booked a woman so vicious and dangerous, that countries have invited her to be their General. The Lovely Steel Rose!” The lights dimmed as a young woman stepped out from amongst the crowd, wearing a simple white gown that reached down to her knees.
As the more close minded women sniffed in derision at the amount of skin the girl was showing, Sebastian watched with interest. Was this the woman that had dropped the note?
The crowd fell into a hushed silence as the band built up a tune, a slow lilting melody that by itself would make the heart weep. The girl was still for a moment before she moved, swaying to the music silently, a wicked katana blade flicking in and out in its own deadly dance as she moved.
A flash of blue met Sebastian’s gaze as the dancer faced him. She smiled and turned away again as the music pulled her away.
Kat...I must be losing my mind…it can’t be you…
Sebastian blinked and realized, unbeknownst to him, his feet had carried him unconsciously forward to the edge of the crowd, to the front row of people who watched the girl and her deadly dance. A few nobles muttered under their breath about self-important servants but he ignored them. It wasn’t really that much to ask to indulge himself this once, to watch this girl, that looked so much like Kat, dance.
“Bloody butler, you want to see her so bad, go dance with her.” Someone shoved him from behind, into the circle of space that had been left open for the girl to dance. She paused a moment, a swan paused in flight, before sheathing her katana.
Like a white viper she struck, moving faster than the stunned butler could even follow. He felt something slide passed his cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood. He looked to the side to see a slender wrist, wrapped in black leather, a dragon’s onyx eyes glared back at him.
“Kat…” He breathed, taking in her mischievously twinkling sapphire eyes.
Forgetting that they were being watched he pulled her close, cupping the side of her face and kissed her with every shred of longing and sadness he had felt, followed closely by the joy that had flared to life once again, when he had finally found her.
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“Show a little restraint please.” Sebastian nearly didn’t hear the command, so engrossed was he in the sweet taste of Kat’s lips on his. Reluctantly he pulled away, but kept a possessive arm wrapped around her shoulders. He ignored the stares of the other guests as he escorted Kat to the Earl.
She gave a small bow to the Earl, “Greetings, Young Master.”
Ciel kept his surprise covered well, his face betrayed none of his feelings, “You have some explaining to do.”
“I understand my lord.”
“I take you are also the one we are seeking?”
Kat grinned, “I don’t know sir, maybe.”
“Very well, then we are leaving.”
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Another Chapter being posted....