The Queen's Panther

24. The Panther's Demon

"Master, it is time to wake up."

Raven yawns and sits up, blinking tiredly. "Demon?"

"Indeed." Sebastian smiles, opening the curtains to let the little bit of sunlight in. "Noble is preparing a breakfast of his special pancakes and maple bacon. Thorne has also left some of his maple scones as well." The demon huffs quietly and mumbles, "I see he hasn't gotten over that fascination with items of maple taste..."

Raven grins in amusement at that, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Oh come on, those scones are delicious. He mentioned he'd combine souls into some of them specially for you so you can't deny anything."

Sebastian huffs again but nods. "Yes, he is an excellent chef when he wants to be. Now I suggest you get dressed before you miss the sunrise."

The earl nods and the butler turns towards the door. He's nearly at the door when he hears the near-silent song of a blade being unsheathed. Sebastian easily catches the knife thrown at him easily. The second one thrown at his back has him stepping to the side and catching that one as well. Raven only grins, throwing the rest of the knives he has with him at the demon and at the wall, watching said demon dodge and catch every knife so they don't embed themselves in the wall and ruin the wallpaper.

"Really, Master?" Sebastian muses, holding the knives—lined up neatly in his hands of course—out in front of him. He returns to Raven's beside, letting the boy take the knives to put them back in their sheath and slide them under his pillow. "Such methods are not as challenging as you may think."

"Good to know." The scheming grin that spreads across the boy's lips has the butler on guard. "Then I'll have to try harder... I'm going to hit you one way or another, Seb, that I'm determined to do."

Unamused, the demon raises a brow at the nickname while Raven laughs at his expression then shoos him out. Sebastian scowls to himself as he walks down the hall, mulling over the nickname when a loud bang echoes in the halls.

The demon huffs. "And here I thought this day would be easy."

"You seem to have forgotten master's love of creating puppets like the twins." Sebastian turns to find Ramsey walking up behind him with an amused smile. "Master's love. It's nice to see you again."

The demon nods before asking, "What sort of trouble usually goes on around here?"

"Noble and Alpha," Ramsey replies. "They're tricksters, always making some sort of mischief. They've gone from dropping water on Claire and I to instead covering us in flour and eggs. They tried it on Master once or twice as well, you are not safe."

"Anything else I should be aware of?" Sebastian asks with a soft sigh.

Ramsey hums. "Claire can take care of the twins, she's scary. Master usually talks with me or Master Earl. And Noble and Alpha don't like being separated. They get their angriest and most destructive when forced to be apart. If it's done willingly on their own they're fine."

Sebastian nods. "Thank you. I'm told you make the best tea?"

"So says little master."

"Please prepare a pot of his favourite then."

Ramsey nods and walks off, a slight skip in his step as he hums to himself. Sebastian rolls his eyes slightly and makes his way towards the lounge. He meets Raven already waiting there, the boy trying to aim a sword at the demon as soon as he opens the door.

Raven pouts when the demon catches the blade and places it back in its place over the fireplace mantle. Then the boy easily maneuvers himself out the window and climbs up to the roof, the demon following after him. Having nothing better to do, Sebastian watches the sun rise as well, the bright light not hurting his eyes in the slightest.