The Lady Shadowhive and her demon butler Lucius Dracovich

An Invitation

Jades POV

Morning light flooded in as i heard his voice say good morning. I could smell the tea and i rolled off my stomach and blinked my eyes as i sat up in bed. I turned and looked at Lucius as he poured my tea and added milk to my cup. I took it from him slowly watching him carefully so i wouldn't be tricked into another kiss.

"What is my schedule for today Lucius?"

I asked as i sipped the tea leaning my back against the pillows.

"You have received and invitation to a costume party as a date for the Lord Phantomhive this evening. You also have the head directors of your tea factory coming by today to check on the progress of the Devil's Eye flower and whether or not you wish to sell it to the public coming over for brunch."

I breathed in the relaxing scent of my tea as i smiled. I could just picture Ciel dressed as a pirate and i found myself giggling as i imagined him saying aargh.

"Mistress shall you be attending the costume party?"

I sipped my tea again and then sat it down on the saucer as i placed it on my table.

"Yes Lucius, send him a letter saying i accept the invitation and will look forward to seeing him tonight."

"Yes mistress, i shall do it at once, on another note what do you intend on wearing to the costume party. I assume you have some idea as of what you would be dressing as?"

I stood up from my bed and made my way to my vanity and sat in the chair as Lucius followed me and proceeded to brush out my hair.

"Of course i know what im dressing as, I'm dressing as a witch. I need you to find me a black witch hate with a purple band, if there isnt one make it one yourself and that goes for the entire dress. Now listen closely, it is to be knee length with the skirt of dark purple fabric with black lace covering it. The bodice will also be dark purple with black lace that will tie at the top of my dress. The sleeves at my shoulders will hang on my arms loosely and then go to sheer black fabric after the star marking. My socks will be purple and black striped and i can wear my black boots. Do you understand Lucius."

Lucius finished brushing my hair and parting it to where my bangs framed my face beautifully as he nodded.

"Of course mistress, consider it already done. Now, what should you like to wear for the day? After all you have the head directors coming soon."

I stood up and took out a simple dark forest green dress, i had no need to dress up since i would be changing into my costume after they left. Lucius dressed me and left to the garden to retrieve the roses in order to steep their petals for tea. I sighed as i made my way to my study where i would entertain my guests. The last time they pestered me about the rose petals ended with me withholding them for a longer period of time. I guess curiousity is a curse in itself. I entered my study and walked to my desk chair and began pulling out files on recent people the queen wished me to keep an eye on. I needed to review the list in case i ran into one of them tonight, now let's see there is the Viscount Lord Druitt. She believes him to be involved in some sort of black market trading, although she doesn't know what the product is. I have him listed as a fan of young girls so i have the advantage there as well as some notes of his tendency to overexaggerate with compliments when he flirts. Oh this will be fun indeed to play with, i can just tell i will manage to obtain some rich vocabulary should i run into him tonight. Who else, ah yes here it is a local nobleman by the name of Francisco de Cicili who is causing a stir amongst small shops with his purchasing of property. She is wanting me to figure out what the property is being used towards and whether or not he is hiding drugs as the rumors around him have been suggesting. I for one know this to be a somewhat true statement considering one of my little pets has managed to squeeze his way into the inner circle of his trading. For now i'll keep this information to myself until the time comes where he is of no further use to me. There was one more and i can not put my finger on where her file could have gone. I skimmed through my folders and ran through all my names until i came upon the one i had been searching for. Here we go, Madame Red she is called and from what i heard it is a very proper name indeed. She is rarely seen without the color red adorning her body and her hair is quite an eye catcher with its vibrant shade. She is the one most likely to appear at tonights party so i shall dismiss the other two for now and maintain my focus on gaining information about madame red. I put the other two files away and began reading my information and scanning the pictures my pets took of her while she was out and about. Hmm, interesting it appears that Ciel is her nephew. I wonder what i could find out about Madame Red from Ciel during the ball should she not appear.

Knock Knock Knock

"Mistress, Your head directors of the tea factory are here."

"Bring them in Lucius."

I stashed the file away quickly and put a bright smile upon my face as two gentlemen entered the study.

"Lady Shadowhive, as representatives of the entire committee we thank you for taking the time to see us today."

That was Lord Ki Chen, a foreign countryman who came to england to make his fortune in the tea business. My company's reputation and beloved tea leaves beat him and he ended up working for me instead. It wasn't hard to bring his company down, in fact it was almost a bore for me. He is in charge of creating new blends and keeping up with current demands. I curtsied to them each and gestured for them to sit. The other man was my head of finances for the company Arthur Covington, and anytime business was involved he was not far off. The two of them together made an odd couple, with Ki being of asian origin and Arthur having bright orange hair from his irish decent it was quite amusing to see them side by side.

"Gentlemen, you wished to speak to me about my rose the Demon's Eye is that correct?"

I asked them in a polite and gentle matter, I already knew why they were here, but i gave them the chance to defend themselves as Arthur pulled out a chart and laid it in front of me.

"Well you see Lady Shadowhive, recently word about your fabulous new tea has reached the ears of noble families. And we have found that people are demanding to know where they are getting this special blend of tea. So we were hoping that perhaps you are ready to share this tea with the public, from what Arthur has calculated your profits would increase dramatically."

They weren't lying from the looks of the paperwork they handed me, my special blend that i gave to close friends was gaining more hype than i anticipated. Well i guess profits are profits, besides as long as i keep my secret tea to myself i will still have a special blend.

"Very well, i will send over seeds of the rose to our gardeners and have them begin mass production with special instructions on maintenance tomorrow morning."

When i gave them back their paperwork they were shocked, perhaps they were anticipating another argument like before and if i weren't thinking of ways to prepare for the costume party tonight i probably would cause an argument. It wasn't worth my time and besides i couldn't think of a legitimate reason to refuse.

"Thank you very much Lady Shadowhive, we will let the workers know to prepare multiple pots for the rose seeds."

"Mistress, Gentlemen i have brought todays tea, it is the special blend that you were currently discussing. It is known as Midnight Dragon since she blends it with dragon oolong tea."

"Thank you Lucius, and know gentlemen you will taste the tea that has gained such reputation."

They seemed eager as they didnt even wait for Lucius to set the sugar and milk down on the table. They immediately sipped the tea and their faces washed over with delight as they enjoyed the sweet and yet strong taste of the tea. I didn't take milk in my tea this time, for this tea had enough flavor of its own to stand without the cream. It had the sweet flavor of the rose with the rustic taste of the oolong, it was a perfect blend of tastes and was a perfect tea to enjoy after conducting business. We drank in silence and once the tea was gone, i gave them a small package containing tea bags with the special blend and saw them to the door.

"Young mistress i believe you should start getting ready for the party, Lord Phantomhive should be arriving to pick you up in a few hours."

I turned and looked at Lucius as he spoke, he was holding up the costume i described to him before and it was perfect in every way.

"Well done Lucius, I should think of a reward for you later on."

I ran my hand across his shoulder as i walked past him and headed to my room, little did i know the fire i was sparking inside his being with every tease i put him through.