Monochrome Maid

Chapter 5 - Day 2 ~ Her Maid, Defiant

"RUN, SEBASTIAN, RUN!"

A hand touched my shoulder as I panted, sitting up. Ciel sat next to my bed, looking away from me. Cerina sat at the foot of the bed. Sebastian's hand moved from my shoulder to my head.

"No fever." Sebastian smiled at me. "You ready to work again?"

"Yes...I suppose I am." I grinned back at him, standing up with ease. He handed me a plate of tea and a box of brand-new silverware (only half of which was for eating). On my head was a plate with a teapot full of steaming--and strong--Earl Grey.

"All right," I said to myself as I headed down the hallway to the dining room. "It was just a phase, Sebrina. It isn't that big of a deal..."

"Lose one leg," a voice whispered in my ear. I continued to walk normally. I wasn't about to lose my head over such a petty matter.

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"Sebrina."

I set the teacup down in front of Ciel and removed the teapot from my head, looking at the young Earl curiously. He was normally the last person to speak to me, if he were to speak to me at all, when I walked into a room.

"Yes, young master?" I asked slowly, suddenly feeling a sharp ache in my left leg. I hissed lowly.

"You're limping." Ciel took a sip of his tea. "You're hardly walking on your left foot."

It felt like a bolt of lightning went through my head when he spoke. My eyes went wide.

I knew I couldn't defy my master, but I couldn't just accept this either.

"I was?" I asked. "I hardly noticed it."

"Well, you were. Rest." Ciel sipped his tea.

"N-no!" I yelled.

Everyone in the room stared at me.  Sebastian sighed and shook his head.  Cerina gawked at me with wide eyes.  Ciel narrowed his eyes.

"What did you say?" he growled through clenched teeth.

My heart hammered within my chest as I spoke.  "N-no...I c-can't just not work.  Not after I just got better, Young Master."

"Was that...defiance, Sebrina?" Sebastian asked slowly.

Suddenly, anger boiled inside of me.  It coursed through my veins as I balled my hands into fists.  I felt my face getting hot, and all of a sudden I slammed my hands on the table.

"Yes, Sebastian, it was defiance!  And do you know why?  Because I want to serve him, but I can't, because he--" I shot Ciel an angry look--"won't let me!  I don't care if he--"  Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my leg.  "If...he..."  In seconds, I was on the floor, screaming in pain as my left leg twisted every which way.  It excruciatingly painful, almost to the point of being indescribable.  Shouts and gibberish left my lips as Sebastian and  Cerina picked me up and carried me to my quarters.

Lose one leg.

Damn it.

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"But I have to work, Cerina!" I whined.

I was throwing a minimized temper tantrum in my bedroom as I tugged on the black hair that had previously been in pigtails nervously.

Cerina nodded as I began to braid her hair back.  "Stay still," I murmured.

"I know you're used to it, Sebrina," she whispered.  "But you have to try."

"No!" I shouted as I botched up a section of the braid.  "I can't!  I can't imagine a week of just...not doing anything!  It sounds simply awful!"

"That depends," Cerina explained calmly,  "on who you are."

I stared at her, genuinely confused.  "What?"

"For example, I'm used to not doing much work.  It seems as though Ciel and I are always getting kidnapped, not saving the kidnapped.  A day for me in your shoes would be like...asking you to never work again."

I squawked.  "Surely it isn't that bad!"

"You know what I mean."  Cerina fixed her long braid so that it lay flat on her back when she awakened.  I buttoned her nightgown.

"I do, Young Mistress," I murmured.  "I'm just...my nerves are a bit frayed, that's all."

Cerina nodded.  "Yes, well, good night, Sebrina."  She climbed under the covers, I tucked her in, and she fell asleep almost instantly.

I was about to blow out the candle in Cerina's room whem I noticed how peacefully she slept.  Her chest moved slowly up and down, and she had a slight smile on her face, similar to that of a child half her age.

It made me cry sometimes, how much Cerina felt like a daughter to me.  Sometimes I just couldn't take care of her.

I shivered at a few haunting memories, blew out the candle,  and exited Cerina's room without a word.