The Lady Shadowhive and her demon butler Lucius Dracovich

Trouble Down Below

Jade's POV

The man was in a tattered suit and was also dirty, so i could easily tell he was not of nobility but most likely one of my pets i have scurrying around in the underground world to gather information. Something must have startled him because he was looking around nervously as he sat in a chair Lucius pulled up for him to sit in across my desk. He was holding the tea cup with his hand trembling making the cup shake as he brought it up to his lips. I was waiting for him to calm down so that he would be more coherent when he reported the incident. I drummed my fingers on the arms of my chair as i rested my chin in the palm of my other hand while staring at him. My expression was blank and uninterested as i waited for this buffoon to relax and gather his thoughts.

"Now i want you to tell me where the incident took place."

The man nodded before placing the cup down on the desk and cleared his throat as he began to talk.

"Right mum, it was awful it was, you see me and the fellas were down by the docks like youse said to be in order to get your shipment. When all the sudden some man with two others came up to us and started talking. But me being the smartest of them i noticed a fourth man over near the shadows, a right weirdo he was.. his head all wobbly and holding a box looked like a-"

I hit my hand on the desk annoyed which made him cringe in his chair as i glared at him.

"I don't care about the man in the shadows, i want to know what those men were doing near the docks when my new rose seeds and tea leaves where coming in!"

The man cowered slightly as i shouted at him. He nodded his head and then started to speak again.

"R..R..right... b..but the that man was the problem and he wasn't a man..."

What? My face twisted into confusion as i leaned up and listened more eagerly to him.

"You see mum, the men had come over to us and asked what we was shippin. I told em it wasn't shipping but a pick up and that it was tea and flowers, They asked us if they could have a sample or two... we told him no and that they had to buy it like the rest of us. One of our boys said he found some shiny ring in one of the tea leaf boxes and then those three cronies started attacking us! We fought back at them best we could, and i figured that you would want the ring so i'z snatched it and started running. But that man came chasin me and he was singing some nursery song all creepy like. I got so scared that i fumbled the ring in me 'ands and dropped it in the riva.. I turned and saw that the man was a puppet!"

I held my hand up at this last remark, i was finding it hard to believe and began suspecting alcohol was involved.

"Are you expecting me to believe, that my shipment was damaged, a ring was lost and it was all because of a puppet? And not just any puppet.. but a puppet man."

The man nodded emphatically and i leaned back in my chair pinching the bridge of my nose. I knew that some of my delivery men were idiots, but this was just plain insanity. I didn't know whether to feel sorry for him or to strike him where he stood in annoyance, ahh no matter might as well listen to the rest of his report. I waved my hand slightly as i spoke.

"Continue with your story, what exactly did this puppet man say, look and do at the bridge."

"Well, he looked wooden, had bright orange hair, carrying a box thing and he was singing about building something with wood and bone.. he kept saying it over and over but then he bowed at me and said my fair lady and after 'e did he started the song over again.... I was freaked out by this loony and i told him that the ring was in the river if he was after it... He simply said that the ring would choose the right owner when the time came, and that the master had intended it to go there.... but he was a right loony he was mum, not the sorta fella you'd want to be around at night. I held me knife in me 'and and struck at him hitting him right across the chest because he walked toward me all slow like and it made me nerves stand on end. I thought after i struck him he'd stop but he wouldn't and he didn't bleed neither! it was woodshavins and dust that came from 'im i was so scared that i took off runnin and neva looked back."

I looked at him with a raised brow as i scoffed slightly.

"Indeed, i can see why you'd be so terrified. So in short, a puppet man came to the docks chased you and then left? He didn't bother taking any of the merchandise... didn't harm you but walked towards you menacingly and so you thought it would be a good idea to attack him."

The man nodded his head with a look of pride as i reviewed his report. I stood up in my chair and walked around the desk quickly and once i reached the man i pulled him from his chair roughly and stomped my foot in his chest yelling.

"Have you completely lost your mind!! Do you honestly expect me to believe that a demonic puppet attacked you? I think that maybe you boys had a lot to drink on the job and one of you got clumsy and dropped the merchandise. So you all came up with this scheme of a puppet man to try and fool me....."

The man squirmed under my foot as i kicked him again roughly before pulling him up by the front of his shirt and glared at him in the eyes.

"Now i want you to look me in the eyes and tell me the truth, for if i see your lying i will cut your tongue out and feed it to the dogs."

The man shook terrified in my grasp as he mumbled in fear trying to form his words together. He swallowed the spit that had probably formed in his mouth as he opened it to speak.

"A.. a... p...p..puppet a..a..attacked us wi..with a bunch o strange men.. its the truth missus i swear it!!!"

He began crying slightly as he shouted the last part out in a wail, i groaned and released him letting him drop to the floor. I turned my back to him and walked to my chair. Lucius pulled it out for me as i sat down and told the man to take his seat again as i ask my last question.

"What was the name of this master the puppet spoke of?"

"Sorry mum but he never said.. that's all i know mum, its all i know... m..may i go now?"

I nodded my head and waved my hand to dismiss him and saw him run out of my study and probably proceeded down the hall to leave my presence as quickly as possible. I found myself laughing slightly as i remembered the look of terror upon his face, still the fact he was so emphatic about a demonic puppet attacking my shipment was odd... I wonder if ciel knows anything about this, i should ask him the next time i see him.

"Young mistress, the word about the puppet seems to have troubled you, do you wish to know if he was lying?"

I looked at lucius and braced myself to hear him say it was lies, for i doubted very much that it was a puppet and was quite certain that the men retrieving my shipment got drunk and mishandled the merchandise.

"Yes, tell me if my scrawny pest was lying."

"He was speaking the truth."

My eyes widened in shock, not only was the puppet true, but from what the man told me it was real and had attacked my men over a ring.... but i did not order a ring, i only ordered rose seedlings and tea leaves of american variety. I held my hand to my chin as i pondered this new information, then i looked up at lucius with a grin.

"Well then.. perhaps the ring will show itself to us once again in a future time, for now see if anything can be salvaged from the damage."

"Yes mistress."

With that lucius left me in the study, alone and my mind swarming with thoughts of demonic puppets and strange men attacking a shipment of tea and rose seeds. But what on earth did those three men want with the ring, and why did the puppet man know about it... so many questions.... and no answers, this was definitely going to be bothering my thoughts for some time.