Wonderlust

4:00

Perhaps it was the dramatic entrance. Or maybe it was my dress. But more than Likely it was the combination of the two mixed with the fact that the master of the house was by my side as we descended down the grand staircase.
I could feel my face turn to stone from all the attention. Every pair of eyes in the room seemed to have been on us.
"You are to stiff." Ciel whispered into my ear when we finally reached the bottom of the stairs. "You look and move like a perfect lady, but your eyes could scare even a seasoned soldier away."
I scowled "well excuse me"
A grin spread across his face, "As long as you are aware of your shortcoming it is fine."
I opened my mouth to make a retort but I never got the chance.
Before I could speak I was being suffocated by throngs of curious guests.
"Who might you be? I've never seen you before."
"Aren't you just the cutest little thing?"
"We're are you from? Who are your people?"
The question were coming at such a pace that I didn't have time to answer. What should I do?
I instinctively reached for the ribbon tied around my waist. I usually kept a fan... Incredibly, my hand grabbed on to just that. Had it always been there?
I spread the fan in an elegant manner and hid half of my face behind it. "Pardon me. " I said timidly. "I just arrived this morning. I'm not accustomed to the edicat or proper manner of speech here." I made my eyes soften as if to look anxious.
"I see." One man in the front said. "This must make you a bit uncomfortable then."
As I nodded I made sure to keep my line of sight on the floor. This was all part of the act.
"We didn't mean to make you anxious," said a lady in an emerald green dress. "We were just curious as to whom Lord Hatter was escorting this evening. He never had a partner you see. I was shocked at your entrance."
"Indeed," Another woman agreed. "I thought he would be a bachelor for the rest of his life. What a shame that would have been."
Did they think we were together?
I opened my mouth to correct them but Ciel had wrapped his arm around my waist. This action brought me closer to him. To close.
"Isn't my little foreign girl adorable?" He said with a soft smile. "Of course it wouldn't be satisfactory to be anyone else's partner for the night."
Was he showing me off as if I were a trophy? This man...
How could he be so proud of something that wasn't his?

I was glad that I had that fan. I was surely sulking behind it.

As the other guests left to find something else to entertain them, Ciel leaned down to press his lips to my ear.

"Why do you have such a pitiful look on your face, madam?"

"You did not warn me that I would be ambushed with questions as soon as I stepped foot on the floor."

"And you handled them wonderfully."

"Is this a game to you?"

"Life is a game." He answered whimsically.

" You act as if I am your property. You practically said as much"

His warm breath filled my ear as he chuckled softly, "Well of course it's because you are, indeed mine. You are bound by our promise."

"I can't acknowledge a promise I've never made. I would like proof."

He leaned over a bit more, to look at my face. "And what proof do you have that you have not made a promise to me?"

"Don't use my own words against me." I turned away from him to hide my frustrated face. " I asked you first."

"Yes," He said as he came to put his arm around my shoulders. He guided me over to a waiter who welcomed us with two flutes filled with a golden liquid. " But I have proof, and you, my dear, do not."

I almost dropped the glass he had handed me. "What proof?!" I burst out.

He did not seem to mind the stares and curious looks that my shout had drawn into our direction. "If I do recall, you have a small compass shaped mark on the inside of your Wrist? I have one to match on my shoulder."

I shivered. Why does he know that? HOW can he know that?

"So what? It is not uncommon to have a birthmark. to have one similar is unlikely but not impossible." I pulled away from him and gazed out of the giant glass widow, out into the endless night.

"That isn't a birthmark." He came to stand next to me. " It is a mark of our promise. Almost like a reminder."

"Well it did a horrible job." I touch the glass with my forehead. "I still don't believe you."

"Allis, how old are you?"

I slid my gaze into his direction. Did he not already know? He seemed to know everything else.

"I will be twenty in a few days."

His body stiffened. "You are still nineteen?"

I cocked my head in curiosity. "Yes."

Why did he seem to become to alert with this knowledge?

"How many days till your birthday?"

I frowned. "Four maybe?"

"You don't know?" He looked at me with a strange face.

I merely shrugged, "It has never meant much to me."

He wasn't listening anymore. He had already summoned Tat and Josh.

"The party is over. Send them all away."

They both were showing such surprised faces.

"Your Grace?" Tat's eyes were practically begging for an explanation. " The party-"

"Is over." Josh finished for the secretary. "Just as you instructed, my Lord."

"Good," Ciel turned to look at me as well. He did not look away as he continued to speak. "Inform them that we will not be allowing visitors for a while, and that I would like to spend some time alone with my fiancee."

Fiancee? Wouldn't she be displeased to know that I was here? Furthermore, it was not a very good idea for an unmarried lady like myself to be staying in a man's house.

I did not get to dwell on those thoughts for long. Before I could comprehend what was happening, the master of the house was ushering me away form the party and back into my compartment upstairs.