Till Death Do Us Part (Black Butler)

Chapter Fifteen

~Silas' Point of View~

Lady Lucille was on edge, her brother's appearance threw her off, made her vulnerable and had her frantic with worry. She was one of the smartest people I'd ever met, and I was sure she'd deduced by now that my injuries from the night of the attack were related to me leaving her father's employ. Master Chevalier had sent a few assassins after me once news had reached him of my resignation. If I had to pick a lesser evil between the English noble and my mistress' family, the Englishman won. He treated Lucille with respect and seemed genuinely fond of her, though he was still a little suspicious of her. When he asked me to join his staff and cut ties with the Chevalier family, I didn't hesitate, I'd rather see my mistress in a home filled with laughter than that prison she was trapped in before with an abusive family.

Her eldest brother and his putrid guest were imposing their presence on Lord Phantomhive who reluctantly agreed to allow them to stay until the ball he was hosting for Lucille was over. My mistress was on edge as she, Lord Phantomhive and her detestable brother strolled through the gardens with Edmund, and I trailing along behind them. Casimir wasn't happy and threw scathing looks in Lord Phantomhive's direction thinking it bad for Lady Lucille to be out in the brisk weather.

Laurent was currently boring everyone with trivial nobility gossip, one thing I noticed Lord Phantomhive detested and never took part in. Lucille was in a daze, staring at her feet, knowing my mistress she was probably calculating every possible way to take down her brother and his guest without anyone else noticing. Though I didn't like to see my mistress being serious, I did have to admit, from the few times I'd witnessed her skills firsthand, it was a sight to behold. She wasn't the kind of girl that needed protection when it came to physical threats. As hard and strong as she may be on the outside, she was soft and fragile on the inside. Her innocence and naivety would be her downfall, that was why she needed constant protection.

As we reached the edge of the garden near a patch of woods, Lucille suddenly straightened up, her rose-colored eyes scanning the surrounding forest. I watched her in awe, her senses had always astounded me, she must have sensed or heard something that none of the men had picked up on. Lord Phantomhive looked down at her curiously and opened his mouth to say something, but she stepped off the path toward the woods in a daze.

"Lucille? What on earth are you doing?" Her brother barked in annoyance.

"You don't hear it?" She paused and turned to the group curiously.

Everyone fell silent and strained to hear. Lord Phantomhive frowned after a moment as Laurent let out an exasperated sigh. In the distance I heard the faintest high-pitched screech like an animal in a dire situation. Lucille nearly jumped at the sound and sprinted into the woods.

"Lucille! It's dangerous!" Lord Phantomhive took off after her with Laurent at his heels.

"That brat is so predictable." Edmund smirked once the others disappeared into the woods as he withdrew one of his many blades, "I remembered how much she cried over that stupid puppy." He snickered, "Figured she'd hear a small animal in trouble and go running, distracting the others in the process."

I tensed at this, when I'd first joined her father's employ, Lucille had a puppy, a very sweet lovable mutt she'd saved from drowning; someone had discarded it for being a runt. She loved that puppy more than anything, whenever her brothers or father thought she was acting out of line they'd beat the puppy to make her obey. Laurent killed it to try and teach her a lesson that she needed to always obey the family. It nearly killed her.

"If you make my mistress cry, I will kill you. Laughter suits her far better." I growled as I withdrew one of my own concealed blades, one of Lucille's specially crafted knives, it was thin and sleek, easily concealable yet strong and durable. It could parry off a great sword with ease. My heart plummeted into the pit of my stomach as I heard Lucille scream in the distance.

"Ah, I bet she found the dead ones." Edmund sneered wickedly, "You should know, you can never leave the service of the Chevalier family in one piece." He lunged for me.

I parried with ease. "And you should know, the one and only person I am loyal to and have ever been loyal to is Lucille." I didn't give him a chance to recover as I lunged for him after another parry.

He withdrew a second blade in the blink of an eye and I mentally cursed myself as I realized my misstep. I wasn't able to get to my second blade in time, dodging would only give me a slightly increased chance at him not hitting a vital spot. A gunshot sounded from behind me and the second blade was shot from my opponent's hand.

"THE FRENCH ARE COMING!" I heard the crazy old coot shout from behind me and couldn't help but snicker at the look of mortification on the snake's face. Cook's shouting and gunfire had alerted the other servants and we broke apart and concealed our weapons as they all swarmed out of the manor.

Just as I was about to smooth things over and assure everyone nothing had happened, Lord Phantomhive stepped out of the forest with Lucille cradled in his arms. She was crying silently and clinging to something small grey and fuzzy. Laurent was a step behind them feigning concern, he shot a look in our direction and frowned when he noticed me completely unscathed.

"Lucy-sama!" Rose cried and ran to Lord Phantomhive's side. She gasped when she noticed the tears clinging to our mistress' pallid cheeks, "What happened?" Her warm caramel eyes fell on the fuzzy creature clinging to Lucille, "Oh, it's a kitten. Why don't we get him inside where it's warm and get him something to fill his belly?" She cooed as she smoothed her hands through Lucille's champagne blonde hair miraculously vanquishing her tears.

"That's a great idea, Rose." Lord Phantomhive offered her a warm smile before his dark gaze turned in Enzo's direction, "Enzo there were a few that didn't make it, will you see to it they're buried? Take Silas."

Enzo nodded.

"Are we not going to address the gun wielding madman and why he was firing?" Laurent pondered curiously.

Lord Phantomhive turned to him with a dark look I'd not thought him capable of and Laurent took a weary step back his pale blue eyes growing wide, "Are we not going to address the family of cats slain by human hands in the forest?"

A single tear slipped from Lucille's hold as she clung tightly to the only surviving kitten. My heart stuttered in my chest painfully. I couldn't bear to see her like this.

"I've got some mackerel the little scamp can have, so don't fret lass." Cook piped up surprising everyone as he looked to Lucille.

Her deep fuchsia infused mauve eyes meekly glanced in cook's direction. The faintest trace of a smile was evident as he offered her a warm smile in an attempt to reassure her that the kitten would be taken care of.

"Thank you."

I smiled as all the Phantomhive servants and even Lord Phantomhive, breathed a sigh of relief.

Lord Phantomhive turned to Casimir, "See to it our guests are comfortable." There was a hidden meaning in his order.

"What about me?" Anders piped up clearly tired of his bedrest and hoping for some kind of task.

"You're supposed to be resting!" Lucille attempted to snap, but her voice was far too meek and cased in sniffles.

Anders sighed but couldn't refuse such a pitiful request, "As you wish, mistress."

Enzo clapped me on the shoulder and steered me off into the woods as Lord Phantomhive carried Lucille and the kitten after Cook and Rose toward the kitchens. Cas bowed and escorted Laurent and Edmund inside while Anders shuffled back inside with a mopey expression.