Underneath the Surface.

Chapter Two: The Skye at Noon

"My lady, you have a half hour until your cousin arrives. The house is as you desire it to be, yes?" Liana jumped from her perch at the window and laughed softly. "Yes, it looks lovely, Felix. Thank you for attending to it."

"Your desires are my happiness, your rejections are my hatred, and your peace is my sanctuary. All in all, that is what lies beneath the Skye butler." Felix crooned the line he had cleverly come up with and stepped over to the place where Liana was sitting, resting his shoulder against the wall beside the window. Liana looked up at him and smiled brightly. "When did you schedule Mrs. Worthington to arrive?" she asked.

Felix pulled out a slip of paper from his breast pocket and held it out to her. She took it and read the perfect handwriting, " 'Four-o'clock on Tuesday, March 14, 1885'. Sounds like a lovely time." She held the paper back up to the butler, who took it and slipped it back into the pocket from which it had been taken.

"I wonder how long it's been since I laid eyes on Felicity. I know you took quite a fancy to her when you two first met, Felix," Liana teased, a grin crossing her pretty features. The man beside her looked quite uneasy, and shook his head.

"My lady, she's many years too old for me. She is, perhaps, twenty six? I am merely eighteen years old. I have no such interest in older women." Felix rambled. Liana waved her hand to quiet the butler with a small smile.

"Whatever you say," the raven stated, resting her chin in her hand as she continued to stare out of the window. "If you don't fancy her, then, who DO you take an interest in? What raven has caught you in their nest?" She turned her gaze back to Felix, amber eyes staring in a piercing fashion.

"I took an interest in the young lady who owns a flower shop in the village. She's kind to everyone. She gives the children free flowers, and she loves making people smile." Liana caught a sort of dreamy look in the butler's eye, and found herself disappointed.

"What about you, my lady? Who have you taken interest with?" Felix question curiously. Liana shrugged with a small smile, "nobody has been worthy of my affection yet. I don't believe anyone will be."

A sudden knock on the front door startled them both, and Felix pulled his pocket watch out within a half second. "Lady Felicity is at least twenty seven minutes early... I suppose I miscalculated, my lady. I apologize." The butler barely got his words out before Liana was hurrying out of the room, tripping over her own shoes as she tried to get down the stairs.

Black hair flew out like a cape behind small shoulders, and a slender chest heaved for air as Liana stomped down the first seven steps of the white carpeted stairway.

She paused on the banister for breath, at least twenty feet away from the double doors that welcomed people into the Skye Estate. She caught her breath before Felix could round the corner of the east wing and hurried to the door, pulling it open excitedly.

Felicity Burkwell was no where to be seen.

Liana stared eye to eye-maybe she had to look up a bit-with a boy who looked as if he lived in a trash pit.

Blonde hair stuck out in all directions-growing a steady two inches from his scalp all the way around-greasy, tangled andjust plain unkempt. Amber eyes that mirrored Liana's were dull and bloodshot, dark circles lining the bottoms. His entire face was sunken in and dirty, his cheekbones protruding from his face, yet small bits of ash colored skin peeked out, looking soft beneath the rough dirt and coarse grime.

He stood maybe an inch or two taller than Liana, and he looked as if, even in his horrid state, he weighed a good ten to fifteen pounds more than Liana. He had small muscles, barely defined beneath the grime and filth. The boy looked tired. Exhausted. All he wore was a mere cloth wrapped around some of his torso and his hips.

Liana had never seen anything so horrid looking.

"M-May I help you?" she stammered, clutching the door handle. The boy looked completely embarrassed, and all he could utter was a soft, "may I come in?"

Liana hesitated. She had seen plays like this where homeless people came to noble's doorsteps and asked to be let in, and the moment the noble turned their back, something worth loads of money would be stolen away, and the 'homeless person' would be gone forever. Should she even consider letting him in?

Felix soon met up beside her, obviously more pitying than Liana herself, for once. Without a word, he ushered the boy inside. The boy came inside without question, seemingly nervous, as if he feared Liaba would strike him for stepping foot in her pristine home. Liana watched in perfect horror as Felix picked the dirty boy up and hurried him into the bathroom next to the main level bedroom, closing the door.

Felix came out not a moment later, shaking his head pitifully. "I know where he came from. He's most definitely a runaway boy from the orphanage a few blocks down. How he made it this far is beyond me." Liana gaped at him.

"B-But he's so dirty and... And he's a commoner, Felix... The Queen would be sick with me if she found that her loyal Raven was holding a... A vagabond in a nobleman's estate," she protested, tugging a strand of her black hair nervously. "She'd have my head..."

"You don't have to tell her, my lady. I never promised that we would keep the boy. We just at least need to let him get cleaned up." Felix reasoned gently, ruffling Liana's hair after he'd taken his dirty gloves off. She wrinkled her nose irritably and put her hands on her hips.

"You can't just let underscale people inside! And besides... how will we know where to put him when we finish dealing with him?" she protested weakly. Felix fixed her with a put off navy gaze, something he rarely showed her. Liana knew she would learn why later. She stiffened and glanced at the bathroom door as it opened slowly and dull brown eyes peeked out. A little more pulling of the door revealed a ghostly pale body covered with a towel, dampened hair hanging in the brown eyes of the boy, and water droplets scattering and dispersing as they trailed down the lithe frame.

Liana's face went scarlet, but Felix came to her aid. "Young man, come with me. I will help find something for you to wear." The boy followed, head down, staring at the floor more often than he looked up to see where Felix was going.

Liana simply stepped over to the couch in the main room and sat, placing a hand on her forehead in exhaustion. "Her Majesty should have me investigate this boy..."