Her Butler

Her Butler, Loyal

Three Years Later

December 14th, 1881

 

I wake up to bright sunlight pouring into the room. “Time to wake up, my lady,” Sebastian says.

     I groan. “Let me have a few more minutes of sleep, Sebastian. Please.”

     “Today is your birthday, Lady Alex,” he replies, walking over to stand by the bed. “And I brought your breakfast. For today, it will be–”

     “Sebastian. Please do not list off the food I am having today.” I grin at him. “You know it affects me. I don’t like it. It doesn’t help.”

     He laughs quietly. “Of course, my lady. Today is your birthday, after all.”

     “Shut up,” I mutter into the pillow, trying not to laugh. “I hate it when you do that.”

     “Which is why I did it, of course,” Sebastian answers. He places whatever he’s holding onto the table by my bed. “Please get up.”

     “On one condition,” I grumble.

     “Yes?”

     “No dresses, jewelry, or suitors. Those are the last things I need.”

     “But, my lady, it is only proper for you to wear a dress for the ball tonight.”

     “What?!” I demand, sitting up and glaring at him. “What the hell are you talking about?!”

     He smiles. “Madam Red wanted to throw a party for her niece. The letter arrived last week.”

     “And did I read it?”

     “No, my lady. You asked me to.”

     “Oh, shit,” I mumble. “Now what? The Queen wants to invite me to Buckingham Palace for a tea ceremony?”

     “Nothing quite that bold, but she did send you a letter. It arrived late last night.”

     “Sebastian, you are the butler for a reason. You handle these things. I eat cake.”

     We both know the real reason he is my butler. For my soul. Three years ago, I made a contract with him to avenge my family. I have come so much further now, and it is almost time.

     I shake off my mood. “Well?”

     “Your job is to be the Queen’s spy, my lady.”

     “You had to point that out?” I ask as I stand up. I stretch, yawning. Last night was exhausting. I had about fifty suitors. And none of them were mature.

     “It is my job.” Sebastian says.

     “Mm-hmm.” I sit back on the bed. “What should I wear today? And no dresses.”

     “How about this? I got it yesterday, but I had to make some finishing touches.” Sebastian shows me an outfit.

     “It’ll do, I suppose,” I agree reluctantly. I should be happy - but tonight makes me nervous. Why wouldn’t it make me emotional? I’m going to lose my virginity to the demon butler currently in my room.

     And, oh dear God, he’s hot. I hate myself for thinking it, but he is hot. Red eyes, black hair, skills of a demon... he’s captured my heart, I’m sure of it.

     But he doesn’t know... If he knows who I am, what I am, who knows what he will do. We both know I am more dangerous than almost anyone, but the extent of that reaches further... much further...

     “My lady.”

     Sebastian’s voice breaks me out of my reverie. I look up at him, a cross look on my face making him smirk at me. “Fine. What will I be wearing tonight?”

     “I was thinking a red dress. It’s the latest fashion streak in London,” he answers. “And I was thinking we could go shopping for tonight.”

     I glance suspiciously at him. “Oh, really? What do you have planned, or is ‘we’ an actual you and I?”

     He laughs. “It is an actual ‘you and I’, my lady.”

     That satisfies me a little, but only a little. I grumble, “Fine. That’ll do.” I look pointedly at him. “Now can we get my day started, since I was awoken so abruptly?”

     “I thought you were going to sleep in,” he points out.

     I stick my tongue out at him, then fall back onto the bed. “Sebastian, shut up. I refuse to answer to you, butler.”

     He is about to say something, but I glare at him. Something sparks in his eyes, but I ignore it. I normally let him speak out of turn. Maybe that’s a bad idea. Maybe I should treat him like he treats dogs.

     Pluto howls outside my window, mournfully looking at my demon butler. I snicker. “Looks like your dog wants you, Sebastian.”

     “So it appears,” he says curtly.

     I sit up at his tone. “What's wrong, Sebastian? Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”

     He meets my eyes, and I notice a hidden emotion there. Oh, great. I just messed up. Even as his mistress, I am careful not to mess with Sebastian’s emotions, as few as he has. It's not a good idea.

     “It is nothing, my lady,” he says, unbuttoning my nightgown. It falls to the ground, and I hear him pause. I cough lightly.

     “Clothes, please.”

     “Of course, Lady Alex,” he says. He helps me get into the man's outfit he picked out for me, and he brushes back my dark hair to clasp it in the back. His fingers accidentally touch my skin, and I feel a shiver go through me. It is the same shiver as that night so many years ago, even though it was only three, and I am sent back to that night.

---

I am barely able to stand, even though I lean against a tree. It has been a few months since Sebastian rescued me and I made that contract.

     It sends a chill through me, just to think about it. I am scared of it. I may have been desperate in that situation, but desperate enough to give up my soul to a demon?

     “Lady Alex,” a voice says. I turn. Sebastian is standing there, hidden partly among the shadows that decorate the night.

     “Sebastian,” I say wearily. “Did I wake you?”

     “Demons do not need sleep,” he says, staring at me intently. “What brings you out here?”

     “I couldn’t sleep,” I admit, turning away. “Not with the nightmares I know are waiting for me. I can feel them, Sebastian. They’re always there, the memories, and when I try to sleep, they always snatch away any peace I could have.”

     “Ah. That is the problem,” he observes.

     He places a hand on my shoulder. “Is there anything I can do?”

     “Stay with me, Sebastian. Don’t ever betray me. Never lie to me. Never side with my enemies,” I say, staring off. “Promise me that, Sebastian.”

     He kneels, as I turn and watch. “I promise, my lady. I won’t ever leave your side.”

    I blink. The world seems to move dizzyingly, and I follow its movement, falling. Arms catch me, and a shiver runs through my body at his touch. There is something between us, something other then the master and servant bond.

     But what the hell is it?